BigED

Does anyone have a phone number for Jeff the fish van man from North Cross Road market? If so, please send me it in a DM. It used to be on this site somewhere but I can't find it now. Lost the number when my old phone keeled over. Thanks BigED

if it's any consolation, food waste bins went uncollected in our street in Forest Hill last week. The bin now seems to be a fly factory. Which is nice.

If you can travel further afield you will get better food... Water House, Albion St, Rotherhithe (not as good as it used to be, but decent Hunanese menu) Sichuan Restaurant, Busby's Way, North Greenwich (next to Odeon cinema) Sichuan Grand, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford (opposite Theatre Royal) Master Wei Xi'An, Cosmo Place, Bloombsbury (nr Russell Sq) - Shaanxi cuisine, lots of biang biang noodle dishes I've had mixed experiences of Wuli Wuli - very good and a bit rubbish, for the same dishes on different occasions. The only time i went to Silk Road, their only seafood option wasn't available and the non-meat dishes amounted to noodles, with a few fried onions. As I was there with a non-meat eater it didn't rate highly. My meat dishes were forgettable. And Dragon Castle near Elephant was mainly memorable for a Chinese customer racing to the door and vomiting copiously in the entrance. No idea if that was the food but that memory and the mediocre plates we ordered didn't warrant a second trip. One other place that is good is KaoSarn, Brixton Lane (in Brixton Market) - good and cheap Thai food. Excellent green papaya salad.

They are building flats and/or town houses. I think they are only retaining the front on Silvester Road. A quick check of the Southwark Planning pages should give you all the details you need. Or at least, all that are available. The garage/workshop between the sorting office and what was an old corner shop is a separate property and belongs to neither the sorting office nor to the properties on the corner.

The big drivers for pizza's world takeover: 1 - children love it (well, lots of them do) 2 - you can get away with poor table manners - seriously, who eats a whole pizza with a knife and fork 3 - the profit margins are huge - it's very cheap to produce so, provided you get enough customers, you can make a canny profit for relatively little outlay. (Ignoring set-up costs, refurbs, etc).

I think you can still see the old name in the tiling over the awning - The Victory. It was SE22 Bar at the end of the 90s with good, affordable bar snacks. And then it became Franklin's and, though good, the prices pushed it well outside the casual cheap lunch option that I thought I was signing up for when I moved to ED. Little did I realise then how much more of this stuff there would be coming down the line. (I do like Franklin's bar nd still go there, but it is a bit pricey. Go on, admit it.)

People living in LB Lewisham have had to pay for a brown bin garden waste collection for a couple of years now. Can't remember exactly how much- ?60-70, but it is only collected for part of the year (not much call from Nov to Feb, for example). People with low need for this service seem to: hide their garden waste in among their household waste / acquire Southwark paper garden waste bags and leave them in the street / use normal bin bags and dump it in the street / or, like our near neighbours, throw it over the fence into the alley - presumably on the basis that if THEY can't see their garden waste then it doesn't exist. Oh, and very occasionally, people load up their car and go to the tip. Lewisham council tip is more restrictive than Southwark - no rubble, no soil, no DIY waste - so it's a wonder they still take garden clippings. Christmas trees - if you live in LB Lewisham, there is no collection from homes - you have to drag your sorry tree to the nearest municipal park where they are eventually collected. But of course, some people find it easier to just dump them in the street. And others have a bonfire with them (in their gardens, not the street, though that wouldn't surprise me either). Bulky waste collections - ?15 for three items (quite a restrictive list) in Lewisham (fridges are ?30, mattresses free, though people still dump them in the street); ?16 for 10 items in Southwark. When Southwark is as bad at refuse and recycling as Lewisham, you'll have my sympathy. Until then, I shall continue to dream of Southwark's waste and recycling paradise...

Wasn't the Cherry Tree (in an earlier incarnation) where the great train robbers finally met up for a celebration drink having pulled off the big heist (and maimed the British Rail driver in the process)?

Excellent news - booked my tickets. I've seen Otway a number of times over the years, both solo and with Wild Willy Barrett and he is great entertainment - and great songs too. Looking forward to this.

