A Few Minor Adjustments....Weekend 16/17 July

I have become a lazy blogger again. Early May was the last time I posted, so I thought I would re-vamp the page and attempt to keep a weekend blog. Why not every day? well basically weekdays are too humdrum to comment on in my world so I thought the weekend would be more interesting, because that is when stuff happens.

Saturday has gone all awry! I was supposed to be at the Lions Den Music festival but other plans had been made, then they got cancelled. So we ended up shopping in Canterbury where we had to buy new bed linen and duvet for the spare room. Lunch was nice though, a steak baguette and chips in the Weavers House Restaurant, a very popular spot for Japanese tourists as well, the place was full of them. I like Canterbury, especially seeing overseas visitors spending their lovely money in our shops! Of course it pee'd down with rain, then a gust of wind destroyed my umbrella. Luckily it was only a cheap one.

We had to go to our friends in High Halden that afternoon to collect the solar telescope which he had borrowed from the astro society. The weather was awful, and on the way back I saw a car travelling in the opposite direction to us on the A28 performing a rather uncontrolled 360 and ending up on the grass verge on our side. I stopped to ask if they were OK and they said yes although they did look rather shaken. People really need to drive according to the road conditions. If I had been a few hundred yards further up the road he would have taken us out as well.

After the weekly trawl around Asda we got home, booked some cinema tickets online for Harry Potter's latest & had some rather nice tex/mex food. then settled in front of the TV.

Sunday I was up quite early (for me anyway) so after a spot of brekkie we did a bit of housework then an astro society member popped in to collect the solar telescope. Not that he's going to see much sun in this weather!

So off to the cinema for the 3 o'clock showing. We always like to get there early so we have the pick of the seats, unlike some. Nothing boils my piss more than people who turn up right when the film is about to start, sit at the front, don't like it there and expect you to move so they can get past to a seat in your row, as what happened today. I noticed the film projectors have now gone digital. there were no scratches or specks on the film at all, but there seemed to be a lack of resolution, almost like a noise on the film. Maybe I'm a bit picky. However the film is terrific. If you have read the books and seen all the other movies you won't be disappointed. Not too sure about the trailer for 'Cowboys vs Aliens' though...Hollywood must be running out of ideas!

we rounded off sunday with a trip to Yeungs chinese buffet and as usual I ate way too much, but I love the food in there and I think at £11.80 it is still good value for money. Home now and in time for Top Gear as well...can't be bad. We have Monday off so I don't have to worry too much about work tomorrow....nice!

Another Bank Holiday....

I was going to put today's activities in the previous blog, but I've decided to give this topic a blog posting of its own because I'm gonna have a rant, I feel I need to get this off my chest, I deserve it its been a long time since I last had one!

Basically if there is one thing that really gets my goat it is.....POOR RESTAURANT SERVICE!

Today Sarah and myself went to Deal. I must say it was very blustery down there, so we didn't spend too much time walking along the seafront. As it was just on lunch time we decided to have a meal then, rather than wait until the evening. I always wanted to try the restaurant on the end of the pier (I won't name it on here but you know the one if you have been to Deal recently) . We duly walked in, I asked to look at a menu as there was nothing on display apart from the specials. Only to be told "It is waiter service, take a seat and someone will serve you"......5 to 10 minutes later, still no menu. Then a group sat down next to us and were served straight away. I ask the waitress if there was any danger of seeing a menu (my words exactly) and was told "sorry I didn't see you come in". Hold on...She was the one who told us to take a seat...anyway they were quick to take our order, fish & chips twice, one coffee, one water. The drinks arrived soon enough and my cappuccino was not too bad. 50 MINUTES LATER Our food arrived and to be honest it was good, but we had to rush it as there was not enough time on the parking ticket. Now it wasn't too busy,even though it was lunch time but how long does it take to cook this? In the past if food has been delayed normally the staff have the courtesy to tell you and even offer some more drinks on the house or knock a few quid off the bill, and I have been satisfied with this, but they were oblivious to the delay so obviously this was the norm. Frankly in this day and age this level of service is unacceptable.

I can see why restaurant chains are so popular. You know what you are going to expect from your food, and the level of service is generally good. It also explains why a number of badly run restaurants go under. I think there a a few things they could do to improve service. Either reduce the amount of things on the menu, or take on more kitchen staff. There were plenty of service staff there.

This afternoon we drove over to Lathe Barn, a few miles from Port Lympne. Whilst there we went into a small junk shop (I like looking at tatt). One thing that did catch our eyes were a collection of First Day Covers at a pound each. Sarah bought some wildlife ones and I bought 3 RAF ones. I think they will look good framed. there was a cafe there but after our experience at Deal we decided to drive the scenic route home and have a cuppa there!