Chopsie

Depends on the illness/occasion, it's not a black and white question. Being well enough to sit in a bar/restaurant and chat to people for a bit doesn't mean you're necessarily well enough to do an 8 hour shift. If the person has stress/depression, then socialising might actually do them good. You can leave a night out at any point, go at whatever pace you want to. Not necessarily so in the workplace.

Ladybird is a woolworths own brand - here's a link to the pushchair section of their site - http://www.woolworths.co.uk/mother-and-baby/ladybird/pushchairs-accessories/e/b/13085,4294958353/s/bestsellers,0.end?trail=13004-4294958353-13085&nav=top

Same here, hope she continues to do well.

Platillos in Leopold Sq is quite nice. Probably the closest I've tasted to 'proper' tapas anywhere in Sheffield, but everyone's tastes and expectations are different it seems - so maybe 'the closest I've tasted to the tapas I ate in the numerous bars and restaurants I visited with Spanish friends when I lived in Spain' would be a better description.

Here's an idea - let's all just live within our means, then no need to worry about bank charges!

That sounds pricey to me. It's nearly 3 years since I bought my house, but the total fees were just under £500 I think. I used Catherine Copley at Watson Esam - they were recommended to me and I was very happy with the service I got. They were also the cheapest of a few places I tried, including some online conveyancing companies. Often they look cheap, but when you read the small print, there's a whole host of extras they charge you for. http://www.watson-esam.co.uk/conveyancing.htm

My ex-employers had a policy of doing this. They would only do it once you had so many weeks of absence in any year, regardless of how many separate periods of sickness you had. So if you've had 5 weeks off within the last 12 months, they probably have a policy of doing it after 6 weeks of absence - as you're now off for a week, that's why they're visiting now. I don't really see the point of it though - they can keep in touch via the telephone. Even if you were pretending to be ill, they give you warning that they're coming, so they're hardly going catch you out, are they??

I think apples have 17g of sugar per 100g rather than per apple, so unless you're planning on eating a hell of a lot of apples, I wouldn't worry too much. Also, the sugar in an apple is naturally occurring, so technically better for you than the processed sort that is in chocolate, but it'll still rot your teeth if you have too much.

When I lived in York, my favourite restaurant was Plunketts on Ousegate. Lovely food, lovely atmosphere and a varied menu too. I especially like the bar upstairs with it's rickety old walls and uneven floors (the building is hundreds of year old) Website - http://www.plunkets.co.uk/index.html Also, Ocsar's winebar on Little Stonegate does fabulous lunches - their burgers are to die for! But make sure you're hungry first, they don't scrimp on the portions!

They actually owed 106 million to EUK, which had to be repaid in full when woolies went into administration. This is one of the reasons they went mammaries aloft, and also why no other distributor would supply them. Zavvi's management team is understood to have approved the appointment of Ernst & Young, which is said to be standing by to step in as administrator if Zavvi is unable to repay its £106 million debt to Entertainment UK Ref

People with credit are not getting rewarded. In terms of personal finance, those with unsecured loans will be paying a fixed interest in the region of 7-15% interest depending on when/how much they borrowed. This will be unchanged despite interest rates coming down so drastically. People with credit cards are probably paying more in the region of 20% interest on their debt, so I fail to see how they're being rewarded. Some people with variable rate mortgages will benefit, but the majority won't because either a) their bank won't reduce their base rate in line with the cut or b) there is a 'collar' on how low their rate will go, which is likely to be around the 3% mark - so in reality, a handful of mortgagors are going to benefit, not those that 'went out buying on tick'.

Hang on - something has just occurred to me. If parents are unmarried, then the father must accompany the mother to register the birth in order to be named on the birth certificate, or complete a form allowing her to put his name on. So it's impossible for a guy to be named on a birth certificate and not know until the CSA comes knocking, as he would have to have given his consent to be named as the father. Surely they could just refuse to do this, then therefore have no parental responsibility?

It was a first date and you were comparing salaries? And they say romance is dead...

