Penguin68

The issue I raised is about the use of a portakabin, not about any permanent and secure building. ED and adjacent bits of SE London are full of little shopping and associated enclaves (often only 3/4 units) surrounded by residential areas - it's part of its charm. Clearly this proposal is about making money, rather than offering a social amenity, but what's wrong about that? 'High Street' chemists offer much more than the dispensing of ethical pharmaceuticals, which is what I suspect this will mainly be targeted at - the more competition in ED the better as regards service and range improvement to attract and retain customers. The application(s) do not mention a needle exchange - Mr Barber is 'remembering' this from a previous application.

Have issues of security been properly examined - generally pharmacies are frequent targets of crime (for drugs) - one in a portakabin would, I would have thought, be particularly vulnerable?

On Sunday morning I (and a little later my neighbour, who borrowed my shovel) cleared the stretch of pavement outside our properties - the snow then was very easily shovelled and hadn't been walked into ice. As I was clearing the snow a number of people walked past - only one, an elderly couple of, I'd guess, Eastern European origins, commented on what I was doing or thanked me. Everyone else stalked past without even a smile. I am so glad I made the effort! [And no, for a very long time, these were the only two properties in a very long street with cleared pavements, but no surprise there.]

See my post above - if it is as described to my source in BT (but there do appear to be different stories being promulgated by Vod) then there will be no site engineers working on this - but instead planners and way-leave experts (to find another route for delivering service). And I'd guess what with the 4G auction and all they're not working that hard on it. There is an Android ap (OpenSignal) which allows you to track where your local cell sites are, and which you may be connected to (if any). Currently on 2G I'm connected to site 7339. My Vod service (on 2g) isn't completely hopeless, but it's not what they're being paid for!

Renata We are being forecast (sort-of) snow at the moment - there's no way the 63 would make it up the hill in those conditions with passengers (sometimes they can't even make it on the flat in the Rye where it gets exposed). I know that's only about 3 days every couple of years (or less) but if there is snow this weekend we will see the standard ED TfL - 'goodness, I had no idea there were hills in London' debacle. Until we have better powered (and better) buses much of possible routes will be off-limits - not just in snow and ice but in any inclement weather.

and after a bit of research, found giff gaff to offer numerous really good deals. Reception seems fine, too. There are only 4/5 network providers in the UK (Vod, a UK company; Orange (owned by France Telecom) and T-Mobile (owned by Deutsche Telecom) - now joined as E; O2 - owned by the Spanish Telefonica and 3 (owned by Hutchinson Wampoa) - all other 'mobile' companies are Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) leasing service wholesale from the 5 licensed operators. With 4G some new operators have started up in the auction process, including BT for its corporate mobile customers, but at the moment all mobile services are provided across networks run by these 5 operators. So you need to know who the underlying service provider is for giff gaff to know how service coverage for them operates. I'm afraid I don't.

I have just had this communication from BT - I too have had network issues with Vod, the BT Mobile service provider: We have an update on the problem with 3g in your area, but I?m afraid it does not look good. There appears to be an issue with what we call ?line of sight? between two cells and by the very nature of this, it will not be a quick fix. The re-design team are currently looking into a new way to route service and avoid the problem which will then require planning. Thankfully, by locking to 2G, you are still able to make and receive calls and texts, but if you are struggling with that while away from home, then simply changing back to auto selection will help. Please let me know if you need guidance on how to do this. Interestingly this says there is a 3G problem (my experience) - so completely differs from the advice above. By setting GSM only (on my phone) I am getting better reception in SE22. I have to remember to change to an auto setting (phone chooses GSM or 3G) when I am away from home.

Why have Conway just spent many hours building 2 flower beds on the greendale cycle path? This has 'guerilla gardening' written all over it!

1. Publication of a photograph captioned only with ascertainable fact - 'this photograph was taken in this place, at this date and time, and shows this person undertaking these apparent actions' (without imputing motive) particularly where the person was not on public grounds - even where it is additionally accompanied with a statement such as 'if anyone knows this person or is this person and can offer an explanation for these actions I would be grateful' is entirely unexceptional. I should note that a few days ago I was peering into a neighbour's house (living room windows) after their alarm was triggered, and would be happy to explain that if asked. 2. If you have such a picture and believe it may have captured a potential thief or burglar 'casing' your joint, there is an arm of the civil authority (the police) who would probably be interested in it. Actually, they may be a better recipient than a public e-forum. 3. Publication of any photograph just to satisfy the prurient interests of forum-ites has no merit (or value).

