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

I use the gym...its ok but overcrowded. The floor supervision is non existent. Loads of "customers" sit on the equipment and use their mobiles. Machine blocking. I did see a "manager" asking two non active chatty people to move off the gym floor the other day. Way to go buddy! Rgutsell

"I read the news today, oh boy....."

Hiya My grand father was one of those guys. They patrolled the streets checking the effectiveness of the blackout, and helping people cope in the unlit streets. They would also get involved in containing fires etc form the bombing.

Hiya all I rarely see GOOD dog owners. Most of the dogs we see are loose in the park, and in no way are under the effective control of the owners. I would like to see licensing, rather like driving is licensed. Owners should be licensed, after passing dog control tests. Certain breeds should not be allowed at all, and their mere appearance should result in the use of dog control teams who remove them.

Hiya I go to a good footie sesson every sunday morning, but its in Regents park. A bunch of us turn up and play, and sometimes there are many, and sometimes a few. 1030am onwards, usually close by the "Hub" sports changing room. There are some generally understood rules; no sliding tackles, self refereed, nothing too SERIOUS! Usually finishes after 1230. If the game is too one sided, we change players around. Its pretty international too; English, German, USA, French, Italian, some from Africa; and very occasionaly women join in. Its a bit opfa way to go, but good fun. If you are interested I will give you the email address. Yours RGutsell

Hiya all Yer all victims of Shakespearean propaganda. D'ya think old willy would write a play that P****d off the ruler of that time? No. Richie the 3rd was an OK ruler. He just didn't have a big enough army.

Hallo all I took a look out of my front door today. I didn't see anything.

Hiya all The Harris Foundation have distributed a circular saying that they have "been asked by your local councillors and parents" to provide a new primary school in the area. Really? Asked by whom? Which parents? Officially? Which councillors? Significant amounts of public money would be passed on to this private organisation, in an area which is already full of private schools, setting state schooling at a further disadvantage.(This area also has many Charitable schools, with a charities tax status, which were originaly set up to aid the poor into education and which charge for entry, select from the wealthier amongst us, and are very rich) The Harris foundation teaches creationism alongside evolution, and I have no doubt that come the time (very soon)when the present government allows education for private profit in the state sector, they will be front runners. I'm glad that I don't have to bring up children these days (I did it years ago in more enlightened times!) If you don't believe in this, the Harris Foundation of course does not encourage you to make your views known. If it is correct that the council is encouraging them, then please let the council know, and also let the councillors on this site know if you disagree. We need good state education for all, and for our children to be taught to live and learn together, not selected and separated. My opinion of course, make your own mind up! Yours

Howabout a local initiative or two? Acting cooperatively we could; create a paying, but not for profit, car park which raises funds for local intitiatives. Or, we could have an open park space, gardened by local people. Or, low cost, affordable cooperative housing. Any other ideas? This is OUR area, and OUR land. Remember the LA is elected by us. Yours R N Gutsell

Hiya all I've had this happen to me too. The problem is the cards. They are too simple, and the only way they are connected to the owner is the PIN number. I am sure that technology will develop a means that enables the owner to use something that more securely connects the card to the holder, such as iris recognition using wide angled lenses (not invented yet!) or even bar coded human beings! Or biological sampling...such as finger print, or even advanced facial image recognition.