shell_8

I've just finished reading the Kindle version and absolutely loved it. I bought it because I liked the idea of reading a book set in a familiar surrounding but the fact that ED was the back drop to some of the scenes was by the by. It's a really well thought out novel with a fascinating central character. I have recommended it to my friends :-)

When I eat a fry up I have to create a sausage barrier down the middle of my plate so that my baked beans don't touch my eggs...

I was given a tortoise by my grandfather for my 1st birthday. I'm now nearly 34 and he's still going strong - although he lives with my family in Wales as we were advised against moving him when I came to London. They are amazing animals and fantastic pets but some breeds are sensitive to big changes in their environment so I'd advise against getting a garden tortoise if you're not planning to stay at that particular house long term. A lot of people think that they're quite dull little creatures but they're most definitely not. Tonga (my own tortoise) seems to be able to tell the difference between each member of my family by the noise we make walking down the steps into our garden. He will always start to walk towards me and my father across the grass. He is indifferent to my mother (probably as she's not normally the one to feed him) and he moves away from my brother as he doesn't seem to like him. I am the only person he will allow to feed him by hand and I'm also the only person he will allow to stroke his head and legs - if anyone else tries he pulls all of his limbs in and snorts. He's a great little character. When I first got him he was no bigger than a pork pie but he's now about 16 inches long and is noticeably bigger when he comes out of hibernation each spring.

This years Thaipusam was 19th-21st January so that would make sense.....

When I was 11 my grandfather, who I was very close to, died. He had lived with us and he and my grandmother had their own living room within the house. After his death my grandmother spent more time in with us and their living room fell into disuse. My mum used it to store her ironing, the hoover etc. One evening a couple of years later (when I was about 13) she was ironing in the kitchen and she sent me into that room to get the next ironing pile and some hangers. I opened the door and saw my grandfather sitting there in his usual chair smiling at me and tapping his foot as he used to do when he listened to his records (he was a drummer). I yelled and ran into my mum but when we both went back in there was no one there. My mum has always claimed that it was my mind playing tricks as I wanted to see him again but something in the way he smiled at me has always made me think otherwise :-)

I'm intrigued!

Wonderful!! Time to start ramping up the complaints methinks :-)

We recently upgraded from a normal Virgin set top box to a V+ box which allows us to record etc. Ever since the new box was installed we have been unable to access the 'Catch Up TV on Demand' portion. We get an error message on screen that tells us to call Virgin and quote a specific code. We did this at the weekend and was told that there was a known problem in the area and it wouldn't be fixed until February. When my partner enquired about compensation for the loss of service he was told there wouldn't be any because this service was free anyway (which kind of missed the point). Has anyone else in the area experienced anything like this? I'm on Goodrich but a friend on Upland has a perfect service so I have a feeling we're being fobbed off.....

I'm a big fan of Asian horror films as they always manage to maintain a really unsettling atmosphere. I can highly recommend 'A Tale of Two Sisters': http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/ A great psychological chiller :-)

The Elder Scrolls V has just been announced: http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/elderscrollsvskyrim/news.html Not sure I can wait till November though. Oblivion is up there with my fave games of all time so i'm very excited about this one!

The pavements on Dunstans Road are like an ice rink this morning. Slipped on my bum 4 times on my way to the bus stop. How embarrassing!

It's called Deadliest Warrior - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadliest_Warrior My other half loves it!

Apologies if that came across as harsh Concita - it wasn't meant to :-) Once upon a time I was a very happy East Dulwich resident (despite being mugged on my own street back in April) but since this thread started up i've become a nervous wreck. Whereas I would once attribute creaks in the night to my neighbours comings and goings, I now always presume that it's someone trying to get in and do me harm and then I can't sleep for the rest of the night!

Surely this thread has now run its course? * We all know there have been burglaries * We all know to be more vigilant * We all know to report any burglaries or suspicious activity to the police * We all know it's horrible for those affected What more is there to be said? Perpetuating the thread can only serve to scare people.

I went to school with Gavin. All of the above was equally true back then, apart from he hadn't yet discovered the 'joys' of being orange.....