On Mon, 3 May 2021 18:28:54 +0100, "tim..."
wrote:

snip

mail order shoe repairs?

wow

Whilst I've never tried, the only thing that could be an issue with
nearly anyone dealing with such a thing where you don't have to be
present is them being able to send it back?

The not just sending it back, there's also sending it there

It's something I believe more people will be doing after this
lockdown, especially using the 24 hr dropoff boxes etc.

and the problem is that the value of the order to the cobble is an order of
magnitude less than the intrinsic value of the item

Ok?

The cobbler has to take on responsibility for getting back to you a 50 pound
pair of shoes, for a 5 pound repair fee

Well you can cover most items for loss at a reasonable cost and again,
that could be something that becomes cheaper as the services become
more suited to domestic use (Post Office parcel pickup from home etc).

snip

Even the tropical fish and plant places will send stuff though the
mail, although the losses (tropical fish) can be quite high. ;-(

there's a high mark up on the cost of the item when selling it to you that
covers this cost

Financially possibly (not for the fish). ;-(

there's no mark up on repairs that can reasonably cover the value of items
"lost" in the post

See above re insurance.

There is also the thought that people might submit a 'batch' of shoes
to be done at the same time *because* it then splits the postage cost
n ways.

And you are forgetting those who don't even consider the postage cost
as a comparison to the item cost, if it's more convenient for them.

A mate wanted some of his golf shoes (and a few other bits) DHL'd out
to him in Spain and I think the courier cost for 'Next day' was over
£100.

Cheers, T i m

On 03/05/2021 10:37, T i m wrote:
On Mon, 3 May 2021 00:57:54 -0700 (PDT), Owain Lastname
wrote:

On Sunday, 2 May 2021 at 21:38:37 UTC+1, T i m wrote:
I thought with working from home we could actually be anywhere. ;-)

Unfortunately working from home I don't have a library, cobbler, dry cleaner, watch repairer, bank, dentist, Screwfux, Toolsatan, Wickes, Morrison's, Waitrose, TKMax, M&S, Greggs, Primark, or a lot of other things which I need a trip 'to the city' for.

And what has your poor choice of home location got to do with working
from home? We can actually walk to every one of those (well, except
Primark and we don't generally shop there because of their poor human
rights / manufacturing policies).

Some might argue that not having any of those in walking distance makes
for a better choice of home location :-)




--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 4 May 2021 14:35:48 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

snip

And what has your poor choice of home location got to do with working
from home? We can actually walk to every one of those (well, except
Primark and we don't generally shop there because of their poor human
rights / manufacturing policies).

Some might argue that not having any of those in walking distance makes
for a better choice of home location :-)

;-)

I think there is a 'golden radius' from all sorts of places where you
want to be far enough away not to be impacted by it negatively but
close enough to be able to access it easily if / when you want.

One of our local councillors we spearheading a plan to try to get
'Resident parking' implemented where she 'happened' to live. You drive
out in the morning and can't park anywhere near your house when you
get back in the afternoon for all the post rush-hour / economy
commuter parking using the local station. The station car park was
often fairly empty during the same period so it was people trying to
avoid the cost.

I discussed it with her (she was looking for my support) but I said
all it would do is push the problem slightly further out (and onto us)
.... and that it would only really work if it was pushed to a radius
where 'most people' would rather pay the station car park charges than
walk back from wherever they had to park.

The would obviously be a cost to both implemented and police any
resident parking zone, potentially penalising all those who didn't
happen to move their car out when the commuters were looking to park.

I suggested that maybe a better option would be to see if there could
be any way to subsidise the station car park (it's covered by ANPR
cameras already) to both attract more commuters to use it whilst
distracting non-commuters from using it as a free general car park
whilst shopping. [1]

The resident permit thing wasn't voted in by the locals and I'm not
sure if anything else is in the works.

Cheers, T i m

[1] Or to provide a decent / secure cycle parking thing as the station
is fed with dual use pathways and side roads from every direction.
Nothing as sad as seeing the remains of a once good cycle left chained
to the fence outside the station for months ... ;-(

On 04/05/2021 18:12, T i m wrote:

The resident permit thing wasn't voted in by the locals and I'm not
sure if anything else is in the works.