My Southwark schedule showed last week (christmas week) as a 2 day lag (it was), this week (New Year) as a one day lag (it was) and it is back to normal collections from Monday 7th. So for me it is back to standard schedule nest week. My normal collection day is Tuesdays.

Actually Plebian means 'not of the senatorial/ aristocratic class' and is one of the two assembly bodies in the Roman Republic - numbers of aristocrats in the last days of the Republic were adopted by Plebians so they could become Tribunes - as part of their positioning in the Cursus Honorem (leading to the elected rank of Consul, an annual appointment). The derogatory meanings stem from a distinction between aristocrat and not aristrocrat - and are very much anacronistic - in that when the Plebs was actually a defined body it had many refined members, Cicero was a Plebian, for instance. Senators and members of their class were certainly snobs, and many of the Plebs (a very, very much larger body of people) were of course less educated and refined but the general use of the term to mean inevitably unrefined and coarse is a 'new' meaning earned after the fall of the Roman Republic.

I am not sure why you are calling a pox on BT - they, like you, are a (albeit wholesale) customer of Vod - BT is a Virtual Mobile Network Operator (VMNO), meaning that they buy and on-sell mobile services from an operator with a licence - in their case Vod. The cell sites and towers are Vods, not BT's. BT is presumably working on (and passing on to you) the information being supplied by their supplier. Unless you buy directly from Vod, 3, O2, Orange or T-Mobile you will be being supplied by a retailer buying wholesale services from a licenced mobile carrier - i.e. the 5 above (and Oranage and T-Mobile have joined together now). O2 is in fact the Spanish firm Telefonica, T-Mobile is the German Deutsche Telekom, Orange is France Telecom and 3 is owned by Hutchinson Wampoa. The Spanish, French and German firms are the local incumbants (similar to BT in terms of local market share and partly state owned still, I believe). Vod is the only UK firm in the mobile carrier mix (and is of course now a global company).

BTW, where's the covered market? Need a watch battery changing. Zenoria St, off LL just before Goose Green

Avoiding any reference to up-market super-market chains (please, please, please avoid...) I don't know whether Lordship Lane needs such a thing, but I could have done (on a number of occasions) with a local quality Jeweller/ goldsmith/ silversmith for valuations/ repairs re-sizing etc. There's the watch guy in the covered market but that doesn't address a full set of needs.

Double glazing is more likely to seal moisture in - unless you have such ill fitting windows that rain is getting in - although mositure will condense more readily on a cold single glazed pane, it's actually already in the room - in fact, condensing on the windows allows you to more easily mop it up and dry it off. Is there any sign of interior mould on outside walls? - sometimes broken guttering/ down pipes can allow mositure through the brickwork. Problems with chimneys (including flashing around chimney stacks) can also allow damp into chimney breasts and hence into rooms. I had a problem with one room which was significantly mitigated by putting in an air-brick for ventilation - just 'opening a window' is neither effective nor efficient. If your walls are very damp, then either a really hot summer with no rain, or, better, use of a dehumidifier may be the only way of addressing the problem short-term, with other actions taken (e.g. air-bricks) to mitigate in the future.

A Ponzi scheme as described is not just 'a scam' but actively illegal.

Dog poor on my doostep Fox poo on my lawn Bird poo on my windscreen The ED anthem's just been born. Sorry, couldn't resist.

... and a real pointer to why the 'You don't need a car in London brigade' are sadly mistaken. Buses (in terms of journey times) are no substitute for rail based transport - tube or train - and yet both these are regularly out of commission at weekends (and public holidays). And of course, while there are night buses, these are fewer/ less frequent and routes less wide-spread than during the day - so any travel which starts or terminates after midnight cannot realistically be 'public' - at best we rely on (expensive) private taxis and mini-cabs if we can't/ won't drive or don't have a car.

Anti-theft nuts normally have a special fitting (socket) which fits into the nut - so that a normal socket part won't work - they are designed to 'slip' with a normal socket - are you using that? If you are, and its still slipping then it may well be a garage (or indeed an AA or RAC etc.) job. There are mobile tire fitters that might be able to help you as well. I am not sure a simple air gun would do the trick - it makes life easy, but if the fitment is slipping it still will with the air gun. Have you tried WD40 to loosen it? Sticking nuts can be shifted somtimes with WD40 and a club hammer, lightly used, to 'break' any rust adhesion. If you can remove it, do you have a torque-wrench to tighten? - if you don't, you should get any changed wheel checked over by a garage etc. when you can.

