tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post1415941748200713474..comments2024-03-25T18:49:00.608+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: Making a rod for your own back?Curmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-55064093657722907872020-05-10T22:29:18.296+01:002020-05-10T22:29:18.296+01:00Nearer 2% according to WHO. 2% of the population o...Nearer 2% according to WHO. 2% of the population of the UK is over 1,000,000 people. A small price to pay in exchange for being able to drink beer in pubs.dcbwhaleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02585310584555592882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-81214986554131518322020-05-10T17:36:50.926+01:002020-05-10T17:36:50.926+01:00"the unconstrained exponential spread of a vi..."the unconstrained exponential spread of a virulent pathogen" - with a mortality rate of no more than 1% (and probably rather less). I'm guessing civilization might pull through.John Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00132845616834779091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-72499758843902307542020-05-10T15:13:45.722+01:002020-05-10T15:13:45.722+01:00Dead people contribute little to the economy.
If y...Dead people contribute little to the economy.<br />If you throw the tourist industry wide open with the assurance that all is safe you will see another spike in deaths (as is happening in Germany) which really will trash tourism.<br /><br />And I doubt that my self isolating will condemn many to poverty misery and ill-health.<br />dcbwhaleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02585310584555592882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-68135482548082187522020-05-10T14:53:03.568+01:002020-05-10T14:53:03.568+01:00If you choose to continue to self-isolate, that...If you choose to continue to self-isolate, that's up to you. But tourism and hospitality is the third biggest sector of the economy. Pubs are just a small part of that. If you want that to stay in the deep freeze, you're condemning many others to continued poverty, misery, and ill-health.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-9605486188104455482020-05-10T10:37:12.930+01:002020-05-10T10:37:12.930+01:00I don't want to eliminate every risk. Just th...I don't want to eliminate every risk. Just the major ones, like pubs becoming major breeding grounds for CV19 and delaying its elimination.<br />I'll take the risk of falling down stairs, or of a terrorist attack, or of a bad pint in my stride.<br />It would be a shame if pubs never reopened but it would not be the end of civilisation. But the unconstrained exponential spread of a virulent pathogen might be.dcbwhaleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02585310584555592882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-46173588636394896462020-05-09T16:50:50.372+01:002020-05-09T16:50:50.372+01:00"No plan survives first contact with the enem..."No plan survives first contact with the enemy." (Helmuth von Moltke). <br /><br />But reopening pubs is not like planning a moon landing. If you want to make sure every single risk has been eliminated, it will never happen. Maybe that's what you want. Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-43437511507379825702020-05-09T11:13:19.860+01:002020-05-09T11:13:19.860+01:00"Unless every possible event is considered an..."Unless every possible event is considered and incorporated in the mission plan, then that mission is destined to fail" - Eugene Krantz (NASA Chief Flight Director) :-)dcbwhaleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02585310584555592882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-88658220413465412572020-05-09T08:39:49.241+01:002020-05-09T08:39:49.241+01:00Why,all that would achieve is rapid closure and ba...Why,all that would achieve is rapid closure and bankruptcy.John Lambnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-50577317285503838822020-05-08T23:23:05.160+01:002020-05-08T23:23:05.160+01:00"A much reduced product range, such as two al... "A much reduced product range, such as two ales and one lager"<br /><br />Bring it on !Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08104772948340037150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-61976955054474253762020-05-08T13:37:54.869+01:002020-05-08T13:37:54.869+01:00"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possib..."Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome." - Dr. Samuel JohnsonCurmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-24588942424403224082020-05-08T13:09:37.703+01:002020-05-08T13:09:37.703+01:00Spit screens at the bar and changing ordering syst...Spit screens at the bar and changing ordering systems,such as using the coffee shop system of ordering and collection can help as can regular hand washing,however,at the end of the day staff and customers are going to have to undertaken their own assessment of the risks to them,which can vary from individual to individual,in working in or visiting a pub. The alternative is no pubs and no jobs.John Lambnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-18990580071145664422020-05-08T10:30:31.542+01:002020-05-08T10:30:31.542+01:00As I mentioned on Tand's blog, everyone is foc...As I mentioned on Tand's blog, everyone is focused on how pubs could cope with customers being socially distanced. The key problem is how staff are going to manage to distance themselves from each other and customers, serve beer, touch tills, card machines, cash, etc, and the answer is that in most cases they won't be able to.electricpicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09144970068645280352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-47929656774216923752020-05-08T09:53:04.342+01:002020-05-08T09:53:04.342+01:00Royal Oak in Wrexham?Royal Oak in Wrexham?Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-40065816478439955672020-05-08T09:51:32.407+01:002020-05-08T09:51:32.407+01:00Not sure if it's still there, but there used t...Not sure if it's still there, but there used to be a round table with a bell-push in the centre in the snug of the Arden Arms in Stockport. My local, the Nursery in Heaton Norris, still has bell-pushes round the walls of the lounge and erstwhile smoke room. Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-21095888338297751242020-05-08T07:32:32.240+01:002020-05-08T07:32:32.240+01:00It's noticeable how innovative businesses are ...It's noticeable how innovative businesses are finding ways to get round the lockdown restrictions as far as they're legally permitted to.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-56132819081062163862020-05-08T02:13:56.408+01:002020-05-08T02:13:56.408+01:00That would be the death of my local, it's far ...That would be the death of my local, it's far too thin to be able to let over 10 customers in, and it's not a Micro-pub. I think Retired Martin knows where I'm on about.jamesbwxmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-68362408482904316702020-05-07T22:59:41.665+01:002020-05-07T22:59:41.665+01:00The Low Lights Tavern in North Shields still has s...The Low Lights Tavern in North Shields still has some of the buttons in what used to be the Owners and Skippers room - where they could drink and discuss their business away from deckhands and filleters.electricpicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09144970068645280352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-18268384523063004652020-05-07T22:15:33.431+01:002020-05-07T22:15:33.431+01:00Some round pub tables have a bell push in the cent...Some round pub tables have a bell push in the centre.Andynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-75342590183523255282020-05-07T22:05:30.560+01:002020-05-07T22:05:30.560+01:00The rules wouldn't be the pubs' fault. I&#...The rules wouldn't be the pubs' fault. I'd go back to the pubs in a flash even if these rules were in place. You've got to show your support.Andy.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-70600865030941498532020-05-07T21:48:24.556+01:002020-05-07T21:48:24.556+01:00That's the bizarre thing about this pandemic n...That's the bizarre thing about this pandemic nonsense where life goes on even when it doesn't.<br />My world is at a standstill yet in the space of an hour today 20 lires of Somerset cider and a box of Cuban cigars from Belgium arrived within the space of an hour at my front door and I was soon sampling both sat in the late afternoon sunshine.<br />And I live in the arse-end of nowhere in lockdown Ireland.<br />Yet knobheads are spending silly money on a black market haircut and thinking this is just like how it must have been in the Blitz when actually people then ate in a day what these tossers would consider an amuse-bouche in a restaurant.<br />Okay,I admit it.I'm starting to rant.<br />Professor Pie-Tinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-47799238943903076392020-05-07T19:56:44.567+01:002020-05-07T19:56:44.567+01:00I remember being in a pub in Hexham where those be...I remember being in a pub in Hexham where those bell pushes still worked and a lovely barmaid brought the beer to the table. This was 1983 and a massive novelty to us young 'uns.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07680240092465648623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-8171801730453710102020-05-07T18:36:58.017+01:002020-05-07T18:36:58.017+01:00CCTV systems are a mandatory licensing condition a...CCTV systems are a mandatory licensing condition and the system generally includes a camera at the door. If an expert has been responsible for providing advice which leads to the adoption of rules then the failure of the expert to abide by the rules suggests that the expert holds the rules in contempt and therefore the quality of the advice which led to the adoption of the rules has to be called into question,the short answer is therefore that the rules were wrong.John Lambnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-1175796728816824232020-05-07T16:48:06.407+01:002020-05-07T16:48:06.407+01:00I can remember in the early seventies we used to g...I can remember in the early seventies we used to go to a pub in Manchester on Friday night which had those bells working. Young George - aged 70+ -, white towel over his arm, used to bring us our beer on a tray.<br /><br />Inadequate staffing is not unique to pubs. It is the norm across the retail and service sectors. Most consumers are willing to suffer excruciating service in order to save a few pennies.dcbwhaleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02585310584555592882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-56069572719426519882020-05-07T15:56:44.958+01:002020-05-07T15:56:44.958+01:00Some older pubs still have bell-pushes around the ...Some older pubs still have bell-pushes around the walls reflecting the days, certainly before my drinking career started, when waiter service was the norm on the "best" side.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-74445608274901662032020-05-07T15:26:30.273+01:002020-05-07T15:26:30.273+01:00Thinking of my local pubs, I feel that the propose...Thinking of my local pubs, I feel that the proposed 'Irish Rules' would make it uneconomic for half to re-open (two out of four), although one of those seems to be trying to become a restaurant anyway so may return but not as a pub. The Wetherspoon is probably best placed given that it is only at very busy times that people drink at the bar anyway. Table service would also be a bonus - I don't think that I've ever seen in Germany the sort of uncivilised scrum that can develop around English bars. It would need adequate staffing to work, a concept hat might be new to a number of pub operators. A much reduced product range, such as two ales and one lager, would make matters more efficient - many of us are old enough to remember when something close to this was the norm and if you didn't like that pub's beer, you went to another. Ian Wordennoreply@blogger.com