Penguin68

Is there any possibility that we could campaign for productive replacement trees -- nut or fruit trees? Sadly both types of tree, once fecund, will tend to produce fruits which fall and create trip or slip hazards - and which will make street cleaning more problematic. Trees which blossom, or which (and which?) have strong autumn colours would be good - or evergreens which do not have significant leaf fall. Limes should be avoided (their sap is dreadful on pavements or cars). Trees which have berries which are taken by birds would be a good compromise (rowans are frequently grown - their fruits don't fall so spectacularly).

Target Arms also sold antique (back to early 19c. militaria) and uniforms (and antique oriental weapons, not 'samaurai replica' - much of their stock was not WWII or related. But, in terms of sheer volume, there is a lot of WWII stuff about, so it's not surprising they stocked quite a lot of that.

We are frequently told not to use phones in the street to avoid having them stolen. We are also told not to use them whilst driving - we are not good at taking instruction!

Overground to Canada Water; Jubilee Line to London Bridge. Avoid disappointment.

Shirley Greenwood (who played Maggie in London's Burning) used to work in an antiques/ curio shop in Forest Hill, as I recall, almost opposite Forest Hill Station, when not filming.

A bit of a thread hijack - but if anyone (additionally) has grape vines which are productive there is a South London company which will (with those of others) create a wine - you get bottles of wine in relation to the weight of grapes offered http://m.urbanwineco.co.uk/ - the wine they produce each year is (ironically) named Chateau Tooting but differs each year as the grapes and quantities offered differ.

US Air-force B52s used to fly over my house in Oxford on training flights - very low level flights (things used to be shaken off shelves) and they were carrying nuclear weapons. Civil aircraft flight paths over ED are a doddle...

I'm still confused kbabes, how does a freezer 'make' ice cubes? One every twenty minutes? What does that mean? More modern (American style) fridges have ice making machinery (they have to be plumbed-in, or you add water to a reservoir) which produces ice cubes, sequentially. This is an alternative to using an ice tray. They also often offer iced water - all accessible without having to open the fridge/ freezer itself. Marvels of modern kitchen technology.

A few minor changes to the menu, More pizza and pasta, fewer 'second plates' including no fish on the second course and no risotto. What we had was very good (in a Lorenzo style) seemed freshly prepared and was well seasoned. Vegetables (in a pasta) were very much al dente and fresh tasting.

If it is open the Bethlehem Hospital (Bedlam) museum in Beckenham is well worth a visit - one of the contenders for Museum of the Year last year (lost to the V&A) - It is small but full of interesting stuff - parking is normally OK outside. It is still a working hospital. Edited to say - sorry - this isn't one of its open Saturdays (first and last of month) http://museumofthemind.org.uk/visit

Put out slug pellets around the room perimeter - particularly near any external door or window (if you don't have any pets) Or salt.

As this development has been so much in the public gaze (and scrutinised by at least one councillor) such a suggestion is very unlikely (and very possibly libelous) in this case. Far more likely I'm afraid is the application of a utilitarian approach (greatest good for greatest number) where the immediate neighbours' needs are being trumped by those of the rest of ED - who 'want' a flagship shop and (more importantly perhaps) don't want a blighted empty shop space. The Iceland space was a retail curiosity - too large for a small shop, not large enough for a retailer other than Iceland - where most of the storage could be done in the open retail space in freezers. The only design option was to loose the parking spaces behind and pretend delivery wasn't going to be an issue. That way LL keeps up its profile - which is actually good for both residents and other local retailers, and bad only for a relatively small group of immediate neighbours. Which is, of course, very sad for them.

Thames Water had to replace pipework for me (and my neighbour) earlier this year (in Underhill - the old lead pipes had fractured). It was about a 20-25ft run and they used a mole - took about 30 minutes for each house - no surface disruption (other than digging 'receiving' pits at both ends). It seemed a very simple process and worked perfectly both times . The pipework actually into the house had already been replaced after an earlier incident (for me, anyway). It's a far quicker process than dig and bury.

