Damian H

If being a c**t and treating other people like s**t is grounds for losing an honour then there should be queues of people lining up to be stripped of their honours. I think you need a bit more han "He wasn't a very nice person to work for."

Hi folks, Am considering setting up an Action for Happiness group in ED some time in January. ROugh idea is that it would meet weekly and discuss and focus on what research is telling us about positive psychology and the psychology of happiness. Not entirely sure of venue yet but possibly in Dulwich Therapy Rooms if space available and fee would be for little more than to cover room hire and pay me nominal sum as facilitator. Anyone want to register initial interest in the concept? Reply here or PM me.

There is also a brand called Spiky Grips. Might be worth a look.

I am more inclined to think it is an example of a common phenomenon in social psychology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect

camberwell70 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ...or reality TV. ...the new religion!

As Christopher Hitchens has said - eveil people will do evil things but if you want good people to do evil things you need religion.

Twirly Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > silverfox Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Buy flatmate a slinky for Xmas and a couple of > hot > > water bottles > > > > (should that be slanket above?) > > I think so - not sure how a metal spring that > slithers down the stairs would contribute to > household warmth! > > Sunskippy10, do you keep similar hours? If so, at > the moment, that seems fairly reasonable with the > heating. Although as it gets colder you might need > it on for longer in the mornings as it can take an > age to warm up. Also, how do you know the heating > has been on for hours when you come in? > > However, there is nothing more miserable than > feeling permanently cold, so do talk to the > flatmate about it, and if she or he needs to have > it on a bit more than you can afford, see if they > can chip in a little bit more to the bills. Also, > do remember that once a place is warmed up, it's > more efficient to have the heating on low than let > it get cold and then have it warm up again. > > Oh, and a good Christmas present for the flatmate > might be an electric blanket! Leccie blankets are the dog's b****ks.

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And everytime the cemetery and other council > buildings have lead stolen I point out to the > council Director concerned that the chances of > this theft could be slashed if they deployed metal > property marking. And what is his/her response? Not favourable I am assuming? This is a perfect example of Demand Failure - demand on resources generated due to failure of previous attempts to address an issue. Sounds like Southwark Council could do with some Lean Thinking consultancy. Know anyone who can provide it? I do. www.watt-works.com Lean Thinking in an organisation is best introduced when there is a passionaye, committed champion of the approach. After my recent torturous fiasco attempting to get registered on the Electoral Role I thgink there are plenty of areas where Southwark Council could benefit from some joined up thinking.

@DamianHamill @WattWorks

I don't know the legal position but if bailiffs attempt to remove goods when you have given reasonable evidence that you are NOT the person they have a claim aginst I would be inclined to consider that common criminality - theft, burglary, call it wha you will. I would be inclined to dial 999 and ask police to attend as there is a burglary with intimidation and force (does that constitute aggravated?) being carried out.

Bundle of photographic negatives containing what appears to be six strips of friends/family photos found by myself at top end of Barry Road a few days ago. PM me or call 07957 517 330 if they are yours and you would like to pick them up.

Tarot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Fair enogh Jeremy I just found Ottas view > offensive and narrow. > People are quick to become offensive when seanjack > passes his usual ,,self righteus opinions about > me. > Maybe he knows me!! maybe he dont.but he is > obsessive. > There are individuals who have had bad. dealings > with the D,M.C,that cannot be discussed on an open > forum. > The incident with the phone call did happen,at the > time I went to the reception and complained and it > was stopped. > Because its an open forum some people will not > come on it and give their accounts of dealings > with the D,M.C,for fear of > comebacks or worse the no it alls on here.,or the > fasnatical p.c crowd who think everyones as an > agenda. So basically, once your overt comments are shown to be twaddle you revert to "There's more I could tell you about what un-mentionable experiences un-named people have had who are scared to tell anyone except me but trust me, they really happened"? And presumably they are happy to tell you (swearing you to secrecy in the process) because you have proven your patient advocate credentials by single handedly changing the telephone practices of DMC with one well-timed and carefully aimed complaint?