We're not going into the 'whys and wherefores (sic) abortion debate' at all. Your implication was that anyone could just walk into a clinic at any point up until 24 weeks and get an abortion, nice and simple - when the reality is far removed from that. I am not opposed to abortion at all, what I *am* opposed to is people dismissing it as an easy option, or ANYONE having the right to decide what a pregnant woman does with foetus she is carrying apart from the woman herself.

I hope you manage to get through - but like I said, if they were concerned they would be monitoring it much more closely - and it could just be stress itself that's raised your count. I know there's no point telling a pregnant woman not to worry (I'm one myself!) but please try!

It's probably just the result of an infection - most likely a UTI or bladder infection. Stress or anxiety can also increase your WBC count too. If your GP/Midwife though it was cause for concern, they would be monitoring you more closely, so the fact they don't want to retest for another six weeks suggests it's nothing to worry about. Why not call your midwife for reassurance? It's what I would do.

It's not quite as easy as you're making it sound. Beyond a certain point (16 weeks I think) it has to be approved by at least two doctors, and go to an ethics committee for approval. Normally such late abortions would only be sanctioned on the NHS in the case of a severe risk to the health (physical or mental) of either the mother or the unborn child if the pregnancy continues, or in the case of the foetus being found to have some kind of abnormality. A premature baby was born and survived at 22 weeks recently, and there are numerous other cases of pre 24 week births surviving and growing into normal, healthy children. An abortion at such a late stage for ANY pregnant woman would actually be induced labour - extremely traumatic, and not a decision to be taken lightly - your statement trivialises this somewhat.

Have you considered looking into shared ownership schemes? Most lenders who lend on these types of properties don't require a deposit. You buy a share of the property (usually 50% plus) and rent the other share. Because the lender is protected against any losses/negative equity etc under the terms of the lease, you don't need to put any cash in yourself. OK, you don't own the house outright, but you will get the opportunity to buy further shares in the future, and if you're looking for a home to stay in for the long term, it's a potentially easier way to get on the property ladder. There's also homebuy schemes, whereby you are given an interest free loan for around 25% of the property, and a mortgage for the rest, or shared equity schemes, whereby the builder/housing assoc/whoever maintain a 25% stake in the property, but you own the other 75%. No rent is paid, but quite often you have to buy the other 25% within a set timescale, which makes these schemes less attractive in my opinion. Just a thought!

Personally speaking, if I fell pregnant as the result of a one night stand and decided to keep the child against the father's wishes, I would be more than happy to go to court and allow him to sign away his parental responsibility, and leave his name off the birth certificate. That way the 'father' has no obligation to support the child, or be part of his/her life, and nor will the mother have to deal with the father changing his mind once the baby is born and trying to force himself into the child's life. I don't think men should have the right to 'force' a woman to have an abortion - in the hypothetical situation in question, a relative stranger would have the right to insist I went through a potentially complicated medical procedure, that at worst could leave me infertile. But morally, I think I would feel obliged to absolve an unwilling father of any legal responsibility he had, should I decide to continue carrying his child. ETA - although I fail to understand why any woman would want to have the child of a complete stranger, especially one who had no interest in being a parent.

You're right - it's perfectly acceptable. Especially if it all comes from the same place anyway. He should just pay his £25 and be grateful they can even be bothered to deliver it for him. So how do stores recoup the cost of storing large items that people take away themselves then?

If you purchase it online, chances are it will be delivered from some distribution centre miles away, whereas from the store it will usually come from their own stock. So it's actually less effort to deliver from the store, as it will more than likely have less distance to travel. They're just robbing barstewards, take your business elsewhere

That's fine - as long as you don't start a thread about it, wouldn't want to offend anyone

You'd better not gatecrash the birth of my baby, young lady

Now that's more like it! *scoffs entire cake in one mouthful* Actually, having had a nose around some of the other threads, I must say that the forum definitely seems to have lost what little sense of humour it had left last time I was around

You should know better than to make comments about a pregnant woman's size, especially if that woman is your wife I haven't been on here for a while, and it feels like a different forum to how it was. No better or worse, just different - and no more right wing than it ever was. I think forums are best used for frivolous fun though - for me, anyway.