SeanMacGabhann

I wouldn't say the posties were blameless in any of this poindexter but to lay the whole blame at their door seems a bit much The media has focused on the "they do a 7.5 hour day but if they finish their round in 4 they just go home" angle. And where that happens there is certainly room for improvements - but that "spare" time is where postmen get their previous ability to go out of their way with people on the doorstep If you have a round of x addresses, and that has been the round since year dot, then if you are asked to do round x, + say, 50% of round y (to make up your full working day) then that seems find from efficiency but a) you won't have a postman/woman with time to linger/dawdle/chat/flirt/help with the cat with b) those margins will be squeezed ever further If the country could afford, in the past, with all of these "spanish practices" a postal service with several deliveries a day, happier customers and happier workers, you have to ask what has changed? Of course this could apply across many other "services" - many of us bemoan call-centre culture (and that was when it was in the UK before being off-shored) but it's the same top-down management practices You can therefore Complain about the cost of the service OR Complain about the lack of service But not both

This has all been very enlightening from a punter point of view. Of course, I knew that tied-pub operations were, in my consciousness, filed under "not good" but this is very interesting. What other options are available to licensees such as yourselves? Obviously the big "pub" locations are already-owned and under pressure to deliver or sell to property developers but what of the options to opening small boutique style bars owned wholly by yourselves? Or is that hindered by licensing restrictions?

Absolutely - I was nearly in my 20s before I "got" the curry thing. If you avoid the overly spicy, or the overly cautious (Korma is just wrong) then you should basically think of it as a stew. And good work for taking the leap!

(tu)(tu)

another recruit - woo hoo 4:15 - what time to you call this Mr Bookseller??

but Piers the ID nonsense is to protect us from the tuurrists!!!

oooh I wouldn't be upset if he went but for these 2 things - not sure I think the right man has gone after the records went missing and as for Northern Rock - that was a case of damned if he does damned if he doesn't. There are pitfalls ahead for sure but it's a bit too early to write the NR story

on the whole "Extra Cold" point - pubs and brewers have been pushing this for ages (for lagers as well as Guinness) but is it just me or do I not detect much difference. When I get a pint of any old lager in Oz or US it is darn near solidly frozen, but even the extra cold over here is just... a bit cold I'm sure landlords are pulling their hair out and saying "we have invested a fortune on freezing equipment" and whatnot but I can't tell

I'm definitely with the "Dulwich DIY guys are friendly brigade" and am surprised so many have had bad service - we are definitely talking about the one near Green and Blue right? Not the one up by the Plough

Thursday is good for me Speaking of other Thursday's

James Last's Jagariarten is the tune STB - can't be found for love nor money As for Lyster you're not wrong - I was only thinking the same thing when I was back home recently

I didn't want to say anything as DG has had a bad day and isn't feeling too hot but before anyone emails anyone, more details would be required? I'm not saying the bus driver wasn't aggressive but I don't get the situation - why was a bus driver squeezing past a car - was the car stopped in the road for example, and holding up traffic?

The 70s version of The Late Late Show with Gaybo

The other factor of course is that charging x amount partly determines what kind of punter you end up with

We can give out to the posties and local managers as much as we want (and their attitude sometimes REALLY makes me want!) but the bottom line is they whole thing is being cut to the bone If our childhood postie was happy to have a chat and go out of his way I dare say it wasn't because he was a nicer person - he just didn't have as much pressure. Now the thing is being managed to death in the name of value for money Anyone of us who has worked in any kind of service will have seen the same thing. I used to run an IT helpdesk and saw what happened when the whole thing was outsourced, jobs moved to Scotland and staff numbers halved. The fact is no-one anywhere up the tree WANTS to hear you say service will plummet, call waiting times will increas - and when they do realise their reputation is heading south several months later, money becomes no object. But all that time they had slashed their costs and satisfied this years financial/shareholder/takeover criteria

heh heh - had this very chat with Jah the other evening. I never left the house yesterday but usually it's a pub lunch for me. And The Nun's Head is the best in the sub tenner bracket by a long stretch

The unfinished feel was the finitely my over-riding impression. Hopefully that will be sorted in the coming weeks, and with the run-up to Christmas imminent I can see it doing well If the overheads are low then I think it will survive just fine. There were more people than I expected in there on my visit which was a good sign (I wondered how many people other than us forumites were that aware of it's opening?) I'm not a fan of muzak either but I wonder if some background ambience wouldn't help?

Annasfield... you say this like it's a BAD thing??? ;-)

by who??? and when??? Ibo - please...just stop with this "reasoning"

What can I say - excellent post Laura and I applaud your even-handedness in the whole debate. I don't have children so am an unlikely customer but am genuinely impressed with your response All the very best of luck in the area

You are, as the vernacular goes, "the man" Tuesday and Thursday remain possibilities for me and, given the suggested location I would favour Tandoori Nights or Dulwich Tandoori for starters (but open to ideas)

The bad: The result,obviously. MrBen is spot on with his observations on the goals but that doesn't take away from a very spirited second-half performance where I genuinely thought Scotland were going to go on and get a result. To perform so well in THAT group and to not qualify is gutting The good: Everything else really. Superb atmosphere in the EDT, more Scots than I realised existed in SE22 and nary a hint of menace after the result went against them. The table we had ended up a fine mixture of forumites and partners. I had never met MrBen before and a fine fellow if ever I met one. Hello too to Mrs Ben and Mr Asset Tillie Trotter (foxy new hair cut and all!) , Asset, Georgia, Mr Georgia, Mike Pay-lee-Oli-Gus, Floating Onion and Ally Cat were also present and on fine form. I, however, found myself one beer too many afloat so apologies for any lack of sense as the evening drifted on The tournament will be all-the-worse for Scotland's absence, but let's enjoy it anyway!

or karma ;-)

I've been quiet all day, I log on for 10 minutes and reply to this post within 5 minutes! I so conform to your "allegations" sir - apologies Good post tho - and, believe it or not, as much a source of annoyance to some of us old-timers/perpertrators as it is to you (and others) That said, my observation is that the more recent (last couple of months?) off-topic-veerage is by a newer crowd and I have no idea if they know each other or not I have never quite understood why people are bothered who knows who - I can state categorically I did not know a single other poster on here when I first lurked but have got to know several. Does that make me "a regular" or does it make me someone who didn't care who knew who but got stuck in anyway? Or just annoying? The Administrator has stated in recent days he is taking a more hardline approach to subject veering off topic - and I applaud that stance Then again, I started reading this forum for local info - "what's happening in that unit?", "who is the guy who works in ...?" etc But the truth is if someone starts a subject that says: "Does anyone know about the proposed South Circular extension running down Barry Road (and compulsory purchasing the left hand side)"? It's either a) true or b)rubbish and that;s usually flushed out pretty quickly. So if things veer off topic thereafter so be it (it can be amusing sometimes no?) Oh, and hello!

Ok - I'll run with this one just in case Rach why are we all mad? I know you mentioned "half the price" and Bernard Matthews - but are you serious? First of all, this: Can you smell the ammonia yet? Secondly - as I've said before - I'll buy one free-range bird and one Matthews (or similar) bird and cook both simultaneously - watch as the battery chicken colours and pops and oozes water - the very spirit of Christmas!