ecuk268

Syria's supposed to be nice.

Too many bloody traffic lights. Someone at the Civic must be getting a back-hander from the lights manufacturer. They take perfectly good roundabouts (Charlotte Place and Millbrook) and plaster them with lights. It notable that when there's an occasional lights failure, the roundabouts function much better. On my commute from Upper Shirley to the Waterside I go through 20 sets.

The Olympic ethos is about individual achievement. In some events you can be disqualified for assisting other competitors. The GB coach didn't help by saying his team was the "best the world had ever seen" and obviously put few backs up. He also advertised their tactics. Did he think that the others would just let them win?

Virgin have all 24 extra channels in both normal and HD.

Should be hyphenated if a phrase is being used as an adjective - ie. sports-car-production-line costs.

As someone who has had no interest in cycling, I really enjoyed the women's race.

Been a lot in the Echo recently about this lot. They photograph your registration when you drive in and again when you leave and you enter your registration when you buy your ticket. You're allowed 15 minutes. It's not a fine (only the Police and Local Authority can issue fines), it's an invoice, so it's treated like any other debt. Whether they would bother with debt collectors - who knows? Does it say on the notice what happens if you don't pay?

The word "heritage" - hardly existed when I was a nipper but it's everywhere now. Any corporate speak - someone at work yesterday was on about giving a "heads-up" - utter ******. "Empty space" - what other type of space is there? How come the swear filter catches b o l l o x when it's not a real word?

As a non-royalist, I was pretty disinterested in the Jubilee although the Thames procession was quite impressive despite the BBC's inane coverage. Quite looking forward to the Olympics although the opening ceremony will have to go some to be better the Beijing.

If you all know each other, stop ****ing about and do some bloody work.

It's not the weapons you have that's important, it's the weapons that your enemies think you have that counts. He could be bluffing to discourage outside intervention.

Super Kenny Monkou

This lady speaks the truth. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9416535/Problem-families-have-too-many-children.html And I'm far from being a right-wing nutter.

Quite right. There are many artists that I don't like but still recognise has having talent.

Exactly. Bought our first house in 1975 for £10000 (£9200 mortgage), sold in 1985 for £32000, paid off mortgage and put £22000 into next house at £49000 so had 27k mortgage which we paid off in 2008. So our highest mortgage was 27k and we now have a house worth 270 - 300k. Over the long term, property is still a good investment.

What surprises me is that he resigned from the Met "on medical grounds" before he could face a disciplinary hearing, re-joined the Surrey police (his medical condition had obviously cleared up) and then transferred back to the Met with a clean slate.

What other way is there? If you don't buy, you're always at the mercy of some landlord. Without much tougher rental laws, buying is the only option but always allow for the fact that mortgage rates can go up. We got married and bought a house in the late 70s when mortgage interest was 15% (although you did get tax relief). There wasn't such gap then between average wages and house prices. That's what's causing the problem today.

Judging by last nights performance at Trent Bridge in the CB40, I don't fancy our chances in the T20 quarter-final. Get fit soon Michael Carberry.

Renting is very common on the continent because their rental laws are much tougher than ours. Tenants have more security and, in Germany, rents are controlled. Most people want security. In this country the only way to get it is to buy.

Too many politicians (of all parties) leave University, get a job as some MP's researcher, stand for an unwinnable seat, then get a winnable one and get elected. They should all have to have a "proper" job for 10 years then they could come into parliament in their mid-thirties with a bit of experience of the real world.

Judging by the reports on some of their new recruits, they's do a better job.

My granddad was Head Gardener on a large country estate. During the school holidays and for a few months after leaving school, I worked there. Picking fruit, cutting acres of lawns, marking out and mowing his lordships polo pitch - I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately the money was rubbish but I've never enjoyed any job as much.

if you're going from Southampton to London and aren't in a particular hurry, it's worth checking the Southern trains to Victoria. Mrs ecuk268 got a return for £10.00 booking about 2 weeks in advance (it is 2.5 hours each way though).

According to "Life". Keith Richards' entertaining biography, Mick's not too well off in the downstairs department.

Likewise. Any faults have been quickly sorted and often had a follow-up call to "make sure everything's OK".