Tarot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ravi Gupta Jnr, has been with the practice since > 1993. > If making an appointment by telephone via an > Indian exchange is the way to go to get rich at > the expense of patients that must be ok then by > E,D standards. The key term in this post, in my humble opinion, is "at the expense of patients". WHether the calls are taken locally by a recognisably 'British person' (please note apostrophes before accusing me of racist stereotypes) or locally by someone with an Indian accent or by a call centre in India - has Tarot any evidence at all that the telephone service offered compromises patient care or is "at the expense of patients"? If I rang my GP (and I am not with DMC) and was able to swiftly and efficiently make an appointment that was accurate and matched what was in the practice diary when I turned up I wouldn't care if the call had been routed via the moon! From the OP it seems to me this thread is based upon financial jealousy and very little else although there have been attempts to disguise that under the auspices of a concern for patient welfare - without any evidence being offered that patient welfare has been affected in the least. On the contrary everyone with the practice seems to speak highly of the service they have received.

ok, but same principle applies.

So to summarise this thread - a man has worked extremely hard all his life, has built a successful medical practice that from the comments here appears to deliver excellent care, has financially prospered through his own efforts, has moved back from the coal face either due to ill health or in order to direct the activities of other doctors from a more managerial position and .... some people are a bit bitter at seeing someone else make good. Fair summary?

Marie81 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Once whilst in Dulwich Village I saw a wallet with > cash notes of tens and twenties spilling out of it > on the pavement. I walked over to pick it up but > not before an eldery lady came out of the post > office, looked around to make sure nooone was > looking and swiped the money!! I picked up the > wallet and took it to Lordship Lane police staion > where they managed to track down the owner who was > thankful someone had found his wallet and handed > it in as it still contained bank cards etc... I > didn't expect anything from him for handing it in > as it's what any decent person should do not nick > the money like the old lady tut tut! Did you not feel moved to intervene with the old lady in question? Or might she have been carrying a knife? :-)

Administrator, I am out of this thread thank you. I have expressed firm but reaoned opinions that have resulted in personal attacks and insults from a range of other posters who seem to be intolerant of divergent opinions and who have engaged in what in any other context would be considered concerted cyber-bullying. SUch attacks have descended into what was clearly an attempt to work out a grudge by identifying and attacking my business interests. I have no desire to continue to engage with posters who behave like thgis.

helena handbasket Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Perhaps if you exaggerated a bit less on here we > could buy the notion that the rest of your > opinions aren't exagerations as well. > > As much as I love the image of me spending the > weekend "desperately trawling" the internet > looking for "red herrings" (a bit over the top, > no?), in reality all I did was click your name to > see a history of you complaining about mothers. > And of course your business ad. > > It is relevant, actually, because personally I > would prefer to know that if I was going to have > highly personal services done, I won't be judged > harshly and bitched about on the local forum > later. And there is little evidence of you having > any patience for what are actually normal > behaviors of people who spend three years going > about their day with a small person and massive > pram attached to them. Helenahandbasket - I thnk this is actually one of the most dishonest posts I have read in quite a while. I will tell you why: 1. You talk about exagerrations but have specified none - your comment is therefore utterly meaningless. 2. You imply that you merely casually had a look at some of my previous posts and came across a history of complaints about mothers and a business ad. That is a completely exagerrated distillation of my posting history. In engaging in the current discussion I have not taken as much as a moment to look at the posting history of any of the other contributors - such behaviour is unecessary to discuss a subject on a thread. Your trawl of my historic posts was clearly not made with good intentions. 3. Your decision to refer to my business activities and services quite evidently had one purpose and one purpose only - it was an attempt to embarrass me and attack my business interests in a spiteful, vicious and shameful manner. It reflects very poorly indeed on the quality of your character. You have completely failed in your intention as I do not post opinions that I am remotely ashamed of. Whereas my identity is easily discovered on this forum you and most of my other critics snipe from the anonymity of pseudonyms. 4. I don't harshly judge or bitch about any of my clients, nor do I ever reveal the identity of anyone I work with. Indeed I don't bitch about anyone. If I have comments to make or criticisms to impart I do so in an open, reasoned way and back up my arguments with evidence and examples and carefully elucidated opinions. To be accused of 'bitching' by someone who has come on this thread and attacked me as you have done with snide comments such as calling me a 'j@@ckass' etc really takes the biscuit. If you are attempting to insinuate that I judge harshly and bitch about all mothers - you must know this is simply untrue even as you post it. I have repeatedly stressed in historic threads that I am very supportive of considerate parents and very much like children, that I have a nephew I am devoted to and have appreciation for the difficulties of parenthood. WHat I have criticised, and make no apology for criticising, and have repeatedly clarified as being the sole subject of my criticism, is the behaviour of those parents who behave with a degree of inconsiderate entitlement and selfishness that inconveniences other people who equally have the right to enjoy local businesses, amenities and public spaces. 5. If you consider acting selfishly and with a lack of consideration for others to be the "normal behaviours" of parents, then you obviously have a completely different perception of normality to me. I am aware of many, many mothers and fathers with prams and small children who behave with courtesy, consideration and an awareness of others. That should be the norm and I am enormously patient with people who show such social graces. I am equally very patient with others who are struggling with children or having difficult experiences that they are attempting to deal with considerately and responsibly, even if they aren't completely successful. Patience with rudeness, selfishness, self-centredness, narcissistic entitlement and inconsderateness with regard to others, however? No! Your post really sinks to a new low.

