Anon2 Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 (edited) (Having recently done a house-to-house flyer delivery) Letterboxes with particularly fierce draught excluders through which you can't push paper, and in particular the ones which are so fierce that they grab hold of the letterbox flap and flatly refuse to release it! (thereby leaving the letterbox open and *creating* a draught!) I really feel sorry for postmen now. We were advised some thirty years ago, when living in a new build flat in SE London to get letterboxes like this by the local police. It was to stop the delightful kids from the local school trying to steal the mail, which became a daily occurrence. As they were built in mail boxes the officer suggested if that wasn't possible we all put carpet grip inside the box, warn the postman, he felt the kids would soon stop! We didn't we moved instead! I did catch one of the kids with his hand in the box of a neighbour and stupidly rather than calling the police we marched him around to school to the headmaster. Who sadly wasn't interested and it turned out had a 'no police on school site' policy. Edited December 10, 2016 by Jane 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legseleven Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 It always makes me smile that some of the ladies at the beauty counters appear to be wearing every makeup item they sell. Not conducive to tempting customers to undergo a makeover at their hands I also wonder where the apparent fashion for teenage girls to wear generously applied matt foundation so pale that it practically glows blue-white started. A thick mask of eerily ghostly white seems to be as desired as a fake tan previously was. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 I also wonder where the apparent fashion for teenage girls to wear generously applied matt foundation so pale that it practically glows blue-white started. A thick mask of eerily ghostly white seems to be as desired as a fake tan previously was. Haven't seen that yet, but surely anything is better than bright orange? Pale make up was popular in in the 1960's along with Mary Quant near white lipstick. Sounds like a recycled idea to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legseleven Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Ah yes, the 'you've been Tango-ed' look! Equally awful. I think the ghostly pale look is exacerbated by the darkened brows - whereas I suppose the Tango-ed look was complimented by brows plucked almost out of existence ???? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 I particularly dislike the current trend to have eyebrows drawn in so heavily it looks like a slug has crawled onto the face and died! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 I particularly dislike the current trend to have eyebrows drawn in so heavily it looks like a slug has crawled onto the face and died! Even worse are tattooed eyebrows. I was taken out to lunch by a headhunter who had had her natural brows replaced by brown tattoos. They are of course very crisp edged, unlike natural brows, and so my gaze kept drifting up to them as if drawn by magnets, and she kept seeing me staring, which was awkward. A friend in her early thirties has just had hers done too, not because she had anything wrong with them but just to save the bother of having them groomed - again they just look completely unnatural. Seriously, stop this trend!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 The whole point of eyebrows is that Mother Nature put them on your face for a reason: to keep the rain from running down your forehead and into your eyes. Tattooed ones aren't going to do the job are they? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Exactly how much grooming does an eyebrow need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Exactly how much grooming does an eyebrow need? I imagine quite a bit if you have a mono brow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Exactly how much grooming does an eyebrow need? Tons and tons, apparently, not to mention all that threading and so forth. I'm afraid I shall just keep to the natural look ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 I imagine quite a bit if you have a mono brow. should be half the amount of a regular pair, surely 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 It's the neighbours again. A couple moved in next door about two years ago. Initially, they had a builder friend round who cleared out the mess the previous owner had left in the garden and laid a large patio area. The front was going to be block paved at some point and they are responsible for the boundary between properties. At the back there is a long hedge, at the front nothing, no fence or wall and the drives run alongside each other. To make a long story short, they seem to have lost interest or just can't afford to finish the work. The builder doesn't come round anymore and he was practically living there at one point. While he was driving in and out using our drive as an extension of theirs for his convenience, he did some damage which he said he would put right when he fixed up their drive, but no sign of that happening. The hedge is huge now and out of control over the top and on their side. They haven't cut it once this year. The front just looks derelict, weeds everywhere, patchy gravel and at least two catalogues rotting outside their front door because they can't be bothered to pick them up. They are not unfriendly or unpleasant. We are on nodding terms but we want to put our house on the market next year and the next door eyesore is concerning. We had some hope when they moved in, that they would spruce the place up as they gave that impression. If they have run out of money so be it. Perhaps they just don't see the place as others do. They never seemed to do anything themselves anyway. The only time the hedge was cut, the builder