Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Longy]

So much in this for you tikay

"cricket is part of a man's very education..."

http://www.vimeo.com/17759994

Don't think Evans (wk) should be standing up to Bedser, he didn't catch one of those balls in the first over.

[celtic]

25th December will be just another day for me this year. Kebab shop, curry shop and Chinese all closed ffs. I'm gonna have to go food shopping on dec 24. Fml.

[tikay]

They try to infiltrate your mind, you know, & I won't have it.

"Large latte please" I ask in Starbucks today.

"You mean Vente Latte Sir?".

No, large, please".

"Yes, you mean Vente Sir?".

FFS, I'm not in bloody Rome, I'm at Leicester Services, J21 of the M1 for Christs sake.

In the background, as my ire is slowly rising, "Sleigh Bells" is playing......

dty,j,vyjnjfxfuckoffyoutwatn j,b.../..hgf

Costa are the same. It's not like they are proper Italian, they are BRITISH, owned by Whitbreads. "Large Latte please". "Medio Sir?". "No, I said LARGE".

Still, here's an idea to boost sales. It's Christmas for Coffee Lovers. It'll make you feel all warm & floozy.

http://www.costa.co.uk/index.aspx

Meanwhile, Starbucks will flog you the best Mince Pie ever, all for only £1.85. £1-17/- for a Mince Pie! And kids are protesting about Student Loans?

Protest about Christmas, & Mince Pie Prices, & I'll be right there with Charlie Gilmour & co.

[boldie]

Even worse; what about the "Americano"?

"Can I have a black coffee, please?"

"Do you mean an Americano, Sir?"

"Erm, no..I mean a black coffee...WTF is an "Americano"?"

"It's a black coffee, Sir"

"Ah right, well give me that black coffee then please"

[tikay]

So much in this for you tikay

"cricket is part of a man's very education..."

http://www.vimeo.com/17759994

Unbelievable Rich, truly astonishing. I watched the first minute, but I'm gonna save the rest for Xmas day. Little pressie to myself, like. Thank you.

I have a copy of Wisden signed by both Alec & Eric Bedser, who came to visit the Hospital Ward I was in as a little boy, after I'd had a bit of an accident. I recall watching, from the same hossie bed, Trueman bowling for England.

I think TMS, especially pre 1980, has given me as much pleasure for an almost nil outlay as anything in life. Even later, stuff such as the Headingley Test is ingrained on my mind to this day thanks to TMS. I was "seeing a girl" in Staffordshire at the time, & I sat outside her flat listening to the cricket & she got the mardy on with me. "What do you want, Cricket, or me?". Hmm....

I only learned recently that dear old Bill Frindle had passed away. He should have been Knighted, or Dame'd.

[DaveShoelace]

I went to the Deep in Hull, one of the largest aquariums in the world (I think, it was quite good actually) and ordered a latte, they gave me a black coffee, I said I wanted milk in my latte and they said, 'oh you have to ask for milk'.

I also once asked a guy at a pizza stall/stand/thingy at a theme park for a margarita, to which he replied 'we only do cheese and tomato'  

[boldie]

I went to the Deep in Hull, one of the largest aquariums in the world (I think, it was quite good actually) and ordered a latte, they gave me a black coffee, I said I wanted milk in my latte and they said, 'oh you have to ask for milk'.

Quite right. It's ridic that if you think that getting coffee and milk is acceptable when ordering a latte. Latte is supposed to be espresso with milk. For some reason quite a few places indeed make it coffee with milk and call it a latte...IT'S NOT, IT'S A FECKING COFFEE WITH MILK! Ask for coffee with milk please!

[tikay]

The Hotel is brand new, "cold", (no soul, character) but perfectly fit for purpose, nice & clean, plenty of light, & views out onto the Canal, River, (Ayre?), & Leeds Railway Station. Free wi-fi, too, so pretty good really.

It used to be called "City Inn", but they changed their name to "Mint".

One is greeted by this message on a sort of "Welcome Card". It's OK, it's on recycleable paper, so feel good, please.

"...As you may already know, we now have a new name.

Welcome to MINT HOTEL, Leeds.

"Mint" perfectly describes what we always want to be; fresh, revitalising, & constantly improving the service our Guests have always enjoyed & expected".

Bet you never realised the amazing properties of a bit of garden mint, eh?

I wonder how much they paid to some pretentious PR consultancy to come up witn that load of bollox?

"Let's call it "Mint", it says everything".

"How much?"

"£500,000".

"A bargain, we'll take it".

I expect "Mint" is now a Registered Trade mark, too.

[AndrewT]

Of course the thing about Starbucks is they have three sizes of coffee - Tall, Grande and Venti.

Tall (the small one) means large.
Grande (the medium one) also means large
Venti (the actual large one) doesn't mean large, it means twenty.

I hope the guy at Starbucks who came up with that is still laughing at the fact his joke has got out of hand.

[gatso]

Even worse; what about the "Americano"?

"Can I have a black coffee, please?"

