indiepanda

Marmora Man Wrote: > Of course people can be nice - but a ticket is > just an item - buy gold today and sell it tomorrow > at a profit - you've done nothing but hold it. Put > money into an ISA and take the profit (perhaps) in > 5 years time - you've done nothing but hold the > money. Why are tickets so special? ISAs aren't in very limited supply - your buying one doesn't stop other people from taking one out. Tickets are in limited supply, people buying them and selling on for more than face value deprives people who wanted to go but could only afford to pay face value of the chance to go. I am quite happy for people to sell on tickets they bought with every intention of using them who then have to sell them on because someone couldn't make it for what ever reason. But deliberately buying up tickets with the sole purpose of selling them on for a profit does irritate me. These days it seems loads of gigs you have to try to book on the day the tickets go on sale to have a chance of going - which is a right pain if you are at work when they go on sale as I usually am.

Nope, I am meaning given the government set up a lottery which had the side effect of diverting money from charity, they should at least try to do a good job with it. Am thinking about the people who would have otherwise benefited from the money that would have gone to the charities, not the people who bought the lottery tickets.

Well, all I can say is we must be lucky to live in a place like East Dulwich if the worst people have to cope with is finding their way round the odd buggy and misbehaved child. I've no plans to ever have a family, but I like the fact East Dulwich is a family area, gives me some sense of security that its a generally safe area, and means it's not too noisy and I can get a good night's sleep. So, every once in a while I have to step out of my way on Lordship Lane to get past a buggy. Big deal, the fact other people are having kids means there will be people out working funding the NHS when I am old and need it! In the grand scheme of things to worry about, this really doesn't register.

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > and if we did find that out so what? All anyone > who buys a lottery ticket is interested in is > winning dosh - they have no higher moral goal than > that in the transaction so I'm not inclined to > listen to them complain about where the money > goes That wasn't where I was going with it - general view is lottery tickets are more often bought by people with less spare cash, and when they started playing the lottery donations to charity went down - partly because the good cause element made them feel like they were still giving money to charity. Feels to me given charities were being deprived of donations the least the government could do is spend the money they collect wisely. Admittedly some charities aren't especially good at keeping admin costs low, but I doubt many make as much mess as was made of the Dome planning. > > The Dome exhibition was awful but I have always liked the building and think it an asset. So do I, been to gigs there and think the new owners have done a good job with it - but that doesn't excuse shoddy project planning and poor budget control of the original build or lack of forward planning about what the space would be used for afterwards. Oh well, hopefully lessons have been learned. From what I have heard as much if not more effort on the Olympic site build is going into thinking about how the area will be used after the event.

Moos Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Actually, I hate to break ranks but sometimes > one's own baby is very boring. A creature that is > very sweet and adorable but needs constant > attention and amusing and holding while giving > nothing back but cries and the odd smile if you're > lucky is not very entertaining. > > I know this is practially heresy, but I'm saying > it because when I discovered I was bored quite > often looking after my small baby I felt really > guilty. I've toughened up since. Hurrah for some honesty. I am sure a lot of first time mums end up feeling quite isolated because it seems socially unacceptable to admit what a grind the first few months can be some of the time. I'm the first to admit I have no interest in having children, but I will confess the children of my friends who don't try to force me to love them are quite entertaining once they get to around 3. One friend's kids are quite smart when I go round and instead of trying to distract their mum to get attention they just come and play with me or ask me to read to them and it can be very endearing. For an afternoon anyway.

dulwichdreadlocks Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I rang up a letting agency about a flat today and > the second question I was asked was "occupation?" > When I replied that I am an author, the letting > agent immediately hung up the phone. Is author up > there with drug trafficker and prostitute in terms > of being seen as an unseemly occupation? I'm sure it was more about reliability of income than how "seemly" being an author is. All the same very rude to hang up without discussing further and short sighted in a soft market for rentals.

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > No its not and you know it I wonder if we looked at the mix of people buying lottery tickets whether we would find the contributions to the Lottery fund come from a poorer subsection of society than personal taxation in general?

Brendan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bollicks, North is up everyone knows that. Exactly... always confuses the hell out of me when people talk about a pub being at the top of Lordship Lane when they actually mean it's the Plough... the EDT is at the top in my mind.

I know as a booklover I should support our local bookshop but it really sticks in my throat to buy books full price when I can get them on 3 for 2 in Waterstones or for at least 20% off on Amazon.