This is the word from TFL INDUSTRIAL ACTION BY UNITE ROUTES 29 34 38 41 73 76 78 102 121 123 125 128 135 141 144 149 150 168 173 184 192 221 242 243 253 254 279 307 313 317 318 325 327 329 341 349 377 379 382 393 397 444 491 W3 W6 W11 N29 N38 N41 N73 N76 N253 N279: 0300 Thursday 29 until 0300 Friday 30 November, these bus routes are expected to be severely affected and some services may not operate due to industrial action by the Unite union. Bus Passes and tickets will be accepted for reasonable alternative routes on London Underground, DLR and London Overground.

You don't have to listen to my urgings just to leave your door on the latch and go out for a long walk...

The general rule with crime prevention is to increase the 'cost' to the burglar to a level where 'it just isn't worth it'. As an example - safes are 'cash-rated'. This means that a criminal would have to 'spend' so much to gain access to the safe, so you should put in it no more than the 'cost' to the criminal of gaining access. The rule of thumb is that valuables, like jewelry, earn a criminal 10% of their face (insurable) value. A safe 'cash-rated' at ?3000 can then be used to store valuables (other than cash, of course) up to a value of ?30,000. You increase the 'cost' to the burglar in two main ways - making the house (and valuables within the house) more secure to gain access to (costing him/ her time and perhaps money to gain access) and making it more easy to get caught - with clear lines of sight and alarms. You encourage burglary by having poor external security (simple locks, readily opened windows and so on), by making his/ her life more secure (obscured points of entry, no alarms) and by offering temptation (expensive and portable items clearly visible through windows). However, if someone absolutely intends to burgle you, they will. So a final method is to encourage your neighbours (or other close neighbourhoods) to be lax in their security - so diverting burglars' attentions to them. [Put another way, this is an arms war, but you are competing, as is so often the case, within your own species - you must out-run not the cheetah, but the other gazelles].

Just a note of warning - intervening in a 'domestic' may be (is) morally right, but can be dangerous - a friend and I saw a girl being chased, screaming, into an underpass a few years beack by two men. We intervened only to have all 3 turn on us and chase us (the girl included). It seems, from what we gathered as we were being attacked, that the three were Greeks or Turks, a sister and two brothers. The sister was going out with the 'wrong' man, the brothers were 'remonstrating' with her, but all three joined together when we tried to intervene. On another occasion, I am sure, our intervention would have been welcomed by a girl being chased screaming into an underpass, but not on this one. But (if the opportunity again arose) I would think twice and then think again. You did absolutely the right thing, and possibly too much. The police are trained (and equipped) to deal with 'domestics' - we (generally) aren't.

I do think we have to distinguish between acting legally and acting ethically - a company can (most normally do, including those currently being pilloried) act wholly within the law, particularly regarding tax law, whilst still acting unethically - it is generally considered ethical to pay taxes to regimes where you operate, and benefit e.g. from all the benefits which companies in the UK get from free labour laws and low social taxation (i.e. NI and equivalents) for companies, together with access to people prepared to work for you and customers prepared to pay for your goods and services - the 'availability' of both being at least partly delivered by the society, funded in part by taxation, from which they stem. If Starbucks and others want just to benefit from Luxemburg and Swiss etc., taxation, they should operate just in those countries and not take tax delivered social and economic benefits from countries whose taxes they are not prepared to pay, even where legally they can work to avoid those tax burdens. More and more companies preach 'corporate social responsibility' - that implies ethical behaviour which goes far wider than simply being directed just to customers, employees and stakeholders. It is not just a matter of altering the law to catch these people, nor should we accept a robber baron mentality which suggests that anything not forbidden should be actively pursued. It may be technically legal, but these people are still cheating the societies they are drawing their (untaxable, apparently) income from - praying in aid legality does not excuse their lack of ethical consideration.

This is the facility which was in the Lewisham bit of Langston Rise - I doubt we have any Lewisham councilors reading this forum. The Southwark bit of the road is already occasionally fly-tipped - it will just get worse now, I suppose.