Penguin68

And yet again I ask - 'do you trust Southwark council and councilors...?'

These people surely cannot be 'Competent' Artists. Dreadfull (sic) Leonarda da Vinci was reputedly a good artist but was technically crap at fresco painting (viz the deterioration of his Last Supper) - being a good artist and being proficient at mural painting are not necessarily the same thing. And just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's not good (or at least accepted as good) art. I can't stand Cy Twombly for instance, - but that's my problem.

I have noticed, over the few years I have been following this forum, that posts on dogs - either their fouling or their attacks on people and other dogs - are started, or revived, about every 6 weeks. It would seem that, much as many love dogs (and I do as well, though I haven't had care of one for over 50 years) they are uneasy cohabitees in an urban setting. I very much doubt whether KK has invented the incident he reported out of whole cloth - why would he bother? And I fully understand the frustration so many have, particularly responsible dog owners, on those few who continue to give them a bad name. There was uncollected dog poo, he did collect and dispose of it as a responsible citizen, and I fully understand his desire to point the finger at the person he believed (alleged in good faith, I would argue) was the transgressor (a transgression not just of social norms, but of the law). We have accepted pictures of other transgressors and law breakers on this forum. Of course it partly smacks of bullying, and he has presented no evidence other than his word - but I cannot see that this should automatically or necessarily not be believed. Not collecting dog poo, particularly that left in busy shopping streets, (and there are other places too equally heinous, such as in playgrounds and near schools) is disgusting and a disgrace. If other mechanisms cannot or do not work, public exposure may be a (necessary) last resort.

And yet he's not the one shouting...

Technically Skate don't have bones, it's cartilage. They belong (with other rays and sharks) to the cartilaginous, not the bony, fish. But I do know what you mean!

I suspect that as soon as the election is over and Labour safely reelected in this constituency the trees will be gone.

And so - and end to doorstep canvassing in this election...

Both buses serve people 'off the beaten (main roads) track' via quite narrow local roads - which are (as has been pointed out above) easily (and frequently) blocked. Even bin lorries can hold up buses for a little time (and today is bin day on at least part of the p13 route, on top of everything else reported). The downside of 'very' local buses is local traffic disruption.

Let's hope the theives don't read the forum...

Don't worry. The CWU is planning to strike over Christmas, so there'll be no deliveries to worry about

Sea Master (Forest Hill Road) fries to order, the quality of their cod is good (firm, white flesh) and they're nice people. If you don't want to wait, you can phone in an order and collect. But they are cash only.

There are still (good) fish and chip shops readily accessible from ED - fewer perhaps than in the past, but that reflects a much wider choice generally of food outlets. But where you have relatively low price items you need high sales volumes to meet fixed costs (rent, rates etc.) in 'pricey' areas. ED (Lordship Lane) is one of those. So necessary expenditures need to be around the ?25 a head mark to cost in and provide a profitable business, even for a take-away business with relatively low overheads compared with an eat-in establishment.

Whilst there have been spates of thefts in the past, these have tended to be of easily portable items (cheque books, bank cards etc.) - which a postie could readily conceal or pass on to a third party - parcels are much more bulky and difficult to dispose of (and vans coming from Peckham often carry a couple of posties to an area, requiring therefore some sort of conspiracy). I would be tempted to lean down the route of cock-up therefore - though clearly a recorded delivery time of 06:45 does seem odd. However it's so odd that too might be a function of dodgy equipment rather than dodgy people. I had a delivery in the rain and the postie was really struggling to get the reader to work. Some indeed I know 'pre-read' items in the van (where it's dry) - which they shouldn't do of course - but which has some logic to it without implying criminality. Obviously you haven't got the parcel you expected (and paid for) which is frustrating, annoying and will put you to extra effort. But to leap to a criminal conclusion so rapidly is perhaps a little precipitate. but there are plenty of people who may be tempted to make a bit of money on the side given how tight money is with the shambles that is Brexit. And whatever bad things Brexit brings - it is not the current cause of economic problems - mainly because it hasn't yet happened. To blame current thefts (if indeed it was a theft) on Brexit caused hardship (posties are, by definition, employed, and not badly paid although clearly they would like more) is going further than any facts would support. I don't know how much your kit cost you, but thieves get at best 10% of the face value of items stolen - which I'm guessing ain't that much, for the effort and risk.

