It's a Friday night. I'm at home alone. This used to happen a lot, and when it did, I would often spend the evening with music on, enjoying my dinner and a glass of port, perhaps a tinkle on the piano or write an entry on the blog. So that's what I'm doing now.
Except it's different. Everything is different. This is the first blog post I have written in a couple of months, my piano practice has waned, and I'm only just finishing off a bottle of port that was opened last July. In fact, this final glass has me I reflective mood, and here's why.
When I opened the bottle (a fine Sandemann's 10-year tawny), I had just returned from a wonderful weekend in Portugal, celebrating the wedding of good friends with more fine company. The latest wedding in a long line of weddings (number 25 I think) I have been to, and yet another reminder of time moving on at an uncontrollable pace. I was single, I was writing blog pieces to imaginary readers and I was spending Friday nights at home alone playing the piano and drinking port. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. It beats shooting vodka through my eyeballs, vomiting in the street and burying my face in a kebab.
But this week has made me realise the vastness of life's transitions since then. Tonight, sitting at home alone with my port, I am staring at my new dining table with pride. When did furniture become so important?! I am texting my mate who has just completed on his house purchase (presumably furniture is about to become important for him too!) and later intend to be sat on the floor of his empty flat drinking a beer as I did when I moved into my place 18 months ago. Earlier today I bumped into three friends who I have not seen in a while, two armed with their young children, born since that fateful trip to Portugal. The third was with me in Portugal, and I have barely seen her since. Our brief catch up was long overdue.
Also in the intervening months, four more weddings have occurred, another date has been set and two more pregnancies have been announced (I feel a Richard Curtis movie coming on!) - good friends planning their futures together. I have found myself in a relationship and making plans. My house has become a home. Life is good.
And while I wouldn't change it for the world, the relentless passing of time just gets quicker and quicker - a relentless march towards middle age and beyond. that leaves me baffled and bemused The same friends who were married in Portugal have now moved there, another hockey season passes with my aching body taking longer to recover from each match, and my dear Gran was lost to this world over Christmas. Stop the world, I want to get off!
Life moves on, and I intend to enjoy the ride. Tomorrow I will celebrate another friend's 30th birthday. My 30th seems a while ago now; I have no idea how many bottles of port have come and gone since then! But I will celebrate surrounded by friends of all ages: some just leaving full time education, some getting their first place, others making family plans and a few, including me, contemplating the lateness of the hour and the number of drinks I can consume without feeling rough on Sunday.
Perhaps its the music, or maybe the port, that has caused this pensive admission this evening. I imagine most of us wonder where the time has gone, how we ended up liking quiche and discussing Brexit instead of Bieber. I hope it may strike a chord with a few of you, but don't get used to it. I intend to use my Friday nights more wisely. But just for now, for old time's sake, I need to open a new bottle of port.
Friday 18 March 2016
Wednesday 13 January 2016
A small nugget of wisdom
I was recently unfortunate enough to find myself driving the A303 late into the evening as my stomach began to rumble. This was unfortunate as I knew I could not survive the remainder of the trip without some form of food intake, but I also knew that the culinary establishments available on the A303 were not of the high calibre of cuisine that I was hoping for. My food snobbery extends as far as avoidance of fast food outlets where possible, and on this occasion it seemed impossible.
So I found myself at Burger King for the first time in a great many years, staring indecisively up at a menu that left me bewildered and perplexed. In the many years since I have procured fast food, it appears that the pricing strategy has changed. For example, four chicken nuggets cost 99p. But six cost £2.89. Even my elementary maths can spot that this simply doesn't add up. On the one hand each nugget is worth 25p, but if you wish to extend your nugget eating habit by another 50%, you then pay 48p per nugget. It would be far easier to get two lots of four, save yourself 91p, and have an extra two nuggets to boot!
I contemplated that perhaps Burger King knew something about chicken nuggets that I did not. Perhaps the likelihood of a customer collapsing from a heart attack increases by a factor of six billion the moment they clasp their lips around the 5th or 6th nugget, and so in the interests of health and safety they have a pricing strategy to combat this. Except that you can then get nine nuggets for £3.89. Who in their right mind would risk nine nuggets when they would likely collapse after five or six?! And besides, even if you can survive a certain nugget-related ailment, you could have 12 nuggets for £2.97 if ordered in batches of four!
I wondered if Burger King were trying to combat obesity by encouraging people to consume less, but then I noticed the price of fries. A small bag of fries was over a pound, but a medium bag of fries was less than a pound. How was this so?! Is it more cost effective for Burger King to cook and/or sell more fries? How does this compare to the cost per nugget? And has anyone ever, in the history of bizarre fast food pricing, purchased a small bag of fries when they could get a medium bag of fries for less?! Even if they only wanted a small bag of fries it would make more sense (to the individual, though not environmentally) to buy a medium bag of fries, then consume only a small bag's equivalent, and throw the rest away.
So the only people who should ever purchase a small bag of fries at Burger King are rich environmentalists with small appetites! And the only people who should ever purchase nine chicken nuggets are rich risk-takers with poor arithmetic.
Can anyone explain this nonsense to me please?
So I found myself at Burger King for the first time in a great many years, staring indecisively up at a menu that left me bewildered and perplexed. In the many years since I have procured fast food, it appears that the pricing strategy has changed. For example, four chicken nuggets cost 99p. But six cost £2.89. Even my elementary maths can spot that this simply doesn't add up. On the one hand each nugget is worth 25p, but if you wish to extend your nugget eating habit by another 50%, you then pay 48p per nugget. It would be far easier to get two lots of four, save yourself 91p, and have an extra two nuggets to boot!
I contemplated that perhaps Burger King knew something about chicken nuggets that I did not. Perhaps the likelihood of a customer collapsing from a heart attack increases by a factor of six billion the moment they clasp their lips around the 5th or 6th nugget, and so in the interests of health and safety they have a pricing strategy to combat this. Except that you can then get nine nuggets for £3.89. Who in their right mind would risk nine nuggets when they would likely collapse after five or six?! And besides, even if you can survive a certain nugget-related ailment, you could have 12 nuggets for £2.97 if ordered in batches of four!
I wondered if Burger King were trying to combat obesity by encouraging people to consume less, but then I noticed the price of fries. A small bag of fries was over a pound, but a medium bag of fries was less than a pound. How was this so?! Is it more cost effective for Burger King to cook and/or sell more fries? How does this compare to the cost per nugget? And has anyone ever, in the history of bizarre fast food pricing, purchased a small bag of fries when they could get a medium bag of fries for less?! Even if they only wanted a small bag of fries it would make more sense (to the individual, though not environmentally) to buy a medium bag of fries, then consume only a small bag's equivalent, and throw the rest away.
So the only people who should ever purchase a small bag of fries at Burger King are rich environmentalists with small appetites! And the only people who should ever purchase nine chicken nuggets are rich risk-takers with poor arithmetic.
Can anyone explain this nonsense to me please?
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