Keep struggling down those steps great granny

There are perks to being late for school as you discover what you're ordinarily to busy to see.

(This morning I'm at the front door when my son says "mummy, can I bring Spike and Cutie to school?" and I reply "yes and your book bag and your water." I stare out at my wonderful view and when I look back my son's in the bedroom taking off Cutie the rabbit's jumper. Spike is the badger. "I said book bag and water not dressing your toys. Quick!")

I call the lift deliberating if I should just walk down but it comes quickly. At least today the 94 year old doesn't have to struggle down. My son and I squeeze in with widow, her two son's and her mum. I shouldn't call her widow. I know two here. My point in calling them that is that some people seem to think stigmum's are all teenage girls (see an earlier post about Mr Ketteridge). She can be 2boys mum and the other 2boys and a girl mum, incase I mention them again. Anyway, I digress.

The conversation turns to the broken big lift and I tell them I spoke to the engineer yesterday who said it was Camden's responsibility and his company had been asking the council for five years to do something about it. 2boys mum knows all about it and tells me that of the 500 lifts in Camden that are coming up for renewal, only one has been replaced. The other 499 aren't getting a look in. So there's no cash in the pot for Papier Mache Towers. There's none in the pot for anywhere else either. Apparantly.

If there's money to clean a moat there's money to fix a lift. If there's money to give an MP a second home then there's money to fix a lift. Nearly £2 million was made from auctioning those flats on monday whilst I was there. They made more after I left. Where is that cash going?

She found the information on the minutes of a DMC meeting on Camden's website. I haven't the heart right now to go digging and investigating. To be honest, I rarely do have the heart as I find it so utterly depressing. I'm glad though that others, like 2boys mum and also Hannah, do make it their business to expose the flaws. 2boys mum said she regularly emails the local press, gmtv, all media bodies to have a scream. One of us will be successful. One of us has to be. We all have to be. Meanwhile the Camden New Journal's doing a great job on our behalf.