Huguenot

How about a 'Letter from...' section for us long distance lovers/correspondents? Ozzies, Singaporean... Middle Earth......

If you like those I'm quite willing to buy a couple as a parting gift before heading to the equator!

I'm pretty flexible Mockers, quite happy to leave Clerkenwell for later. Still got a bit of that cursed cold. Not enough to prevent a beer of course, but would welcome starting chez Crackers Grove to put warm clothing on. See what Crystal Says?

It certainly isn't the easiest pub to find, as it's in a very narrow alley just on your right as you head north up Hatton Gardens, or just on your left of the road immediately to the east of Hatton Gardens if (like me) you're coming from Farringdon!

Hmm, I don't understand your previous post BN - are you suggesting leaving the shops derelict, or do you have a priority that you'd like to see addressed? Bakery's a good idea. On the others, places like the butchers do need a competitor or they'll get complacent and their prices will rise...

Ooops sorry, edited this, as an extended debate between writing it and posting it made it lose meaning! :)

One of those elaborate hide and seek games the play through books and the internet?

Ah. How are we to know when that point has been reached?

Surveyors or structural engineers?

Well, why don't the ladies have their women only session at Forest Hill Pool, or any other pool for that matter?

Practical joke?

UJ you've conflated two diametrically opposed ideas there: exclusive male only clubs and unfettered swimming pool access. The point is that swimming pool access is not exclusive, it's open to all. It's progressive and inclusive. To make swimming pool access women only is regressive. It is exclusive, separatist and only a short step to elitist. 'Women only access' is about elevating the needs of a particular group of individuals above society as a whole, and is the doublethink that led to some of the terrible social crimes of the past. I may sound like I'm logic chopping, but I find it extraordinary that one could compare women only swimming provision with part of the fight against the slave trade and the quest for universal suffrage. It's quite the opposite.

I don't think we've ever resolved this one Dominatrix (disappointed to discover that's not an Asterix character)... There was an interesting angle some months ago that suggested that GBK was the devil's spawn because it had centralised its production of burgers, not because of the number of outlets. I note it now has 22 locations. This suggests that at somepoint there's a conditional that comes into play that involves some of the following criteria: Number of outlets Buying Production Distribution Delegated authority Funding Ownership Local tailoring and innovation Hence it seems to be possible to overcome a high number of outlets on the 'b*st@rd' scale if a business supports decentralised management and local innovation. One could probably get a namecheck in a national paper if one could devise a plausible equation to come out with a percentage and a compartmentalised scale. This should tie in with the current Tescos debate of course, and both name check the EDF and say something disparaging about the french just for me :)

Ah, that may be indeed the key point perhaps? I go to Chener because I'm not sure what I want to buy - and I can't be bothered to read excerpts online, regardless of how many copyright laws Googles gracelessly over steps...

Mary Smith played by Linda Davidson :)

Signed up. I only hope that I've not destroyed something else that would be beneficial. I don't feel well informed.

Quite right buggie! And as a believer in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I would like a session staffed entirely by egg noodles. I would also like to have the session whenever anyone else wants to go swimming, and I would like the others to be excluded unless they can prove themselves devout pastafarians. I would like to do this because I'm shy, and because I'm scared that my peculiar religious rituals will lack meaning unless I can either impose them on other people or at least make their lives more difficult. ;-)

The reason why they travel in threes is because gormless arseholes assault them and vandalise their cars. I've seen it done, and I'm staggered that locals who have more in common with apes can descend to dehumanising people to that extent. It's not a question of cowardice, when there is a daily threat of being hit in the face for ticketing people that have broken a law that's there to protect and help all of us. I must say that conversations like the one on this thread give a veneer of respectability to this kind of violence, in much the same way that middle class dinner party racism sustains the National Front. From a personal perspective I can't believe the righteousness of law breaking car drivers, particularly when their ownership of car in the first place is destroying our children's future. ;-)

Yarp

?? explain?

