indiepanda

It is really easy to get past a basic yale type lock - I pulled my front door closed going out to the bins without having my keys in my pocket once at my old house and was horrified at how quickly the locksmith was able to get me in (seconds) - and it was just with a strip of plastic - not much of a tool. I was pretty good at using my mortice lock before then but am positively paranoid about it now.

Penguin68 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Indiepanda > > I go to the Practice at 1 Forest Hill Road. Thanks Penguin68. That's actually nearer to me than the one on Crystal Palace Road (I moved from living on CPR last year) so I will look into moving :-)

Penguin68 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have just phoned for an appointment with a named > and specific doctor at my surgery (not DMC) and > was offered first thing Monday morning. I would > expect to see 'any old physician' within 24 hours > (lapsed, not working, but of course not at > weekends) tops. On Saturday my daughter called > Seldoc at 8.00 and was in the surgery by 10:30. > > This is a standard I would expect across ED. If > you are not getting it I would demand it, or > change supplier. So which GP surgery in East Dulwich do you go to?

I was talking about Crystal Palace Road. I've pretty much given up on them too. We have a private GP service at work and unless I am too sick to go to work, I tend to go there. If I am too sick to go in I tend to end up at the out of hours Seldoc service at the old hospital. I've also been to the drop in medical centre in Peckham.

Even if it's urgent you won't get an appointment unless you are one of the lucky ones that manages to get through when calling at 8 am in the morning. I've tried to get an appointment and kept getting an engaged signal and by the time I finally got through all the appointments have gone. I think they have too many patients for the number of doctors.

The 63 quite often seems to change destination to Peckham Library or Peckham Rye part way through a journey in the evening (and I'm not talking late evening - maybe 7-7.30 ish). Also seems to be prone to run with large gaps in service even early in the evening (like a 20 minute wait at 6.30 in the evening). I've been using this route for a good couple of years and the service has definitely gone downhill in recent months.

Agreed. The number of independent shops, restaurants etc was one of the things that attracted to me about East Dulwich when I first came here, gives the place a bit of individual character if it isn't just another clone high street.

Jack's does the best coffee I've had in East Dulwich. I drink my coffee black and so many places I would struggle to tell there was any real coffee in the cup - could be instant for all the body to it. All of the chains seem to put too much water in for the quantity of coffee - feel like I should ask for espresso if I want it to taste of anything. Perhaps it doesn't notice so much if you are smothering the coffee with milk, chocolate sprinkles, syrups and sugar etc, but if it's plain black you can notice the variation pretty quickly.

Definitely not. I don't really like any of the chains as the coffee is rubbish and never go in Nero.

I have regularly got caught in traffic there too, it's been a nuisance for ages.

I've just come back from a trip to Italy, which is one of my favourite places to go on holiday, but I have to say I was finding a lot of things rather expensive while I was there, even compared to usual - Italy has never been a cheap destination. But if you wanted to stay in Florence, I would recommend the hotel we stayed in - http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187895-d232963-Reviews-NH_Porta_Rossa-Florence_Tuscany.html We used trains to get us from Rome to Perugia, onto Florence and back to Rome and those were the one thing that did compare pretty well to England on price - and ran to time as well.

peterstorm1985 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Too many scrap metal merchants turn a blind eye. > They can do that because they aren't required to > provide any audit trail. Transactions are in cash. > If you want to help change the law, sign the > petition Done - looks like it's a popular one. Not surprised - every time I hear about train delays due to signal failure now my instant assumption it's because of some thieving g*t having stolen some cables etc. It's crazy that its such an easy crime for people to profit from. The impact those thieves have on so many people's days with long delays etc for the sake of a few quid makes my blood boil. And as for destroying art like this... words fail me.

I ended up just talking to neighbours to get the spaces sorted on the day - southwark council were as helpful as you found.

For most of us who can only afford one house, surely the issue isn't solely about how reliable the return is from buying a house, but whether we enjoy owning our home. I bought earlier this year. I know in the short term I might lose money, but I intend to stay here for many years, and whilst I know it might be cheaper renting, I wanted the freedom to decorate how I wanted and the comfort of knowing that when things go wrong I can get them fixed promptly rather than having to beg and plead with a miserly landlady to do work that should have been done years ago. Putting money in the stock market just doesn't give me the same thrill as having my own home even if I might make more money.

A third vote for XFM. I'm late 30s but have been a fan for some years. Love Danny Wallace on the breakfast show, puts a smile on my face in the morning.

