fl0wer

Yes, I think relocation would be preferable as anything like a screen could make it easier for break-ins when shops are closed. Evidently, from other recent reports here in the EDF, street crime needs to be prevented along here as well.

The street clutter of rubbish stacked outside the Forest Hill Rd Co-Op surfaced as an important concern locally, on a thread started the other day about that shop's coming re-fit. In fact several stores along that section of street are allowed territory across the pavement, including outdoor seating and awnings. In some parts they take up most of the room for pedestrians, as they do on Lordship Lane. Possibly there are old tenancy agreements giving shopkeepers rights to use a certain width, meant originally for merchandise display, etc. Walkers then have to weave through a narrow space between the diners and - yes - the bins you mention. These clearly contain rotting fish scraps and have done ever since I came to the area. Worst in sultry weather but always noisesome and probably flytippers put more stuff there overnight. People regularly complain and industrial-sized containers are given an occasional purge by the company that operates them. The rubbish cannot be good business for it puts many of us off using those eateries. The street is not the right site for bulk or weekly-emptied bins at all IMHO. In warmer cities they have dustmen coming round every 24 hrs. Food refuse is taken away before it decomposes. Restaurateurs don't allow the rubbish outside until closing time, when it's the last job of kitchen staff to put it ready for midnight collection. I think as the climate is changing Public Health is going to have to order rubbish circuits more often but who will pay for this extra attention? And how many folks asleep in flats nearby will appreciate that crash of the waste lorries coming round?

A reminder to everyone to be conscious of bonfires and bonfire parties' impact on the domestic animals and on the wildlife, and to encourage your neighbours the same. If you plan to torch that heap of branches & garden scraps you accumulated during the summer, it probably already contains some creatures. The best thing is to light a small new amount of kindling elsewhere, and collect branches from the heap, rather than inserting your firelighters into the existing pile which will just turn it into a biodiversity funeral pyre. On which topic, what's mankind's fascination with fire? No sooner do the designers sanitise our indoor environments for the minimalist look, than we're outside scrabbling around with charcoals and barbecues, or warming the mood of those bare interiors with rows of little flames a.k.a. tea lights. The skill of fire-making gave Homo Sapiens power. People need to understand their craving and learn to handle it wisely if we're going to leave an Earth fit for the grandchildren.

Solicitors always charge you the maximum they think they can get away with. "Venal" is the word to bear in mind. I think what you do next depends on whether you intend to work with him over the coming months, or whether it was a one-off. If I were you I would find someone else, anyway. The signs of this being a good working relationship aren't good. The SRA makes it clear, so armed with the code of conduct you would have every reason to raise: not being told charges in advance; inaccuracies contained in his report; VAT omission; writing/email time extra; etc. Another tactic (I used it successfully once) to make this pass quickly is to send them the amount you SHOULD have been charged, with a letter explaining why you consider their higher amount unjustified. The firm then does a sum. They find it'll actually cost them a silly amount more to send you letters insisting they be paid the rest, than it would to accept your explanation and shut up.

Surprised to see this item suddenly catch people's eye - thanks for contributions so far. Bellenden Belle, please could you support "the company has an annual turnover of 18 million with 4.4 million coming from statutory funding" with a reference? I understand the viewpoint re: sainthood. It gives me the red alarm light too. My reservations about ALL charity in general, is that it keeps in place the status quo which necessitates it, the appalling things that happen in the world being a continuous cycle. Instead of the strong setting in place systems that prevent people from collapsing or being exploited to death. The history of efforts to deal with The Poor in Victorian times is very illuminating in this regard. But I think Kids Company has a better, perhaps more curative mission. It would be good to look at this aspect, what happens to its clients as they grow older? What do they say about it as they look back, do they feel it made a difference to their prospects long-term?

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/uk-garden-bridge-150m-thames-south-bank-soho

Piaf, perhaps as you have so many you could donate a sack to each of the chazzers, that would help them sort the contents fairly. Sometimes when I see their back rooms piled up with donations, and the way clothes seep out on display dirty and badly-priced, it's clear they haven't got a perfect system.

Sense on Rye Lane (past Peckham Rye Station, down towards Mothercare) Mind (at the bottom of Lordship Lane/ Goose Green roundabout) St Christopher's (a small and a large shop) on Lordship Lane

a) If it's marked up as sustainably sourced and has a contact system for checking, as commenter Penguin68 above writes, someone follow it up, please, who has got the details, then let us know what you find? b) Real teak it is most unlikely to be. There are various ways to create a passable imitation, not the least amongst them felling some different rainforest species. c) Whether it lasts all wooden outdoor items start to rot after one season. The best thing is to bring furniture indoors each year. Also treat it regularly with wood preservative. d) Free outdoor furniture This district has so much freebie outdoor furniture available on the street! Mostly folding chairs, rather hard seats to be sure, and sometimes with a special surprise 'jackknife' action to catch the unwary guest. However, with a few handy repairs, they can be rehabilitated. Even got the round table of your dreams sometimes.....

I don't know whether it's an old wives tale or not, but if you are breastfeeding and suddenly bad bouts of wind affect the baby afer her night-time feed, it might be worth thinking about the evening meals you've been eating and whether your diet's different since the problem began. Long ago we were taught to avoid gas-inducing foods, and caffeine, in the lactation phase diet as things crossed into breast milk & into the baby - so it was said. .....I'm thinking kale, fresh apples & pears, nuts, all seasonal & delightful, but their effect on digestion is somewhat noticeable....

It wouldn't matter, Burbage, but NHS administrators draw fat salaries producing this tosh while nurses are kept on the lowest salaries possible.

Ah that is reassuring. Personal recommendation, good. All the best then.

