Monday Moan 13

Special Value Edition

 

 

Carrots – are they worth it?

Can someone like Prince Harry really be taken seriously? Can his bodyguards be trusted to keep anybody safe? Can we have a quote from Prince William on his brother’s suitability for a public role? 

 Would all those excusing him as 'just a young man having a bit of fun' tell us;-

a)      at what age we should expect 'young men' to grow up, and

b)      if they were, or would be, as understanding of their own children were they to behave like a prat/prince?

Maybe his Dad should have a quiet word with him?  Something like ‘grow up and remember who you are’?

 

Champagne Moment?

I am not a man given to extravagance.  I like nice things and am not afraid to pay for them, but I also expect value to go along with any high price tags. 

 

So, Saturday night was not the first time I have been faced with a bill for dinner for two that amounted to a three-figure sum (and I don’t mean single pounds and double-digit pence).  However, it was the first time that those three figures did not begin with a ‘1’. 

Was it worth it?  Well, the food was undeniably very tasty and brilliantly presented.  The venue was classy but not too pretentious.  The service could not have been better.  So, all of this began to make the high cost seem less extravagant.  I have some specific dietary needs which make dining out a bit of a nightmare sometimes, but I pre-warned them of these when I booked and they handled everything very well on the night - until the end.  Despite the pre-warning about no dairy produce they were unable to offer any soya milk for my after-dinner tea or coffee.  Such a shame.  They could have given us a bottle of champagne at an eye-watering £1208, but they couldn’t manage some soya milk at just over £1.

It’s the details that matter.

 

A name is not enough
 

Talking of high prices and attention to detail, we stayed in a well-known old English house recently, now part-converted into a hotel.  It trades on its name and history and offers guests a taste of the luxury only money can buy.

Except that failure to look after the details let them down.  Call me picky if you like, but when I am paying a small fortune for bed and breakfast I am disappointed if the bed linen has holes in it, if the bathroom floor and tiled walls have missing and/or dirty grouting, or if the fabric of the luxury chair is ripped.  I think I am also entitled to expect a breakfast in something better than the bar area  of the golf club that now pulls in the punters and that the loud and boisterous wedding party will be separated from the rest of the customers who have been expecting a quiet and intimate meal with their partners.

As I say, it’s the details that matter.

 

What’s the attraction?

I am puzzled by the attraction of my car to other drivers.  I turn up at a car park and go to the very far end, or maybe seek out the empty floor if it is a multi-storey building.  I leave my car in splendid isolation but when I return, no matter whether I am away for just a few minutes or a few hours, whilst the rest of the car park is still a wasteland unpolluted by the presence of vehicles, it is inevitably the case that somebody will have decided to park in the space next to mine.

Is this some kind of homing instinct, or a feeling that there is greater security in numbers?  Is it that people want to be associated with my humble car?

I have no idea why this happens, but it is hugely irritating.  Maybe the owners of these other vehicles derive pleasure from watching at a distance whilst I spend the next few minutes studying the side of my car to see if they have damaged it in any way, perhaps by carelessly opening their doors onto mine, or maybe by swinging bags or keys in a cavalier fashion? 

Whatever the reason, please stop it!