"Do you mean an Americano, Sir?"

"Erm, no..I mean a black coffee...WTF is an "Americano"?"

"It's a black coffee, Sir"

"Ah right, well give me that black coffee then please"

try asking for what you want rather than describing the item and you'll find life is a lot easier. do you have this same thing everywhere you go?

"bread roll please, with a beef patty inside plus pickles, onions, ketchup, a bit of mustard and a slice of cheese"
"do you mean a cheeseburger sir?"
"wtf is a cheeseburger?"
"well, it's a bread roll with a beef patty, pickles, onion, cheese, mustard and ketchup inside"
"ah right, well give me that bread roll with a beef patty, pickles, onion, cheese, mustard and ketchup inside then please"

you must spend a lot of time ordering stuff

[TightEnd]

This is a magnificently "Grumpy Old Men"/"Grumpy Old Chilli" thread this afternoon


On a related subject. MSA food halls.

 "I'd like a small diet coke please"

"This is the smallest cup we have sir"

(profers huge paper cup in my direction)

"It can't be small it's nearly 12 inches high"

"Sorry sir, here is the large one"

(points to paper cup nearly a foot high)

"that'll be £2.99 please"

[tikay]

And tomorrow is the absolute nadir of 2010, THE worst day of the year by a very long way. The Staff Xmas Party. In Leeds, of all places. Leeds! All the Staff, Presenters, & Analysts are going up by train from Kings Cross.

Wow, how many Sky employees in Yorkshire?!

I guess Sky pay for everything......obviously making too much money.


I was looking for somewhere to take my guys out in West London and stumbled upon this at Syon Park ( you could walk there, so perfect for you next year ;-) )

http://www.bestpartiesever.com/christmas-parties/christmas-parties-london/christmas-parties-London_intro.html

Quite a  lot - 400 or 500 at a guess. You need to distinguish between Sky TV - "Big Sky" - who have offices everywhere, with their TV & Broadcasting hub in Osterley. (yes, right by Syon Park), & "Sky Betting & Gaming" (SB&G) for whom I work, who are Yorkshire-based. A handful of SB&G staff are London-based, but the Head Office is in Yorkshire.

They used to be in Harrogate, but outgrew their premises, so are now in a much biggger place in Leeds City centre, just off Wellington Street. (I had an office in Wellington Street 30 years ago, wheel has gone full circle). Amazingly, it now looks like they will outgrow the new Offices in 18 months. The Online Gaming Industry (as opposed to poker) is growing at a staggering pace, but SB&G, including poker, is outstripping even that. You would not believe how fast it is growing, & what a clever business model it is.

It mainly comprises Sky Bet, Sky Vegas (slots, in essence, but very sophisticated stuff), Bingo, Poker, & Oddschecker.

Flushy was perusing Oddschecker while I saw with him at a tourney in Brighton last week, & was eulogising how good it was. When I told him it was part of SB&G, he nearly fainted. "Really?". Yup, really. Clever stuff. 

They DO look after their Staff, too. They want peeps to solve problems, not look for them, take responsibility for making decisions, & not be scared of making mistakes. I love it. They might tin-tack me tomorrow, of course - insecurity ftw - but I won't cry, working here, as a second career, has enriched my life. Andf my bank account, tbh, though the latter is of no import to me.

The Office is a dream for someone who follows sports, & likes a gamble. The central meeting area is called "The Roulette Wheel", & has a 12 metre diamater roulette wheel ingrained into the floor. Meeting Rooms are called "Knavesmere", "Ascot", "Prestbury Park" etc.

If I had my time again, & short of owning a City Centre Car Park somewhere (the ultimate low-maintenance risk-free business) this is the business I'd want to be in. It's time has arrived, & growth headroom is massive.

[TRIP5]

and  to blonde Irene! 

Dunno how Tikay does it.  Carries a manbag yet still pulls the birds in. 

Hellllllloooooooo lexilady !!!!!
It's all about the manbag....and the burgundy jumper obv. ;o)
Xx

[gatso]

This is a magnificently "Grumpy Old Men"/"Grumpy Old Chilli" thread this afternoon


On a related subject. MSA food halls.

 "I'd like a small diet coke please"

"This is the smallest cup we have sir"

(profers huge paper cup in my direction)

"It can't be small it's nearly 12 inches high"

"Sorry sir, here is the large one"

(points to paper cup nearly a foot high)

"that'll be £2.99 please"

so the small and the large are the same size?

[TightEnd]

This is a magnificently "Grumpy Old Men"/"Grumpy Old Chilli" thread this afternoon


On a related subject. MSA food halls.

 "I'd like a small diet coke please"

"This is the smallest cup we have sir"

(profers huge paper cup in my direction)

"It can't be small it's nearly 12 inches high"

"Sorry sir, here is the large one"

(points to paper cup nearly a foot high)

"that'll be £2.99 please"

so the small and the large are the same size?

no!

my error. there are three sizes. small is actually undrinkably large. Large is like a popcorn bucket