alicat_26

I saw this traffic report from 4.30pm A57 South Yorkshire - Brook Hill closed both ways between the Brook Hill Roundabout junction and the B6069 Glossop Road junction in Sheffield, very slow traffic. Diversion in operation. Does anyone know if it's still really bad? I need to get home that way, the alternative is the parkway which aslo has an accident on it - eekk!

I totally agree, it seems like the cost of living is shooting up. With regard to the cost of enery and heating our homes - since the national energy providers were privatised, it is no wonder prices are soaring - they are private businesses with a primary objective of making money! And that's exactly what they're doing, making money whether the actual cost or scarcity of fuel goes up or down they'll still pass on those rise to their customers. It's the regulators and policy makers that should change things - ie.e regulate them. I think for many people, this winter will be hard, a winter of discontent in the UK as a whole.

To the OP, I had my car window smashed and the stereo stolen on brincliffe edge rd, ecclesall two weeks ago. It happened on a saturday night - wan't even dark yet. The police took finger prints and apparently there was an eye witness but of course the buggers got away with it. There have been more strange happenings in that area too, my parents had some 13/14 kids climbing over their garden wall and going from garden to garden - some of the girls in mini skits! Probably drunk, they weren't out to cause harm (So we think) but the police were called then they scarpered!

I hate all the people who bring in bags of sweets and popcorn and start rustling them loudly as they open them - usually as you're into the first 20 mins of the film. Crumple, crumple, rustle, rustle aarrgg SHUT UP! Open them before the film starts you greedy pigs! Also the people who put their phone on vibrate and think no one can hear it! I've cut down the amount I go to the cimema for these reasons and those already stated above by other posters - get a nice big flat screen at home, first row seat, drinks and food of your choice, no annoying chavs/noisy people/food troughers etc bliss!

Whenever I import photos from my camera to the PC, they always load up in huge file sizes and each pic is about 3072 pixels wide - which is too big to view and too big to email out to people. I have an image resizing software (Irfanview) which I use to resize them all, but this method takes a long time to resize each piture - (say if i have 100 new photos!) then save it as a smaller file. Is there a setting on digital cameras so that they load up pictures in a smaller resolotion/size?

So the gov't want to encourage the use of public transport? When fuel prices are going up day after day, of course public transport companies are going to increase fares accordingly - blame it on the price of fuel. And yes IF fuel was ever to go down the fares sure as hell wouldnt. I have just bought a car - hooray! An end to taking a 1 hour bus commute to work which is only 3.5 miles away! In the car it now takes 15 mins max, whereas the bus route took me through the busiest route through town stopping on 2 or 3 times each way for driver 'breaks', passengers keen to get home sat there going nowhere! I know running a car is expensive, but the convienience wins out for me - save time, no more annoying chavs playing their tinny music on mobiles and being sat in traffic through Sheffield town centre. All in all, increasing the cost of public transport isn't going to wean people off their cars now is it?

How would I get to Alison Crescent S2 1AS at the Manor by bus? Looking at both first and stagecoach websites there are some buses going that way but im not sure where in the Manor they go - im totally unfamiliar with the area and need to go there for a job interview - should I just get a cab from town?

Was enjoyable enough - I agree with the boy swininging through the trees on vines was ridiculous! How could he possibly have caughtup with a vehicle going 40mph? I saw it last night @ Valley Centertainment, was fully booked theatre, I may have enjoyed it more if it werent for the hoards of people who insist on rustling sweet packets, popcorn constantly throught the whole film - gggrrrr!!

Is that the same bloke that sometimes sits at the bus stop at banner Cross eating a sandwich and can of pop and never gets on a bus? Ive also seen him sitting at the entrance to encliffe park - seems harmless enough.

Basil - I too had n-power only because the previous residents in my flat had it. After the price hikes earlier this year ( which incidently) were all started by N-Power - I decided to switch to E-on with a saving of £20 per month. It was effortless to switch - as you say its all the same gas and electric anyway so why would you want to stick with N-Power just for the privelage of paying more and having to deal with their appaling customer service?

