That's quite a story about the duck. Thirty years?! That guy must have
REALLY liked Bombay duck
I wonder why they didn't just call it "Bombay Fish"
If they had called it 'Bombay Fish', I don't think there'd have been a problem!
He must have been kind of crazy! I doubt anyone under 60 could even remember what Bombay Duck was!
Overcast, breezy, 29 degree F outside
T-shirt weather here, nice, but a little unsettling!
I'm going to sit here in my toasty living room and drink coffee for a while
View attachment 1986337
Good for you Mike, it's nice to see that interesting knife again
Hope everyone is having a good day
I decided to get a bus over to nearby Harrogate. I had a couple of things to do there, and the journey is very scenic. I took a few pics from the front of the top-deck, but they're pretty blurred. I saw a herd of deer, but after I'd zoomed in, the image was just rubbish
After I reached Harrogate, I visited an antiques centre, and had a good look round, buying a couple of vintage razors, and a few other things. My lower back has been hurting a little since Thursday, but nothing too bad. However, when I dropped to my right knee, to take a look at a knife in the bottom of one of the cabinets, I was shocked to find that I couldn't stand back up on my left (sciatic) leg. I made several frustrating attempts, and fortunately among all the expensive glass and pottery, I spotted a girder going up to the roof, and managed to pull myself up on it. Afterwards, I noticed that I was limping worse, and struggling to get up and down stairs, with increased discomfort in my lower back, and some sciatic pain. I better not go down with sciatica again, or I'll be reenacting a scene from a certain Martin Scorsese film with Tool Man and one of his large bench vices!
I decided to go for breakfast in a nearby pub. It was cheap, but not very good
In a second-hand bookshop, I found a copy of Max Hastings' hefty tome on the Vietnam War. I've had my eye on it since it came out, but balked at paying £30. A fiver was a better deal, though I'm not sure when I'll get time to read it, and I don't have the luggage allowance to take it away with me on holiday!
I had already passed several war memorials on the way to Harrogate, but was only able to get a photo of the main one in the centre of Harrogate.
After doing a bit more shopping, I set off on my return journey, and decided to stop for coffee and cake at a suburb a couple of miles up the road from me. I called in a cafe I've been to before, which used to be OK, but it sure has gone downhill. Inside, there were about a dozen tables, but every one had a 'reserved' sign. Apart from two old ladies, just on their way out, the place was empty though. I squeezed onto the only free table, squashed into a corner, at which point a sullen twenty-something came over, and tossed a menu on my table. I told him I just wanted a coffee, and asked if they had any cake. The dullard responded with, "I don't know."
Jack: "Well do you have any or not?"
Dullard (vacuously): "Do you want me to go and find out?"
Oh no, don't bother mate, you only %@#&£$% work here!
(I managed to limit my reaction to, "Yes!")
It turned out they didn't have any cake, but at this point, the dullard's co-worker, trotted over with a tall glass of what looked like brown water, a good bit of which she managed to spill over the table, before wandering off again. I lifted the glass out of the puddle of spilled 'coffee', and then noticed that there was no sugar on the tables, so I had to get up again, and go and ask for some.
Jack: "Could I have some sugar please?"
Dullard's co-worker: "What?"
Jack: "Do you have any sugar?"
DCW: "Brown sugar?"
Jack: "ANY sugar is fine."
DCW: "How many?"
Jack: "Two please"
Multiple locks were opened, along with the huge creaking door of the storeroom, and 2 sugar sachets were issued
I added the sugar, but the 'coffee' was undrinkable, so I put on my jacket, and went back to the counter. By this time, another customer had come in, and been told they did not accept cash!
Jack: "How much do I owe you for the coffee?"
DCW (disinterested): "Was everything alright for you?"
Jack: "No, it wasn't."
DCW: "What?"
Jack: "It was terrible. You used to be able to make decent coffee here, what happened?"
DCW: "What?"
Jack (praying for Samuel L Jackson to enter): "That coffee is undrinkable, which is why it's still sitting over there on the table. How much do I owe you?"
DCW (proffering card machine): "£2.50."
I counted out that exact amount in change, laid it on the counter, and left. I go in a lot of cafes, I'm always polite, and I tip well, but I'll be surprised if that dump is open the next time I go past it. I certainly won't be going in
