just_browsing

There is a reason why I think only England and Chile (no idea why) have a fully privatised national water set-up, and why the UN recognises the right to water as a human right - "the right to water entitles everyone to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic use". Whoever is running pension funds should be shifting sharply, if they haven't done so already (and I'm sure they haven't for the most part).

Think I've likely over/misinterpreted this, but the line on " proud British person.. what side of the fence" struck me as a bit odd in relation to the Royal Family (or was it just the word Royal?). Whatever perspective you have on monarchy, I would have thought being skeptical/cynical about having our Royal Family in its current state is a perfectly legitimate "proud British" stance to have - all that taxpayers' money, profiting from our crumbling NHS, plus the challenge to proud democratic (waves around Magna Carta with patriotic pride/naivieté) norms like transparency and equality under the law.. On the post boxes themselves, afraid my own old-fashioned and nostalgic instincts kick in - I rather like them as one of our nation's benign historical legacies/quirks, without interpreting them as royalist bastions. I'll keep an eye out, just like I did for the Olympic gold ones.

Refurb/rebrand - see the New Shops thread. Always good to do a search before posting - often the case that this sort of thing has been raised (/discussed at significant length) already.

I first subscribed to Tortoise two or three years ago, and also subscribe to the Guardian, and eg Byline and various others - I do feel it is important to support good media if you can. Tortoise have done some interesting stuff, tried to really reach out to readership and have been quite trailblazing on topical podcasts too. Having said that, I still can't quite see how it all fits with the Observer and I worry it will make both worse as they have different bases and dynamics in my view.

While I sympathise with the staff, I also wouldn't go out of my way to support H&B - they are far from being a local, independent and I see the investment company that owns it got in various tangles re one of its founders (Russia, sanctions etc). From shopping angle, I used to like them but in recent years (no idea if that coincided with ownership changes) I feel as a brand it's lost its USP and charm. And as per other discussions, would hope the likes of Healthmatters aren't negatively impacted in these really difficult retail times. That's not me wishing they close forthwith, in case it reads that way, just highlighting they aren't the H&B I think they were back in the day.

Our son really doesn't interact with others much and very rarely gets out, but when he does, an ice cream at the cafe is a favourite treat (even when it's freezing outside). Like yours, it's a single-person data point - in our case, no illness. Bugs can come from anything/anyone - other people are far more likely to be the unwitting carriers, in my view. Having gone there for years and years, never had a concern re the ice cream. And generally do worry about linking an establishment with illness/standards, even as a question as, even subconsciously, the association may stick in people's minds (and if they stop the ice cream, we'll be devastated!).

And BYO in Nunhead, and JARR Market in Herne Hill.

You can just walk into Guy's and they will do it(my second vaccine was four months ago). 20 minute wait yesterday.

Sorry to chip in as know it's gone a little off-question, but prompted by previous post as I'm not as convinced by the linked article and the specific point on South Korea. It is not as if the only difference between South Korea and Italy is mask-wearing. South Korea did really impressive and comprehensive testing and tracing, as did some of the other Asian countries whose trajectory has been similar. Correlation doesn't mean causation basically. Look at Germany, the European country which has, along with Iceland, done the most testing and tracing as far as I can see, and where the number of deaths is significantly lower than Italy, Spain, France and UK. Personally, I'm just waiting for official WHO/UK advice to change, if it does, and sorry again as I know this is about purchasing masks, on which there might be a distinction between "proper" PPE ones that those on the frontline need and could still be in short supply vs more basic (but potentially, subject to evidence, still useful especially in terms of not spreading one's own germs) which, as others have said, seem to be available or makeable. Essentially, completely agree people should be able to get and wear masks if they want them, in a way that doesn't deprive those on the frontline, while of course needing to be careful of the risks identified by others - their potential as germ accumulators and false security lullers.

More happy customers, brilliant work to prepare for and lay new turf, including digging out loads of bricks and rubble which we didn?t know were lurking! Saied has been professional, patient, clean and tidy, and attentive throughout, and is a lovely guy too. Highly recommended.

I was about to ask a similar question - we are just in SE15 have Virgin for phone, broadband and TV and have had enough - wifi is very very patchy, phone often doesn't work, and we don't really use the TV - use an Amazon stick to access BBC iPlayer, Netflix etc. We would like a package that includes recordable TV, reliable wifi, and a phone line. Because of the recordable TV objective, I think that really leaves us with Sky, BT or Virgin. We walked away from Sky in a different location years ago, and no idea what their performance is like here, while we have heard mixed local reviews on BT. Any warnings/recommendations? Thanks!

I think I prefer Picasso's efforts as a 14 year old, see attached, but hey

They tagged the building site hoarding opposite too, either as an extended part of their articulate and adroit artistic and social commentary or because, you know, it was there.

Many thanks all. We've ordered in the paint Mehdi used and are working with the paint suppliers and the gallery that represents him to do our best to get it back to its old self. Thanks for tips on varnish (part of question is breathability of varnish but seems the tech may have moved on since we last looked), while with all due respect to the council, the fear of them just painting over in white means we're exploring these other options. But it is great they offer the service. As for graffiti spontaneity, I get the argument more when the original piece is more 'graffiti' in nature and style (and to be clear, nothing wrong at all with that, not a criticism or snobbery) when you can at times see a genuine coming together of different artists' efforts, but here, with a combination of a precise and pristine mural that could be replicated in a gallery print / painting on the one side and a meaningless tag with zero artistic effort or merit, I am disinclined to agree on this occasion.