Hi Everyone
As the energy and cost of living continue to bite, no doubt many hospitality businesses have had conversations about how to survive the crisis. The problems are all difficult, do they raise their prices and by how much, do they condense their menu choice and meal portions or do they reduce their hours of business? Probably none of these choices will increase their profits but if it means that they survive the present crisis it will be seen as a success. As you probably know by now our favorite holiday destination was Italy with Lake Como our favorite lake. It is the home to a number of well know celebrities which then inevitably makes it one of the more expensive locations. Ok, I hear you say, what is this Rubbish got to do with the problems in the hospitality industry? Well a restaurant at the north end of the lake serves sandwiches just like thousands of pubs, cafes, and restaurants here in the UK. Now if you order a sandwich, you would expect it to be in two halves either cut across the middle or from corner to corner to form two triangles. Our friendly restaurant on the shore of Lake Como had other revenue boosting ideas, however. If you want your sandwich cut into two pieces, it will cost you an extra two Euros. When asked why they were making what is frankly an outrageous charge they said that everything they do has a cost and that it had to be paid for. In my opinion, they don't deserve to survive the crisis unless of course the Italians who go to this restaurant have more money than sense. Having said that I cannot recall seeing many Italians eating sandwiches, they seem to survive quite well on pizza and pasta but then again perhaps I do not mix in the right social circles.
We might both be approaching middle age but we are up there with the younger generation in that we both have smartwatches that tell you how many steps we have walked as well as running and cycling and, of course, whether your heart is still beating. Oh and amidst all this information it actually tells you the time and even more importantly for people of our age, what day it is. I am telling you all this Rubbish as having a smartwatch is all about encouraging exercise that we are constantly reminded that we all need. Now as far as walking is concerned I have set a 7000 steps a day target into my smartwatch although I do not feel any guilt if I don't achieve it. Now we are back to those wonderful researchers again who have found that the magic number is 2,337 steps a day. Don't ask me how they arrived at that number but it is good enough for me. That's apparently enough to reduce your risk of dying prematurely of heart disease or a stroke with each additional 1000 steps cutting the risk of death by a further 15%. Now this week I have beaten that target every day with over 10,000 steps on one day, over 7000 steps on another day, and two days with over 5000 steps.. Add two statin tablets that my doctor says I need and a pacemaker and I think that you will agree that it will take something sensational like Stoke City winning a trophy to stop my heart from beating so, unfortunately, it looks like you will have to put up with this Rubbish for some time to come.
Have you noticed that more and more often when you try to log onto a website a little square comes up with the words "I am not a robot". You then obviously put a tick into the square to indicate that you are not a robot to get the information that you require. It seems obvious to me that not many robots in this area need a train ticket, a takeaway meal or to book a blood test. Perhaps however the internet is preparing for the day when we are all robots.
Just a Thought :
I was chatting to my friend the other day about the best way to make a toasted sandwich. I played Breville's advocate.
Why do Italian men have mustaches? So they can look like their mothers.
I saw a robot at my doctor's this week. It had a virus.
Brian
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