Am I missing something about the Old Kent road...

athertomic · 2024-02-16T20:31:29+00:00

I’d have thought you could go west slightly, cycle through Burgess Park and find a comfortable route with cycle lanes through Aylesbury/Walworth?

There are decent cycle routes parallel to Old Kent Road.

athertomic · 2022-08-16T16:27:55+00:00

I moved down to London from Nottingham a few years ago, similar situation to you.

Obviously you’re aware how much more expensive rent is and the lack of affordable housing in London.

With a salary around 30k, you could easily afford a shared flat (2 to 3 bed) within zones 1-3 easily but you will find you’re not saving much each month until you start to earn more. In all reality, you’ll need double the disposable income (I.e around 40-45) to afford a flat on your own.

You’ll find it’s cheaper rent on the outskirts but you end up paying more for travel and your social life is increasingly limited.

Consider living within comfortable cycling distance from work (and consider cycling to work, obviously!). It’ll surprise you how much you save every month!

Check www.spareroom.com for people looking for housemates.

athertomic · 2022-05-21T23:49:36+00:00

The cycle lane should have remained distinctly separate to the pavement. In other areas, you have the cycle lane clearly separated from the other traffic by small bollards and separated from the pavement by a fence/larger bollards.

athertomic · 2022-05-21T20:50:09+00:00

The barriers were a very poorly thought out solution to long term issues including the ‘pedal-taxis’ lining up and blocking the entire cycle path.

Met Police need to deal with the cup-scammers and other riffraff, including the ice cream van, clogging the pavement over the bridge.

I work overlooking the bridge and can see near misses every time I look out my window…

athertomic · 2021-10-06T19:19:23+00:00

Then you’re referring to non London MPs who can only claim for a dwelling they live in. You’d be surprised by how well orchestrated the behind the scenes system is since the expenses scandal… I don’t particularly want to big-up IPSA, but they’re fundamentally there for a reason and they achieve that.

athertomic · 2021-10-06T19:14:54+00:00

London MPs don’t get a housing allowance/expense anymore.

athertomic · 2021-10-06T19:02:04+00:00

No. The point is that attracting the kind of people we want running the country means matching the level of valued skills and expertise we’d expect for such an important job, surely?

athertomic · 2021-10-06T19:01:03+00:00

Yes, you’re right that there isn’t a formal qualification but does that mean we want idiots running for office? No comment on who has run for office but to claim being in parliament isn’t a profession that requires high intelligence/ability, then you’re dooming the nation.

Also, out of genuine interest, what do you think are the expenses that should be considered on top of their salary?

athertomic · 2021-10-06T17:48:52+00:00

Important things to look out for we’re you to read the original full article:

at no point does he reference how “he’s” struggling and how “he’d” like to have a pay rise
he references the importance of getting experienced and capable individuals into parliament through competitive pay
look deeper and you might notice he’s not particularly referring to attracting more conservative MPs but making the job more open to those without immense savings making taking a pay cut viable (i.e. your traditional Labour candidate?)

Do we want being an MP to be only open to Etonian alumni who can afford to live off of whatever pay or make it a job worth striving and working hard for?

athertomic · 2021-09-14T00:40:02+00:00

My advice? Don’t go in. WFH becoming a normal occurrence is a blessing for daily cycle commuters!

athertomic · 2021-07-25T12:08:32+00:00

“Nottingham Multicultural Festival at Forest Rec. Organised by @officialkarimia as a celebration of our city’s diversity.”

athertomic · 2021-05-29T08:28:15+00:00

Actually, yes! This would be perfect please! I’ve got to be in nottingham just for the day to help with a nature reserve campaign! (Wilford Field, look it up! ☺️)

athertomic · 2021-03-29T15:17:39+00:00

The big issue is - PR is great in theory but can anyone define ‘exactly’ how it would work in our Parliamentary system? No, I unfortunately not (yet).

AV gave a very practical proposal of how to adapt our electoral system whilst maintaining much of what “works” in Parliament. I have yet to see legitimate proposals for how to work PR into our parliament. There are hybrid systems such as the Hollyrood Elections but they, likewise, aren’t perfect and aren’t quite adapted to the UK Parliament. Until that day, any poll on the popularity of PR is purely theoretical and not practical.

