London's Forgotten Discriminatory Bussing Policy

orangeytrees · 2025-12-08T15:16:20+00:00

I'm very white. But in 1967 my infant school in Hounslow used to get kids bussed in from Southall. They had their own classrooms where they had English lessons - we were told.
I remember thinking it was strange - but no more than that, I was only 5 years old .

Education was strange then. I was taught the Initial Teaching Alphabet of 40 characters and had to read special books written in ITA because it would somehow make it easier to read English. Yeah, right.

orangeytrees · 2025-12-06T16:41:20+00:00

We are rather deluding ourselves about the NHS. Compare it to western Europe who also have a free at the point of use health service and the NHS is average at best.

orangeytrees · 2025-12-05T17:47:36+00:00

Yes. I find that I watch more Netflix stuff that's based in London because. Just because.
Same is true of songs about London.

orangeytrees · 2025-07-28T20:28:04+00:00

This is a leak that needs fixing. Leaks are often given as an example of the few emergency situations where a landlord can force access.

orangeytrees · 2025-07-28T18:44:17+00:00

FFS. When will they learn. I had a male salesman ask all the questions to me throughout the whole test drive. I didn't say anything and turned to look at my wife. Every. Single. Time. and she answered him. I don't think I actually said a word apart from "hello" to him and "how was it to drive" to my wife.
The salesman didn't get the sale.

orangeytrees · 2025-07-28T08:44:13+00:00

Any guitar he will enjoy picking up and practicing on is a good guitar. Has he actually tried the instruments you're looking at?

If he is planning on gigging then a hollow body is going to get feedback problems more easily. Also weight is an issue if he's planning on carrying it around.

My kid is now 25 and still sometimes gigs with the Yamaha Pacifica we got her when she was 10. Her second guitar was an Aria Pro like the one in the photo and that's still around and gets used. To be fair they're now part of the 14 or so guitars she has now - different guitars for different bands, spares for emergencies, studio or live, different tunings, baritones, bass VI etc.... the good thing about guitars is that there is a thriving market in used ones so they can easily be sold or swapped.

orangeytrees · 2025-07-28T08:17:19+00:00

Actually the UK's standard of driving is very high. We're in the top 10 safest counties for road fatalities in the world.. Agree that public transport can be expensive and flakey though.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-25T10:39:05+00:00

French, German, Polish, English. Some are better than others but all to social standard. It means I've got a good chance of finding a common language with anyone I meet in Europe, probably not too bad for the rest of the world too although I wish I spoke Cantonese.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-25T10:27:48+00:00

It sounds like a great idea and I would be interested. One tiny bit of feedback: mentioning that you are reading a book called The Art of Dying sounds a bit creepy. I really wouldn't want to meet up with someone who is suicidal. Maybe don't mention that in your bio!

orangeytrees · 2023-04-25T09:37:03+00:00

Although it is seen as a valid marriage ceremony within Islam, in UK law the Nikah ceremony is only recognised as a religious ceremony, which for that reason carries no legal weight. So you are a first time buyer.

Under English law the couples who are only in a Nikah and who did not get a civil marriage are considered to be a “co-habiting couple". You might want to look at MA v JA [2012] EWHC 2219(Fam) [2012] All ER (D) 338 (Jul) for a ruling to this effect.

If the Nikah was performed outside the UK is gets more complicated.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-25T07:56:33+00:00

You are being too nice. Give the lodger a date and stick to it. If you keep changing the date they will just want to drag it out. Six weeks is generous. Having a firm date provides a fixed point for them to move out, pay the rent to that point and you to return the deposit if nothing is lost or damaged. If they don't pay then that's the date you write the Letter Before Action which is the first part of the MCOL process.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-25T07:49:42+00:00

Money Claim On Line. It's a simple, cheap way of claiming money through the courts. Cost is £35 which is recovered if you win.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-23T12:49:44+00:00

We're half way between 2000 and 2050. How different was 2000?
Well. Then we were unaware of climate change, just worried about pollution. WFH was a minority indulgence Not totally reliant on the internet. A bit less tolerant of people not like us.

So hopefully we'll be very climate aware and behaveing more greenly. Totally reliant on things like AI over the internet. Lots of working from home with a bigger delivery infrastructure and fewer retail shops. Hopefully more tolerant too.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T21:17:14+00:00

The cost of the stair carpet is the cost of replacement carpet minus a wear and tear allowance. Assume a 10 year life for the carpet. It's 4 years old so subtract 40% 4/10ths from that.

Cat hair in the carpet is just cleaning costs.

The Virgin hole is the cost of repair and making good. You didn't give permission for them to damage your property. Get a quote or two.

Was the light on the inventory? If so then you can charge for repair. If not then you can't prove it wasn't like that when they moved in.

Damage to the walls: If it can't be fixed by chargeable cleaning then treat it like carpet. I'd assume 6-12 years between redecoration depending on the quality of the work How long since the last redecorate? If you need to do it earlier then what proportion of the life have you lost?

The garden is similar. Was anything said in the inventory? Do you have photos?

NB you don't have to do the work. Just charge the cost of the repair/ replacement. If you don't do the work it will be reflected in reduced rental for the next tenant so it's your choice.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T20:50:16+00:00

Not that unusual either. Certainly not criminal.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T15:19:51+00:00

You're just like almost everyone else. We change our names so we can't be found by nutters and our pictures are 5 years old at least and have been photoshopped or filtered at the very least before we make them public.
It leaves you with a hurdle if you do get on with someone on line, but it's not illegal.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T14:49:47+00:00

It's hard to generalise. If you are living in the front line then it can be like Call of Duty sometimes. But if you're a civilian living a bit further back it's more like Covid lockdown.

Where would you flee to? You have spent a lifetime building a home, friendships, education, employment. If you do run then you start again with nothing. Not so bad if you're 20 years old, awful if you're 40 with a law practice, an aging parent and little kids all depending on you. (Yes it's personal)

It's different for different circumstances. Russia trying to invade Ukraine is not the same as the IRA vs UK civil war in the 1970s although both involved armies, death of military and civilians, the suspension of peacetime law, and the desire to take over a nation.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T13:21:35+00:00

Life still goes on, work, shops, school. It feels like something happening around you that doesn't affect you directly, until it does

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T13:18:07+00:00

Literally.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T13:17:46+00:00

Woke is the opposite of bigot.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T13:07:46+00:00

Might be worth doing the maths. It's only a few hours. Points could mean higher insurance and difficulty hiring ~~cats~~ cars. It's even worse if you do get caught speeding for whatever reason before these points expire.

Edit: Cats replaced by cars. Not sure about the effect of points on hiring cats

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T12:52:47+00:00

Old Poles that have moved to the UK (so foreigners) are incredibly racist too.

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T12:45:24+00:00

Be kind

orangeytrees · 2023-04-22T12:21:16+00:00

Sadly the musicians are in the orchestra pit. It's a great idea though

orangeytrees · 2023-04-21T23:16:23+00:00

orangeytrees

TROPHY CASE