General Chat

I've been enjoying some of it , not very keen on team sports, (and was always useless myself) but I do like watching the gymnastics, swimming/diving and athletics. Great to see so many individuals who have trained so hard winning medals, and the background stories for some of them are great.

I think though it may have affected businesses in London this summer, tourists who cam for the games will come back again to visit the London they didn't see, they will have found it is friendly and safe here. If you've enjoyed the whole experience of going to a country and been made welcome there is much more incentive to return I think .

Hello Elizabeth :-D

I am so pleased it has given you a distraction if you needed one, and glad you and your friends are enjoying it.

You're not alone, I too have flags outside, and have just got a large new one to put up :-D

I hear the closing ceremony will be wonderful, but I really don't want the Olympics to end :-(

Dear All

Hello

Hope you are okay.

Yes, Lynda......I LOVE the Olympics!!

Before the opening ceremony, I wasn't that bothered about it.

But when it started, the magic worked.

In a way, it has been a very pleasant distraction for me and several other people I know personally.

It has given us a 'lift and a bit of a boost, so to speak, when we needed it.

In our house, we have put flags outside on the windows.


Take gentle care all
Very best wishes
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

I've not read much in the papers this week,Ann, haven't had time, but what I've read in the London evening paper on the way home, has only been good :-D

I was really speaking about the media, although I think they are better than they were in the beginning.

I thought the praise for bronze & silver is almost as good as it is for gold Ann, but of course Gold is THE best you can get, so I suppose it does deserve a bit more praise. But just taking part in The Olympics is a great achievement whatever the outcome :-D

I saw loads of athletes in London, and they got a lot of encouragement from the public, whatever Country they came from, and whatever sport they represented :-)

im not lkeing google hurdle, its stopping me doing other things as i cant get below 14 :-(

It is inspirational but I do wish the media would put as much emphasis on silver and bronze as they do on gold. Of course i think it is great when we, through the people concerned win gold. But, in my view, somebody's bronze may have taken just as much effort as somebody else's gold. In fact just to be an entrant is marvellous to me who was never any good at any sport.

*Likes Joeva's comment muchly :-D

I just had a look on the medal table, we have done sooooooo well haven't we, we have as many medals now, as we did on the final day at Beijing, with 6 days to go, and lie in THIRD place, yep that's THIRD place, amazing.

Inspirational me thinks :-D

I know our police in Gloucestershire had to send a contingent to London to help out with the games, I assume other towns did too. Anyone know who paid for their time? Or is that something that local taxpayers pay for? This is not a gripe but a general enquiry, not sure these days where the funding will have come from. do feel that the local towns may be left vulnerable if a large number of their police are missing. I have a feeling they may have recruited a few more community police as there seems to be a few more of them around.

Joeva, I don't begrudge a penny of the original money. What I do begrudge is the lottery money earmarked for community arts groups and charities having to go to the olympics because they got their sums wrong in the first place.

And local authorities *are* paying for preparations and for the infrastructure locally to stage the olympics - and that's my council tax. None of that came from lottery funding.

And the lottery isn't paying for the security - that's down to us as well.

Gwynne

The National Lottery players have been funding our athletes from 1997 - this is not Government money. So those who have never bought a Lottery ticket have not contributed anything. Also as a London Council Tax payer I have also paid a small amount for 7 years and which will still be paid until 2016.
I for one do not begrudge a penny of it. :-D

As I said before Gwynne, my community has been helped through the Olympic funding and I DON'T live in London, & all the Olympians don't live in London either, so they have benefited too. Weymouth Eton Dornay, aren't in London, they too have gained, there visitor numbers have soared too.

There are loads of things I don't agree that money should be spent on, but if other people enjoy that, that's fine by me, If I want to help a cause, even though it has no funding, I'll go and help it in any way I can, so I'm mostly a happy harriet, and not a moaning minnie, can't be doing with negativity.

Olympics are here, I'm enjoying every minute, I have got a lot out of it, seeing people having a great time, seeing young people get out and do things they wouldn't of done, seeing countries coming together, supporting each other, priceless.

Happy Harriet :-D :-) :-D :-) :-D :-) :-D

I expect a lot of us will be happy Harriets when it's all over and lottery funding starts to go back to community activities again, Lynda. Even happier if any profits from the olympics go to replace the money looted in the first place. ;-)

I'm happy to see people winning medals, I even knew one of them back in the day, and enjoyed watching him win gold yesterday. But I'd be just as pleased if they were doing it in another country and I wasn't paying for it. Or, more importantly, community groups weren't paying for it.

I think they have a right to be moaning Minnies when they have to close because their funding went to London. We can hardly say to them to be happy because some stranger has a gold medal when their supported community group has closed so that it could happen in London.

Gwynne

GOOD FOR YOU LESLEY :-)Tell the moaning minnies to be happy harriets :-D

It's good to see that it's captured a lot of people, who didn't think it would, it gives a warm glow to be happy and see success doesn't it :-D

YES YES YES
:-D :-D :-D

Capitals lock on because I am shouting

I've been watching far more of the various events than I thought I would .

I love to see the faces of the folk when they win , regardless of which country they hale from . It is the icing on the cake of course when it is team GB .

Actually I have suprised myself and really got in to,not really moaned as I am just not that interested as a rule. not a spokes man so to speak as when I know you could write on a stamp but we are really enjoying it :-D

we had football here in the Millennium Stadium but I've stayed away from the city centre during the games - in fact I rarely go into Cardiff now - prefer to spend my time in Abergavenny thirty miles away - much more relaxing and unlike every other town - most towns and cities now are exactly the same - same shops, restaurants etc. - boring

im still a moaning minnie,
altho have watched some of it, if there is nothing else on lol

littleman loved the 100m last night, i shouted him down to watch it as hes a massive fan of usain bolt, "they have been doing about the olympics at school"

hes wanted it on at every opotunity, so ill put it on for him, but turn it of soon as he leaves the room lolololol