Brixton news, rumour and general chat - June 2014

[OvalhouseDB]

When I was there on Saturday, there was quite a lot of water on the floor and some fellow swimmers told me they hadn't set up the cossie spinner properly and the water was literally just being squeezed straight onto the changing room floor! Still, nice idea...

So that's why they have also provided a massive mop!

Good, though, for general mopping!

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

Power walked the course this afternoon in the blistering sun, took me 45 minutes; i could not have walked faster. It was still a good work out.

Got the course wrong , took first left at lido and up through tennis courts rather than second left up through BMX track, effectively a short cut. Also got the start/finish slightly wrong.
Got it all correct today and completed in 45:40:06 and it felt easier.

 

[SpamMisery]

Didn't know the Zodiac had a year of the bus

 

[ViolentPanda]

Biggest load of bollocks going that story. They're to stop well discourage people injecting in the alcove.

Discouraging spiking with spikes.
Can't really see how that'd work, as the spikes aren't going to stop a user jacking up. Lighting is the single biggest mechanism for discouraging injecting.

 

[ViolentPanda]

How would that work then?

It wouldn't. I've seen chaotic users sitting in/on broken glass while shooting up, and non-chaotic users are probably going to be injecting themselves at home, not in a doorway.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I've had an update from the 'initial stage of co-production on the Brixton Central Masterplan Development Brief' and I'm delighted to learn that “community narratives” have been collected from 'key local people.'

Just as long as one of the "key local people" isn't Brad Carroll.

 

[editor]

Does anyone have any memories/photos of this old signal box by Loughborough Junction? And is there anything left of it at all?

I think I saw a glimpse of what may have been its base by one of the bridges... (it closed in 1981)

 

[ViolentPanda]

Power walked the course this afternoon in the blistering sun, took me 45 minutes; i could not have walked faster. It was still a good work out.

Ah, it was you doing the funny walk around the park! Thanks for the entertainment!

 

[ViolentPanda]

well, something good has come out of it. I've said it before, I think travelling without adequate insurance is absolutely batshit. And yet thousands of people do it

For some of us, though, sometimes the only way we can travel, is uninsured.

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

Found an intact coconut at the top of Popes Road, i looked around for an owner but there was no one obvious. Took it home with me, i have a jigsaw, a power drill and a hammer; assuming i can open it would it be safe to eat? Also, should i put it in the fridge first?

 

[Manter]

For some of us, though, sometimes the only way we can travel, is uninsured.

Honestly, in that case I wouldn't travel. Getting stuck halfway round the world unable to get home or pay for essential care just isn't worth it. (and I say that as someone who gets grumpy if she hasn't been abroad in the last few weeks)

 

[Crispy]

No need to fridge coconuts.

http://www.wikihow.com/Open-a-Coconut

 

[Rushy]

No need to fridge coconuts.

http://www.wikihow.com/Open-a-Coconut

But so nice chilled...

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

Right, i'm going to wrap my phone in cling film, sellotape it to my bike handlebars and film myself riding through the water feature in Windrush Square, if all goes ok i will come home in one piece and YouTube it.

 

[Greebo]

Honestly, in that case I wouldn't travel. Getting stuck halfway round the world unable to get home or pay for essential care just isn't worth it. (and I say that as someone who gets grumpy if she hasn't been abroad in the last few weeks)

He'd only be going somewhere within the EU, staying somewhere extremely sedate, and carrying a fairly large cash reserve for anything not covered by EHIC in a medical emergency. Travel insurance just for VP would be several hundred pounds.

 

[Rushy]

Right, i'm going to wrap my phone in cling film, sellotape it to my bike handlebars and film myself riding naked through the water feature in Windrush Square, if all goes ok i will come home after my release and YouTube it.

Suggestion ^^

 

[teuchter]

Found an intact coconut at the top of Popes Road, i looked around for an owner but there was no one obvious. Took it home with me, i have a jigsaw, a power drill and a hammer; assuming i can open it would it be safe to eat? Also, should i put it in the fridge first?

View attachment 55507

But look at its little face. It's terrified.

 

[T & P]

First crack squirrels and now meth coconuts.

 

[Winot]

Found an intact coconut at the top of Popes Road, i looked around for an owner but there was no one obvious. Took it home with me, i have a jigsaw, a power drill and a hammer; assuming i can open it would it be safe to eat? Also, should i put it in the fridge first?

View attachment 55507

Strap a poorly squirrel to it and hand Badgers the hammer.

 

[Badgers]

#squirrelgate

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

 

[el-ahrairah]

are you unemployed by any chance dex?

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

are you unemployed by any chance dex?

Chance has nothing to do with it.

 

[SpamMisery]

That coconut looks surprised

 

[Manter]

He'd only be going somewhere within the EU, staying somewhere extremely sedate, and carrying a fairly large cash reserve for anything not covered by EHIC in a medical emergency. Travel insurance just for VP would be several hundred pounds.

We each make our own assessment of risk.... I'd pay hundreds for insurance not carry hundreds in cash to indemnify myself against a bill that could run into the thousands. Ymmv

 

[leanderman]

We each make our own assessment of risk.... I'd pay hundreds for insurance not carry hundreds in cash to indemnify myself against a bill that could run into the thousands. Ymmv

I always get travel insurance - but this has probably been a mistake from a strict economic point of view.

Innate risk aversion means we over-rate risks and all too easily pay for them to go away.

 

[Manter]

I always get travel insurance - but this has probably been a mistake from a strict economic point of view.

Innate risk aversion means we over-rate risks and all too easily pay for them to go away.

I disagree. The cost if it goes wrong is so exponential (plus the emotion/aggro/admin component) I don't think you can make the 'oh, I haven't broken my neck diving so my spend on insurance is a waste' assessment in the way you might with an extended warrantee on a fridge. I work in global healthcare, I know what the costs *can* be. And I was taken ill in Ireland when 3 months pregnant (so same language and very easy to navigate healthcare system) and have some idea of how stressful it is and how the peripheral costs mount up when you're on the other side.

Incidentally, I was at dinner last week with a mate's new partner who is a specialist repatriation nurse- when thing go to shit, she is sent out to oversee care (and make sure your dysentery or broken ankle doesn't become *whoops!* a hospital acquired infection, hepatitis or whatever) and then escorts people home. If it's simple, she costs about £50k to deploy, if she has to spend weeks getting you stable, then arrange a medical evac, and deal with a couple of crises on the way, she can cost £££££. But tbf if I did have an accident abroad, I'd love her to turn up with her two suitcases of western drugs and general take no prisoners worldview and rescue me . But it brought home how staggeringly expensive it could be.

 

[OvalhouseDB]

I always get travel insurance - but this has probably been a mistake from a strict economic point of view.

Innate risk aversion means we over-rate risks and all too easily pay for them to go away.

Likelihood against impact though: travel insurance isn't that expensive(in relation to the overall costs of international travel) -I think the chances of having to make a big claim are v low, but the potentially v high costs within that tiny risk concern me.

 

[Crispy]

Manter's right. Risks have likelyhood and severity. Serious illness/injury while abroad is very unlikely, but incredibly severe. Always get insurance.

 

[Winot]

Yes. It's household goods insurance that's worth a gamble.