That first one looks like Baltimore.

Of course my understanding of that city is totally from The Wire.

I did like this line in the piece

"she was still wearing maternity clothes from her last pregnancy, clipping coupons and using hand-me-downs to dress her daughters, ages 2 and 3"

WTF?

Oh god, how can anyone wear...OLD maternity dresses? And denying toddlers too young to do much beyond like pudding and Barney the opportunity to wear D&G outfits.

It's inhuman.

The piece says far more about the author and prevailing ideas of normal than it does about this canny lady.

Is it better to buy the worst house in a good neighbourhood,or the best house in a worse neighbourhood?

I can't help but remember that where I am from in Glasgow was at one point seen as fit only to be demolished but now commands some seriously FAT prices.

OH the other major point is that when you own you can improve. Solar cells water butts, grey water system, cavity wall and roof insulation...yeah!

I think point number 5 is the most interesting.

IN the next year i am going to be buying in Australia, but in an area that is seen as undesirable.
The thing is when you have finite accommodation there is no such thing as undesirable, just undesired as yet.

A small inheritance, buying in a depressed market and in a potentially changing neighbourhood....all I need now is for the UK to AUS exchange rate to settle back down and I am good to go.

As soon as I read "Daily Mail" I set perceptions to LIES.

They are notorious for not fact checking,especially if it dovetails with their world view.

Then I read that the Police were calling a Pakistani fellow officer a "Fucking P*aki", and I thought....no that actually does sound like most coppers I've met.

It's a terrible thing when the rozzers manage to live down to your expectations.

It is a recorded fact that police from any ethnic minority are many times more likely to be brought up on disciplinary/performance related issues than the white/anglo counterparts.

Racist? "The Filth"?....no, say it ain't so!

Actually the border control officer is the one at fault.

It is far easier to talk in a controlled manner to the public. Everyone is referred to as Sir or Ma'am, you ask don't demand and say please and thank you.

It is extraordinary how much grief security personnel can save them selves with these very simple behaviours.

It says some very bad things about the character of this officer that his first impulse is to assault the driver.

All he needed to do was say "Of course, you are quite right, could you please turn off your engine sir"

That's it. You really can manipulate people far more effectively with good manners and a calm demeanour than by coersion,threats and violence.

If for no other reason than to save yourself the friction of being investigated, or the hassle of the amount of paperwork this assault will entail.

I was trained in security work by an ex Australian SAS bloke, who believed if you even have to put your hands on the person you have lost.

Actually NIHIL @ 9, the porn industry was banned from using Betamax by SONY.

They had this pure ideal of the product and weouldn't tolerate the knocking of boots on the Beta.

And as for the MINI Disc player, yes I can sdee how it was superseded for playing music, but it is still faultless for recording. And the discs cost buttons, and are reusable.

@Camilla

Yay for us and our retarded professions.

NO ...really.

@ Camilla

I do exactly the same thing.

In meetings I have had people ask to see my notes only to be confounded by the sheets of doodling.

I remember what I need but doodling helps me do so.

I'm a games artist so it's me job too.

It looks like a flying Hills Hoist.

@ John Spreitz

Ah now that makes more sense than either the previously given explanation or the one that I had.

And the one I had been told was better than the given one...well to my mind at least.

Mustard was not sold in jars in the UK, it was sold as a powder that was mixed with water as and when it was needed. Coleman's English Mustard is ferociously hot.

SO I was told the phrase meant to Cut the Mustard was literally to cut it with cornflour to make a milder condiment.

So to "make a thing right" is to cut the mustard.

No doubt this is balderdash.

So he leaves an automatic in reverse with the keys in and the doors unlocked and the engine running?

SO it drove away?

I am not that familiar with the useless and lazy world of Aurtomatics but the capacity for it to drive away on it's own is bizarre.

I strongly suggest that you read One Fine Day In The Middle OF The Night by Christopher Brookmyre.

Set on a very down market version of this idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Brookmyre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Fine_Day_in_the_Middle_of_the_Night

it fires a harpoon ands the attaching cord spools from the transparent angled tube over the muzzle. the fold out crank is for winding the harpoon back in.

What the actual target it is defeats me.