Brendan

Here?s my 2 pennies worth as a dog lover. Keeping an energetic, intelligent dog in a small house or flat (especially if you are out at work all day) is animal cruelty and should be treated as such. People should be prosecuted for doing this. It sounds harsh on some owners who I'm sure love their dogs but the size of your home is a major factor in the happiness of your pet. Some places are only suitable for small dogs or cats. This is why I don't have a dog. It doesn?t matter if you have a Chocolate Labrador or a staffie with dubious American pit-bull characteristics. These animals need significant engagement and exercise or they get frustrated and will misbehave. With this in mind forcing people to keep their dogs on a leash will most likely make some dogs more aggressive.

Come to think of it my recycling hasn?t been picked up this week.

Does anyone else have a problem with their post not reaching them, being tampered with or with the postman just not bothering to knock when he has a parcel and dropping a card through the door when there are people home, or just leaving parcels on the doorstep? If so please let me know as I have been trying to have these issues rectified for ages and the Post Office just ignores my concerns. Perhaps if a group of residents approaches them they may take notice. I have been having these problems for the past 4 years at 2 different addresses in East Dulwich and I have had enough. I normally don?t like to be a busy-body like this but it is really getting too much! Most recently my council tax bill didn?t arrive. Luckily I called the council to see what had happened and they said they had sent it a month back. So I paid over the phone and asked for another bill. This one didn?t arrive so the next month I went through the same rigmarole only to repeat it again this month. The council assures me that they have been sending these bills and the address is correct. In the last 2 months (that I am certain of) a credit card statement, a mobile phone bill and a gift from my mother-in-law have not arrived. I have had assurance from the senders that they were sent. Also a book I ordered online was just left on my doorstep. Like a reasonable man I went into the Post Office to ask if I could make an appointment to speak with the postmaster to give him a heads-up so that any problems could be dealt with without any unpleasantness. In hindsight this was completely bloody na?ve of me. You can imagine the response I got. I don't think there even is such a thing as a postmaster anymore it appears that computers tell the staff what to do. So I called the Post Office and all they say is that my concerns have been noted. They say that the senders of the letters have to complain for them to do anything. So yesterday I asked the council and all I got was some umming and ahhing, barely distinguishable form the rest of their monosyllabic nonsense. Again perhaps if a group of residents who have had the same problem approached them it may have more impact.

Yeah only one type on any shop keeps the capitalists monopolies out. ..oh wait. :-S

Can't imagine why. Was that last post too silly? You know I can never tell.:-S -thought it was in the lounge already tbh-

No but I am thinking of using fermenting plum juice from my garden to create bombs from sealed glass bottles. I am going to start an internet business selling them to rioting mobs across the world as an eco-friendly alternative to petrol bombs. I may even offer revolutionary organisations some kind of carbon offsetting scheme.

;-) I realise he is taking the wee wee but I am genuinely interested in where this new shop is. If indeed it does exist.

This is a very topical issue and one slightly separate from where this thread started out. House prices in London at the moment are a major social problem. An unnatural wedge is being driven through our society. Estate agents like Foxtons are not the cause of this problem. They are just one of the many symptoms. But, like a secondary infection, they can agitate the original problem.

Where is this new shop? Do they have any decent guitars?

Ah but renting from a private landlord or renting from a council/government?

Yeah it is. I'm lucky as I get a lone from work to buy a yearly. If you have to fork out monthly it is a lot.

I would advise taking the plunge a coughing for a travelcard Ant. Then it?s just train to London bridge and then tube. I used to use the bus in an effort to save money but found that the stress it was causing me just made me spend more money on beer.

"No reason to blame Foxtons directly." I was by no means blaming them for anything Nutty. It was just an observation on how ridiculous the whole business really is when you take a step back and look at it. Come to think of it this does not only apply to the housing market.

What the bloody hell is the point of selling your property for an inflated price when the fact that you are doing so means that the bugger who is selling you your next house will be doing the same thing? All this kind of thing is doing is promoting the proliferation of these poxy, parasitic, purveyors of property ?profit?. Their gaudy store fronts and logo emblazoned minis and beetles are clogging up high streets from Penge to Perth. I am also pretty sure that their heinous fashion sense is supporting sweat shops in the third world where those abominable mauve on mauve and pink on pink shirt and tie sets are made. (Although admittedly I do not AT THIS STAGE have any hard evidence to back this statement up)

Why not just have a chat to them about it? It could be a good way to get to know them. If they are arsey then you have lost nothing and will be vindicated in complaining to the landlord. But most people tend to be reasonable when you actually speak to them.

A while back I went to meet a friend of mine at the ED station and as he hadn?t been to the area for a while we were going to pop into all the bars between the station and my house for a swift half. We decided they had better be halves as I live up near the library so there are quite a lot of pubs on the way. The general idea was: The Vale, EDT, Black Cherry, Bishop, the Lord Palmeston, The Uplands, The Crystal Palace Tavern, Franklins, The Magdala and then perhaps even into the Plough if we felt brave enough. The tone for the day was set at The Vale when after asking my mate for a half of weak larger I was presented with a full pint of Stella, brimming with potential trouble. Tequila got involved at the Bishop. It was still mid-afternoon. We soldiered on. There was a lot of laughing involved as I recall. We completely lost each other en route from the CPT to Franklins. This was probably a good thing. By this stage the two of us trying to enter Franklins through that ridiculously tight entrance packed with its shopping bag draped push-chairs would probably have ended up in some kind of, slapstick, Peter Sellers type accident, spilling babies, lattes and organic welsh rarebit on ciabatta all over the place. Anyway we randomly found each other again at Caf? El Paso. Something to do with great/drunk minds thinking alike. Or just the irresistible draw of burritos to the inebriated stomach. There is something about Mexican food that sobers you up especially if you load it with chilli. After a meal which included beers and tequila we were fixed up good and proper enough to head to The Magdala for a few before calling it a night. Morals of the story: Pub crawls in East Dulwich are fun. Tequila in the afternoon doesn?t necessarily kill you. Don?t go to Franklins if you are too smashed. Mexican food is good for you!

Perhaps it is all some elaborate marketing scheme. ::o

No I think it?s because they?re a bunch of white supremacist fascists.

I just have an extra grill for vegi stuff. Anyway whenever I have a bbq it rains and I end up ordering pizza.

You know I have no idea why this topic is in the lounge when it is clearly of the utmost relevance to people in East Dulwich. Personally I can?t wait for the Paris Hilton Prison Chic striped sundress to hit the outsize shelves at Primark. Ooooh and the hollowed out French stick with the nail technician secreted inside.

Mrs Brendan is from Manchester. Not sure what nationality that is.

Well I'm half Afrikaans and half Irish. It's a weird state of affairs to be in I tell you.

Hey Miss Lou is cool. Her ramblings are quite entertaining and sometimes informative.

What was wrong with them? the leather? The hair? The spanndex? The screeching vocals? ... oh.:-S

They hardly noticed to be honest. As it?s Friday arvo they?re all scoffing cake and talking about whatever silly bollocks it is they talk about. I?ve got my headphones in now. ?breaking the law, breaking the law? etc. and wondering if my late twenties beergut will fit into any of the old band T?s I have from when I was a snake-hipped 18 year-old.