This weekend ...
... we're not doing a great deal. Well, that's an exciting
start to a blog, isn't it?
We heard some good news early yesterday morning ~ we have
a new great-neice, born in Leicester just after midnight.
Everything went very well, and both parents are now
recovering at home (to catch up on missed sleep). The dad
is taking 4 weeks off work, on paternity leave, to help
out. Dads are lucky to get one week off work with the
current economic climate, though 2 weeks is now officially
permitted by UK Government law.
Tesco is currently offering £4-6 off a weekly shop if you
spend £40 at one go ~ they sent us tokens in the post with
this offer, which is too good to miss. So Mrs C and I went
food & wine shopping yesterday morning, walking into town
and back with a shopping trolley (one of those two-wheeled
thing that old gits like me use). Formerly I would have
carried it all back in a rucksack plus two heavy carrier
bags, but I've had enough of feeling like a donkey carrying
all that weight. Being a "tight bastard", which is what one
of my friendly neighbours calls me, I didn't take the car,
as it would have cost us about £4 in car-parking fees and
fuel.
There are some excellent wine offers on at present in the
UK shops. Tesco is selling Hardy's "Stamps of Australia"
(Shiraz Cab.Sauvignon) at 3 for £10, and Waitrose Wine
Direct is selling Oxford Landing and Lindeman's wines for
under £4 a bottle. How can they sell such lovely wine for
such a low price (given that the UK tax on each bottle is
about £1.70)? How much profit are the Australian producers
getting, taking into account their production and shipping
costs? And thinking about the recent horrendous fires &
drought in Australia, how can the wine growers stay in
business?
During the past week, there have been demands in the UK
press to increast the tax on alcohol in the shops, as it's
deemed to be too cheap, and that the low price is encouraging
young people to drink too much.
Here's an article written by a health economist who says that
alcohol consumption is definitely related to the price of it.
What would you think about paying £5 for a pint of beer in
a pub, as they do in Norway? High taxation was introduced
by the government there to reduce the amount of alcoholism.
One thing I think Gordon Brown's government should definitely do
is to introduce a total ban on drinking when driving ~ a zero-
tolerance policy. So, drinkers would have to walk to their local
or get there by bus & taxi, and the police should step up
on-the-spot breath tests especially around pub-closing time.
That would be popular, wouldn't it?
Today is looking sunnier, but it feels cold (I haven't yet put
on our gas central heting), but the forecasters say temps should
rise to 14 degrees C this afternoon. Sounds like a nice day for
a walk somewhere & an opportunity to take some more photos.
BTW, I've noticed that the BBC have redesigned its local weather
page, which looks very good (there's a link to a 5 day forecast
also on the right hand side of the page).
start to a blog, isn't it?
We heard some good news early yesterday morning ~ we have
a new great-neice, born in Leicester just after midnight.
Everything went very well, and both parents are now
recovering at home (to catch up on missed sleep). The dad
is taking 4 weeks off work, on paternity leave, to help
out. Dads are lucky to get one week off work with the
current economic climate, though 2 weeks is now officially
permitted by UK Government law.
Tesco is currently offering £4-6 off a weekly shop if you
spend £40 at one go ~ they sent us tokens in the post with
this offer, which is too good to miss. So Mrs C and I went
food & wine shopping yesterday morning, walking into town
and back with a shopping trolley (one of those two-wheeled
thing that old gits like me use). Formerly I would have
carried it all back in a rucksack plus two heavy carrier
bags, but I've had enough of feeling like a donkey carrying
all that weight. Being a "tight bastard", which is what one
of my friendly neighbours calls me, I didn't take the car,
as it would have cost us about £4 in car-parking fees and
fuel.
There are some excellent wine offers on at present in the
UK shops. Tesco is selling Hardy's "Stamps of Australia"
(Shiraz Cab.Sauvignon) at 3 for £10, and Waitrose Wine
Direct is selling Oxford Landing and Lindeman's wines for
under £4 a bottle. How can they sell such lovely wine for
such a low price (given that the UK tax on each bottle is
about £1.70)? How much profit are the Australian producers
getting, taking into account their production and shipping
costs? And thinking about the recent horrendous fires &
drought in Australia, how can the wine growers stay in
business?
During the past week, there have been demands in the UK
press to increast the tax on alcohol in the shops, as it's
deemed to be too cheap, and that the low price is encouraging
young people to drink too much.
Here's an article written by a health economist who says that
alcohol consumption is definitely related to the price of it.
What would you think about paying £5 for a pint of beer in
a pub, as they do in Norway? High taxation was introduced
by the government there to reduce the amount of alcoholism.
One thing I think Gordon Brown's government should definitely do
is to introduce a total ban on drinking when driving ~ a zero-
tolerance policy. So, drinkers would have to walk to their local
or get there by bus & taxi, and the police should step up
on-the-spot breath tests especially around pub-closing time.
That would be popular, wouldn't it?
Today is looking sunnier, but it feels cold (I haven't yet put
on our gas central heting), but the forecasters say temps should
rise to 14 degrees C this afternoon. Sounds like a nice day for
a walk somewhere & an opportunity to take some more photos.
BTW, I've noticed that the BBC have redesigned its local weather
page, which looks very good (there's a link to a 5 day forecast
also on the right hand side of the page).
posted by justin at 8:08 am
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2 Comments:
£5 for a pint? Our local pub have a special offer on at the moment.
Pedigee, which is a strong beer as you know (£2.80 a pint), is on offer at 3 pints for £7 (a saving of £1.40! Wow!)if you drink them the same evening.
How about that for encouraging drink driving then? Mind you, it does boost the landlords profits, the brewery's, and of course the Govts taxes.
It's irresponsible landlords like that who should be stopped from making "Special Offers" and not penalising poorer people like me (an OAP on a low pension) who buys beer from the supermarket because it's cheaper.
Hi Keith ~ thanks for commenting. Yes, these huge discounts are silly, and just encourage people to drink excessively. I've brewed a lot of strong home-brew in the past, and I'd be nissed as a pewt if I were to drink 3 pints of the stuff.
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