Robert Poste's Child

I found a cheaper deal in the end, but out of curiosity I did visit and ask to see a room. They're tiny, more like cabins than rooms, with the length of the bed taking up the entire width of the room. The bathroom is a minuscule wet room, so impossible to shower without soaking everything in there. Might be an amusing and cosy experience but the manager admitted noise can be a problem if the place is full. The apartment rooms might be a better bet, particularly if there are two of you - that tiny room and bathroom would be a romance-killer.

Isn't it the UK's third-biggest city? That's what the posters said, anyway. Though #1 for quality of life apparently. After London you can't help noticing the huge amount of empty buildings, including some gorgeous Victorian and disused industrial units slightly outside the centre that could be turned into fantastic housing.

It was great on the whole. My favourite bits: - B'ham Museum for Staffordshire Hoard, social history of B'ham (much more interesting than that sounds), Pre-Raphaelites and lovely tearoom - catnip for ladies of a certain age, really. - Back to Backs Museum tour - Great Western Arcade, particularly chocolate shop (owner commutes from Lyons) and macaroon shop ('I've had my macaroons on a low light since Wednesday' - Mrs Overall in Brummie accent). - (Added later) The people seemed friendlier, warmer and better mannered than in London, which I liked very much. Often I have to leave London for a while to remember how aggressive and selfish people can be. Less impressed by: - Jewellery quarter. Great if you want to buy jewellery but not much else going on. In 10 years it'll probably be amazing. - Copthorne Hotel. Staff are polite and helpful but the place is desperately run down, no airco in rooms and surrounded by huge building sites and busy roads so opening the window isn't appealing (though to be fair after the first day I realised this is true of all hotels in central B'ham). Pretty noisy too with what the tabloids call 'revellers' though getting a cold on day 2 made have made me (even) more intolerant than usual. - Obvious drug problems. Probably also great if you like shopping though mainly the same names you see everywhere and a lack of interesting individual places. Definitely recommend it for a weekend away that's less than an hour and a half by train.

Seabag, another way of looking at forgiveness is not so much 'you're not a cutn' but 'I'm letting go of how I feel about you because I don't want to keep poisoning my own life with this resentment'. Doing it for yourself rather than the other person. Maybe this is secular forgiveness as it doesn't sound like the 'I forgive because God says so' version.

Ideally you learn the lesson, take that forward with you and leave the experience in its historical context. Resilience, in other words. Easier said than done, though. Think of all the poor souls with PTSD whose minds won't let them leave a traumatic event behind.

Thanks both. I'm considering the Bloc place in the Jewellery quarter, which looks a bit quirky.

Thanks.

It wasn't easy to find as not used for a year. Really annoying that the Old Vic stopped doing the cheap tickets for Southwark and Lambeth residents. Too expensive for me now unfortunately.

Imelda Staunton is on superb form in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Felt a bit long, though.

Any chance you could post a photo of the hole to give an idea of what's needed?

Thanks, that's helpful.

Can anyone recommend a B&B or budget hotel in Birmingham somewhere fairly central but quietish? AirBnB results are uninspiring at best and from looking at the usual hotel sites and Tripadvisor it's hard to tell if you're not that familiar with different areas. Thanks.

There was a hen pheasant in Dekker Road a few days ago so perhaps there's a growing local population.

Crikey. Surely only a matter of time till it becomes East Greenwich Village then.

A policeman at Kingston station handed me a leaflet on reporting unwanted sexual behaviour. Felt obscurely flattered as I was 50-something yesterday. (Still got it.)

Woolwich. Now there's a thought. Since Deptford and New Cross started to go upmarket I though there was nowhere left.

I understood it to mean that some people's sense of self-worth seems to be indexed to the value of their property. Personally I thought they had a point, but then I rent so I guess I would. Where are the non-gentrified areas of London anyway?

The man I caught p#ssing against my outside wall yesterday seems to live about three doors down the road. Never mind using his car to find a public convenience, he couldn't be bothered to use his own loo and apparently didn't fancy using the alleyway beside his own place, or his own garden! Even more revolting than I thought, and quite intimidating if you're female and living alone.

I live off Woodwarde Rd and just returned home to see a man (late 60s, white) coming out of the alleyway having urinated against the wall and left a large, steaming pool of it (he could have used one of two drains but didn't). As I didn't see him actually do it I asked if he saw who did as I now have to clear it up. He denied all knowledge but clearly there was no other reason for him to be there as it's a short passage ending in a security gate. Disgusting, selfish behaviour. Unfortunately not the same man as in the OP's picture or I'd send the police the photo I have taken of his car number plate.

I've noticed the same thing. Fine if it's a child who hasn't yet learned the flowers are for everyone but yesterday I passed a pleasant-looking mother in Dulwich Park gaily gathering crocuses to give to her toddler in a buggy. Hard to tell if it's a self-centred sense of entitlement or just a lack of basic training. On the radio recently someone mentioned how the boom in house prices has given rise to 'attitude' in a way that didn't exist in areas like this twenty years ago. Maybe the two are related?

The location must be a deliberate choice as at that time of day he was within a few minutes' walk of the library, Plough and park, so plenty of facilities to choose from.

Not sure what category it falls into but smashing a locker is a bit more than opportunist theft, surely? Element of breaking in involved. Different if someone left a bag unattended but sounds like that's not what happened here.

That's shocking to hear. Thanks for the warning - best leave valuables at home then. The lockers are long overdue for replacement, with what looks like half out of action, but Everyone Active haven't got around to them yet. Hopefully this will encourage them to take action. Worth mentioning this to James Barber as he was helpful in getting them to deal with some problems there as I note they now have a female cleaner and female lifeguard again.

Administrator Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Because I said please stay on topic of Goose Green > roundabout and you said... > > "...BMW drivers do seem to be prone to aggression > and lack of consideration... They're TK Maxx cars > - entry level for idiots who believe that a brand > name says something about you (other than you're a > d1ck)." > > robbin said: > > "I like it - more of the same off-topic bigotry, > but thinly disguised (by the first of five lines) > as a serious and relevant post, in the apparent > hope of avoiding The Administrator's 'amber > warning indicator'!" > > You said: "Tactics, my friend." > > Admittedly I have got out of bed on the wrong side > today especially after the spam attack last night, > and so spending time clearing up after them means > I don't have time for people who should know > better. And I really don't have time to go round > telling people they've infringed rules or polite > requests. Yet you seem to have targeted only me and not other people posting similar comments in this and other threads, which appears random and inconsistent. I assumed robbin's post was a joke and responded in kind. Mine also included a comment about a BMW driver who I ended up reporting to the police, so hardly bigotry. I see you also deleted my subsequent post in the thread asking why it happened.

Why did you delete my posts today? As far as I know they didn't infringe any rules and you haven't informed me there were any issues with them.