rgutsell

Hiya I'd like to suggest that you don't take them to thye main charity shops at all. A lot of books pass through my hands; I put them all outside of my house, with a notice "Please take" They go very soon. I'm not a fan of the common charity shops; they are really chain shops undercutting wages and independent sellers, with a less than remarkable charitable return. Small local charity shops run by enthusiasts for local coauses are great. But the likes of Oxfam, British Heart foundation, etc pay large wages to senior staff, who often come from the retail sector, use chain store practices, get tax benefits, and pay low, or no wages. IMOP of course! Yours R Gutsell

Hiya Will the proposed 20mph limit for places like Lordship Lane, result in cyclists being booked for speeding? Cyclists frequently exceed 20 mph, although they are probably unaware of it. Will speed camera's etc be altered to pick up speeding cyclists? Has there been any research on the impact of speeding cyclists on pedestrians? (Just out of interest, my partners father, aged 90, was struck by a speeding cyclist on a zebra crossing, and spent a week in hospital with a broken wrist and other injuries. It was not purseud by the Police.) Rgutsell

Hiya all 2 new camera's, on rather poorly secured poles, have appeared in ED Grove, and appear to be recording the Zebra crossing opposite the church. Maybe the council is planning an intervention here; it's definitely a strectch of rtoad that hasa lot of speeding going on. Rgutsell

Terrible experience to have. I'm a life long distance runner and sympathise completely. On the issue of the dog...it's the human that defines "frightening" not the dog, or its owner. It IS frightening to be approached by an unknown animal that may be/or may not be aggressive. ESPECIALLY if it's a "fighting breed" and the owners also look intimidating (and of course, they know it). Dog owners need to get to grips with this. Yours Rgutsell

Thank God thats over. Just think; at the drop of a hat, without agreement from the state or its representatives, a Private funeral (for that is what it was folks!) was allocated about ?10 mill, substantial police presence, devoted media attention, roads closed, security "measures", threats from the police to pre-emptively arrest sections of the population, the involvement of the forces and the presence of reps from other states. Not Argentina though...that would have taken intelligence and forgiveness. Thatchers family should have paid for it all. Meanwhile, the rest of us have to "Live with austerity". It happened because a significant faction of people, installed in Government and other positions, wanted it, and assumed it would happen. It was a demonstration of "class" and "party". It shows (IMOP) that far from being reformed, Government remains separatist and elitist. Ok, rant over. Now then, where will the statue to the nasty old bird be put up? Yours Rgutsell

Hiya Thankx! Rgutsell

Hiya all Brilliant snippet from the Independent. Someone texted Arthur Scargill; " Margaret Thatcher, dead". Scargill replied; "Arthur scargill, alive" LOL Rgutsell

Hallo everyone I am very pleased that my thread has produced such a fertile, creative, and entertaining response. My own family want me to shut up and stop ranting! As regards the comment that Socialism spends "other people's money"; isn't that what has just happened with the recent banking crisis and the recession? Haven't we just bailed out the banks? Weren't the capitalist oranisations using our money (from dubious mortgages, fixed energy bills, energy cartels, PFI etc). Isn't the whole tottering capitalist pyramid supported by our money, our earnings, our spending, our families, our desires and needs? Glenda Jacksons speech was excellent and bravely undertaken in isolation. What a stark contrast her approach is to that of Ms Thatcher et al. Jackson for PM anyone? I think I will head for the Magdalene wed eve, and metaphoricaly tip some beer over Thatchers grave. Yours Rgutsell

People who sit on the inside seat on buses and silently DARE you to ask them to move over so you can sit next to the window.

Hallo all I've locked up two bikes with U locks...then lost the keys. How to get them off? (Without wrecking the bikes!)Any ideas? I am anticipating two types of suggestions; the entertaining ( eg, light dynamite and retreat) and the serious. Both welcomed. Yours Rgutsell

Hiya all Good discussion but......my suggestion waa that we meet for celebration. Howabout about a pub; lets say the Magdalene, next wednesday? Yours RNGutsell

Hiya all Anyone fancy a celebration for the end of La Thatcher? In thoroughly bad taste of course! "Thank God she's gone" I am already sick to my stomache with the impending media sycophancy and glorification. Yours RN Gutsell

Hallo all Thanks for your suggestions, ideas, and insights. Luckily, the population is not dependant upon the scientific knowledge of residents in ED. I am going for the Local Amenity idea, then VOSPA. I'll be back ( as Arnie Schwarzenneger said!) Yours R N Gutsell

Hiya all Does anyone know where I can get a campervan weighed? Yours R N Gutsell

Hiya all In a moment of insight (boredom) I have realised something of great importance. The "buy and sell" section of EDF is where IKEA sends its stuff to die. yURS

Hiya all This scam depends upon you being altruistic and helpful. It exploits your social habits. Recently a woman approached me in East Dulwich appearing to be very distraught and in floods of tears. Guess what...she needed money. Don't get fooled..money is very rarely the source of a real problem. Nobody likes to feel that they are hard or cold or indifferent. Rgutsell