michaell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Last time I tried to go into Chandelier they > refused me and my friend entry as they already had > the one pushchair spot allocated... I wondered why > it was always half empty compared to Lucas - I > guess that's the price you pay in ED - no children > = no customers! I suspect location and bill of fayre may have more explanatory power.

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Damian, were customers honestly being turned away > because of the buggies? > > I find it hard to believe that if someone had come > in wanting a table, that the staff wouldn't have > asked the ladies to shift the buggies a bit. > > It seems you've seen them, tutted indignantly, and > decided it was an issue. Otta, the buggies were sitting in the window aisle between the counter and the bar-style stoolsin the window. The entire row was blocked by the two buggies and there was no way to get past them and sit in any of the five window seats. Merely shifting the buggies a little would have made no difference as there was nowhere to shift them to. SInce this was at luchtime and MPC is aways extremely busy then and there are always more customers than tables avalable (I regularly see customers come in at lunch to find a completely full house) there is no question that there are people who would have sat at those window seats who were therefore unable to. I observed what was going on, watched while I was in the place myself, did not tut or comment at all but noted the self-evident facts of the situation.

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I rest my case :)) Sue, you havent even begun to make a case to rest. Are these just random noises from the wings or do youactually have something to say? Let's hear an opinion on the subject under discussion rather than just this bizarre flow of meaningless comments.

peterstorm1985 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Damian H Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > Let me ask you a question, Otta. If you owned a > > cafe wich made its greatest revenues during the > > lunch hour by serving the local community and > you > > saw about thirty per cent of your capacity > taken > > up during that time by two mothers stretching > out > > a long lunch while their toddlers sat eating > tiny > > portions, and you watched other potential > paying > > customers walking out the door because they > > couldnt get a seat, how would you feel? > > > I believe you mentioned earlier that the problem > was of pushchairs taking up space. If the cafe > owner considered this a problem he/she could just > put up a notice saying "No pushchairs in cafe > between 12 and 2 without express permission", or > something similar. They don't have to suffer it as > perhaps someone in charge of a publicly funded > enterprise might. So, if the owner's happy, why > worry about it? Anyone being turned away just has > to accept that the owner prefers someone else's > custom to theirs. I'm sorry, PeterStorm, I completely disagree. We have seen threads on this forum before where local cafes (Le Chandalier) who had the audacity to object to children dropping food on expensive upholstered chairs and parents feeding their children from food bought elsewhere, were vilified and subjected to hand-rubbing gleeful expectation that they would go out of business. I doubt any local trader would subject himself to the risk of such mean-spirited viciousness. Also,I am not suggesting that anyone put up signs banning buggies or the like (in fact there would be a good chance that that would constitute indirect gender discrimination) or that anyone should even WANT to ban buggies or mothers with childen. WHat I am saying is that there is a reasonable expectation that if someone brings children and prams into a commercial establishment they should ake some responsibility to minimise the disruption caused and be aware that a trader has to earn a living. Blocking an entire row of seating and then sitting a length as if oblivios to the fact reflects no such awareness or sensitivity. THIS IS A DEGREE OF COMMON COURTESY THAT SHOULD NOT NEED TO BE PUT ON SIGNS!!!!