Yep, definitely plumbing first if you're really going to go the whole hog. For the boiler I'd go for a modern combi gas boiler without tank. They're incredibly efficient, and can be very compact. Have a look at this site for a few clues Worcester-Bosch. You also need to check your electrics - dependent upon their state of repair you may be compelled to do this first if they're dangerous! For decor I always reckon neutral pale colours, sa you can use furnishing and lighting to change the appearance and clour scheme,and you won't need to redecorate when you get bored! Budgeting... a couple of years ago I had a two bedroom house rewired, new heating system and pipes, replastered, repainted and recarpeted for ?8,000. It is possible! It is much much cheaper and less stressful to get it all done at once. Mine took four weeks. Why not rent a desk in a locl office, and stay with friends for a month if you can manage it?

:))

I'm not sure that's true AcedOut, as an individual in negative equity subject to repo you still 'owe' the money to the lender, unless you declare bankruptcy. If you do declare, then the bank will recover the money from it's only other source of money - its customers (your fellow citizens). Hence to make this manoeuvre deliberately is immoral. Anyway, wouldn't bankruptcy effectively blow much chance at financial security for the future? Incidentally, I re-did calculation for ?200,000 one-bed flat at average 4% growth with ?180,000 mortgage, and ?2,500 maintenance and ?8,000 a year rent both rising at 3%. The outcome was that it beat the savings account only by year 15.... (that's not borrowing for the ISA Ace, that's the money you would have invested in the first year of the house).

Alan, excuse me for being abrupt, but your maths is bonkers... Ignoring confusing use of 'gearing' terms... Imagine a ?200,000 home which you've bought with a down payment of ?20,000 on an interest only loan End Year One: Liabilities: Outlay Fees/Searches etc. (?5,000) Downpayment: (?20,000) Interest (@ 7%): (?12,600) Ongoing annual maintenance and fees: (?2,500) Outstanding Loan: (?180,000) Total Liability: (?221,100) Assets House Value (at 10% annual growth): ?220,000 Now the loan is someone else's money, so let's take that away from both sides: Your 'equity' (house price minus loan) is ?40,000 Your 'expenditure' is ?40,100 (not including maintenance) That's -?100 return on ?40,100 (your ISA would have delivered ?2,807) After year two, total outlay rises to ?55,263 with that year's interest charges, and if we had the unlikely prospect of another 10% rise in equity (a very big ask, I think you'll agree for 2009), that may deliver back ?6,000 - approximately the same as your ISA. Now let's consider risk: That calculation is reliant on house price growth of 10%. If this were to drop to 4% (god forbid!!, but a more reasonable 25 year average, and the current growth outside of London)... First year you lose 30% of your investment, and by year 25 YOU HAVE STILL LOST 12% of your total investment. This doesn't matter if you live there, because it replaces rent. However, as a speculative investment it's just lunatic. So your recommendation hinges entirely on sustaining house price growth in excess of 10% for many years to come! Now, how likely is that?? We could hope for disastrous mass inflation I suppose... This is why house prices are too high - the only people making a killing here are the banks.

Good observations all. However, I'd just like to touch on the 'investment in houses' side. What we haven't touched on is that house prices growing don't generate cash - they just make more financial institutions willing to lend you money with your house as collateral. You still have to pay back the loan and interest. This is fine if someone still wants to buy your house, but extending debt and spending masses of cash on more houses is still reliant on the confidence that you'll be able to recoup your investment and pay off the loans. This is why house prices 'bubble' (swell and pop). Because when the confidence drops (for whatever reason), the buyers aren't there and you're locked into negative equity: you find you can't continue to borrow to pay off existing loans and interest and the bovver boys come to reposess. House price speculation is just like taking out extra credit cards to pay off the interest on the first ones. Investment speculation only works if the interest on the loan is less than the acquisition of value on the house. Most loans run at 6% - 7%, so you need house prices to increase by over 8% to make any difference... Even so, at a 10% increase (like the last 12 months) that would give you only a 3% annual return, whereas ISAs and others are delivering 6%-7%. Your money is better spent elsewhere. In this sense, whether house prices are likely to drop is irrelevant, don't even bother with the argument - investing in houses is already a bad idea unless you want to live there! Similarly, from a long term perspective, I think we are all going to be underwater soon? This is not free money... Alan, I notice that on other threads you recommend disinformation as a route to financial gain - is this urging to buy houses a reflection of your willingness to capitalise on defrauding others about value? ;-) Always take good advice before trying to invest!!