Oh, come on - straight croissants are easier to pack (you get more in to a carton or display area) - this is all about supermarket 'efficiency' and cost saving, and nothing to do with customer preference. (Actually, you get more into the oven as well, so additional efficiency opportunities). I have never seen anyone (other than a child showing off) eat a croissant from one end to the other, breaking it up and dealing with each piece is always the preference I have noticed. And many people eat a plain (butter) croissant with coffee and don't add additional butter and jam.

confer absolute priority on pedestrians - no vehicle/cycle is supposed to be able to cross that line. But it's possible to have badly designed junctions where this doesn't happen, With complex junctions it's also possible for lights effectively to go out of phase, so that pedestrians and motorists - particularly turning motorists - both seem to have a 'green'. For both motorists and pedestrians, whatever the light signal, it is always worth checking that your way is actually clear. You can be both right and injured/ dead. And I wish (all) cyclists were as clear about lights as the rest of us. [by the way twice, last week, a cyclist acknowledged my holding back (in my car) to allow them to proceed safely through a gap - I haven't seen that level of courtesy for a long time].

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14183725_10153662996861854_8784321095230344427_n.jpg?oh=ec6bee3c058249cf82a84c1b86a7112e&oe=58477FCF

Iceland... I stand by my opinion that they specialise in revolting, nasty, processed rubbish I agree that their prepared foods were never to my taste - but as you also note 'and do sell some actual proper food too' their e.g. frozen unprocessed foods (and the other branded goods they sold) were entirely acceptable, good value and consistent quality.

In general M&S has prided itself that the premium you pay on (some) of their own brand items and fresh foods is justified by the quality. This is a perfectly proper marketing trade-off. In a 'perfect' world it would have been the Co-op which closed and was replaced by M&S with Iceland continuing its offer (assuming its sales were holding up). This would have given us a clearer choice. Whilst many might like to see Waitrose coming into the Co-op site (including I must admit me) - this would reduce the range of offer in LL - with two premium high quality outlets and no consistent budget-end supplier. The Co-op's consistency (and value-for-money quality) is conspicuous by its absence.

Packaged branded goods not available in the M&S in any significance for eg I presume? They did have some branded cereals and condiments (Heinz ketchup, Lea & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce etc.) - which is more than they used to. But mainly own brand, or at least own labelling.

If its data links are down or problematical it would be difficult for it to operate. Without them it could only sell stamps (maybe not even that if the tills are compromised as well - everything is data linked nowadays).

You ought to get this checked, it is possible that the cold water feed into your tank has been compromised by grit (can get into burst water mains) - contact Thames Water - it is the sort of thing they are obliged to help with. If you have a system where hot water from your boiler circulates into your hot water tank to heat the water being fed into it than it will be getting hot without anything to heat up - and this might not be good!

The study referred to excludes any analysis of Southwark - and shows that the levels of experienced noise drop off considerably as you move eastwards towards the uncovered area. The 'high' levels of noise which are health effecting are not (to extrapolate from the areas actually studied) over ED. And the fact that by no means all of those at least on this and sister threads perceive 'high levels of aircraft noise' would suggest that this is not an absolute impact - unlike for those actually living close to Heathrow - which was the determinant of this study. The actual title of the study is Aircraft noise and cardiovascular disease near Heathrow airport in London: small area study Again - I do not want to belittle the perceived impact on those who are sensitive to the noise, just to suggest that there may be coping remedies available where the closure of all airports around London is unlikely.

Advocating CBT to a significant minority of the population Not much liking the aircraft noise and it's making your life a misery are, I would suggest, different in scale - and there are techniques, such as Mindfulness, which can offer some succour without having to go down a CBT route necessarily. Whilst there are many who would sign a petition to 'make the noise go away' - I suspect there are far fewer for whom the noise is actually seriously damaging their quality of life (around here, anyway, for those much closer to the airports it is a different thing entirely). I am lucky in that I am rarely bothered by the aircraft noise, or even aware of it unless reading these threads (and my hearing is good) - the low hovering police helicopters we get on occasion are another matter, but hardly frequent enough to want to make an issue of it.

Yes maybe some good psychiatry will help me thank you. Psychological support or psychotherapy might help; I'm by no means sure that a psychiatrist would be of any great assistance - you might find anger management could be helpful as well.

I have previously said on this or a sister post that it is possible to address issues where particular stimuli become points of obsession through psychological supports, such as CBT and Mindfulness. It seems clear that whilst some people find the airplane noise virtually intolerable others (in the same area) do not. Ways of changing your relationship with that noise may be helpful. Where everyone finds a stimulus impossible to live with, then the stimulus should be addressed, but where only some do the most 'economic' solution might be one which addressed the sufferer, not the immediate cause. Just as phobias (such as arachnophobia) can be addressed through CBT, so your relationship to aircraft noise may also be addressable (and no, I am not saying that you are 'mad' or deranged, simply that your relationship to airplane noise, the way in which it captures your attention so that it become unreasonably intrusive may be something which psychological support might be able to address).