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Damian H Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > > Sue, I think you'll find if you read DaveR's > > previous post to which I replied that my > response > > matched the tone of his and was a response to > it. > > Nothing quite like making a fool of yourself by > > coming into the middle of a tread wihout > reading > > back, is there? > > xxxxxxxxx > > I don't think it's me who has been making a fool > of myself on this thread :)) > > Or tread, even. Oh touche!

helena handbasket Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Damian H - I'm wondering why someone with so > little patience for mothers would post your > services in the Family Room? You make it sound as > if the cafe owner shouldn't value the business of > mothers, yet you yourself would like our their > business. Or maybe just the ones you can > tolerate? Or maybe you can tolerate them if they > pay you enough? > Helena, I was just waiting for a comment like this and it is as irrelavant and inaccurate as it is cheap. Obviously you have been trawling through all my other posts in order to find something you could try to throw at me which really is a sign of desperation. To be honest, I am surprised it has taken as long as t has for smeone to throw this red herring in. I doubt you are confused at all as you claim, and I suspect that the obvious answers to your affected question have already commended themselves to you but you pretend otherwise. Let me elaborate however - 1. "little patience for mothers"? I am extremely patient with the majority of people of all roles and types. I am not, however, patient with people of any sort who behave selfishly and with no regard for others in the manner I have described. If a client treated my time and business with similar disregard I would not want their business and would decline it. So, again, you are engaging in a Straw Man argument by ascribing to me a position I just do not hold ad then attacking it. 2. You claim I say that cafe owners should not value the business of mothers. I have said no such thing and no reasonable person could infer it from what I have said. I have said that if people park prams in his premises that prevent him making use of a significant part of his commercial space he would be fully entitled to view such behaviour as inconsiderate and resent it. He may chose for diplomatic reasons not to make an issue of it and expect that people shold have the basic sensitivity and consideration not to need to be told but that is up to him. On numerous occasions I have been n MPC sitting at a four person table and have moved to a two person table without being asked when it got busy. Sometimes I have had to be politely asked by the staff as I had not noticed myself and I imagine they felt able to make the request because they perceived me to be a reasonable person who would not start complaining and attacking their business (as you appear to be attempting now to do with me) just because I was asked to behave in a considerate manner. I am sure that cafe owners are very happy to have the business of mothers who at least show some consideration and understanding of the fact that the owner is actually running a buiness and that taking up one third of his space for two adults and two toddlers during lunchtime shows no such consideration. 3. I appreciate and accept the business of any customers who engage my services in a mature and reasonable way - man of these are mothers who I work with in a co-operative and successful way. If I encounter clients of any complexion who behave as if my professional time or services can be wasted or toyed with to satisfy their selfish whims, I decline to work with them. It is a mater of boundaries - as indeed are many of the issues on this thread and, sadly, some people just don't seem to have many. I hope ths answers your questions.

Damian H Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Otta Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > If my cafe was in an area like East Dulwich, > I'd > > accept that it wad par for the course. > > > > It's good of you to get so wound up on behalf > of > > the business owner. > > I don't believe you, simple as that. > > But perhaps you can give us all lessons on how to > retain a zen-like unconcern and detachment when we > perceive unacceptable behaviour on the part of > others - or is it just another type of > selfishness, "It doesn't affect me personally so I > don't care"? Let me rephrase that - you may well accept it as par for the course bacause you have no real choice, but I am betting you would be pretty pissed off and would think the people in question selfish and wish they would leave at the earliest opportunity. In other words - you would have the same type of opinion as me.