I used to drink about 5 cups of instant a day but I didn't sleep particularly well. Wasn't so much that I couldn't get to sleep, but I used to wake up in the middle of the night and struggle to get back to sleep very regularly. I cut back to one cup a day first thing in the morning and started to sleep a lot better and soon decided to see what it was like cutting out altogether. First day I tried it I got a hell of a headache which vanished within minutes of having a can of coke. So I spent ages just having one cut first thing in the morning (months.. perhaps even years thinking about it). Anyway, eventually I knocked the one in the morning on the head too - as much because I hated the idea of being addicted to something as anything else. I am not sure I noticed any major health benefits from cutting out the last cup. Anyway, these days I have the occassional cup when I am feeling especially tired or if I fancy the taste of coffee and can't get hold of a decaf, but I do go for weeks without any caffeine at all. Wouldn't go back to drinking as much as I used to, I like my sleep too much.

Keef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Where would a safter area be? If you're anywhere > in London, this can happen. > > This forum is great in many ways, but one negative > is that when something like this is reported (and > I'm not saying it shouldn't be), it raises fear. Oh I know that, but it just seems there has been a lot more postings about crime recently - perhaps not reflective of an increase in crime of course. Living in London is never going to be as safe as the sleepy Hampshire town I lived in before moving up here - being somewhere less sleepy has it's downsides as well as the plus points that brought me here. I am not saying I am going to move somewhere else, but anywhere I could live is a compromise on some level, and perhaps higher accomodation costs or a smaller place is a compromise worth making to live in an area with a lower crime rate. Certainly something I will think quite hard about before actually buying.

RobF Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My wife & I had a run-in with a gang of 5 boys - > young men in reality - on our way home from a meal > in Lordship Lane at around 10.45pm on the 11th of > April. We were nearly at the top of Whately Road > when a very pushy, cock-sure kid got right in our > faces while the other 4 hung back a bit. He was > clearly looking for trouble - he tried to > antagonise us, literally walking in my way, trying > to get closer to my wife (and, I assume, her > bag..). > Fortunately there were a group of people talking > next to some cars at the junction with Crystal > Palace Road and the four called their mate off. We > took refuge in the CPT, shaken but thankful to > have escaped so lightly. Sorry to hear about this experience sounds rather scary Have to say this is making me rather nervous... this is very close to my home. Ordinarily I wouldn't think anything of walking home from the bus stop on Lordship Lane late at night, but I'm starting to question the wisdom of it now. Don't want to be paying for a taxi every time I go out now. Might as well move to a safer area and spend more on rent instead.

Tony.London Suburbs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > :(indiepanda Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > First Direct are the best bank ever. However, if > anyone is thinking of joining them, > > these days they have a minimum of ?1,500 deposit > per month on new accounts or you have to pay ?10 > > per month to bank with them - sounds like HBSC > want them to make a profit not just be popular. > > Seanie Baby didn't mention that lil detail whenhe > was extolling their virtues to me earlier:X > > One and Half "Balloons" a Month??????....I'm not > Richard Bleedin' Branson... Don't knock Sean, it's a pretty recent change - existing customers (pre Feb this year) don't get stung if they have more than one product with the company. I have savings accounts and a credit card I pay off in full each month (their interest rates aren't cheap enough you'd use their cards if you wanted to carry a balance). Actually reading on if you can maintain an average balance of ?1,500 you are ok too so if you had some savings to chuck in the account up front you could get away with paying less in each month. http://www.firstdirect.com/1st-account/overview.shtml

First Direct are the best bank ever. I wouldn't dream of banking elsewhere - been with them over 14 years. The web site is a doddle to use, I like my text message statements and the staff are well trained and friendly. And you still get to use HSBC branch counter services if you need them. However, if anyone is thinking of joining them, these days they have a minimum of ?1,500 deposit per month on new accounts or you have to pay ?10 per month to bank with them - sounds like HBSC want them to make a profit not just be popular.

congratulations David, really pleased for you.

I have to admit I've used homeopathetic remedies in the past, but having recently read Bad Science by Ben Goldacre I have to admit I won't be spending my money on them in the future. I'd rather buy a nice bag of sweets than waste my money on sugar pills.

