Paul G2

I've found that just a bit of saliva works best.

I have no opinion on your choice of pets, but my sister had a boa one time and the room that the snake lived in smelled really bad. It was awful! I don't know if the odor was particularly offensive just to me, if I was super-sensitive to it, or if it stunk to everyone. But I quit visiting her while she had the snake because I couldn't stand the smell. If snakes are malodorous, your entire boat is going to smell bad, something you might want to take into consideration.

Just looking at this as an outside observer, it seems that you and others are missing one big point, and that is the fact that boat numbers aren't static, they are constantly increasing. While there may be room now for all the CMers, how much room will there be when their number doubles, and when that number doubles again? The canals are a finite resource. There is only so much space available and that space will be filled with CMers if nothing is done to prevent it. If there was never going to be another boat wanting to CM in London, then CRT could be more lax with enforcement. However, the fact of the matter is that the number of boats is increasing exponentially and CRT, as a matter of necessity, has to think of the future and how to keep numbers manageable and keep the canals from becoming one big parking lot. Are there flats or apartments available in London that are comparable in size to narrowboats - 200 - 300 sq.ft.? If people are willing to live and raise a family in the small space offered by a boat, perhaps a partial solution to the housing problem would be to offer apartments of similar size. What's happening on the canals is just a symptom of the greater woes facing society. The biggest problem is income inequality. Wages have not kept up with inflation for many years. Meanwhile, governments have stacked the deck in favor of the wealthy and against the working man and woman.This isn't the place to discuss all the woes of society, but it bears mention that there simply isn't enough space on your canals for them to serve as the housing safety valve for all of those woes.

It seems that some of the people who are signing this petition are not really clear on the concept of what a landlord does - i.e. collect rent! From the comments on the petition page: Apparently the person who wrote that comment does not understand, or refuses to recognize, that the people who are pushing this petition don't want to pay rent for the space they occupy, and that is why they are in an uproar. I know that the license fees are a charge for using the waterways, but those fees are supposed to be for using, not parking your boat in one place. This whole issue is that the CMers want free moorings. This is an issue with divergent points of view. However, it seems rather disingenuous to demand that CRT be a better landlord with a petition that says you shouldn't have to pay rent. "Good landlords" make sure that fair rent is charged and collected. Good landlords don't give their stock in trade away for free.

Ya think? I guess I should have used a smiley or something to designate humor. I'll get my coat.....

You're never too old to be excited, Dear, especially not at 30 y.o. Even those of us in our 60's still get excited once in a while.