The Night Mail

[SM42]

Mrs SM42 has announced that later this week we will be using a cinema voucher we were given recently and we will be dining Korean beforehand. 

 

As I have no idea about Korean food,  I  need to do some research so I don't accidentally order something that will upset my delicate constitution or displeasure my palate.  

 

Andy

[pH]

35 minutes ago, SM42 said:

I was a union rep once, and having a collaborative approach rather than the adversarial some of those who came after me had, seemed to get things done. 

Granted only on a local level, but nevertheless grievances were soon overcome to the general satisfaction, if sometimes reluctantly, to all. 

I was also once a union rep, in a separate location of a larger organization. Industrial relations were a lot smoother than they could have been, mainly because of the attitudes of individuals on both management and union sides. And especially because the head of the HR department was scrupulous about maintaining neutrality between those two sides and was respected by both sides because of that.

 

However, once anything escalated beyond the local level, things could rapidly go sideways. On one matter, there had been long and serious discussions at the local level and a proposed solution had eventually been agreed to. There were advantages for both sides in what was being proposed. As the matter was significant, the proposal had to be presented to management of the overall organization. The union spokesman began the meeting by saying “We have agreed …”, to be immediately interrupted by senior management’s spokesman saying “We don’t accept that.”

 

The meeting lasted about 10 minutes, all in this vein. Local management reps spent the time looking at the floor, the ceiling, their nails, out of the window etc. After the union side had walked out (there was no point in staying), one rep said “It’s meetings like that that reinforce my belief in violence as a legitimate negotiating tactic in certain circumstances!”

 

When I left the organization, the original problem still remained.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

* asking for a cappuccino after midday will mark you out, now and forevermore, as a “straniero ignorante”

 

Purely out of curiosity, what does asking for butter to go with the bread mark you out as?

 

(Asking for a friend......)

 

1 hour ago, SM42 said:

 

Quite, but being a tourist ignorant of such local dining experiences and being not so keen on paying way over the odds in the other establishments round about, we found somewhere by chance that had a good atmosphere and tasty, fairly priced  food. 

Limited yes, but we liked it. 

 

Sounds like a fine reason to This Bear.

 

1 hour ago, SM42 said:

It was bad enough the taxi driver trying to stiff us over the fare to the airport.

We agreed a price beforehand and on arrival he wanted to add 50% more because we had hand luggage. 

 

He threatened to call the police. We offered to do it for him.

 

There was a general waving of arms and some heated Italian  words and he drove off. 

 

Much as I would like to visit Italy again some day, I am wary about being done over for being a tourist with limited skill in the local langage. 

 

I appreciate that this is not endemic but it makes me think twice as it's the only country so far where I have experienced this.

 

Bear has been to Italy quite a lot and have only been shafted once - and that was almost certainly by a non-Italian.  That was during a day out in Stresa (Lake Maggiore) and it preyed on my mind for the rest of the day - so much so that I kept looking for the guy for the rest of the day....

 

I found him too - and he lost out, believe me.  I then reported him to the Carabiniere - and the guy's appearance would make it very easy for them to spot him too (and there would certainly be no love lost either).  I also learned a lesson that day that I won't forget.

 

Whilst working in Italy in 1986 I mistakenly paid with a 100,000 Lire note (about fifty quid), thinking it was a 10,000L note (a fiver) - leaving the change to the Waitress.  She was so adamant in trying to give me the note back it made me realise my mistake - she could've walked with a £45 Tip....

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Unfortunately there is a teeny tiny problem with looking to Japan for inspiration and that is how the Japanese regard and take care of shared public spaces. Basically it’s a matter of “it belongs to everyone, therefore it also belongs to me and if it belongs to me, I must take care of it”  Which is why 99.99999% of any rubbish floating around (say) Tokyo stations will have come from inconsiderate foreigners.

 

One of the Stations in Lisbon:

 

 

- and the Metro (which insists on being sideways):

 

 

You had to look VERY hard to see any litter at all.

 

1 hour ago, SM42 said:

The only thing a Labour government did manage was to nationalise Railtrack, but that needed some political skulduggery and a couple of disasters as a catalyst.