Boiler/heating engineer recommendation We recently had a new boiler installed by Billy Hunter of Hunter Heating Solutions (who we found via recommendations on the EDF). It was a big piece of work - they had to remove the old back-boiler and gas fire in the living room and install a new combi-boiler in another room in a way that accommodates building work happening next year. They took out the old immersion heater and water tank in the roof too, ran new pipes hither and thither, cleaned up after themselves... And following some remedial work by Transco (the pressure from the gas mains was too low - nothing to do with Billy's work), we now have a fully working boiler and a house that's warm. Billy responded quickly to emails and came round to talk us through options a second time when we decided we wanted to change the location for the incoming boiler. He may not be the cheapest on the market, but we got three contractors to visit, one never gave us a quote at all and another gave a higher quote, so Billy's quote was the lowest in our case and we are very happy with the work he and his colleagues have done. Happy to answer PMs if you want more information. Billy's contact details: [email protected] 07986 296453

Looks great. Are you doing wreath-making sessions this year, or have I missed them?

There is the Parkhall business centre in West Dulwich. May not be close enough to suit and it is geared to people who want to rent an office space, rather than a desk. Not sure about what constitutes expensive but some prices of available spaces in this link. https://www.workspace.co.uk/workspaces/parkhall/spaces/pe-d119

Thanks to all who have replied. I have a few tradespeople who have put themselves forward. If anyone has had someone in to do similar work then I would be happy to hear their recommendations. Otherwise, I will work my way through the list, especially where I can see other recommendations for the tradespeople on EDF, checkatrade or similar forums. (For info, the work would probably need to be carried out sometime in July). BigED

Hello, We will need a qualified electrician to install an armoured cable running from the house to the site of a new shed at the end of the garden. Total length likely to be 12-13 metres. If you have had someone do something similar for you, or know someone who does that kind of thing, please let me know. Thanks, BigED

Hello We need a couple of quotes for some basic demolition and concreting. The job will involve: - breaking up and removing a concrete path base (probably 9m x 0.5m) - breaking up and removing an existing concrete base (for a concrete slab shed we are demolishing ourselves)- approx 2m x 2.5m (depth not known) - skip hire for disposal of concrete - laying a new concrete base in a new position, about 3.5m x 3m x 0.1m (10cm) deep If you have had someone do something similar and were happy with their work, or you know of somebody good who does this sort of thing, please let me know. I am putting in a separate post for laying an armoured cable to run electrics from the house to the back of the garden. It is a separate job requiring a qualified electrician, but it is part of the same project. If you (or someone you know) can do both then just let me know. Thanks very much, BigED

Hello, We are looking for a structural engineer to do some calculation sheets, detailed drawings including steelwork and general arrangement drawing. We already have plans. It is for a standard loft extension (permitted development) in a 1930s terraced house where there will also be a load bearing wall removed on the ground floor. We have had one quote already but would like to get at least one more. Can anyone recommend someone they have worked with for something similar? Anyone doing the calculations and drawings would need to be appropriately qualified and insured. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. BigED

Log every issue - date, nature of problem, impact on you (e.g. you had to return it, take extra time off, etc.) Estimate the amount of time you have taken off in excess of what would have been required had the right good been delivered and installed correctly. Calculate the cost to you - and realistically charge in half day blocks unless you really do work by the hour. Write a letter setting out all of the problems and including your estimate of time spent so far. Attach an invoice for the financial cost to you. Emphasise that you will go to the small claims court if you do not hear from them in writing by... give them two full weeks to respond. Send the letter to the most senior person you can find a record for anywhere online (try linkedin, company reports and accounts, etc.) - could be chief exec, head of customer relations, etc. Send the letter registered post (not just recorded delivery). While you are waiting for their response, go on social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin - set up a new specific account if you need to) and keep letting them know that you sent them a letter x days ago and they have y days remaining to respond. Do that every day, and make sure it isn't just sent as a private message to them. If you don't hear from them, don't wait longer - apply to the small claims court. You should have all the evidence needed from your letter, you will have evidence that the letter was delivered (I think you can track that online - check at the post office) and signed for... And leave feedback everywhere. (Nothing libellous - just factual). And finally, if you get good service from someone sometime, try to leave them some positive feedback. You've been unlucky and Hammonds have shown absolutely no customer service. Good luck. BigED

I've always liked them in there too. Though it hasn't been the same since they fixed the leak in the roof just inside the door.