Hiya all Some more thoughts on this, and related issues. We are fortunate in having a well developed infrastructure for waste collection, disposal, water treatment, sewage etc. We may complain, but given the high levels of consumption and intense use, we are well off. (Check out many other poorer facilities in other areas of the world). The council cleaning operation is on a massive industrial scale, and we cannot expect them to deal with all of the changing patterns of litter dropping, dumping, seasonal waste and leaves, careless disposal etc. On this issues, and others, we would benefit from being more proactive locally, and taking "ownership" of our living areas. This can be done in many small ways, and needs some altruistic thinking and behaviour. There are many small streets in Dulwich, and groups of residents could meet, informally and flexibly, to regularly walk their street and pick up litter, and do other useful things. It would be a good example to children. There are many apsects of local life that could be influenced in this way. Small, useful, pragmatic actions by local people. It would compliment the council work, not duplicate it. Such groups would also be in a much better position to liaise with the other groups, organisations, etc that are using the area in which you live; for example, churches (who bring people in from outside), shops (who bring customers in from outside, and who may generate litter and noise), pubs, bars, resataurants who all benefit from the character of your area, but who may generate noise, litter, unsociable behaviour etc. This is not about being a do gooder, or busybody or nosey; it's about having influence over the actual area in which you live. Yours Rgutsell

HIya Lizbells Thanks for all of that! If I hear anymore, I will let you know. Yours RGutsell

Hiya No..we can't prevent the Lowest common denonimator. But we can get those who profit, to pay into the clean up. They made their very well planned profit from the throw away boxes etc. I think they should pay to clean up, or create a way of doing business that does not result in litter, and rat/fox problems etc. Rgutsell

HIya all. I'd like to state that the council street cleaner in charge of the stretch of East Dulwich Grove from Tell Grove to the hospital is a brilliant worker, who is out there any weather, early in the morning, conscientously sorting and bagging our crap. I admire him. The problem is not the council..its us, the litter droppers, and who set the conditions for the creation of litter. Why don't we just get down and dirty? If we see someone dropping litter, take a beep breath and point it out. Stop dropping stuff outside charity shops after hours. If you see someone going through rubbish bags and leaving the contents all over the place, stop them. (I did this recently..and it worked) If we find take away food boxes on the street, pick them up (aaarrrghhh!) bag them and then, maybe even take them back to the shop that sold them.(Think how effective that would be if well organised!) Go to fast food shops and complain to them...oppose their licence to trade. If we see shops leaving rubbish out on the streets and not getting it collected, or packing it well, complain to them, and oppose their licence to trade. Stop your family, children, associates buying take away food and eating it on the street, buses, transport etc. Don't eat on public transport. We live here, and benefit from the very agencies that create litter. It is our responsibility to act on this issue! Yours Whingeingly Rgutsell

Hiya all Gym was full yesterday evening. Full, it seemed, of "exercising" beautiful young people sitting on machines, answering their mobiles, etc, whilst whimsicaly paddling the machines along, and watching TV. Never breaking a sweat. I, on the the hand, go at every exercise set like a demented and sweaty maniac, determined to .....well....exercise! Maybe us older people recognise the need to exercise and stay alive longer. And maybe a good staff team would encourage machine blockers to "move along, please"! Its good that the gym is well used. Not so good that the gym floor is not managed at all well. Rgutsell

Hiya Its been done to me (Piccadilly, London) They work in pairs, one lines up behind you and gets the PIN number whilst you are entering it. The other then distracts you (In my case they dropped a ?20 note on the ground), and whilst you are distracted the other (behind you) takes the card. They then quickly use the card, often near you, and the guy you did not see (behind you) gets the cash out. They don't run away, they saunter away. It takes you a while to get back to being grounded, and by then they have done it all, and thrown the card away. If you are being distracted, put your hand over the card (whilst it is still in the machine). Don't expect much from the Police. They record it, but if there is no CCTV and no violence, they give you a case number and that will help to ensure you get your dosh back. Rgutsell

Do I detect a touch of sarcasm? I'm a cyclist and driver, with years of experience on HGV and PSV (now HGC and PCV!) vehicles. I do not want to be left with the emotional trauma of being involved in an accident with a cyclist, whether my fault or not. What is the point of lying injured in a hospital bed thinking "It wasn't my fault!"? So, when we are in our buses, lorries, cars etc and watch as commuting cyclists pull out to pass parked vehicles without apparently looking, signaling, or having any concern about what vehicles are following them, who is driving them and if the driver is even paying attention (and not on their mobiles), I am concerned. So should everyone be. I also give thanks for the huge majority of trained and attentive drivers ( Many of whom are cyclists) who brake, move out, adjust their speed etc to compensate for the cyclists. I like cycling, and I think it should continue to develop. To do this, one of the things that the cycling fraternity needs to do is bite the bullet and get serious about being legal, road ready, and lose the concept that just anyone can get any old piece of equipment, and get on the road without training or knowledge, or any legal concern about safety. Cyclists would have to lose some of their "freedom". I think a serious effort by Police to make safety checks etc would be benificial in the long run, painful at the outset. Rgutsell

Hey all The laws describing the lighting requirements for all road users are ages old, and stipulate what colours, intensities and size the lights should be, and what they are used for. Bicycles and motor vehicles should all comply. Flashing lights are actually illegal on bicycles! If they wanted to, Police could simply pull all vehicles and bikes over, and check their lights, fitted equipment, road safety etc. It is rarely done to cyclists, but I did hear about a bicycle check being carried out by Police in Southwark recently. Maybe just rumour. The problem might be that if they did stop cyclists, what would they do with all the bicycles forced off the road for being unsafe? If they just warned the owners, most would jump back on their bikes when out of sight. I think that a campaign of bicycle checks all over London, followed by warnings, and notices of what needs to be done to the bikes, would do wonders for raising cyclng standards. Bring it on!! R Gutsell

Hey all Guess what......Southwark have been back in touch regarding our idea...they are taking it seriously!! I'll be back with any further developments. Ps; in Haight Ashbury San Francisco, they have tiny gardens in the earth around planted trees on the walkways. What about that for an idea? Rgutsell