Brendan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > All very well and good but what?s the use of > technical qualifications and trades in a country > that destroyed its manufacturing industry to > replace it with a ?knowledge based economy? that > could supposedly magic money out of nowhere? I ahree about manufacturing, but have you ever tried to find a decent plumber or decorator? Good trades people are like gold dust, I've had to wait months to get someone decent to do a job for me before.

louisiana Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have a lovely bottle of Mas Collet (Montsant, > Catalunya) open on my kitchen table as I type. > Thank the lordy lord - and I speak as an > unbeliever - for Ocado. They always deliver when > they say they will, and always call my mobile if > they're thinking of delivering early, and are just > all wonderful human beings, the lot of them. Ocado are brilliant. I couldn't do without them. I would also recommend First Direct for being their brilliant telephone banking - no press 1 to get stuck in endless loop / 2 to get put through to the wrong department / 3 to get stuck on hold for 10 minutes and then get cut off, just human beings, and warm, friendly and helpful ones at that. Vision Express also impressed me today by delivering a pair of glasses they said could take up to 7-10 days but took less than 24 hours. And Amazon are very good, only had a parcel go missing once which given how much business I do with them is a miracle (and it turned out to be an issue with the mail room at work) and they replaced that with no fuss. Just don't get me started on BT's internet or the Coventry building society. Last time I had to deal with the former they had call centres staffed by people with minimal english and even less IT knowledge, and the latter has security so tight with umpteen different passwords that I can't get at my own money.

Keef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, the poorest kids perhaps, but what about > those who aren't exactly poor, but who's parents > don't have the extra money for uni? > > I was about the second to last year to get the old > style grants, and withut them, I'd have had no > chance of going anywhere! I was in the same camp, but I think the reason they could afford to give us grants because much fewer people went to university in those days. I'd vote for dropping the ridiculous targets they have for % of people in higher education these days - there aren't enough graduate jobs to go round, would be better if more people learned a trade. As for the increase in tax to 50%... well, I suspect that's going to be a bit of an own goal. But then Labour seem pretty likely to lose the next election anyway so I guess they might as well get their parting shots in while they can. I have to admit the idea of paying 50% tax plus the 1% NI would be enough to put me pushing for the kind of job that paid that well. There's something about the idea of giving away in tax more than you earn, to fund the generous pensions of civil servants and to pay MPs who can vote themselves inflation busting payrises and claims ridiculous expenses that would really stick in my throat. I wouldn't assume all of those earning over ?150k get to avoid tax either - there are going to be employed people earning at that rate and you can't avoid much tax via PAYE.

I don't believe in the notion of "the One" - it's a silly romantic fallacy that there is just one person who is "right" for you and all you need to do is keep searching to find "the one". Reality is relationships all involve some compromise and effort on both sides. Having said that, be nice to find someone worth the effort and compromise that felt the same about me.... *sighs*

???? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So it looks like Strawbs and Georgia at the mo.... I plan to be there too.

Never worth lying about something like salary - too easy to get caught out from your P45 and who wants to employ someone in a position of trust like a lawyer who lies. Better to explain your expectations and what other companies are offering similar roles at. In any case, if they offer you a salary that you feel is too low to make it worthwhile moving jobs, you can always get your agency to reject the offer and see if they come back with something better. Some will offer what they think they can get away with but have some scope to move within the pay band for the role. Only worth doing if you really don't want to move for what they have offered you though.

I saw Oliver last week and would really recommend it, brilliant cast and the sets were amazing, never seen anything to touch them.

Josh Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > House prices do seem to have stabilized in ED and > in fact everywhere else in the UK this spring. But > the housing market is being artificially supported > by the government's various economic stimuli, > especially very low interest rates. The thing is, > interest rates can only go up from here, so the > long-term outlook is still poor. If the UK does go > begging to the IMF, we may end up in the same dire > straits as Iceland, with interest rates shooting > up to 18%. That won't be very good for house > prices. > > Even at their current level 20% below peak, UK > house prices in terms of average salary multiples > are still higher than they ever were in the late > 80s boom. We've a long, long way to go before they > fall back to levels that are sustainable in the > long term, and it won't be a smooth ride down. The man speaks sense, ???? too. People were fooled into buying in the last house price crash thinking the market had levelled out, but it carried on falling and didn't recover for years. One month's rise won't tempt me back into the market.

Another geat night, as usual managed to completely miss some people and not get enough time to say much more than hi to others, but I guess with 50+ people that is hardly surprising! I recall meeting someone who promised to send me a song about actuaries... not yet convinced this wasn't the drink talking and that no such song exists (seems an odd thing to sing about!), but I'll be watching my PMs with interest!