So long as the board is on the shop's space and not on the public pavement, I think it is up to us pedestrians to walk round it. As nxjen says, otherwise it is a bit like wandering through someone's front garden and asking them to move their stuff because you want to carry on walking uninterrupted. As for people cycling on the pavement, don't get me started...

Yes, pavements are for pedestrians, But the space at the front of the shops generally belongs to the shop. So if they want to stick up a sandwich board then that is their right. So long as they don't encroach on the public thoroughfare.

It's a never-ending battle. You can never win in any absolute sense, but the more you make it difficult for them, the fewer of them you will end up sharing your home with. 1. Starve them out - Put all mouse foodstuffs in sealable jars, tubs etc. Put them in a high cupboard if possible. - clean up scrupulously - don't leave any crumbs anywhere. If you use a toaster, keep it in a high cupboard. And check the crumb tray from time to time. There may things that look lilke crumbs but aren't (says the person who once turned on a toaster and heard a sparking noise which, on switching off the toaster, turned out to be a mouse in his local restaurant). - put traps out - but if you want to keep the place tidy, store your mouse poison in a sealed container - mice love some makes of poison and will happily chew open the packets and distribute the contents far and wide. - vaccum and clean (with disinfectant) surfaces regularly. Daily on food prep surfaces. (Mice follow their scent trails - they love the smell of yesterday's wee, a bit like an old tramp). Block them out - seal up any gaps you find with wire wool. - keep checking - they will just gnaw a new hole next to the wire wool, given a bit of time. - get your neighbours to do the same things - if they are breeding happily next door, at some point they will want to explore new territory for food. - repeat the starving/blocking steps above. Or 2. Scare them away - get a cat. (not perfect, as some have pointed out). - be nice to your neighbour's cat (difficult if it is using your outside space as its toilet). Let it come in for a wander round from time to time. Oh, and get some thick gardening gloves to wear when setting snap traps. They hurt a lot when they go off prematurely with your fingers in the way. Finally, if you have a rat, call a pest control person soon.

Make sure it's a fairly fine mesh - if you can fit a pencil through the gaps in the mesh then a mouse can probably squeeze through it too. Most local hardware shops stock suitably sized mesh. Tell them it's for mice and they will guide you to the right size.

I used to leave unbaited snap traps where they blighters used to emerge or along skirting where they were running. I caught several though that may be partly because there were a lot of them about. But if you know where they are coming from or what route they are going, try putting a few traps in a row or fanned round an entrance. They might not trip one of the springs but sooner or later... One downside was that occasionally I found a mouse with a tail in one trap and a head in another. Still, I wasn't re-using the traps and I considered the investment worthwhile. alex_b's point about making them stay around to eat the bait is probably good advice too. The only thing I couldn't use were the sticky traps - I put them down and a couple of days later all I had caught was a spider. I was uneasy about having to dispatch a stuck mouse and got rid of the traps. I also tried the electric (battery powered) traps that kill mice with an electric shock. They are expensive but worked pretty well. I just got fed up of emptying the traps of their contents. Unless you are intending to re-use snap traps (which would be green but requires stronger nerves than I possess), you can minimise the distance between you and the dead mouse with a couple of simple adaptations. First, tie a piece of string (length up to you, but one to two feet works) to the metal part of the trap. Then lay a couple of sheets of newspaper on the floor/surface where you will put the trap. Make sure the edges of the paper are lying flat as you want the mice to carry on along their usual route. Set the trap and place it in the desired location, on the newspaper. Lay the string away from the trap where it will be easy for you to pick up. When you get a kill, you can use the string to pull the trap and deceased vermin into the middle of the newspaper. Roll the paper, double bag the deceased vermin and trap and put in the rubbish bin.

"limp wrist" noun, Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. 1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a homosexual, especially a male homosexual. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/limp-wrist Other dictionaries are available online and off. Almost all note that "limp wrist" and its derivative forms are impolite or offensive. If you don't know the meaning of the words and phrases you are using, you should consider using only words whose meaning you do understand. Unless, of course, you are just trolling for amusement - though if you are, there are other online fora where you might feel more at home.

Give it a bit of sugar or honey diluted in water. The weather is improving over the week and the hive will be waking up for spring. Unless it isn't a hive kind of bee, in which case it will just go wherever it came from.