Saw a black ladybird with red spots outdoors on rose twigs, today, so looked up online. Nice BBC picture page to help sort them out here => http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14043356

Dear Eedee, lots of people are reading your post and nobody is recommending. Sorry to say I know of couples who wasted a great deal of money [and hope] on private couple counselling. I assume that because men and women are different and because after a long time at close quarters with one other person, we know their faults as well as their virtues, some professionals find ways to capitalise. There is Relate, even though they have a long waiting list the people who work there are very experienced, safe and thoughtful. One tutor I had remarked that when couples go for counselling they're not talking sufficiently with each other to solve problems. His idea was, why wait for a professional to fix that for you? Bon courage!

Sorry, but I am going to bring your well-meaning, jargon infested document to the attention of EDF readers. From the above link, this line especially caught my eye. "*There should be a communications and engagement plan that seeks to reach all sections of the community." Look: The plan needn't "seek to reach..." it needs to actually REACH; and not "all sections of the community" but EVERYONE. We can all blither on about 'seeking' things, or how stuff 'should' happen. As for 'sections of communities', where do they exist? Here are its other lines - readers, feel free to get cracking with your Plain English pea-shooters. "*The consultation supports the development of community-based health services, and in particular services for people with long term conditions. *The CCG should talk to NHS Property Services (the current owners) about the Dulwich Hospital site and the development of a significant health centre ?hub?. *Plans should include improving the quality of primary care and community service provision. *Local people value good quality general practice and the CCG should build on this. *The CCG should develop services in a way that supports integration, continuity of care and which are located in a way that reflects the care pathway. *Access and transport are critical factors in the plans we are developing, and the hub or centre should be located in a way that maximises transport opportunities. *Service users should be involved in design."

Having endured a house with flood problems, I'll say do your research carefully. Two questions definitely: 1. What sort of flood water entered the basement? - it was rain, but was it clear, clean from a temporarily high water table? There might be a disused well, deep beneath the house. - or was it sewage and mud laden? Foul problem and health hazard. Climate change brings heavier rainfall, and the responsibility for updating Victorian street systems and overflows rests with Thames Water. 2. How many times did it happen, how deep was the basement filled, & what did the clear up entail? Depending on what courage and resources you have, the hazard could be turned into a price advantage. The present owners might be having trouble selling and you could work your offer around what remedial measures are necessary.

Between Melford Rd turn-off, and Camberwell Old Cem, a black plastic bin lid was adrift along Wood Vale this afternoon. I put it on a front garden wall.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/29/lewisham-hospital-jeremy-hunt-unlawful

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- "The supermarket in > question is the only major supermarket that allows > its members a say in how their organisation is run > - and a share in the profits. But you don't want > to be a member because you don't want them to know > whether you buy Napolina or shops-own?" The Co-Operative as an organisation is in dire financial trouble and we are only just getting the background story, so there isn't much point in cluttering up this thread off topic. Loyalty cards across the whole system do not serve the customers, however cleverly they pretend by offering you pointlets, etc. They were invented to help track all purchasing by computer so that only the most *profitable* products, aimed at richer clientele, get store space devoted to them. To repeat the question, ....In the refitted shop, what grocery products would we like to see more of? Do you end up having to go elsewhere to find your everyday favourites? The little hard-working local Forest Hill grocery store is getting repaired and here's wishing them the best of luck.

And a special troll's funeral is available..... http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/co-operative-funeralcare-apologises-after-dispatches-investigation

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you're keen on the Co-Op but a resisting that > membership card, then 'the point' of the Co-Op has > passed you by. No *Bob* once again: It's what computers enable markets to do with all our amassed data that is of present concern. Plenty of folk would willingly accept a return to the old-style dividend.

What are your 'real world basics', then? Let's use this thread to collect up everyone's requests....go on, GET carried away! Listed mine to get people started - live very modestly too, labelling them neither magic nor deluxe.

It would be interesting to know who is in overall charge of redesigning the titchy space, wouldn't it? The cardboard is kept outside to reduce fire hazard. Using customer loyalty cards is presently the way Big Supermarket computer-tracks its highest profit goods and then orders branch store managers what to stock and how much space to devote to luxury goods. This is how your corner store is manipulated into an outlet for posh ready-meals, pre-washed salad flown in from Florida, and 6 kinds of Chardonnay. Many of us resist the card system which aims blatantly to record those shoppers with the deepest wallets. All modestly priced, wholesome, local or minority things inevitably get sidelined, once the loyalty card data is collected the shelves will be restocked with what earns the most. FWIW I think decent bread is a really worthwhile 'basic' - the staff of life. Looseleaf tea is healthier than anything in a dioxin-bleached teabag. (Research 'dioxin' if you need convincing.) I think organically grown carrots taste light years better than agrichemically grown ones. If places like the Co-Op wanted to sponsor this sort of crop it would make a big difference, not just to the growers, but to public taste. Soon everyone would prefer better veg. Co-Op began well with fair trade and compassion in farming but consolidating, furthering this, our money has the most power - loyalty cards or not.

You going to write a positive post for us on the EDF, *Bob*, any time soon? What foods would you prefer?

Hurrah! and with acknowledgements to the incredibly good-tempered staff who, along with us, endured cramped aisles and awful noisy smelly old freezers for so long.... ....In the refitted shop, what grocery products would you like to see? Do you end up having to go elsewhere to find your everyday favourites? Looseleaf Earl Grey tea, organic butter organic medium cheddar cheese (appreciating already the organic milk, and yoghourt), Crank's WW Bread, and organically grown carrots could become available in this branch and I believe plenty of us would appreciate them, also it would be great to see the Co-Op extend its ethical policy re: free range eggs, to take up a zero tolerance attitude to intensively reared meat.