I hammer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > hi, i am thinking of surrendering my > under-performing endowment to use as part deposit > on my new flat. > > However the info pack i have just received has > advised me that i may be liable to pay tax on the > surrender value. > I have calculated that i have made approx ?1200 > profit, compared to premiums paid in over 13 yrs. > Do i need to pay tax...and how would i declare > it? > I earn ?37500 pa. > > Alternatively, the info pack has advised i could > sell the endowment to a 3rd party, as i may get > more than the surrender value. Is this a good > idea? Is it easy? would i need to pay tax? > Many thanks for any advice please... The market for traded endowments used to be quite lively but I don't think it is so much these days - I was thinking of surrendering mine too. The insurance companies used to get away with giving very penal surrender values which didn't reflect the value you would get leaving the policy with the company till maturity and letting it accumulate. But guidance these days means they are expected to pay not far off the asset share (i.e. the value of the reserve they are holding for their policy), meaning someone willing to buy and carry on your policy wouldn't pay much if any more than the insurer would give you. However, still worth checking if you can get a free quote - see this site - they've been mentioned on the BBC and in the Sunday Times so hopefully sound, but I can't vouch for them myself. I don't know how the tax situation would work in this case. However, they do seem to search the market for the best deal for you which sounds good. http://www.endowmentsurrenderplus.co.uk/ There's some info on the which? web site about the tax situation with some worked examples which should help you work out if tax would be due - try the section on qualifying or non-qualifying (it is if surrendering turns it into a non-qualifying policy you might have to pay tax) and then the next section on top slicing explains how the tax would be calculated. http://www.which.co.uk/money/tax/guides/tax-on-savings-and-investments/life-insurance-investments/

EDOliver Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Anyone else think it's a tad weird that the > reporter uses a hotmail account to be contacted > on?? Surely he would use his Southwark news > account when doing business?? Friend of mugger looking to meet and get revenge rather than real reporter??

I have to say my East Dulwich shopping experiences are more positive than negative. My top vote would go to Roullier White - I'm a perfume lover and often end up getting into a long chat with one of the assistants in there about fragrance, and they do have a great selection of unusual ones. I also love Dr Boo and Sugar where the staff are also very friendly and helpful.

ajdoc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > By the way these are 11 year olds, surely they > can find their own way to school? This obviously > doesn't apply to everyone, but I would have > thought most family's could give the no car day a > trial. Yes - I have never understood why a child of that age needs to be driven to school. I used to get the bus for 7 miles from my home and then walk another mile. And I reckon a lot of the kids aren't going anything like that far.

ajdoc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > By the way these are 11 year olds, surely they > can find their own way to school? This obviously > doesn't apply to everyone, but I would have > thought most family's could give the no car day a > trial. Yes - I have never understood why a child of that age needs to be driven to school. I used to get the bus for 7 miles from my home and then walk another mile. And I reckon a lot of the kids aren't going anything like that far.

No, where's Mark Ramprakash when you need him?

A decent agent should be able to show you details of similar properties sold recently and what price they achieved (i.e. not asking price) to inform the setting of the price, that's what mine did the last time I sold. Thinking about it, some information on that is available on line http://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/browse/east-dulwich/ You can click through down to individual details of houses on there. When I was buying I did notice that many of the agents were really rubbish at getting back to me with details of properties they had that were in my price range, even at setting up viewings where I'd asked to see a particular property. Foxtons were particularly poor on that front. I do wonder if some of them are more focused on the lucrative rentals market at the moment? Might explain the poor service.

Ridgley Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > David Cameron is trying to generate more tourism, > to Britain great but he still needs to deal with > issues at home as well that all I am saying. What like unemployment - which more jobs in tourism would help reduce? Ok I agree we need to sort out some of the social issues, but if there aren't jobs for people to go to there's a limit to how far we can solve crime. And I am not sure that he isn't trying to deal with issues at home - it's just a longer term game - results won't be seen overnight.

Best I've had locally is from Pizza al Forno in Forest Hill - nice thin crust pizza, delivery is always very speedy and it's nice and hot when it arrives. Firenza is nothing like as good (too salty), and don't get me started on Dominos. I'd rather not eat than have Dominos, far too greasy, makes me feel ill.

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dare I moot Parachutes as a good debut without > being shot down in flames? > I haven't liked anything since, but that first one > has charm. I like most of Coldplay's stuff so am not going to shoot you down in flames, and parachutes was a great debut - still love "Yellow" As for what I would add to the list of great debut albums Definitely Maybe by Oasis - ok, I know they could be right idiots, but hard to deny the impact they had at the time. Still got a special place in my heart because it reminds me of some happy times. 19 by Adele - I know her second album has somewhat eclipsed this, but I think it was still a fine debut and she's got a lovely voice. I'd agree with the people who mentioned the Killers first album - seen them live a couple of times and they are so good, and Mr Brightside was a total classic. My most loved debut album is Expecting to Fly by the Bluetones. They are only just splitting up now and haven't really topped it in the 15 or so years since its release, but I've had many happy trips to gigs to see them and made new friends through doing so, so the album brings up lots of good memories. As for great third albums - how about Paul Weller's third solo album "Stanley Road"? (and yes, I do know it's not the third album he was involved in - am old enough to remember both Jam and Style Council!)