Maybe this includes all the ones they have taken out when they cleared the cemeteries. If it does then wild saplings and scrub growth is being included. Including trees growing through graves. These are not part of the 'intentionally planted' environment. Only relatively small parts of the cemeteries have been 'cleared' - and some of these have been replanted with 'intentional' trees. Although the work, at least on the Old Cemetery, appears to have been effectively halted for 12 months or more, with only very occasional forays into the area planned for new burials - and no new burials at all that I can see in those areas - although many in the open areas of the cemetery. And I am not sure the numbers quoted (if they are for the cemeteries) are not estimates (by those opposed to the plans) of the eventual impact, rather than records of actual felling of substantial trees. Some trees clearly have gone in the area, but a net loss of 2,700 relatively substantial trees just doesn't feel right.

The doctors seems to work a couple of hours a day and claim full time pay. Forest Hill road Group practice is a scam. It is just a front to milk the NHS. This is probably actionable. The practice (as many others) has a real problem recruiting GPs - there is an acute shortage across the country. They have two waiting rooms - the one upstairs for doctors with consulting rooms upstairs. As they don't have a drop in policy, those waiting are those with appointments - depending on the number of doctors 'on' probably no more than 1-2 per doctor (and also those waiting for the pharmacist and the practice nurses). The practice certainly has had, and is having, problems, not unique to inner city practices with high levels of problems and low levels of staff. At times the service has been excellent - over 30 years of being a patient there I have seen both good and and times. The quality of medical advice, and treatment, when you can get it, is generally high. The appointment system is undoubtedly irksome - but their triage works and 'emergency' as opposed to routine needs are still being met, in my experience. To suggest that the doctors are lazy or scamming either their patients or the NHS is entirely uncalled for.

American Diners are huge manic places with waiters flying around the place I don't think this is necessarily so - American Diners are most marked by (a) having counter service with long counters and table service (b) opening at breakfast (served American style) and continuing to serve throughout the day into the evening © serving both full meals and snacks (such as coffee and pie). Look at the diners in e.g. Pulp Fiction or Goodfellas, (without the gunfire!) - or Twin Peaks - or almost any American film - no manic waiters rushing around (although there is waitress service) - you are I think confusing the large scale burger bars and taco joints like Planet Hollywood with the traditional Edward Hopper diner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawks_(painting)#/media/File:Nighthawks_by_Edward_Hopper_1942.jpg

I was once warned (by a glazier) that burglars broke windows so that when they were replaced they could return and remove the pane simply whilst the putty was still malleable. I don't know whether that was true and still is, but you might want to be cautious if the broken window could give access to your house without glass in it. Equally it might have been broken by a stone flying up from a wheel accidently, if it is close to a road where traffic might pass at a little speed.

This thread is all about cognitive dissonance - when we read the doomsayers and moaners on other threads (about violence, and thefts and road closures and favourite shops and eateries and hairdressers closing etc.) we look to this thread to confirm our choice of living here - through recording 'famous' people who seem to have made the same choice, thus validating our own. It's basically harmless and may even be therapeutic!

and each household requires a separate mains water supply I had understood (happy to stand corrected) that this was for sewers and drains - but of course the consequences of increased densities still apply. Additionally more rainfall leads to more run-off and demands on drains.

That won't help if it's mains powered.

If you don't have animals (or a floating, silvered helium balloon - it happened to me!) setting the alarm off, then it's most likely a faulty sensor - and/ or an infra red one with a cobweb over it. The infra red sensors can last as few as 5 years, and do need to be kept clean of cobwebs. Also the back-up batteries (in case of mains failure) only now have a 3-4 year life, and will need replacing. It's possible that's what triggering the alarm to sound. I have found Martin Curry of Security Masters (independent in Herne Hill - 07947 321 132) very good and helpful. He will at least be able to isolate the alarm to stop it going off.

Unless it is a rare and expensive breed small dogs are frequently stolen for either ransome or for training fighting dogs. The details being sought are not really relevant in these cases. It may just be genuine interest. Talking about your dog or the weather are acceptable topics for starting conversations. Some people just want to be friendly, something Londoners are uneasy about.

I suspect it may just be someone who is lonely, and may possibly (not by any means necessarily) have some mental health problems. Everything he asked, someone could have asked sitting next to you in a pub (even 'if there were any jobs about') - his closing 'thank you' may well have been genuine. It may have been strange, and even unsettling in solipsistic London, but may very well not actually have been in any way threatening.

Hopefully the air ambulance wasnt diverted from an actual accident where a decent hard working person needed help, whilst these kids played lets pretend to be a gangster and stab each other on our front doorstep. Unless you know a great deal more about this incident than you are revealing, the culpability of the victims of these knife crimes towards their own injuries is mere conjecture on your part. As would be the level of personal responsibility for anyone involved in an accident and needing the air ambulance. As would be the 'merit' - in terms of being hard working, of these victims. The existence of county lines exploiting children suggests that children are not 'playing' at being gangsters but are (sometimes) deeply involved, not necessarily voluntarily, in 'gang' criminality.