AbDabs

There's dodgy and there's dodgy. A young man hanging around a playground may be doing so because he knows there will be lots of distracted mums not keeping enough of an eye on their handbag. Let's take heed of the warning and watch bags and children but also remember that there are some terribly lonely people out there with limited social skills and whose attempts to make contact with the rest of the human race may come across badly at times.

But they're not just any daffodils, those are Northcross Road daffodils.....

I refuse to sponsor anyone to do anything simply because it always involves some of my cash being used to pay for the event/holiday itself (OK, so a kids' sponsored silence might get me to open my purse, as long as the orange squash and biscuits after are being given by the mums for free). If you want a holiday then I hope you have a nice time but pay for it yourself. The most efficient way of giving to charity is a monthly direct debit. Then they know what their funding will be and can budget work accordingly. If you gift aid it they get the tax back which is worth a lot. Money that comes in in dribs and drabs from small sponsored events actually costs quite a lot to administer so it's terribly wasteful.

sillywoman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hmm, still no sensible answer to my perfectly > reasonable (or so I thought) question (though I do > appreciate your comment Monica). . . looks like > I'll have to rely on my own moral code for this > one. Best to leave them on the ground. It may seem a waste of the additional joy that you might get but it would only be you benefiting. And, whilst your intentions might be reasonable, your actions could be misinterpreted. It's not just that someone might get cross by what they think they see, but that someone else might interpret your picking flowers (without noticing that you are only choosing the damaged ones) as an indication that it's OK for them to do the same.

Brendan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Are you talking about a Btech? As is Bachelor of > Technology? > > As someone who?s first undergrad degree was a > Btech I can assure you have to finish school (or I > suppose get your ?Ey Levels as it?s called over > here) before you even start on a 4 year programme > of study. Btecs aren't the same as Btechs. The former is a vocational equivalent (so they say) of A levels.

I wish I had been taught Latin. The rest of my family did, and whilst they all admit it was a hideous and painful experience at the time, they also report how useful it was to learn such structured grammar when they went on to a range of other European languages (which they then found very easy). Without that basic understanding of how languages are structured, I failed dismally. I also wish I'd had lessons in metalwork and woodwork - but perhaps only a term of each. A GCSE of combined practical and life skills would be useful (to include finance and cooking) to everyone and provide a taster of what might be interesting for those who aren't academically minded but, otherwise, I think there is a terrible risk of a late starter being sent down a path that doesn't give any alternative options at the end of it. If you get a maths GCSE but hate maths, it's still got a place on your CV. If you get a GCSE in woodwork but then decide you want to work in an office you may regret it. By the way, I am an engineer - the lack of metalwork/woodwork meant we had one 'catch up' lesson at University so that we could complete the necessary project work. That was sufficient. Those that hadn't been taught any applied (as well as pure) maths had a much harder time of it. I'd also like to make the point that if you're inclined to the practical side of engineering you will still need adequate competency in English/Maths/IT to deal with the administration that goes with all but the most menial of tasks. (Contracts/health and safety/taxman) When I was at school we had elocution classes. For those who are not academically able it's a shame that this isn't an option. Every time I ring up a call centre on my mobile and find it impossible to hear the person at the other end, it makes me wonder how much easier it would be if they'd had a few hours of 'How Now Brown Cow'

At 7am on a Sunday you'd barely need a traffic cone to keep the workers safe from traffic. Surely two men with stop/go boards would be enough. Or is there some sudden rush of traffic that I've never seen. So let's see; one truck, one van, two men to do the work and two men to hold the stop/go boards. Half an hour for someone in the office to write the method statement, half a tonne of blocks/bricks, three bags of cement, some sand, a wheelbarrow and a cement mixer.......... Has anyone done the sums yet? James, if they do come back with an argument for 'improving' the roundabout, to whom do I write to request a copy of their calculations (Freedom of Information Act request)? It should be a good laugh to see what they come up with.

Marmora Man Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Jeremy, > > It affects me because the tattoos are, invariably, > on public parade and, as I find them ugly, this > affects my aesthetic pleasure in crowded places. > > Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - and so is > lack of beauty and ugliness. I prefer to be > surrounded by beauty. If only they were always on show. I wish everyone with a tattoo hidden under their clothes had some sort of indicator tattoo in an obvious place. Nothing worse than suddenly finding one at an intimate moment. (I've always found them a little icky - I don't mind seeing them on people in the street but not on skin that I might otherwise want to kiss/touch)

Scruffy Mummy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just wanted to weigh in on the issue of plastic vs > cloth bags vs paper bags issue - there has been > some talk recently about this - particularly due > to the environmental impact on making cloth bags > vs reusing platic ones. Here is a link to an > article: > > http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-liv > ing/plastic-fantastic-carrier-bags-not-ecovillains > -after-all-2220129.html > > But as the article points out: > > 'All bags have an impact. The best solution would > be to use a cotton bag several hundred times, > probably using it constantly for years. If you are > not going to do that, a plastic bag ? re-used as a > bin liner ? is the next best option, better than > paper. Avoid accepting a plastic bag unless you > need one, though.' There was something about this on the television a few weeks back. I think they said you had to use a heavy duty plastic bag (the sort you normally pay for) at least 40 times to be equivalent to a modern thin supermarket bag. I got given some cotton bags when I bought clothes in white stuff, and use them instead. They go in the washing machine every few weeks. I've still got my East Dulwich SNUB bag which I use for heavy stuff but I don't see many others with them even though there were lots to start. What happened to them all? The bit about bin-liners is important. If you say no to a supermarket bag and then buy a roll of bin liners, what's the point?

Lishyloo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > People who buy property in built up areas of shops > restauraunts bars ect should exspect a level of > noise it's common sense. This was the reason I > never wanted to live on lordship lane. Get a grip. Are you a newby Lishyloo? Lordship Lane hasn't been full of bars/restaurants for very long. There are lots of old people living in the streets just off LL and they must have bought years before any of the noisy bars opened

Footpaths are marked on OS maps. I haven't actually used the customised service but might be worth a try Customised OS maps

Make sure you tailor your CV to each and every job. It's so easy to see that someone has spent hours polishing the only CV they've got, which means it fits only one job. Chances of finding that one job are quite small.

henryb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > The cost argument is persuasive but if bad lorry > drivers are regularly trashing the roundabout then > shouldn?t a camera be put up to catch them. Start > fining these people not pandering to them. How many years of repairs (4 x a year) of a couple of men and a barrowload of bricks and cement (in the early hours of Sunday morning for safety) could you get for the same as the cost of re-profiling the roundabout? By the time the money has run out, we'll all be using other forms of transport.

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- He also revealed that > Goose Green roundabout defies highway planners by > having an unprecedented low collission rate. Uh, if it's so safe, why would they want to change it? Isn't doing something that might make it more dangerous opening the council up to legal proceedings if there's an accident with the new profile? The odd lorry will always take things a bit too tight, it doesn't matter where the wall is. If they make the roundabout smaller, they'll just have faster cars going past when they want to repair the damage.

Only 6 objections on the licensing register so it looks like the locals don't care that much. Or maybe they don't think that if this bar gets an extension all the others will do the same. I don't think you have to be right next door to complain. You only have until tomorrow to complain if you want to.