BrandNewGuy

A quote from the report linked to above: "... their use in enclosed public places could normalise smoking behaviour." Huh? Why only in enclosed spaces? If it's a public health drive, surely the location is irrelevant. Indeed, kids or 'vulnerable' young people are more likely to see people using e-cigs out on the street rather than in pubs and clubs. It reinforces the suspicion at the time of indoor smoking ban that it was less to do with the health of staff and other customers and more to do with taking a moral stand. I'm not saying that's necessarily wrong, but at the time ministers and others stressed that it was a direct health measure. What next? Making obese people eat their pies away from where young people might see tham enjoying their fatty treats? It would be good if people stopped smoking. And it would be good if few or no young people took it up. But the tut-tutting nannying of measures like this is irritating. FWIW I gave up smoking ten years ago but respect the right of others to smoke as long they don't directly affect those who don't want to breathe their smoke.

steveo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What about chicken? Folk song collector Cecil Sharp met people who believed this to be true when he visited the Appalachians a hundred years ago: "His missionary zeal also took him on several self-financed trips to the US, where he found another rich harvest of English songs imported by settlers. One can only conjecture about the discomfort and indignity that Sharp, an asthmatic vegan, suffered in his quest, tramping up muddy tracks in the Appalachian mountains, where one community tried to convince him chicken was a vegetable." http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/16/cecil-sharp-morris-men

StraferJack Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ( should be noted that the buyer denied he got the > wrong bridge... But c'mon) Indeed - and many tourists still call Tower Bridge "London Bridge" in my experience. Check "London Bridge" on Google images - 10 of the first 16 photos are of Tower Bridge.

StraferJack Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > yeah I like those places > > I mean, I know they are transparent branding > excercises but they are also places where I can > drink something half decent Me too - after all, you're usually stopping off for a swift one, so the mark-up's not a problem. If you spend all evening in a station bar you've got problems of a different sort ;-)

Or possibly one of those "Beer House" craft beer ones like at Charing Cross and Waterloo. Big mark-ups ;-)

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Two platforms have opened and two others have > closed. Why would you expect the problems to have > got better all of a sudden? Perhaps I should have titles the thread "... new platforms, worse problems". The huge delays on Monday were worse than the previous normal run of delays.

Here's a list of works http://www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk/key-dates

Well, not a great opening day for platforms 14 and 15. The 08.50 from ED finally trundled into plateform 15 at 9.45 and there were plenty of trains backed up after us. I appreciate they're trying to reconstruct the station while still using as much of it as possible, but these sort of 'congestion' problems can surely be foreseen. I'd have preferred it if they'd cancelled a train or two so at leat you'd know you could make alternative arrangements.

aquarius moon Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, I'm one of those annoying people who stand by > the doors. With good reason. No, it's selfish and delays others - the driver has to stare into his mirror at every stop just to check you're not getting off. Please don't do it.

AbDabs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You'd never be able to get a warranty period of 5 > -10 years on normal pavement repairs due to the > damage caused by misuse. Our street's pavements > have been destroyed by builders lorries and skips > being parked on, or dragged across, the pedestrian > pavements. > If you wanted that sort of warranty you'd have to > specify pavements suitable for traffic - much more > expensive Ironically, much of the pavement along Melbourne Grove used to have vehicles half-parked on it, but no longer. The stretch of pavement outside the shops never has vehicles on it to my knowledge, given the lamppost and bin effectively prevent it. It really is just pedestrians using it. And still the paving slabs wobble, crack and sink.

Drivers ignoring the temporary traffic lights on East Dulwich Grove - sailing blithgely through a red light. Well, it's temporary innit, so not really like a proper traffic light. Pillocks.

Many thanks.

James, that pavement outside the shops on Melbourne Grove is wobbly, broken and dangerous yet again. It was only October when they 'fixed' it last time, namely a lad with a bucket of sand... Once again, please can Conways be told to fix it again - at their expense, as this will now be (I think) the third time it's needed repairing. Useless and contemptuous of the local population.

Agreed re wind, solar and tidal. These are fine for local and specific needs (eg solar passive water heating, wind power for pumping etc), but to suggest they will feed the grid to replace the contribution from fossil fuels is delusional. One of my problems with nuclear is that it too (along with the hi-tech renewables options) relies heavily on fossil fuels. Think of the mining, shipping, construction etc that is dependent on oil. As those costs squeeze, so do those of nuclear. There is no cheap way out of the cheap fossil fuel era I fear.

PokerTime Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We already do have a solution in nuclear power. > France has the cheapest energy prices in Europe > and generates 80% of it's energy from nuclear > power. It sells energy to the rest of europe. I'm not knee-jerk anti-nuclear, but these energy prices need to be taken with a pinch of salt. French state subsidies (mostly indirect) to their nuclear industry are significant and are not reflected in cost to consumers, although French consumers, of course, do pay these through their taxes. I'm not saying that's necessarily wrong, but nuclear as an alternative to fossil fuels is not a cheap option.

And there would have been fewer parking spaces in ED under the proposed CPZ than there are now.

This morning and yesterday evening for me. Must be that they feel the need to 'display' to me as an obvious Alpha Male ;-)

the-e-dealer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > People who "sit wrong " on trains with their legs > in the aisle so you cant walk though. And blokes who sit with their legs wide apart, trying to tell the world that their meat 'n' two veg are so impressively large that they can't close their legs unlike lesser, more poorly-endowed weaklings. Tossers.

TFL are looking for comments on their proposals for the Elephant. As it potentially affects a lot of ED commuters, I thought it relevant. The consultation closes April 30th. Here's the link: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/roads/elephant-and-castle

Picturehouse and the architects clearly have a preference for Dulwich Picturehouse - here's a snap I took of the proposed front elevation.

Yeah - man up!

Not if you've got a van, Jimbo ;-)

One of the architects said they hoped for planning permission within three months and to be open by Christmas. Apart from the side extension, internal work and a picture window at the front, there's not a lot of major structural work to do, so I suppose it's possible. Here are the arhcitects, though they haven't put the plans up on their website yet. http://www.panterhudspith.com/projects/arts.html

My favourite Snowdonian cottage - though sadly not for rent: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music/led-zeppelin-fan-ruth-dale-4875086

Nipped into Flying Pig for a couple of pints last night. Late Knights' lovely Great Exhibition ale for ?3.50 a pint. And a strong, amazingly tasty ginger black saison from By The Horns for ?2.50 a half. Money well spent IMHO and for two beers of a style (and possibly quality) almost unheard of before a few years ago.