A good idea some people said until they discovered the financial cost of
the permit, the number of permits would be limited to one per household
and limited to the number of parking spaces and not the number of
dwellings, for some it came as a shock that it didn't guarantee a space
outside their home and those without a permit could not park in other
more distant surrounding streets because of the proposed resident
parking restrictions there.

I believe around my way no planning permission is given for houses to be
converted to two or more flats unless there is provision for off road
parking.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Tue, 4 May 2021 18:32:27 +0100, alan_m
wrote:

On 04/05/2021 18:12, T i m wrote:

The resident permit thing wasn't voted in by the locals and I'm not
sure if anything else is in the works.

A good idea some people said until they discovered the financial cost of
the permit, the number of permits would be limited to one per household
and limited to the number of parking spaces and not the number of
dwellings,

Quite. I have visited friend in such a zone and they had to give me a
morning / afternoon pass from their allocation.

for some it came as a shock that it didn't guarantee a space
outside their home and those without a permit could not park in other
more distant surrounding streets because of the proposed resident
parking restrictions there.

Yup.

I believe around my way no planning permission is given for houses to be
converted to two or more flats unless there is provision for off road
parking.

I think they were enforcing an 'One offroad parking space per bedroom'
round here at one time for any conversions or new developments but I'm
not sure that still applies.

Cheers, T i m

In article ,
charles wrote:
In article , tim...
wrote:


"Fredxx" wrote in message
...
On 02/05/2021 19:10, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:
I don't think its in London Elects either since I had to ask, I guess
it makes sense as I said earlier.

The question is, quite how do you decide about a police person, how do
you know they are all competent and do they actually do anything. I
particularly do not like the current London Mayor since he wants to
effectively charge all motorists to enter greater London, which will
chase away all employers from the greater London area, in my view.
Brian

Given that Greater London area has better public transport than most
cities I can't see the issue.

If you live in London it's great

but if you're coming in, to work in the suburbs, from outside, it's a
**** option

Which is why I'm going to my dentist my car tomorrow. Much quicker and I
don't have to mingle in public transport

It's something I really don't understand. In London, all these measures to
make car use as difficult as possible. In the middle of a pandemic where
we've been told to isolate were possible. And a private car is better for
that than a bus or tube. Plus the fact that PT has been much reduced too.

--
*How many roads must a man travel down before he admits he is lost?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 04/05/2021 06:32 pm, alan_m wrote:

On 04/05/2021 18:12, T i m wrote:

The resident permit thing wasn't voted in by the locals and I'm not
sure if anything else is in the works.

A good idea some people said until they discovered the financial cost of
the permit, the number of permits would be limited to one per household
and limited to the number of parking spaces and not the number of
dwellings, for some it came as a shock that it didn't guarantee a space
outside their home and those without a permit could not park in other
more distant surrounding streets because of the proposed resident
parking restrictions there.

I believe around my way no planning permission is given for houses to be
converted to two or more flats unless there is provision for off road
parking.

....quite right too. Adequate (and realistic) off-street car-parking
should be the one of the first things considered by planning
authorities, with the law being changed so that appeals against refusal
may not succeed unless that requirement (as a minimum) has been
satisfied to the letter of the law.

[* "Realistic" meaning at least matched to the likely number of vehicles
modern households own or or use.]

On 04/05/2021 10:39 pm, T i m wrote:
On Tue, 4 May 2021 18:32:27 +0100, alan_m
wrote:

On 04/05/2021 18:12, T i m wrote:

The resident permit thing wasn't voted in by the locals and I'm not
sure if anything else is in the works.

A good idea some people said until they discovered the financial cost of
the permit, the number of permits would be limited to one per household
and limited to the number of parking spaces and not the number of
dwellings,

Quite. I have visited friend in such a zone and they had to give me a
morning / afternoon pass from their allocation.

for some it came as a shock that it didn't guarantee a space
outside their home and those without a permit could not park in other
more distant surrounding streets because of the proposed resident
parking restrictions there.