Thanks! Just downloaded the propert bee toolbar - looks like a much better way of finding property prices changes than property snake. At least you can browse rightmove etc and find properties in your desired search area - cheers!!

I agree, its been particularly trashy tabloid-y in recent years. BBC is Ok but I find it a bit preachy - i.e. eat 5 fruit and veg a day or you'll be in an early grave, climate change this, that and the other.... I think C4 news is good for in depth news coverage and Newsnight of course, if you can stay awake for it!

Muddy Coffee You're right about students - I once lived at the Victoria halls flats near devonshire green - it was great to be right next to town and within walking distance of uni. However, if people are going to buy these new developments for buy-to-let to students, who can afford to rent them out? They'll probably be asking at least £550 per month! As you say the buy-to -let market has totally gone down the pan - unless they can get any buyers from out of the area? Although still doubtful given the current housing market.

Ive just seen listings for the new flats down near the wicker/castlemarket area at blonk street) the big tower that looks like it's being built from shiny blue lego bricks! Price of a 1 bed flat = £140K Price of a 2 bed flat = £220K WTF!! You can get a 3 bed house in pricey suburbs of Sheffield for £220K. Who is going to pay that?! And for WHAT? For a lovely view of the Ford dealership perhaps - the dirty river, or maybe a more lively aspect of the fried chicken shops on the Wicker? I really do feel that all these new 'luxury city living' (UGH! ) flats are going to be the slums of tomorrow.

I think the concept of propertysnake.co.uk is great, for those that don't know what it is - it's a website that tracks and lists all property prices and more importantly lists those properties that have reduced their asking price - with details of when and by how much. However, doing a postcode search for S11 for example - brings back 6 pages of results - great I thought. you can see from the list of results the street names from S11 area that are familiar - however, some properties listed aren't even in S11 at all!! One was even in the peak district. If you click on a picture it leads you to a detailed page where you'll find the exact address etc. Some are in S11 but many arent - I think that the estate agents that are listing non-S11 properties are in S11 themselves and that's why the results are skewed?! I find it quite annoying!

In the thread about the documentary about the "Elephant Man" in China - it was mentioned there was a program coming up about half man half tree! I thought it was a joke! Just watched it on channel 5 - wow, it certainly puts your everyday gripes and problems into perspective doesn't it?! :o At the end of the program I was expecting to see him cured - however, the American doctor who was helping him found a drug to treat him - yet he went missing and apparently continued to stay working for the Indonesian freak show, along with other poor people who had seriously disfigured faces and bodies. Like something out of a horror movie! Did anyone else see it?

I earn £17k a year - with the tax calculator - it says im a few pounds (£2-3) better off in tax year 2008/09?! We have to bear in mind that: For earnings like mine and below - you aren't taxed on the first £5,435 of income in 2008/09. Where as in 2007/08 the amount was lower at £5,225 - so slight gain there. Then, if you fall into this income bracket £2,321 - £34,600 you'l be taxed at 20% not 22% in 2008/09 - so slight gain there too. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/it.htm Am I missing something? Where does the 10% come into it? I see on that website link above that the basic starting rate is £1-£2,230 at 10%. Forgive my ignorance, Im getting different messages from different places - its all a bit confusing!

