indiepanda

Definitely taking the mick, going rate is ?10 an hour. You shouldn't struggle to find someone with a better attitude.

Bic Basher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > TfL claim the last day of the works is Friday with > the P13 bus returning to Whateley and Underhill > Road on Saturday. I saw a P13 on the road today stopping at the Dunstans Rd stop en route to Streatham, not sure which direction it had entered Underhill from though as it couldn't have come along Underhill all the way from the Great Exhibition end. Anyway, re the works, I was walking past during the day and asked the chaps who work on the site. They said they are filling in the road on Friday (i.e. today), laying new tarmac on Monday and painting the lines on the road on Tuesday so it should be open Tuesday evening.

I've been twice and am thinking about becoming a member. I know it's more expensive than going to Peckham Plex, but it's such a nice experience - the seats are the most comfortable I've ever sat in at a cinema, can't recall having better leg room anywhere else either. And I can buy a "baby" portion of popcorn which I appreciate - don't always want to eat a ton of the stuff. Haven't indulged in an alcoholic drink when I've been yet but I am sure it's only a matter of time.

I can't really be trusted around milk chocolate, it's so sweet I can hoover up tons of the stuff. My favourites are Crunchie, Maltesers, Minstrels and Twirls. Prefer Galaxy to Dairy Milk but if I had to buy a bar of milk chocolate I'd go for Green and Blacks - Almond or Butterscotch in particular. I used to love Bourneville when I was younger but I can't remember the last time I saw a bar in the shops - maybe because I am not really looking for it or maybe it's been replaced by all the posher dark chocolate now. I keep a small supply of tiny bars of chocolate in the house - usually Green and Blacks - the dark chocolate selection pack only. I'd enjoy the milk more, but it'd last me a couple of days or so and then I'd have gobbled it all up. The dark ones seem to satisfy the craving far quicker and knowing they are there usually stops me from heading out to buy large bars of the sweet stuff. I can't do that thing of only eating a square or two or a bar, have to eat the whole bar, hence buying the small ones. For some reason I can have a large bar's worth of small ones and still just eat one... It's not logical, but I saw a TV program on food once which showed it's not unusual to be like that - most people will eat more when food comes in larger packs.

malumbu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > People who use Farenheit instead of Centrigrade > (or Celsius to be precise). Educatated in the > metric system 40 years ago. I thought I was going to struggle to find anything to agree with on this thread as though there are things that bug me about summer (the odd night when it's too hot to sleep), the longer hours of daylight trump anything the other seasons have to offer. But this... oh yes. My boyfriend does it. He even admitted he likes doing it to be annoying once. And it is... grrr. I am off work this summer and it's definitely improved by not having to commute on hot days, although on the sweatiest of days I could almost go in for the air-conditioning.

Will still be coming - Julian is very funny and will be good to see him on a night where there's only two people so he can do a longer set.

uptheworkers! Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I see they're looking for new staff there already. > Obviously some of the staff from when they opened > have decided that they no longer wanted to be > exploited with poor wages. And you know this to be the case - or are you making assumptions to suit your argument?

I think what I'd suggest would change according to whether you have access to a car to escape the city or not. If you haven't got a car, go to Bath. Easy journey from Paddington and you could keep yourself busy for a week in between visiting numerous museums, doing boat trips or walks along the canal, going to the new thermal baths etc. Lots of lovely restaurants (No 5 Bistro just off Pultney Bridge is my recommendation) and plenty of pubs. It is quite touristy but it's bigger than Stratford upon Avon so not quite as irritating. If you're willing to go further afield by train/plane, Edinburgh would be perfect. If you have got a car, places like Winchester are fine as you can potter out to little villages or the New Forest.

