njc97

Oilworker - I think Lance has talked about riding fixed in training before. Interesting point about pedalling - I thought it was the opposite, riding fixed helped you go through the deadspot smoothly. But I've never had a good enough technique to care either way.

Medley - Peckham rye has 2 trains per hour on thameslink and they go all the way to luton (or at least one an hour does), neither stop at StP.

Riding fixed does give you a better sense of feeling with the road. And being to slow down just by pedalling slower is a lot more natural once you get used to it. That said I would never take the brakes off my bike. Other advantages are improving your cadence, getting a better pedalling technique. And I don't see why you need to be bold to ride one.... Mlteenie - go straight to fixed. Provided you've got clipped pedals you'll get used to it in no time (but I don't get 100mm handlebars either - they look awfully uncomfortable and my shoulders are much wider than that!) Acedout - shurely the brick lane places were a way behind the curve. Brixton cycles (for example) has had fixies in for years and years. (fuji track 2006ish)

rahrahrah - but SE has more train stations than other parts of London. And you're ignoring the ELL and DLR.

Nero - as well as the buses to Forest hill above, you could take the p13 to new cross gate or 484 to brockley.

Why so many people for a CO2 leak? Not like it was going to blow up....

jrt - you never have to pay for the vouchers. Assuming your employer only gives you the statutory minimum, in the first 6 weeks they give you 90% of your average pay - this is your pay after the bit you sacrifice for the vouchers. After that you will receive the SMP amount (without decuctions) and in the last 13 weeks you will receive nothing (but still get the vouchers). This also applies to any other benefits you receive via salary sacrifice, e.g. pension contributions, bike to work etc. They have to provide all your benefits other than pay (e.g. health insurance, death in service insurance etc) As busymum etc point out, this is a statutory right. If they try not to give it to you (or to deduct the cost when they shouldn't) then they are breaking the law.

How about Brockley/Honor Oak Park/Forest Hill etc on the ELL. Tube-like frequencies (well tube-lite but still better than trains), short hop to Surrey Quays, then Jubilee line into town. (and 20 minutes on tube to leicester square? Why not hop on train to charing cross - 5 mins - and then walk - another 5 mins?)

JRT - see page 13 of this Excerpt: What must the employer continue to provide to a woman when she is on statutory maternity leave, as a result of these changes to maternity leave legislation? These non-cash benefits are what she is entitled to under her contract of employment, apart from sums payable by way of monetary wages or salary. These non-cash entitlements would include: o non-cash vouchers, such as childcare vouchers which can only be used by the employee for qualifying childcare and are not transferable; The converse is that for the first 6 weeks SMP (when you receive 90% of your average wages), those "average wages" do not include the bit of salary you have sacrificed in return for the childcare vouchers. Some employers will make up this difference but they don't have to.

I took some time off like this last year - about 12 weeks in total but a mixture of holiday, parental leave and general "unpaid leave". I think they only need to give you 4 weeks a year - the 13 weeks is for the total in first 5 or 6 years. My work was fine about it, but they are generally good about people taking unpaid leave anyway. What you are proposing sounds more like working part time for 6 months-ish - have you tried asking for that? Employers can't refuse you going part-time without a good reason (although there isn't much of a burden on an employer to prove a good reason).

Sunflower, couple of local-ish fairs: http://brockleycentral.blogspot.com/2010/10/brockley-and-ladywell-christmas-markets.html

bumpy, just because they provide P&C spaces it doesn't mean you have to use them. There have been threads complaining about the opposite - that there are too many P&C spaces so, for example, when non-parents go in the evening they have to park further away whilst the P&C spaces are all empty.

Not ED/FH but there's also stepping stones in nunhead: http://www.steppingstones.webspace.virginmedia.com/

National gallery has good changing rooms. Can't comment on bfeeding but I've bottle fed on the sofas by the "espresso bar" there as well. Not a proper feeding room, but the coffee bar at top of waterstones on picadilly is always quiet, and has big comfy sofas (and good coffee and good but ridicuously expensive cake)

James - I think I've seen surveys of Sweden that go either way (some suggest free schools have helped, some that they have had little impact) but there have been positive results in the US.

The article it pretty poor. As it points out the system already has flaws in it. And the govt has admitted that this one isn't perfect but that the expense of putting in a better system outweighs the benefits. Also this sort of cut off is exactly what happends with means-tested benefits - the only difference now is that it impact the richest 15% (so gets in the newspapers) rather than the poorest 15%. And back to the people suggesting they can barely live without their allowance. The average salary in London is ?32,000 pa. If you're a 40% tax payer you're already on much more than average. If you can't work out how to get by, then take a closer look at some of your neighbours.

It is not the "lower middle band" of families that will lose out, it's the richest 15% of familes (Daily Mail figure so likely exaggerates as well). People with a single income of at least ?44,000 may think they "need" this to live on, but in reality they don't.

"pet project" is a bit of disparaging description of possibly the most radical change to education in decades. Obviously everyone wants "decent state schools" but the government has decided this is best way of acheiving that. Surveys of results elsewhere are a bit inconclusive, but the most positive ones show that not only are the free schools better for pupils but they pull up the performance of other schools as well. I missed the programme but presumably "Heston" was Toby Young. I'm not sure you can take his views as representative of how free schools will work in general.

The amount on whinging on this thread is amazing. When we had a new baby recently we kept our bedroom temperature at 18 degrees - 21/22 is plenty warm enough for a changing. And surely the pool was previously at the best practice temperature, 28 degrees which is for "Recreational, Adult teaching, Conventional main pools" as per James' post above (which I note gives maximums)?

37 to clapham junction, train to olympic and then walk/bus the last bit. But not sure it's quicker than going to victoria and getting the district lin.

When's the last Thameslink train to Nunhead? Otherwise train or east london line to Brockley or train to Queens Road Peckham. Or night bus to Peckham Rye or Queens Road or Old Kent Road.

kford - of course your friend could have used the DPA to get the footage. Just tell the council that he was filmed in his car on that day and under the DPA he wants a copy of all the footage of his car coming into and leaving the carpark....

Get him to move his alarm clock to the other side of the room (so he actually gets up) and tell him he has to move downstairs to the sofa by 8am.

narnia - internet or no internet, you're not going to take all his toys off him unless you maim him with a large knife.... WoD - at the risk of sounding facecious, why does he need to get up? Is he failing to make appointments/get to a job? If so then you need to have severe words. If you're just worried he's "wasting his time" in bed, well it's his time to waste. He'll grow out of it. In 10 years of so.....

bestnames, you could take some of this advice: * Think ahead and plan your journey, avoiding deserted areas. * Try to avoid walking alone at night, and keep to well-lit main roads where possible. You should try to avoid short cuts like alleyways, waste ground and wooded, bushy areas. * Stay alert: be aware of what's going on around you. * It is always worth letting someone know where you are going, the route you intend to take and when you expect to return. * Consider investing in a mobile phone. There are various services available for light users. (see also Mobile Phone safety) * Try to avoid wearing headphones - your ability to hear traffic, strangers or potential trouble is severly restricted. Or you could just post sarcastic posts on an internet forum. That might not help you avoid being mugged but will make you feel terribly clever.