 

Andy

 

I know of A Certain Bear who was a Railtrack Shareholder and was more than a bit p1ssed off by that, as were many others.

 

24 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Already happened - one of the C4 spin-offs. The schedule is now racing every day except Monday, gives no recovery time, and spoiled the side show events as they are usually on Sunday and Tuesday.  Things like the sprint were not as well attended due to this.  Govt (ours) reports how great it is, everyone you speak to racers included, hates it.  As PBear says, 'S'terds'.

 

Perhaps all the racers should get together and say "No - sort it or we ain't coming".  Unfortunately that would need the vast majority to stand together - not an easy thing to arrange.

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, SM42 said:

We agreed a price beforehand and on arrival he wanted to add 50% more because we had hand luggage. 

I bet that reduced his tip!

I suspect the taxi driver had previously worked for Ryanair.

Edited July 7 by Tony_S

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Unfortunately,  being DfT they're more likely to go on a fact finding trip to Germany and pick up a few tips on how to make things worse.

Or maybe over here to study Amtrak?

[Northmoor]

53 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Already happened - one of the C4 spin-offs. The schedule is now racing every day except Monday, gives no recovery time, and spoiled the side show events as they are usually on Sunday and Tuesday.  Things like the sprint were not as well attended due to this.  Govt (ours) reports how great it is, everyone you speak to racers included, hates it.  As PBear says, 'S'terds'.

Highlights were on ITV4 the last few years and don't seem to be influencing things too much.  My worry is that it become an event to be seen at by "celebrities" with no real knowledge or interest in the sport but have something to promote.  The paddock then becomes closed off expect to those with exclusive passes while the fans who've camped on the island all week, watched all the racing and spent all their money in local establishments, are kept out.

[Tony_S]

56 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Mrs SM42 has announced that later this week we will be using a cinema voucher we were given recently and we will be dining Korean beforehand. 

 

As I have no idea about Korean food,  I  need to do some research so I don't accidentally order something that will upset my delicate constitution or displeasure my palate.  

 

Andy

M&S and Waitrose seem to have decided to feature some Japanese and Korean meal deals to add to their Indian and Chinese range. 
I have only eaten Korean food in London and Dublin. There was a Korean restaurant in Priory Park in Southend but in the week they only served English food!
I can only recall bibimbap and kimchi, probably on both occasions. I enjoyed the food. 

[zarniwhoop]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

* asking for a cappuccino after midday will mark you out, now and forevermore, as a “straniero ignorante”

I have read somewhere that the reason is because many Italians have a 'mediterranean' gene combination producing a little resistance to Malaria, but at the cost of lactose intolerance. It was suggested that many can tolerate a little milk first thing in the day, but have problems such as gut pain with milk taken later in the day.

 

How true that is, I have no idea. Certainly, most of Italy is not dairy country although I had assumed that because Mozzarella is not a hard cheese it might also lead to lactose intolerance.

[polybear]

38 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Highlights were on ITV4 the last few years and don't seem to be influencing things too much.  My worry is that it become an event to be seen at by "celebrities" with no real knowledge or interest in the sport but have something to promote.  The paddock then becomes closed off expect to those with exclusive passes while the fans who've camped on the island all week, watched all the racing and spent all their money in local establishments, are kept out.

 

A look at all the "celebs" walking up and down the Silverstone F1 grid today was a fine example of that.

 

19 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

M&S and Waitrose seem to have decided to feature some Japanese and Korean meal deals to add to their Indian and Chinese range. 
I have only eaten Korean food in London and Dublin. There was a Korean restaurant in Priory Park in Southend but in the week they only served English food!
I can only recall bibimbap and kimchi, probably on both occasions. I enjoyed the food. 

 

Kimchi is in the news in Korea at the moment - for all the wrong reasons.

[Tony_S]

Many many years ago Aditi went to her college  union reps for advice after a senior colleague had threatened her . They said they were too busy to talk to her as they were composing a letter of support to the Sandinistas. She joined another union. 

[New Haven Neil]

56 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Highlights were on ITV4 the last few years and don't seem to be influencing things too much.  My worry is that it become an event to be seen at by "celebrities" with no real knowledge or interest in the sport but have something to promote.  The paddock then becomes closed off expect to those with exclusive passes while the fans who've camped on the island all week, watched all the racing and spent all their money in local establishments, are kept out.

