Nigello

Remember that the big airlines often do very good deals, even on long-haul routes. A return trip, including all taxes, on BA to NYC can be as low as ?400 sometimes, and you get full-frills on a very established and reputable airline.

Flat tax?

Siduhe , Why not - at the very least - speak to the drivers and see what they say? If no joy, take a picture and email it to the bus company. It may move things more quickly than relying on a councillor to intervene, welcome thought that may be.

Maybe it will become - gasp - a chain restaurant, such as Pizza Express, Nando's or Cafe Rouge. Would prefer that to a coffee shop but I think a convenience shop is still more, er, convenient and useful!

Sakes

Ring Southwark council and ask for the tree department and you may be lucky. (020) 7525 2000 (5000 is the switchboard). Also, ask Cllr James Barber who has a thread on here. If you fall in his ward he will be able to advise.

Pidgeon seems a good choice, mainly because she has been in active opposition for a long time and her knowledge and commitment has been acknowledged by both the main candidates.

The empty tree pit at the Crystal Palace Road bus stop on LL (just before the Sainsbury's) has been replanted. Another, outside Sainsbury's, has also been replanted (I think). It's good news, especially since we had been told that tree pits had to be 1m x 1m for any new planting. (I had written to the tree person at Southwark who said that that rule was very likely to stand even for the replacement of trees in the smaller, standard-sized pits.) Anyone else seen any empty pits newly replanted?

The arm of my glasses has bent. They're still wearable but they fold back badly - the nicely cushioned spring seems to have gone. Where is a good place in SE22/15 to get them repaired? Thanks

This would confirm my sighting (see above) of her at the EDPH one rainy winter's night, complete with black brolly. Remember the cover of "Gentlemen Take Polaroids"? It was an SE22 version of that (in my mind, at least).

You too can marvel at how many items of trash can possibly be jammed onto the green telecoms cabin on your opposite corner, and witness first-hand the never-gone-for-long rubbish heap just a few cautious steps away!

Happens more often than you may have thought, especially when you buy the "orange sticker" reduced items. I've had a fair few problems in Co-Op, fewer at Tesco and never at Iceland (RIP!)

Cathay has a sale on at the moment so it may be that the fares from HK are similarly low. No idea about Philippine Airlines but if there is a stopover it will add a couple of hours to an already long flight.

Was it an even older person doing the swearing? I think even a back-handed/unintentional compliment when delivered with a swear word somewhat takes away from the pleasure.

Banh Banh (Vietnamese restaurant near to Peddler/Rosie's) says on its Twitter feed that it will be in open by mid-April.

020 7525 2000 is the number to call. Generally, Southwark is good at removing dumped items and clearing up mess, etc.

I increasingly think that walking (or using a wheelchair/mobility scooter) is a better option than any other. Yes, it is time consuming and sometimes unpleasant if it is too warm/cold/wet but packed buses (yes, with people eating on them!) and busy roads (which may put people off cycling) mean that being under your own steam is preferable and not that much slower at times. What is Southwark doing for the pedestrian (apart from painting double yellows around corners)?

Powder, near Sainsbury's at the Plough end of LL, is now open, selling cosmetics (and perhaps more, but I couldn't see in when I passed quickly).

Penguin68 I wrote to our MP and asked precisely that. I got a reply saying it would be looked at so when I get the full response, I will let people know. I pointed out that with more people living on bus routes that feed SE22 (the new developmentsin and around Camberwelll will add hundreds of new residents) then overcrowding would get worse.

It's your money that's going to waste and I really would prefer the ever-slimmer resources to be used more realistically. Three police officers walking together chatting to each other (and not therefore necessarily taking note of what's going on around them) is reasonably common to see. Why would anyone - including a cretin - think that it is good to have such a waste of resources? Why would stop at nine? Go the whole hog and send twenty! Again - it's your money that's being used poorly so when your car is broken into or your wallet is pickpocketed and the police tell you they can't justify coming out to you, you (plural, not anyone in particular) may think differently.

9 vs 1? Hmmm. ANother example of emergency service overkill.

Eating food of any kind on a bus or train is not good sense, let alone good manners. Things spill, not everyone is likely to do the right thing and dispose of food and packaging correctly and some foods and drinks do smell unpleasant. Neutral behaviour ought to be the name of the game in public spaces like transport. (I've had to pull people up from dropping freshly-sucked peach stones on the bus floor and eating a ketchup-enhanced chiili burgers in a packed Tube train and would do it again.) Nobody needs to eat on a bus, except perhaps a very young child/baby or a diabetic every now and then. If you are hungry, go to Le Chandelier and eat your food in the correct place (to get this thread back on track!)

Mick Mac - It wasn't a go at you at all. It was just a general thought. My point was that sometimes it's OK to bring in a buggy/bulging rucksack/kitchen sink, but not always (which is not what plenty of people think). Proprietors are put in a very difficult position so I would prefer it if people just thought a bit before thinking it's always OK to do what they want. I can't say I hold out much hope.....

It is common sense that not everyone can accommodate a pushchair so I think it is fair for cafes to (sometimes) say no, politely - in the same way they would to someone who was carrying large amounts of luggage, for example. Nobody is going to run off with a buggy, especially if it is being eyed from the inside by the owner so it's not too much of an ordeal to be asked to not bring it in. People shouldn't take it as a slight or an assault on their (or their baby's) sense of self (but I have seen reactions that fit that description, alas).

Keep washing your hands and do it more often than you think you need to. I know it is not going to stop everyone from catching bugs, but it does help. (Anti-bacterial gels kill some bugs; washing your hands gives them - including viruses - nowhere to stick.) Rub your eyes with the back of your hand; push the bell on the bus with your knuckle; do same with cashpoints or in the lift; get a flu jab; sleep as much as you can. All of these can help but we all fall ill eventually.