did it. I want to approach them in a non confrontational way and ask them if they have any plans for the driveway, including promised repairs to ours. But I don't want to start some sort of neighbourhood war, as you never know how people will react. They are okay in other respects, not noisy or inconsiderate. I can live with the state of their house as I try to ignore it but if ours goes on the market, I am sure any prospective viewers would look at next door and think who wants to live next to that. Can anyone advise on the best way to proceed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huddsballetmum Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 But presumably Quintus you don't use your leaf blower at 7.30 in the morning as Islington Council does .....unfortunately leaf blower day in the part of Islington I sometimes stay over in on Tuesday nights is very early Wednesday morning...grrrr I used to suffer from what is called Classical Migraine eg: visual disturbance/ severe headache/ then vomiting/ then washed out for 24 hours!! They started when I was 14 and I think can more or less certainly say mine were hormonal. In my twenties I didn't take anything for them but it meant I then couldn't work....absolutely no way could stand in front of a class with one.....but gradually started taking Nurofen Lysine and this has very luckily worked for me ....as if the headache doesn't develop properly then I'm not sick.....don't know what the Lysine does but it definitely helps on some level. However extremely fortunate for me as each decade has gone by they've got less and less and often have only one or two a year now .....which I can never work out why they've triggered .....but the menopause definitely saw a massive decrease in them which is why I think mine were hormonal and not some allergic reaction to food or whatever. In his wonderful book on the subject Oliver Sachs even has a picture of the type of aura I used to have! He has some interesting insights but it's a lovely book to read as he is so sympathetic to sufferers and can't remember now whether he had them himself. I have a couple of friends who suffer with terrible migraines casuing visual and speech disturbance, severe headache etc. One of them has had the daith pierced in her ear and has reported that since the piercing she has had fewer episodes and those that she has had have been much less intense. There is quite a lot of information on daith piercing and it's effect on migraines on the internet. I believe it has a similar effect to acupuncture. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 I have a couple of friends who suffer with terrible migraines casuing visual and speech disturbance, severe headache etc. One of them has had the daith pierced in her ear and has reported that since the piercing she has had fewer episodes and those that she has had have been much less intense. There is quite a lot of information on daith piercing and it's effect on migraines on the internet. I believe it has a similar effect to acupuncture. How interesting. This is what the Migraine Trust says: https://www.migrainetrust.org/hot-topic-daith-piercing/ This is an article from last year: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/07/daith-piercing-migraine-relief_n_8531022.html I would guess it is worth a go as long as you use a reputable piercer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Back on the subject - briefly - of false eye lashes, I have just seen the rather ethereal latest ad for Gucci, with various beautiful young people prancing artistically to Mahler. At one point, a single, presumably false eyelash is pictured, descending to the bottom of a glass of water. Quite bizarre. But better than teeth I guess! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Cheapskate manufacturers of electrical goods who - since we frequently don't actually need one in the UK - not only replace the earth pin with a moulded plastic pin but a *hollow* moulded plastic pin at that, thereby ensuring that the thing ultimately snaps off when you try and pull it out of a tight power socket and gets stuck, rendering the whole appliance unusable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Gosh, is that even legal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 ..rendering the whole appliance unusable annoying but you can just cut off the plug behind the moulding and fit a new one (MK are decent), with a nice shiny brass earth .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 No, it's a transformer I have another one (which I desperately hope isn't a hollow pin, because it's already been severely scratched when I inserted it into a socket which was unusually ticket) which is the transformer for one of my laptops, too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 No, it's a transformer oh I see, now that's really annoying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 Yes, will probably cost me more to buy a new one than to buy a new radio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted December 14, 2016 Author Share Posted December 14, 2016 How long have you had it Alison? Goods are supposed to be 'fit for purpose' and last a reasonable amount of time. It might be worth having a go at the retailer who sold it to you, or failing that, the manufacturer. If all else fails, then resort to Twitter!