LOL!
A cloakroom here is for coats and boots in a restaurant or theatre/public place etc.

A half bath is usually just a toilet and a lavatory.

I am very surprised that so far the Sydney hooligan has not piped up to explain that down under such a convenience is called a "dunny"
http://image2.frappr.com/pics4/i/200...3091e5c44204f0
I understand from the wiki page for dunny that
that word "is often used to specify a distinction between a flushing toilet and a non-flushing toilet (e.g., a longdrop)"

<<A cloakroom here is for coats and boots in a restaurant or theatre/public place etc. >>

Well, us Brits have such style, you know. ;)

and in cloakrooms here there is usually an attendant to hang and retrieve your coat.....is such a person in you cloakroom Bru?
lol
ack!

We used to have cloakrooms in our school. Wonder what they did with 'em -- probably knocked out the wall and just enlarged the classroom. Every class had one. I was remembering those just last week. Pleasant memories of olden, golden times.

That immediately reminded me of a wonderful series of letters to the editor of the Daily Telegraph a few years ago. One pompous old fart was going on about the misuse of the word "butler" to describe a servant,after another old buffer had indicated that his butler drove the car . first fart said "in my house the butler opens the front door" or words to that effect. This was seized upon by another crony with a splendid double-barrelled name who said it distressed him to see the depths of depredation the old fart had fallen to because
"in my house I have two butlers, one for each front door "!
John Fowles
from the old Rosemary Clooney song:-
Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer
Ain't a-gonna need this house no more
Ain't got time to fix the shingles
Ain't got time to fix the floor
Ain't got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the windowpane

<<is such a person in you cloakroom Bru?>>

maybe I need to employ someone. LOL

dunny = toilet.. we go there to pay the rates

That's why I decided to rent my house instead of purchasing one - at least as long as I live in Southern California :)

The problem is, when you rent, you have nothing to show for it in the end.

And my landlord is a sleazy scuzball.

True Cathy. We have rented for twelve years. Nothing to show for it but increasing rent receipts. You have a very nice house. That little animation was just a joke! SM :)

Was cute too Station Master.

renting is a hassle unless you find the right place. I have a house that I am buying and I feel good that I have a place that I can have my dogs and nobody has anything to say about it. But renting has advantages too, like flappers. I could call the landlord to fix the flappers.

lol sheryl!

Hey Brink - I'll fix 'em for ya if they need fixin'.....Cathy and I will be right out....
no charge!

c'mon down the flapper in the main bath doesn't close and the one in the master bath makes noises. You and Cathy fix, I'll feed ya. lol

I knew it was a joke!

This is very true and something I've given thought to as well, but it does have it's perks if you have a good landlord - such as you don't have to come up with a down payment or finance major repairs. I'm lucky to have a great landlord who completely leaves me alone unless I call with a problem - which he tends to immediately (at least I assume he will - I've only had to call once and he was right there to fix it).

When I first started looking to give up apartment life, I thought about buying, but with the max I could come up with as a down payment, my monthly mortgage payment would have been twice my monthly rent (for a similar size house and lot) and I can't afford twice my monthly rent on a single income. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do even if it only benefits the short term :(

I have a terrible landlord. He doesn't want to repair anything.
My tub was dripping water, and he refused to fix it. I told him either he could get a plumber in here, or I could call one and just deduct it from the rent. He had one here in about 20 minutes, and it took all of 10 minutes to fix.

He bills these as luxury apartments, and they are quite nice. But boy, he's a real piece of work.

I hate landlords like that. Mine wants to preserve the value of this house, so he maintains it very well. When I moved in the hot water heater was only a few months old as was the dishwasher. The whole place had been freshly painted and the kitchen cabinets had been re-polyurethaned. The one and only problem I've had was with the stove top. He was out here within an hour of my call, to take measurements for a new stove top if the repair guy he had scheduled to come out the following morning couldn't fix it.

I don't think we have landlords like that in Northern Maine. Oh, I take that back. The landlords in Limestone was great, actually an older couple, and Dan and I still drive over there and visit them quite often. They came to the Boston hospital to visit me a few times. Unfortunately, I don't remember the visits. I was either unconscious or in a drug induced stupor.