Today I've mostly bin...

[Biscuit]

yes i like that suggestion lat - i will try that

Biscuit

[Biscuit]

this afternoon weather is a lot warmer - snow is melting but we still managed to go sledging in the horse field opposite us. (horses are really tame) - neighbours were all there and great fun but not sure why I always end up going down backwards

Then just as it was getting dark one of our neighbours returned with a couple of jugs of mulled wine. - perfect sunday - who needs the alps.

Biscuit

[Bunnylump]

Sounds wonderful!

I've been having a thrilling expedition to deliver tortoise food, said tortoise then bit me. I don't know. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! I lead a really exciting life, don't I?

[Biscuit]

isnt it unusual to have a tortoise as a pet now - they were really common when I was young but not today

Biscuit

ps hard to cook dinner after having too much mulled wine on an empty stomach

Biscuit

[Bunnylump]

I got him when I was 2. (And then thoughtfully left him at my Mum's).

[LAT]

is there such a thing as too much mulled wine? I am trying to grasp the concept.

Sounds like you had a lovely afternoon Biscuit.

[chazzie]

is there such a thing as too much mulled wine? I am trying to grasp the concept.

I was thinking the same I'd recommend another glass if cooking the dinner's a struggle.......

[Bunnylump]

Absolutely. And then you wouldn't CARE if you'd made any dinner or not...

[MBH]

.... on the other side of the 'drinks' arrangement - working behind the bar at the Cricket Club for a 40th birthday party. Very busy (big family plus friends), but they had a buffet on and I got fed.

This was after a nice quiet night there last night.

4th session at the bar since Christmas, but my leg muscles are really feeling a busy 4-hour stint. I'm out of practice. Still - Last night and this afternoon gives me £40 in my pocket I wouldn't have otherwise had.

The great part is - I'm doing THEM the favour - so for those that deserve it I can be as rude and obnoxious as I want to be...... What they going to do? Get me fired

[LAT]

......... searching the internet for photos of cities.
I'm still missing two despite spending I hate to think how many hours on it.

Time to get a life I think.

[Bunnylump]

The great part is - I'm doing THEM the favour - so for those that deserve it I can be as rude and obnoxious as I want to be...... What they going to do? Get me fired

I can't imagine you being rude and obnoxious to anybody. I don't think you've got an obnoxious bone in your body.

Are people really that horrid to a bar man who could refuse to serve them?

[LAT]

Oh people can be foul to bar servers. My daughter works sometimes in her college bar and she once had to call the college porters to get rid of a girl only a couple of years older than her who was being really obnoxious.

[MBH]

Have you any idea how annoying it is when you turn from the length of the main bar to the end part and ask "Who's Next" - and 7 suposed adults shout their own order? Every one of them is lying, because it's the quiet guy on the end who was actually there before them

Or the big, burly guy who shouts and laughs with his mates, then turns to the bar and says "Two pints of Stones"

OR the pompous idiot who I haven't served for a couple of years (although he was an 'every day' regular - where the heck the money comes from I have NO idea) - anyway, he comes to the bar and asks for "One and One". VERY hard not to be sarcastic on the basis that I can't translate that into "A Fosters and a John Smiths"

And they get worse as the night (or afternoon) goes on.

The last 10 minutes between ringing the 'Last Orders' bell and getting the shutters down is just plain annoying. So much of human behaviour I simply do NOT understand.

[Bunnylump]

Oh, if they'd tried that with me I just wouldn't have served them. I am very good at being a bolshy stroppy moo along with the rest of them. (Scurra would never guess that of me, he thinks I'm all sweetness and light). There is NO excuse for rudeness. I made a few people's jaws drop at work by stating loudly to a member of the senior leadership team "Well I might consider it if you say please."

Good job I wasn't there isn't it? I'd have probably ended up in a punch up.

[MBH]

Bar work is great for teaching diplomacy - you have no choice but to serve them, but you get to decide WHEN they get their drinks

I've also got a whole hosts of insults that would be picked up by the average Puzzle Brainer, but goes straight over their head You get your 'digs' in where you can - and telling someone publicly that they're a pillock, or a bore, or a grump (and getting away with it) is very satisfying

[Bunnylump]

My, you have been enjoying yourself...

[clvrlad]

oh ive seen quite a few bad treated bar staff
(and counter staff at shops)
its amazing how people think they'll get better service if theyre rude

[Biscuit]

I try to be really nice - especially if eating as I watched a program on chefs and their revenge..

Mind you my oh did complain when last new year 2008/09 we couldn't eat out at a practically empty "Ask" as they had run out of covers - They actually gave us a free meal which we took this Christmas - they paid for all the food, a bottle of wine and a bottle of red sparkling wine as well. - They really made an effort so praise where praise is due.

My oh didnt complain as such but pointed out the missed opportunities that the company was facing.

Biscuit

[Bunnylump]

I love going out with my friend who trained at catering college. Sometimes she totally freaks restaurant owners out by asking to visit the kitchen (in her book this is a compliment!!), but she's AMAZING at effective but polite complaining. One time she got 3/4 of our total bill removed for a party of 16 because she wasn't happy with the service and the food (which I must admit was pretty grim).

I know I've told these anecdotes before, so if you're bored, look away now...

Mind you, she is also the one who went up and asked a really scary looking female bouncer for directions, starting her sentence "Excuse me, young man...". (She didn't have her glasses on). Being excellent friends we all ran away and hid. She is also the one who, when walking along a street in Canterbury with us (and there was a big group of students coming the other way) said

"Hey, can anyone do this?" Then promptly leapt sideways and landed with a big splat on the floor. Dumbfounded, we stood there, and I ventured
"Well, yes, we could. But WHY would we want to?"

It transpired that she had been attempting the Morecambe and Wise "heel clicking" thing they used to do at the end of the show. I can honestly say it was the funniest thing I have EVER seen.

I'm such a good friend, aren't I?

[gill216]

Today I've been cooking and freezing.

I was determined not to panic buy -or bulk buy- but alas I had no choice. It was a case of buy whatever was on the shelves in whatever size it was available, like it or lump it. Leeds isn't exactly off the beaten track and the supermarket I use is in the city centre- where the roads have been clear for most of the time and access to Leeds has been pretty much normal.

Given we have a high student population, and that most returned yesterday, they were probably out stocking up, BUT why was everything available in triple sized containers? The supermarkets have to be extracting urine . How hard can it be to pack mince or stewing steak in small containers instead of large ones?, why could I only buy a bumper sized chicken instead of a small one? Why couldn't I buy 2 pork chops instead of the 4 I either had to buy or do without? Its actually their loss in the long run. I wont need to visit again for a while. I never get out without buying useless extras, so less visits means less revenue long term.

I was going to buy potatoes and there were 2 packets left on the shelf- at extortionate price. A young woman with 2 little ones had a look of sheer panic on her face that I was going to take them both. I let her have them both- our local shop has plenty at reasonable price.

Off soap box!