Siduhe

I drove past DKH at 6.50am this morning (emergency run into the office to approve some payments going out, then straight home) and there was a queue of cars from the top of Denmark Hill down to the Sainsburys turn off one way and back to the station the other way. Admittedly this will just be people queuing up for the opening of the store but I'm not holding out a lot of hope there will be much left on the shelves looking at those queues. It's just crazy - I can't believe all of those people really needed to do a major shop by car at 7am, but maybe I have that wrong.

yeknomyeknom Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This is an excellent site that delivers food to > food banks if you can?t get to the shops yourself > to help out. > > https://www.bankuet.co.uk Thanks for that. Done!

This is a great idea - I'm Underhill/Melford and happy to help out anyone who is self-isolating in that area.

At least in the case of DKH, I suspect part of it is bulk buying, part of it due to their approach to stock management. I was in there on Friday looking for a small packet of self-raising flour (as we'd run out). The flour aisle had been cleared out of bread flower and plain flour (bulk buying, I'm guessing) but there were still lots of the specialist flours left, sauce flour etc. However, going past a part empty shelf seemed to make people more likely to grab flour for themselves (just in case!) with the result that in the half an hour I was in there, it seemed to have been cleared entirely. I asked a member of staff if they had flour out the back - "yes loads" was the reply - but he also said they wouldn't be stocking that aisle until much later in the evening, so it would have stayed empty all day. I did get the small pack of flour I was after and there was no issue with the stock according to Sainbo's but a picture of the shelves would have made it look like there was some massive flour crisis in ED.

There were hot dogs available on Saturday - didn't try one but they looked good. And the space was lovely and warm this time round so a big improvement.

Well that is exciting! My better half will be thrilled. And weekend opening makes sense to build things up. We'll aim to stop in on Saturday for sure.

brownie17 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I love animals and the search gave me this thread. > I'm sorry for touching your feelings. Oh, so you're not a spammer? Just a fan of coming onto a local South London forum recommending a) Singaporean air condition servicing; b) sleep headphones for sale in the US only and c) cat scratchers? Please. Just take it somewhere else.

We have a Vispring mattress from "bedsareuzzz" - terrible name for a business, but great service (we've brought two matresses from them, 10 years apart) and by far the best on price when we came to buy again. None of their shops are particularly well situated for ED but if you know what you want, they do online sales too.

brownie17 is a purveyor of spam links - a bit more subtle than the average but definitely a spammer.

JohnL Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Raab meeting with EU partners in Brussels before > travelling to US. > > "The so-called ?E3? - Britain, France and Germany > - will then meet to discuss the tensions between > the US and Iran, with all three pushing for > de-escalation, a Foreign Office spokesman said." > > I'd never heard of E3 before. It's all to do with the way that the JCPOA (the original deal with Iran back in 2014) was negotiated and signed. The UK, France and Germany all signed in their individual country capacities and then the EU also signed on behalf of the European Union along with China, Russia and the US. So E3 is just a shorthand for the three European countries that signed individually and who have issued joint statements from time to time on the Iran deal issues, and then E28 gets used whenever the EU makes a statement on behalf of all EU members like the one here - https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/nuclear-safety/34008/eu-28-committed-full-and-effective-implementation-iran-deal_en It's something very specific to the Iran deal not a general EU thing.

Oops. ;-)

Use the ?Resize It? app for IPhone. Is free.

I don't think it's unique to DKH or Sydenham, but there seems to be generally less stock available in Sainsburys, and they've started restocking aisles at peak times, which they never used to do and is really frustrating as it makes it a lot harder to navigate around the store. I assumed it was because they were also picking online orders from the shelves rather than in back or because they run with a skeleton staff at nights when they would otherwise have to pay more for out of hours working.

niall Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Are any local pubs showing the game tonight. Cherry Tree and Old Nun's Head are but the ONH posted recently that all their tables are now booked.

Mark, first thanks for this and for the effort in getting the hustings to happen. In terms of livestreaming, does anyone attending have an Instagram account - just set the phone up somewhere near to the candidates, hit Stories and click the LIVE option. You could even set up an EDCC Insta account just for this and then shut it down afterwards so it wasn't being misused. If I could get out of the office I'd happily do it for you but hopefully someone there might use live stories already and be familiar.

Thanks Mark - I don't suppose any chance of a livestream for those of us that have to be in the office at that time?

Do you mean the ones that appear between threads on desktop? If so, not an intended new feature - see here: /forum/read.php?12,2071974

Have you seen this? /forum/read.php?12,2070893

DWP certainly prefer to make a payment into a bank account, an account with a credit union or a prepaid card which can be reloaded to receive the majority of benefits now that universal credit has been rolled out. Pre-paid cards generally aren't contactless but you can use them like a normal debit card. While most basic bank accounts or credit union accounts offer debit cards as part of the general package, the decision whether to issue one is an individual decision of the bank for any individual account, and the general rule of thumb is the less financially stable you are, the less likely you are to be offered a debit card even on a basic bank account, just a cashcard, so people end up using the account to pay bills via direct debit and taking out cash. It's a real failing (IMHO) of the drafting of the regulations which require the largest current account providers in the UK to offer fee-free basic bank accounts to customers who are either unbanked or who are ineligible for a standard current account. Those people who can't even get a basic bank account (often because they are deemed too high risk because of previous financial difficulties or fraud) have to use something called the Payment Exceptions Service which is a voucher based system.

You're right - I don't have a specific example, but I work with organisations that are focused on financial inclusion and particularly supporting the unbanked, so I think I have a better understanding that most people in my (fortunate) position do about some of the choices that it drives. Completely agree with you on price - I don't use the cafe so can't comment on that directly but I do think that council controlled facilities should be run in a way to make them available to the majority.

If you're someone (like me) who has a bank account, a regular salary or pension and who doesn't think much about buying a coffee on the way to work every day, this undoubtedly seems like a great, convenient idea. However, alongside of the practical issues for the elderly or people who don't work through illness - it's the overall signal this sends which I am uncomfortable with. Going cashless signals to people who rely on cash, and are almost certainly economically vulnerable, that "their kind" aren't welcome to share these spaces. Put yourself in the position of a parent who doesn't have any spare cash, and for whom a once a week treat for their kids at the park cafe is the single luxury they allow themselves to keep within budget - there are plenty of people for whom this is a day to day reality. I count myself incredibly fortunate that I'm not one of them, but it's totally wrong to ignore that in the name of convenience. This move basically tells anyone who is unbanked that they are not as welcome to use our public spaces and council run amenities, when they are exactly the kind of people who need the support most. In the US, a few cities have enacted laws that prevent restaurants from going cashless for exactly this reason. https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/03/cashless-cash-free-ban-bill-new-york-retail-discrimination/584203

The phasing is different at different times of day/weights of traffic. I agree that it can cause a back up of cars towards Lordship Lane when the right turn phase is short, but the aim appears to be to keep the weight of traffic around the South Circular flowing freely. When the right hand turn phase into College Road is short, the equivalent right hand turn out of College Road on to the South Circular towards Forest Hill is much longer, so it appears to be a bit of give and take.

You may be better off posting in the Lounge next time - suspect it got deleted as not ED specific. Admin is pretty strict about that.

I'm not sure if this is really the result of the current live poll in the Times or a clever joke, but it did make me smile:

peckman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Apart from grapes . They cause liver failure . > Personally I woukdnt feed my dog any fruit Including (with apologies for pointing out the obvious, given the above) raisins - even a small amount can be fatal for some dogs.