 

It's that coverage that caused the change to the schedule.  

 

As for the paddock- as it is tents mostly, that'll never happen - it is too deeply entrenched in the TT lore.  The riders even have to be there on set days to meet the fans.  A certain surly young Northern Irishman got fined for not doing so last year as he thought he was above that.  He was there later in the week.....

[polybear]

18 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

A certain surly young Northern Irishman got fined for not doing so last year as he thought he was above that.  He was there later in the week.....

 

From a certain racing family by any chance.....?

[New Haven Neil]

2 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

From a certain racing family by any chance.....?

 

Could be.....

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I bet that reduced his tip!

I suspect the taxi driver had previously worked for Ryanair.

Like the taxi driver in Brisbane who fell asleep in the tunnel from the airport.  I had to prod him awake.  He didn't get a tip. 

 

Jamie

[Winslow Boy]

10 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

How about cold rice pudding, straight from the can?

I'm not admitting ANYTHING...

 

Bit of a 'cold' thing going on have we.

[Northmoor]

12 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

From a certain racing family by any chance.....?

To be fair Michael Dunlop has always steered away from the media; even Yer Maun was an intensely private person who seemed to happily sign autographs if someone asked, but would keep himself out of the way.  Some riders don't mind meeting the public for hours - Hickman seems to revel in it and was very friendly when I spoke to him at Goodwood - I suspect MD would want nothing to do with glad-handing celebs.  Guy Martin latterly didn't want much to do with the public or media either.  I can respect all that, it's their choice, but you don't want to go down the F1 route where you pay to get in, then a seat is extra, in-field access is another extra, early morning pit-lane access is a lot extra, on-site catering costs a small mortgage.  It would be a huge mistake for the island as getting there is a natural constraint, so if you make it all for TV viewers (of which I've always been one), eventually you don't have an event at all.

[New Haven Neil]

I agree, but having said that I have twice had nice chats with Guy.  The point is that the riders are contracted at TT to have IIRC two sessions where they have to interact with the adoring public.

 

Oh, found this photo of the bhaji tikka burger on White Tiger's Faceache page - the reality is it looks a lot better in the 'flesh', but....yum.

 

[Winslow Boy]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Of course not!
Artisanal emesis, nothing but the best from iD!

That was a rhetorical statement by the way.

[AndyID]

16 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Oh, found this photo of the bhaji tikka burger on White Tiger's Faceache page

 

 

Are you sure it wasn't Facepuke?

[Happy Hippo]

47 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

I agree, but having said that I have twice had nice chats with Guy.  The point is that the riders are contracted at TT to have IIRC two sessions where they have to interact with the adoring public.

 

Oh, found this photo of the bhaji tikka burger on White Tiger's Faceache page - the reality is it looks a lot better in the 'flesh', but....yum.

 

Looks like a mangled Corn Snake bap

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[jjb1970]

Korean food is great, one of the world's great culinary traditions IMO. Korean culture seems to be the current thing, the food, music and TV/cinema are very popular. In much of Asia people are obsessed with Korea, even down to Korean barbers and beauticians. If people ever have an opportunity to visit the Republic of Korea take it, it's a wonderful place with stunning scenery and rather like Japan in having a sharp focus on quality. 

 

On Japanese labour relations, in nationalised days the JR unions were quite powerful. Not confrontational or strike happy but there were quite rigid procedures for things which could have rather odd consequences such as the EF64-1000. 

 

The EF64 was a successful electric locomotive of the 60's,  it was a typical Japanese bo-bo-bo. In the 80's JR developed a new type, but because of the procedures required to induct a new type to comply with labour union agreements it was made a sub-class of the older EF64. This despite the EF64-1000 having a new, longer body, bogies and pantograph from the EF81 and a completely different electrical arrangement. 

[KeithMacdonald]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

From a certain racing family by any chance.....?

 

Avon, Michelin or Pirelli?

[skipepsi]

47 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Avon, Michelin or Pirelli?

No.

[br2975]

8 hours ago, SM42 said:

........................................... we will be dining Korean beforehand. 

 

.

Dining 'Gangnam Style' ?