Yup.

I believe around my way no planning permission is given for houses to be
converted to two or more flats unless there is provision for off road
parking.

I think they were enforcing an 'One offroad parking space per bedroom'
round here at one time for any conversions or new developments but I'm
not sure that still applies.

That was normal in southern England (and maybe elsewhere) until the late
1990s.

Two Jags abolished it; he thought he was being really clever, even that
that phenomenon has never actually been observed in his case. His
abolition of County Parking Standards for residential developments is
the reason why you now see - particularly in inner urban areas with
purpose built flats as the predominant housing form - cars parked on
double yellows, around roundabouts, etc.

On 05/05/2021 03:33 pm, JNugent wrote:
On 04/05/2021 10:39 pm, T i m wrote:
On Tue, 4 May 2021 18:32:27 +0100, alan_m
wrote:

On 04/05/2021 18:12, T i m wrote:

The resident permit thing wasn't voted in by the locals and I'm not
sure if anything else is in the works.

A good idea some people said until they discovered the financial cost of
the permit, the number of permits would be limited to one per household
and limited to the number of parking spaces and not the number of
dwellings,

Quite. I have visited friend in such a zone and they had to give me a
morning / afternoon pass from their allocation.

for some it came as a shock that it didn't guarantee a space
outside their home and those without a permit could not park in other
more distant surrounding streets because of the proposed resident
parking restrictions there.

Yup.

I believe around my way no planning permission is given for houses to be
converted to two or more flats unless there is provision for off road
parking.

I think they were enforcing an 'One offroad parking space per bedroom'
round here at one time for any conversions or new developments but I'm
not sure that still applies.

That was normal in southern England (and maybe elsewhere) until the late
1990s.

Two Jags abolished it; he thought he was being really clever, even that
that phenomenon has never actually been observed in his case. His
abolition of County Parking Standards for residential developments is
the reason why you now seeÂ* - particularly in inner urban areas with
purpose built flats as the predominant housing form - cars parked on
double yellows, around roundabouts, etc.

Erratum: Please read "that that" as "though that".

Mes culpa.

On Wed, 5 May 2021 15:33:28 +0100, JNugent
wrote:

snip

I think they were enforcing an 'One offroad parking space per bedroom'
round here at one time for any conversions or new developments but I'm
not sure that still applies.

That was normal in southern England (and maybe elsewhere) until the late
1990s.

Ok.

Two Jags abolished it; he thought he was being really clever, even that
that phenomenon has never actually been observed in his case. His
abolition of County Parking Standards for residential developments is
the reason why you now see - particularly in inner urban areas with
purpose built flats as the predominant housing form - cars parked on
double yellows, around roundabouts, etc.

Yup.

As you mention later, many households have more than one care and as
the older people die or go into care homes (who may not have even one
car) and their houses bought / rented by younger people, I only see
that getting worse.

We have two cars but we also have a crossover that no one else should
obstruct / park on that we park on ourselves so at least aren't
'wasting' that space.

And wasting space also seems to be part of the problem with people
parking miles away from the end of a bay ( be it in-line or at 90 deg
to the road) or just less than one reasonable space to the next car
(when you actually see them parking yourself).

But then they say England is a nation of individuals so that would
make sense. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Whilst I realise we don't generally have any right over the space
in front of our houses, we (along this terrace) had, for a long time
(I've been here 40 years) 'an understanding' where we, not allow any
of our visitors to park outside anyone else's houses. There were
generally plenty of other 'unclaimed' spaced very close by that they
could use. Slowly though as people died or moved on and the houses
were bought / rented by people looking to move out of London, were no
longer interested in (or even aware there might be) any existing
'agreement' and some (for reasons I've yet to be given or understand)
park 'the wrong way round'? In many cases, I'm the only one showing
'red reflectors to the rear' and possibly therefore, given I'm often
on the end, protecting the other cars.

"T i m" wrote in message
...
We have two cars but we also have a crossover that no one else should
obstruct / park on that we park on ourselves so at least aren't
'wasting' that space.