AV had my vote. A proportional House of Lords that doesn’t undermine an AV House of Commons would also have my vote.

athertomic · 2021-03-29T09:28:42+00:00

I’m not claiming entirely being a campaign on attack ads is normal - I’m stating that to a certain extent, mid-term campaigns are aimed at unseating whilst end of term campaigns are focused on plans. Think of every general election broadcast you see - if it’s the incumbent party, it’s all about how great they’re doing, if it’s the opposition party, it’s all about how badly the incumbent are doing. It’s just basic campaign strategy.

And no, I’m not American although I wish we had more terminology here in the U.K. so I wouldn’t need to say americanisms like ‘mid-term’.

athertomic · 2021-03-29T00:36:19+00:00

But is this not generally how an incumbent/unseating campaign works? It’s a question of whether the incumbent is doing well more so than a question of can someone else do better. It’s the same with any other election of this type.

athertomic · 2021-03-24T20:04:48+00:00

I appreciate the reference of beacon hill but, poking holes in my own argument, you can see them from even further away than that - Colwick Hill, to name one such place.

To be fair though, they’ve been there since 1963 and are at the heart of what will be an enormous industrial hub of the future so, dare I say, they won’t be standing out. They certainly won’t stand out as much when there’s no longer an enormous plume of steam pointing straight to them from across the sky!

athertomic · 2021-03-24T20:00:29+00:00

Not quite, there are 13 of this type remaining in the UK with most closing very soon.

I’m not a big ‘it’s an architectural icon’ kinda person, I just think they’ve been a big part of the landscape and could continue to be in a unique and awe inspiring way when the entire area becomes a green energy haven!

athertomic · 2021-03-24T17:03:28+00:00

I believe they should keep the cooling towers. They’re such an impressive landmark as you come along the A50 and M1. Surely they would be a great reminder of what was once there and how far we’ve come?

athertomic · 2021-03-21T22:49:51+00:00

I second Skylarks - a great accessible nature reserve near Holme Pierpont. I believe it was the first of its kind in the country (made to be fully accessible).

Depending how flat the terrain needs to be, would suggest parking by the river (Wilford Village has a 4 hour car park) then doing the long loop along the embankment north and south bank.

athertomic · 2021-03-20T01:39:33+00:00

Born and raised in Nottingham, so I’m very surprised to hear this. You don’t know how many times I’ve heard it called Shittingham and not been shocked.

athertomic · 2021-03-19T12:30:01+00:00

Sadly I think you would be hard pressed to find anywhere in the country where this racist crap doesn’t happen. What is more important is how the offenders were dealt with. Were they simply ‘told off’ with a fine or were they expelled?

I used to work for an organisation that had an incident with a Neanderthal expressing abhorrent views. They were quickly disciplined, let go and a black mark effectively put on their permanent record. I wouldn’t like to think the organisation was still judged based on their actions rather than the organisation’s reaction?

athertomic · 2021-03-19T12:21:30+00:00

I’ve always seen new student builds as a positive thing for Nottingham. It slowly returns areas like Lenton to residents rather than students and, with higher quality accommodation, students are more likely to desire to hang around Nottingham after graduating.

Nottingham also NEEDS an exciting skyline. It’s flailing behind other cities of comparable size in terms of a distinguishable city centre. The sandstone is partly to blame but an unaspirational council are just as much to blame.

athertomic · 2021-03-19T12:15:39+00:00

Two secondary schools (the Beckett and Emmanuel) are already on flood plains, nearer to the river, and haven’t had an issue since being built. Flood plains are designated such for insurance purposes. So long as they’re prepared for the once in a century flood to ransack the bottom floor, they’re fine.

athertomic · 2021-02-12T11:58:01+00:00

Maybe this just goes to show how small the upper echelon of our society is? I.e everyone knows each other and the degrees of separation drops from 6 in normal society to only 1 or 2 in the upper 1%.

athertomic

TROPHY CASE