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 I think just coming up for 2 years - got it from Sainsbury's, own brand. I may email and see if a replacement is available, but I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Regarding my post 1728, these are not the 80 year old neighbours fixing up their bathroom but the ones on our left side. These two are about my age, both work, run two cars, go on regular holidays and have a busy social life. Having thought it over, I have decided enough is enough. I have spoken to the female, politely, explaining my position and asking her for the name and phone number of their builder. I said that in the new year, we are having some pruning done by a professional tree man and if okay with her, he will cut the top of the hedge, as he can reach across with proper equipment. She thinks that is a good idea but then she would wouldn't she! As for the drive, they have indeed run out of money - all things are relative I suppose! There is no prospect of it being done in the foreseable. She doesn't see what she can do about that. Weeding and removing bits of rubbish at the front of the property doesn't seem to occur to her, she said they don't use the front door, they just park on the drive and go in and out through the side door. Pointless trying to get through to someone with that thought process. Anyway, there it is. I would weed and tidy it for her as a last resort, but I would be trespassing unless she agreed to my doing it for her and she probably would! I long to live somewhere with no neighbours. Hell is most definitely other people, unless you are very lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Jacqueline, I do sympathise. I had a similar problem, in that the neighbours on either side of me let their back gardens run wild. As the houses are town houses, with the living room upstairs, I had a wonderful view on both sides of a jungle of weeds, old furniture, newspapers...the lot. In the end, I told them their gardens were very overgrown (understatement) and offered to do the gardening for both of them, and charged them an hourly rate. Both were delighted with the arrangement, especially as I can access their plots by climbing over from my side, so I don't need to go through the house. They said they didn't like/have time for gardening, and never really noticed the mess. And I got three small gardens to play around with.. If you don't want to do it yourself, maybe you could suggest politely that they get someone else to do something about it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Thanks for that Fonty. They are a rum pair next door. Everytime I see him, he is stuffing his face and she is very fond of the sauce! When she opened the side door, I got a brief glimpse into the hell hole that is their kitchen. Luckily the hedge at the back is so wide now on their side, it blocks out a lot of what we would otherwise be able to see of their garden from our back upstairs windows. As for the front, I will contact the builder about the repairs and see if I can drop hints to him about the rest of it, if nothing has been done by then. I have no expectations that she will clean up and from what I can remember of the builder, he can't keep his mouth shut, so he is bound to repeat whatever I say. If it comes to it, I will suggest to her that I tidy the front up myself if she can't or won't do it. There are a lot worse neighbours out there, but you can only put up with what is no more than bone idleness for so long. Failing that, I can just tell any potential buyer who asks, that next door is a work in progress. Which technically it is I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 As long as the whole street doesn't look unkempt, it probably won't be much of an issue when you come to sell. If those neighbours aren't noisy, that's always something. My mother-in-law had a similar problem with the house next door, and it got bad enough that it was encouraging rats. At that point the council did half-heartedly try to do something but it never lasted very long. Things cleared up a bit when they had a baby, I assume because they finally figured out that rats weren't a good mix with a new baby, but the outside always looked like a tip. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Strikes. I am and will be seriously affected by the Southern Region strike, the airport ground staff/baggage handlers strike, and next month the BA cabin crew strike. What angers me most is that there seems to be no interest by the government in resolving the Southern strike, Serious disruption has dragged on nearly all year before this total strike with no resolution in sight. People are losing their jobs and there are stories of others unable to get into central London for vital medical treatment. I know political things are frowned on here but what's happening is getting beyond a joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 It's a total disgrace MAB that it is just going on and on. Too much political posturing and not enough care about the people using and paying for the service. We definitely need some new kind of Politics!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Headline in our local newspaper reads Automatic Doors Installed in Town Shopping Centre. Accompanying article reads Automatic doors have been installed in the town shopping centre. Er, that's it. There is a nice pic tho. Knowing our local rag, this will still be breaking news in August. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 Bizarre I know, but... Hyacinth bulbs. The little rotters. I bought some indoor ones and planted them earlier this afternoon - within about 5 minutes an incredibly itchy rash all round my neck and face sprang up, and I had to plaster on antihistamine cream like it was going out of fashion! So I googled 'allergic reaction to hyacinth bulbs' and well, well well - turns out that handling the bulbs can bring on an allergic skin reaction, frequently around the face and neck but oddly not always affecting the hands. I shall be avoiding those from now on then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 How weird and very unpleasant, Taxi. I hope you feel better soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 Rather tired of the main BBC and ITV news (and everybody else as well) going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about Trunp. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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