sophie_e_down Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Has anyone been to any of the following? > > Bristol / Cheltenham. Visited for day trips and stayed here with friends, but not done a romantic break here. To be honest if you were going to go to this part of the world (and I'd include Cheltenham here as I've visited there too) I would pick Bath as being a more romantic spot than either, but if you've already been there then I'd say I'd choose Bristol over Cheltenham - more to see and do there. I would aim to stay in the Clifton part of town. > Winchester I used to live near here, nice town - much smaller than Bristol. Not as much to see and do as Bristol, but depends what you want from a weekend away, there's still probably enough for a weekend. If you have a car you can easily get out into nearby pretty villages from here - Stockbridge has some nice pubs for lunch. > Stratford-upon-Avon It's lovely but will be heaving with tourists this time of year (it's never quiet). I would probably visit here in the spring or autumn rather than summer. If you go here there's plenty of Shakespearean related things to see and nice walks or boat trips on the river. We found a great guided walk that lasted a couple of hours and only cost ?5 each (this is about 4 years ago) which was well worth it. Of these, my pick would be Bristol for a city break and Winchester if you want somewhere a little bit quieter, though I will admit I've spent less time in Cheltenham than the other places. Stratford is in many respects the most romantic, I just would prefer to go outside the main tourist season.

The Bigger Picture Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You'll be able to purchase a copy of 'Street Art, > Fine Art' if you come to 'Belle' on 16 July 2015. > Ingrid Beazley will be there and would be > delighted to sign your copy! How much is the book?

MrBen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why not just call it C^nt Juice and be done with > it? Well quite... Ridiculous name (can tell it's offensive without looking it up in a dictionary Loz!), nothing could induce me to go in there. It's like a return to the seventies or something.

I went for the first time this afternoon - have to say it is worth paying more than going to Peckham Plex - seats were really comfortable and they've clearly put a lot of work into developing the building. Wasn't too impressed by them telling me the smallest box of popcorn was ?3.95 and when I pointed at the small box behind the chap serving me and said "that's ?3.95?", he said "oh, that's ?1.90"... What word was I meant to use to get the smallest one?? Perhaps ask for a children's portion? But the Monday afternoon prices are cheap enough I'm willing to forgive - looks like there's a few good films coming up too.

Incidentally, for those of you who don't rent out your whole property, but just a spare room, I gather the budget was quite good news on that front. The government will increase the Rent-a-Room relief from ?4,250 to ?7,500 a year from April 2016. Hopefully will encourage more people to rent out their spare rooms.

If you're after reviews, adverts and useful information, then I wouldn't really spent your time reading the lounge.... It's just a place for people to chat, which will sometimes be frivolous, sometimes interesting, sometimes dull and occasionally offensive.

Loz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > miga Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Yeah, I don't get that either, how can tax on > > profits make you lose money if it's less than > 100%? > > It's not a tax on profit, though. At the moment, > if you charge ?1000 a month rent and have interest > on your mortgage of ?800, then you can deduct that > mortgage interest (plus any other expenses like > insurance, repairs, etc). Basically, like any > business. Rent - costs = profit. Profit is then > taxed at the going rate. > > So I can't work out how this is going to work. > I'm not sure where your tax rate comes into it - > can anyone explain? I imagine it's going to be that the income you get (rent) will be taxed at your marginal rate - which for most BTL landlords I expect is going to be 40%, but the interest that can be offset again this tax liability won't be 40% of the interest, it will be restricted to the basic rate - i.e. it won't be a standard profit calculation. It sounds like a good idea in the long run in as much as it might put some potential BTL landlords off entering into the market / encourage them to sell and give others the chance to buy their own home. What it does in the short term rather depends how worried landlords are about losing good tenants if they try to increase rent at the next contract end date... not as if enough properties are being built that the tenants have lots of other places to go if all landlords try to maintain their current levels of profit...

I would second the recommendation for the Goose Green clinic. I've done classes there with Ella who teaches the yin and some hatha classes and really enjoy them.

Anna27 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > rbarton Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Old French Cafe property went back to the land > > lady who wants it back for general repairs. > > My feeling is that it is a way to get the > property > > back tart it up and put it back on the market > with > > a higher rent. > > > > > it certainly isn't - I'm ITK on that So do you know what is going to happen to the old cafe? I have to admit, I assumed the move was to get a bigger space to expand, not because the owner of the old site wanted them out. The French Cafe was often full and the new one is larger.

