Minitoots

We're finally getting round to checking PPI - has anyone used a firm they were happy with, or has anyone done it themselves?? Any tips gratefully received, thanks.

We have 2 elderly parents in residential care and had to sell their house to pay for the fees. Their savings will run out in the next few months. We'd naively assumed that the local council in their area would meet the costs once funds ran out, but have now discovered that the most they will offer is about 50% of the total fee and we don't have funds to meet the top up either. Apparently the council may even decide they do not need to be in residential care. Has anyone else been in this very worrying situation? I've contacted 'Age UK' for advice, and also 'Independent age', and also spoke to the Care Advice line (a charity which advises on financing care etc) - they were extremely well informed, but I'm wondering if there is anyone else we can talk to to find out more before approaching the local social services in their part of the country as we would like to be as well prepared as possible before they both have their care needs assessment, and before we discuss anything with them. What a start to the new year!!

thanks for the update, TE44 - and thanks to everyone else who has replied so far, as well.

any chance we can get back to answering the question of what supplements he can get from a local health shop or chemist???

My partner has just been told he has high cholesterol - he previously managed to lower it a lot by going on a low cholesterol diet + exercising more - any other suggestions? I heard that certain supplements could help but can't remember what they were - any ideas?? He would prefer not to have to resort to statins...

thanks for the info!

Original machine knitted, felted and fringed scarves for sale - pure new wool. No two are exactly alike. Various lengths from 110cm to 190 cm. Width approx 25cm including fringes. Sale prices from ?25-35, depending on length. Send a PM for more info or to visit the studio based off Northcross road in SE22.

My son needs to learn the basics of Vectorworks - he's a recent graduate and can't afford the full priced version - does anyone know of cheap or free trial versions? It wouldn't have to be the newest one....

We'd like to buy some large house plants eg palms etc for our house and wondered if anyone can recommend the best value places which would deliver? It can be an online company if there is nowhere local which is relatively cheap...

thanks Woodland, that's very helpful.

A group of about 20 of us are hiring a house for a long weekend and are trying to work out how to bulk buy food / drink in advance to cook fairly basic meals - can anyone recommend any wholesale supermarkets fairly near to SE22 where we can save a bit of money?

OK thanks for the explanation, Admin. Is it ok to post a similar ad in the ED business section instead of here, then?

that's strange as there are many other similar posts from small businesses, and I'm not sure what the difference is???!!? for example, http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,1970988,1970988#msg-1970988 http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,1914034,1914034#msg-1914034 http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,1888030,1888030#msg-1888030 Should I be advertising in the 'businesses section? I am a sole trader and not a big corporation.

Hello, Admin, I'm a local knitwear designer living and working in East Dulwich. I recently posted a message with images advertising machine knitted scarves that I'm selling from my studio in SE22 and when I checked it later, it had been removed. I posted it again the next day and have just checked and once again it has been removed! Please can you let me know why? I've posted similar ads in the past and sold lots of my work via the forum. I've copied the post below as I'd kept a draft of it + also a copy of the message showing it has been deleted. Thanks for your help. Here is the message saying it has been deleted:- http://i.imgur.com/iKpdOOy.png ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This was the original post which was removed twice:- Original machine knitted, felted and fringed scarves for sale - pure new wool. No two are exactly alike. Various lengths from 110cm to 190 cm. Width approx 25cm including fringes. Sale prices from ?25-35, depending on length. Send a PM for more info or to visit the studio based off Northcross road.

OOps sorry - this post went through twice. and I can't delete this 2nd one. My son's girlfriend has just received an email with the title being her email address and a message saying it had been hacked. It's a hotmail account and her payslips get sent to it and that's mostly why she's concerned. The message states her password from the email account (but it is an old one) It says it hacked her mailbox more than 6 months ago and has accessed all her accounts social networks, email and browsing history. It also implies she has been looking at 'intimate content sites' and has taken a screenshot through the camera on her device (she has it covered up on her laptop) and is asking for $841 in bitcoin to be sent to their account. We've reassured her that it sounds like a con and she's also checked it all out on the police advice website re hacking but it would be good if anyone else can advise her on what to do. She has a Macbook so any advice on the best anti-hacking software would also be handy.

My son's girlfriend has just received an email with the title being her email address and a message saying it had been hacked. It's a hotmail account and her payslips get sent to it and that's mostly why she's concerned. The message states her password from the email account (but it is an old one) It says it hacked her mailbox more than 6 months ago and has accessed all her accounts social networks, email and browsing history. It also implies she has been looking at 'intimate content sites' and has taken a screenshot through the camera on her device (she has it covered up on her laptop) and is asking for $841 in bitcoin to be sent to their account. We've reassured her that it sounds like a con and she's also checked it all out on the police advice website re hacking but it would be good if anyone else can advise her on what to do. She has a Macbook so any advice on the best anti-hacking software would also be handy.

That?s really helpful as othwrwise the excess waiver would cost us something like ?40 per day!!

Any recommendations for reputable car hire companies in Sardinia without all the hidden extras, anyone?

We've now got places to stay on the N.E.coast at great bargains, so now the question is - car hire - what a nightmare that always ends up being. Any suggestions of companies that don't have lots of hidden charges would be great.

Still looking for someone to help us move this tree- it's only one item - have a look at the photos to get an idea of the size /weight - we can be flexible on the time of day /evening that it's moved...

thanks for the message, caterpillar78 - I see that Chia is in the south so guess that places further north would be even colder for swimming, if there is still a wind... Maybe the winds aren't always so strong- has anyone else been at that time of year?

thanks for the info, Gadge. Glad yours has cleared up.

We have bought a very large and extremely tall, pretty heavy tree for our roof terrace which is up 50 steps from the ground and are looking for 2-3 very strong people who could lift it (carefully) up. Maybe someone from a local removal firm? There are several small flights of stairs and it might be difficult to manoevre it round the corners due to the height of the tree. I've attached photos of the tree and 2 sets of stairs to give an idea of what is involved.

thanks, Mrs TP As Southern Sardinia is a fair bit further down, we're hoping it will be that much warmer....?? A friend who knows people living there has been has just said re Sardinia - So my friend says that the warm seas at that time of year are "without a doubt, Villasimius ( a beautiful very popular ?place during the summer months ) Chia and all the Cagliari area, including Portopino, Teulada, Tuerredda etc October is definitely not holiday month so I should not think there are many people around. As it's the beginning of autumn the wind could be cold rather than warm, but it should be ok once you're in! Fabulous unspoilt white and golden sand beaches.

Update on this post - we've found places to stay so now looking for car hire recommendations. Has anyone hired a car in Sardinia? We've been ripped off when hiring in mainland Italy in the past so are looking for a reputable firm without all the hidden extras... We're staying in 2 different places right by the sea on the NorthEast coast but plan to travel around the northern half of the island so any suggestions of the best places to visit inland as well as on the coast would be great.