Cassius

"I'm off and therefore I want you to beg me not to go - pur-lease beg me not to go - oh ok then - I won't go I'll stay and piss you all off a bit more seeing that none of you even like me enough to beg me not to go"

You mean that mothers/fathers/whatever want to get together with your children and chat - what are your nannies for?

25. There isn't a Waitrose 26. There isn't a record shop - ooops scratch that

I'm sure I could eat well enough on the money available - being a vegetarian no matter what the arguments for and against, is definitely cheaper than eating good quality meat and fish, however I don't think the money would cover our wine habit!

which bands does he manage - do you know?

Asset Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Where would tick all your right boxes? If you added a riverside location and a tube line (or at least a direct route to Victoria or Charing Cross) I think we'd practically be there!

I have heard that the gym isn't closing down now - although everyone I ask has a different story to tell - it might be worth contacting the head office to find out for sure. On topic - ED has a variety of different shops, bars and restaurants - it isn't perfect and there will always be people who will moan about this and that - but then again where is perfect? It has fairly decent transport links, I feel safe walking around at night and there is good proximity to both Peckham Rye and Dulwich Parks. In all I think that ED ticks more boxes that it doesn't tick.

I'd rather get drunk at home if I'm going to get drunk - then I don't have to worry about getting home............

Not liking the cllothes in the White Stuff is merely an opinion - I don't like it but at least I am not hoping that it closes down. I don't like Gap or Marks & Spencer either but doubt my opinion matters to their shareholders.

I don't think hamsters have long reptilian tails - shudder.

Had a look earlier - the guy running it (John) is very friendly and I think it should be good, with a variety of vinyl. He was however still in the throes of putting his stock out, so we left quite quickly after a very cursory look to let him get on with it - but will return. It would be great if something like this works out and I wish John the very best.

So what should we do - we have pressed the button, the road has cleared and yet we should stand and wait for the light to change even though the road is clear. Right...........

I always tell myself that SOMEWHERE in the world it is cocktail time and perhaps I am living in tune with that timezone - especially when having a 7.00am snifter at an airport.

Louisa - I just think it's sad that you seem to take pleasure in anything that upsets a certain element of society. Do you really HATE the middle classes (whatever that might mean) THAT MUCH? Goodness I don't even hate my ex THAT MUCH!

I sometimes wonder if they put the number of calories on an alcopop it might put some young people off drinking them - I know that I would shudder to drink some sweetened 500 calorie drink - 1/4 my daily intake! Edited to add - driving around and looking is fine if you speak some Italian - when you get to areas like Le Marche, Molise, Abruzzi there are not a lot of English speakers outside the larger towns.

Hooray

I think Tuscany is very very expensive when it comes to property prices. Puglia and the south is much cheaper but then of course the communication links are not so good. There are loads and loads of good websites for property plus I've found a couple for ex pats to comment on. Personally I'd avoid places with too many Brits however its always good to hear how other people have successfully made the move. And to keep it on topic - you can find some wonderful regional wines over there that never make it to England, and often they are only 11 percent so you can drink more for your units!

Where abouts in Italy? We have a place and hope to be there full time in the next couple of years - I just lurve Italian food, wine, state of mind - although maybe having French, Greek and Italian blood in me helps. I do know what you mean about preening and leching though - Taormina or Reggio Emilia on a Saturday night.......

Preening and leching - what a horrible way to describe promenading!

David - now I am POSITIVE that I want to move to Italy - it beckons - it beckons...... Maybe the Black Cherry could create an Eye Opener for us all...... come on Jamie you know you want to.......

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > USA - 196g/week (male) > UK - 168g/week > New Zealand - 210g/week > Australia - 280g/week > Japan - 276.5g/week David - love your figures but do find it surprising that the US has a higher recommended limit than the UK - I thought that they were totally paranoid about drinking over there - mmmm time to move to Australia I think - do you have figures for European countries for comparison?

Half a bottle of wine a night - could be between 4 and 6 units depending on the strength of the wine (or more for strong red?) Three large glasses = 1 bottle so say between 8 - 12 ish Bottle of lager - depending on the size and strength of the lager could be between 2 and 6 units (guessing here -) So total per week would range from 46 to 72 (if the wine in the evening was drunk in addition to the other weekend drinking) However didn't the government scientist who laid down the units amount admit fairly recently that they had absolutely NO idea of what was sensible drinking when it comes to units, they had to put down something and so they did. A few years ago the limits went up from 14 and 21 to 21 and 28, and were then moved back down again. Jah - really enjoyed your post - will print it out and pass onto all the teetotalers I know (not sure if I know any though)

Where does one get cedar blocks?

I buy organic fruit and veg from Riverford - that way I am supporting a local farmer from the area I come from in Devon and I am contributing towards the salaries of several people whom I have actually met - not the feeling you get in Sainsburys.

It's the government that's blooming turning me to drink - diesel up 29%, gas up, electricty up, food up, euro down - goodness I need a glass of wine with my meal to give me something to look forward to. As CamberwellOz says - I like a drink but I am not aggressive, not an NHS statistic, AND I am putting money into the economy - surely we are being encouraged to do that!