Storm - I can empathise with you completely! I too had paypal freeze my account with £600 in it - no explaination!! I was seriously begining to stress that I'd never get the money back - what happened was that I sent money from a US paypal account that I had, to my UK paypal account - in their literature it says one person MAY have more than one account. I began the laborious process of sending them (via fax!) of my whole identitiy - passport copy, credit card copies, utility bills - which I was NOT comfortable doing! Then I found paypalsucks.com and realised that I was not the only one this happened to - and the PP are known for pulling these stunts - imagine how many people get their accounts frozen with small amounts of money in and just decide to leave it - not bother trying to get it back?! All the while PP are earning interest on the money. ******What to do******** I found a letter on PPsucks (I think) it tells you to copy and paste it into an email add in your details as appropriate - the letter essentially says that PP are legally allowed to cancel or freeze your account BUT they are not allowed to hold on to your money - its is not theirs to hold. The site gives an email address of PP's regulatory body (this is where the email is sent) and then CC'd to paypal's top people (somewhere in Switzerland) - that way PP can see that you've sent a complaint to their regulating body! I did this and within 2 days I got an email for PP Switzerland thanking me for my co-operation and that my account was no longer frozen!!! I was relieved but very angry they had caused me so much stress over this, although I was glad to find that letter on PPsucks. If anyone needs a copy I may still have in on my email - let me know!

It reminds me of day time TV at night - topics covered include - someone's sick hedgehog, morris dancing, the best lawnmowers around, and of course bloody Carol Thatcher reporting on things for no apparent reason - with her Johnathon Woss style accent - Weally Weally annoying! Adrian Chiles is better suited to working lunch - I dont mind him so much as the pathetic reports and general dullness of the programme. Someone refresh my memory - what was on before this? At the 7-7.30 slot?

kleo - looks like were in the same boat, as many others will be! Roll-on a fall in house prices! Epiphany - you're so right - this climate of credit for this, that and well - everything that's not essential - TV's, brand new cars, new furniture etc. These days if you want to pay for something there and then - with cash or debit card - you're in the minority! The response from the stores is - why not look at our wonderful (UGH!) finance packages where you can pay to borrow some money, which you will later have to pay us back for anyway! (aside) I want to buy a T-shirt that says "I paid full price at DFS"! LOL) I think the underlying thought i'm having is basically - how on earth are people on my level of income and those less well-off ever going to have chance of buying their own property? When I hear people saying that they are sturggling to sell or not getting what they want for their house - I think - boo hoo - at least you have property and now all you can do is cry about how much LESS profit you stand to make! No one is forcing you to sell, likewise no-one is forcing me to buy - so I wont and will definately wait for the prices to drop.

cant wait for all the trees to turn green again - that famous sheffield greenery - roll on summer! I also have trees blossoming in my area - lovely!

It seems you can't watch the news or listen to the radio without hearing about the latest installment of the 'credit crunch'. There is so much hype about this lately - its hard to figure out whether it's all worth listening to. So, as I gather, house prices have reached their peak, and now they're starting to come down somewhat in asking prices. There are many properties standing empty - as sellers are 'asking too much for them' and buyers can't afford them - plus mortgage companies and banks have decided that they don't want to risk their money and sell mortgages to us and the cost of borrowing money is increasing. So, if it's becoming more difficult to take out a mortgage, and perhaps people are going to borrow less money, surely house prices must come down? With less people taking out mortgages, this will mean more properties left on the market? And oversupply also means that prices will have to come down. Just look at all the empty 'city living' flats in Sheffield right now-even rents on those are IMO ridiculously high like £550/month for a 1 bed shoe box - and there's more being built as we speak, not to mention all the student houses standing empty - still advertising for renters. On the news yesterday there were reports saying how banks and mortgage lenders are trying to discourage some potential customers (i.e. the more risky ones!). And increasing their interest rates. I'm wondering if what is happening in the US will end up happening here....where-by its a total buyers market with lenders willing to do anything to clinch a deal and sell a property - and I know as I was living there up until last year - even now their practically throwing mortgages at people! And prices have dropped by a big margin. Maybe I'm biased as I would love for prices to come down - as a single person on 17K a year - im a long way off getting a property these days!

I'd also like to know! At first I thought it was a temporary measure whilst the road works around that area were under way - it looks like its staying as it is - madness!

loose women!!

they are a major eyesore! why would anyone want to save them?