No Such Thing As A Free Lunch?

A row has erupted over Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, funding his attendance at the Tory Party Conference last year out of taxpayers' money. It is reported that the London Mayor spent almost £2000 on accommodation for himself and a small group of advisers at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Birmingham. Regulations state the mayor may not use Greater London Authority money for party political purposes. Mr Johnson said he did not believe the conference fell into that category. He also stated he would pay the money back if he has broken official rules. The Taxpayer's Alliance claimed the mayor's trips to the conference were clearly in his own interest and that of the Conservative party and were not proper use of taxpayers' money. Who said there was no such thing as a free lunch?

Whatever Happened To Those Nice Tea Houses?

Whatever happened to those nice tea houses? You know the ones I mean. You walked in, sat in a comfortable chair at a table dressed in white linen. A waitress dressed in a smart black and white uniform served you with freshly made sandwiches and cakes on china plates, followed by tea served in a china teapot, with china cups and saucers, china milk jug and china sugar bowl. How different it is today. Now they are called cafeterias. My wife and I visited one recently that was part of a large out of town department store. We picked up a wet plastic tray, slid it along tram lines attached to the counter and helped ourselves from a row of plastic cabinets. The sandwiches were in triangular plastic cartons, the Eccles cake was individually wrapped in a plastic film bag and the fruit pie was on a plate sheeted down with cling film. We dispensed our own tea and coffee from vending machines. At the end of the counter was a girl taking the money who obviously didn't want to be there. We then made our way over to the sundries bar where we picked up two small plastic pots of milk and a small plastic pot of cream, two sugars in small paper sachets, two lollipop sticks for stirring our drinks and three serviettes. The third serviette was merely for mopping up the milk and cream that you always spill while trying to get the tops off the little plastic pots. We found somewhere to sit and unwrapped all the various items on the tray. We then sat and had our lunch at a bare wooden table which I can only describe as looking like a land fill site. We were surrounded by enough paper and plastic to fill a recycling bin. Oh well, I guess that's the modern way of doing things. Progress, I don't think so!

Today's Thought

Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.

2-For-1 At Pizza Express

For those of you who have not seen it in the press Pizza Express are doing a great 2 for 1 offer on their main course meals. Unlike most offers of this kind with this one you get the most expensive meal free. Here's how you get your free meal. Simply click on the following link www.pizzaexpressoffers.co.uk print off the voucher and take it along to your local Pizza Express restaurant. Offer ends 29th January. The offer is also valid at the weekend and can also be used for take-away orders. Happy eating!