And wasting space also seems to be part of the problem with people
parking miles away from the end of a bay ( be it in-line or at 90 deg
to the road) or just less than one reasonable space to the next car
(when you actually see them parking yourself).

But then they say England is a nation of individuals so that would
make sense. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Whilst I realise we don't generally have any right over the space
in front of our houses, we (along this terrace) had, for a long time
(I've been here 40 years) 'an understanding' where we, not allow any
of our visitors to park outside anyone else's houses. There were
generally plenty of other 'unclaimed' spaced very close by that they
could use. Slowly though as people died or moved on and the houses
were bought / rented by people looking to move out of London, were no
longer interested in (or even aware there might be) any existing
'agreement' and some (for reasons I've yet to be given or understand)
park 'the wrong way round'? In many cases, I'm the only one showing
'red reflectors to the rear' and possibly therefore, given I'm often
on the end, protecting the other cars.

My previous house was part of a small development built in 2000. Each house
was allocated one under-cover space (garage or car-port) and one open-air
space. The open-air ones were not numbered with markings on the ground, but
they were shown on a map that came with the deeds. Everyone used their own
space apart from occasionally, with prior arrangement, when there was a
party etc.

Most of the under-cover garages and car-ports were fine, but my garage was
part of a block of five that were narrower than everyone else's. The width
between walls was barely wide enough to squeeze your body between the car
and the partly-opened door, but the width of the *door* was much less. My
car (a Peugeot 306, so not a wide car) would just fit between the door
pillars, with a couple of inches to spare either side, but it was necessary
to line up exactly perpendicular and not at a slight angle. It was such a
hassle that none of those five houses used their garage for keeping a car
in. One guy had an old-style (non-BMW) Mini, and even he found it a hassle.
So effectively those five houses only had one (usable) parking space. As it
happens, I think all five of us in those houses were single, so each had
only one car, but when I met my wife, and we were originally planning to
live there rather than (as it later turned out) at my wife's house, we were
worried about where she would park her car. There was a small amount of
unallocated parking along one of the access roads, but that got taken by
people who chose to park there rather than further away in either of their
allocated spaces.

We really should have kicked up a stink and got the builders to rebuild that
garage block so the garages were actually a usable width. There was space on
the land either side of the block to have widened each garage by two feet
(which would only have made the block 10 feet wider). Even a foot wider
(total 5 feet) would have been an improvement.

On Wed, 5 May 2021 18:48:17 +0100, "NY" wrote:

snip

We really should have kicked up a stink and got the builders to rebuild that
garage block so the garages were actually a usable width.

I wonder if it was really *designed* to be like that or a f'up
somewhere?

There was space on
the land either side of the block to have widened each garage by two feet
(which would only have made the block 10 feet wider).

Further making me think it might have been a f'up ... as they don't
normally 'waste' any space in developments like that?

Even a foot wider
(total 5 feet) would have been an improvement.

Frustrating eh. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

In article ,
alan_m wrote:
On 04/05/2021 18:12, T i m wrote:

The resident permit thing wasn't voted in by the locals and I'm not
sure if anything else is in the works.

A good idea some people said until they discovered the financial cost of
the permit, the number of permits would be limited to one per household
and limited to the number of parking spaces and not the number of
dwellings, for some it came as a shock that it didn't guarantee a space
outside their home and those without a permit could not park in other
more distant surrounding streets because of the proposed resident
parking restrictions there.

Wandsworth introduced resident parking many moons ago. In a democratic way
- sort of - with referendums. But carefully grouped areas where there was
a problem with say commuter parking in one part, but not another. If you
had commuter parking in your street, you might be happy to pay for it to
be banned. In another, some way off, where it didn't happen you were
forced to pay for effectively nothing. And of course your permit only
applied to your local area.

Some London boroughs have a resident parking scheme that allows you to
park anywhere in that borough.

I believe around my way no planning permission is given for houses to be
converted to two or more flats unless there is provision for off road
parking.

On a relatively recent development round here, Wandsworth stopped them
providing one space per house or flat. As that encouraged people to have a
car.

--
*It's lonely at the top, but you eat better.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.