Forecast suggests by the middle of next week we'll be whinging it's too hot and sticky. Am planning a day trip to the seaside to escape :-)

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In the 00s there were lots of people in their 20s > living in ED. I suspect less so now due to house > prices / rents. I think you're right. Come to that, friends in their 30s who have rented round here and are now buying are doing so further out - Forest Hill, Catford, Norwood etc, as well as families in their 40s heading for Surrey etc. Frankly the fact I have an asset (which I can't exactly get value for as I am living in it) which has gone up silly amounts in value isn't much compensation for the fact the prices are pushing away people I liked having in the area. Anyway, on the topic, forums are rarely representative, even of the people who post on them, much less of the population as a whole, be that all inhabitants of an area, all fans of a band, all mums etc. I used to post on the forum for a band that made this place look tame - the lounge equivalent could be completely vicious at times. Meet the posters in person at gigs and discovered that some of the most outrageously rude people on line were actually shy and sweet in real life. I don't think I do, but at least some people have different on line persona - and not just like dulwichmum. I am not saying people don't mean what they write, but I suspect a lot of people who might come across as abrasive on line are actually more pleasant if you actually met them.

Help-Ma-Boab Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think so *Bob*. Real plates and the tomato sauce > in a red plastic shaped tomato. > > On my way to the Jolly Woodman one day I will > check and report back... Tomato sauce freely available? That's a change. When I worked there we charged 5p a sachet of ketchup, and if they bought and left on their plate unused we'd wipe off any food on the sachet and resell to the next customer. Not sure if this was standard Wimpy policy or if it was just the owners of our franchise. Strangely vinegar sachets were free - don't know anyone who puts vinegar on french fries. Chip shop chips another matter... lashings of salt and vinegar. Oh, and we definitely cooked to order, no pre cooked food hanging around.

I believe it was called a bender.... I thought there was still a Wimpy on Sydenham High Street.

I used to work for Wimpy. Probably prejudiced, but the food always seemed better quality than McDonalds and Burger King. They didn't stick gherkins in everything either (I loathe them). Plus they let me use the ice cream machine to make such delights as the Brown Derby, Banana Long Boat and Knickerbocker Glory which was good fun. Paid lousy rates though - worked there between school and college and after a few months at college got to know a guy who worked at the Homebase round the corner and discovered he was being paid over double the hourly rate that I was, so I changed jobs pretty quick. Not convinced the food there was that cheap - a children's meal cost ?1.99 in 1989 which given a McDonald's Happy Meal is now ?2:49 I reckon that's proportionally cheaper (though probably worse quality)

I can see me using the Jubilee to Southwark and then hopping on the N63 - I do that to pick up the 63 at times already as it stops much closer to my house than the 185/176/40. Not that I go out late enough in central London to need a nightbus that often anyway.

I texted Rick just over 2 hours ago about a very slow draining sink which I was hoping to get fixed sometime during the week - wasn't bad enough to need an emergency call out. Much to my surprise he called me straight back and said he could be with me in a couple of hours, and no extra fee for weekend call-out as he was working already. All fixed very quickly and efficiently, plenty of useful tips shared so that when I decide to replace the bathroom in full I don't make some of the mistakes that were made in the current installation. When I eventually replace in full I will definitely give him a call for a quote.

Definitely adds value. I've watched various neighbours properties go on the market (I am on Underhill), some with, some without loft conversions and other extensions and it makes a big difference if they've been extended. I think it's generally accepted things that add more space pay off, whereas a fancy new kitchen might not. The point about being top heavy is fair. My house had the loft converted before I move in, and it does feel like a 2 bed house with an extra bedroom rather than a true three bed. Although my last three bed before I bought this had an integral garage on the ground floor, so I guess that had a similar imbalance between living space and sleeping / bathroom. If you can add in an en suite I would seriously think about doing so. I use the loft conversion as my bedroom but it's a bit of a trek to the bathroom.