*Bob*

Louisa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- There seems to be an > obsession on this forum with talking up things > they like, and talking down things they don't. I > much prefer to take the central route which is > more constructive... 'lolz' Sorry, sorry - I know you're still on a yellow. You're doing well btw!

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any salon hair stylist who doesn't do extra-curricular cash work on the side if they have time. So if there's anyone you've liked in a salon, tip 'em the wink.

I bought a chocolate chip cookie in there yesterday. Patrick McGoohan and Rock Hudson were fighting over a microfilm in aisle three and penguins were blocking most of the bakery section. I'm going in for cheese tasters today - but I'll definitely be taking a coat.

Yeah that would probably work better. tbh I didn't really like the way the sawdust thing looked anyway.. it looked a bit like fluff, dirt and 'stuff' had just fallen into the cracks and built-up. I prefer the gaps between the boards look - just not the icy blasts that rush up from them during winter. I was only doing sporadic areas though, not a whole room.

Strips of wood / splicing is the top-end solution - but it's only as good as the person who does it and can take a long time and cost wedge. If you've got lots of variation in gaps it's a bit of an art to get it looking good. I started out with a bag of sawdust and a tin of clear sticky stuff and did a few experiments first - decided pretty quickly it would succumb to gravity in lots of places. And it was a real arse. I should say the purpose of the draughtex is to.. er.. seal the gaps and stop draughts, not to fill the gaps for a visual effect for a flat, gapless floor - it can't do that!

I think it depends on your gap sizes, the colour of your floor, what you want it to look like - and the level of effort and cost you're interested in. In the end - for ours - I used some stuff which I think is called 'draughtex' now, which is a big roll of squashy dark grey rubber tubing that you stretch out and push in with a supplied applicator tool. It's easy to use, no glue/mess, looks good (with our colour floorboards anyway, you don't really see it), isn't permanent in case you change your mind later - and most importantly, hasn't fallen out yet. If there's a lot of variation in your 'gaps' you might need a couple of different width tubes. If the gaps are really big, over a certain width, it won't work. They used to let you order a few free samples to try it out first..

'M&S Lordship Lane'.. I'm intrigued. What will they sell there? What will it be like? I can't wait to find out. I suppose the only that might come close would be any one of the other 914 M&S stores in the UK.

Is 'Mind Your Language' getting a revamp as well? Let's hope so.

If there's one area I think yesteryear was really, really good and trumps 'these days' - it's kids TV. Obvs there's a bit of nostalgia mixed-in here, but I think a lot of that stuff at the time was genuinely great, innovative, exciting, imaginative - and actually more sophisticated in many ways. I look at a lot of what 'our kid' (and his friends) watch (given free choice in the matter) and I'm a bit dismayed. I can appreciate this is what 'the kids' do these days, consumption and delivery of this stuff is also different, but unfortunately I think a lot of it contributes to a lazy, short-watch, quick-hit, no concentration-required attitude which pervades. They don't miss what they never had of course - but to me, they're missing out.

I miss 'event' TV a bit - a throwback to yesteryear. If you weren't there watching, you missed it. Lots of anticipation, a proper social / family event. That's mostly gone now - apart from sport I suppose.

I think your choices are: Not unbearable - Open window Quite unbearable - buy fan Unbearable - install aircon All three are perfectly fine choices, depending on bearability.

malumbu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- (not sure about > Del Boy - which does seem very dated). It's a shame about OFAH - it's been going for so long - in ever-dimishing (decreasing - ha ha!) circles - that it's easy to forget how good the first outings were. They were really, really good - and one of the few old sitcoms that still hold up now. I hope to god I never have to see the 'batman and robin' scene AGAIN shown as a 'funniest moment, like, evaaah' clip.. The average age of BBC1 viewers is now 60. BBC2 is older. Hence the feeble 'hey - remember when you were younger, guys?' re-makes.

I hope ITV follow suit and does a Benny Hill update as well. The hilarious antics of a middle-aged man sexually assaulting teenage girls (accompanied by hysterical canned laughter) should bring back tremendous memories for anyone who misses that comedy gold from days gone by.

A few mm for a loft maybe, not an inch! (pedants corner)

Bits and wood and brick chucked up on the fly, stuffed with rubble and brown paper, no foundations. Yours for ?100 (in 1895)

Bugger erm.. anything else I can 'help' with, just ask..

It was all remote, but trouble free - he was very helpful. Although ours was relatively straightforward and we got lucky with a bit of leftover 'curve' from the existing bannister after it was cut - which could be re-used to make it flow better. Actually thinking back, I sent a spindle but in the end it was just used as a reference for height and we just picked a template from the pages of varieties of his website. He said most spindles in old houses were made up on the spot as they threw the house together so there are small variations everywhere from one house to the next. If you have to have a 'totally exact' spindle match, it involves a lot of extra setup work and cost. Some of the templates were pretty near - you don't notice the difference really. Matching the handrail profile was really worth it though - that makes a big difference. It was fitted by our builders at the time (they worked out the measurements / numbers required for me to give to him). I don't know if he measures and fits, but some jobs must need seeing in the flesh if they're more complex. A complicated bespoke curve is going to cost a bit of wedge though!

website here http://www.stairguys.co.uk

Got ours done by 'Old Basing' also know as 'The Stair Guy'. We wanted continuous but when he explained how tall the 'turn' would need to be to get from one level up the the higher one it become clear it would be very costly and wouldn't really look right anyway. Depends how tight your turn is, obvs every case is different. In the end, he did a fine job on matching the hand rail (posted him a thin section of our existing rail) - did the same with a spindle - and he has a great array of newel posts to choose from, so in the end it all worked out really well. [email protected]

I can't say 'craft shop' fills me with tremendous excitement, but anything that isn't an estate agent or identikit curry house is good news. Hopefully it will return The Spirit Of Ralon back to LL - with CCTV, tripwires and a machine gun nest guarding the Staedtler pen carousel.

malumbu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do you like having curtains symetrical and > pictures hung level? yes

Jah Lush Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The greengrocer went out of business because the > owner couldn't be bothered to run it. I thought it was more to do with a family dispute over the lease? (gossip, gossip, chatter chatter)

The only people I know who chose to be buried (which is, admittedly, not many) chose it partly because it 'is' a public, permanent and living memorial - 'here I am' - as opposed to scattered on a hilltop or whatever. From a non-mourning point of view, I like seeing cemeteries and think the changes are a big improvement. Perhaps a few well-spaced / carefully placed ornamental trees would be a good compromise?

It's a bit like what happened with the football - about which other likeminded individuals also enjoy chatting about regularly. Every day there used to be a new thread about, umm, Gazza's new boots or Rudi Voller's latest haircut etc etc. It wasn't exactly 'taking over' but it was enough to irritate some, certainly enough to comment. Then someone started a thread called football focus, where all comments about hair and boots could be corralled - unless something 'wider' in the football world cropped-up, such as what flavour crisps Lineker was promoting or some such revelation, in which case a new thread seemed reasonable because it was in the wider public interest. It seemed a natural development and - basically - it stopped some people using the multiple threads as an opportunity to poke fun at people who seemed unnaturally obsessed with men kicking balls and their hair. But obviously there aren't really any rules, so do and say whatever you like, wherever you like, just as others have on this thread. That's the deal, innit?

I MISS THE DRAWING ROOM THESE DAYS