The Vent and Rant Thread

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by bjones6416

And yet, iced tea is unlimited pretty much everywhere.

Yes, we noticed that too, at least in the South! (Not so much north of the Mason-Dixon Line) All the fast food places in the south seemed to offer free refills on soda and Ice Tea, and even when served at the table by wait staff the ice tea was freely refilled, as was coffee. Just not hot tea! Odd... Both are sold in restaurant bulk packs, so it seems not so much a case of costs.

In Japan, oolong tea, both hot and cold, is given freely with meals. But for hot tea, you pay by the tea bag! Coffee is NEVER refilled for free except in western style hotel restaurants, but there one is paying $8-$10 for the cup.


Stitchawl

[SneakySnake]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Pig whipworms anyone?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0128095035.htm

There was a documentary on TV recently about being too clean and the link with the cases of hyper-allergic reactions. People (the studies were in Africa) who have lots of parasites etc seem to have a low incidence of allergies. There was a theory related to development of the immune system. Have to look it up again now!

[TheKindleWorm]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

After dinner the wait staff is very attentive, walking around refilling coffee cups. No charge. But if we tea drinkers want a second cup, we have to beg, and then at most get offered some hot water to make a weak second brew. God forbid we ask for a new tea bag.

Tea is MUCH cheaper than coffee. A pound of tea will produce about 200 cups, where as a pound of coffee only about 50. Yes, tea is more expensive than coffee, but not 4x the cost. If we ask for another tea bag, we usually get charged for it. This is blatant anti-tea bias, and should NOT go untreated!

Stitchawl

And here in the UK, you're lucky if you get free anything! I've certainly never been anywhere that offers free refills - I think the drinks make up a bigger percentage of profit than the food. If you even want tap water, you normally have to ask for it because it isn't usually placed at the table - and then we've had funny looks doing this because restaurants want you to pay for fancy schmancy bottled water.

I am very, very keen to visit America one day and discover genuine "Big Macs" and not the slightly pathetic, limp offerings we get here and also free refills!

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by TheKindleWorm

I am very, very keen to visit America one day and discover genuine "Big Macs" and not the slightly pathetic, limp offerings we get here and also free refills!

Sorry to report, but the Big Macs in the UK are the same as the Big Macs in the US. They are virtually identical all over the world... except... for Thailand. This is not to say that there aren't some shops that 'extend' the time limit for serving them, making them a bit drier than what they should be. But other than that, the flavor is about the same... except for Thailand.

I happen to be a McDonald's lover. I try them every where we travel. Each country has one or two of its own sandwich specialties along with the standard menu, as well as some regional differences too. But taste-wise, the items on the standard universal menu are the same all over... except Thailand. The beef used by McD's in Thailand is almost uneatable due to the low fat content.

The Big Mac, the Double-Quarter Pounder with Cheese, The Sausage-Egg McMuffin, and the McDonalds French Fries are all winners. They are a different sandwich than the Bacon Cheeseburger served at the Ritz Carlton, but they can hold their own! And they don't cost $14.95


Stitchawl

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Sorry to report, but the Big Macs in the UK are the same as the Big Macs in the US. They are virtually identical all over the world... except... for Thailand. This is not to say that there aren't some shops that 'extend' the time limit for serving them, making them a bit drier than what they should be. But other than that, the flavor is about the same... except for Thailand.

I happen to be a McDonald's lover. I try them every where we travel. Each country has one or two of its own sandwich specialties along with the standard menu, as well as some regional differences too. But taste-wise, the items on the standard universal menu are the same all over... except Thailand. The beef used by McD's in Thailand is almost uneatable due to the low fat content.

The Big Mac, the Double-Quarter Pounder with Cheese, The Sausage-Egg McMuffin, and the McDonalds French Fries are all winners. They are a different sandwich than the Bacon Cheeseburger served at the Ritz Carlton, but they can hold their own! And they don't cost $14.95


Stitchawl

Sausage Egg McMuffins are my favorite thing McD's makes. Unfortunately, they don't serve it at the time I'm most likely to be there, which is either 11:15 p.m. or 1:15 a.m. (After both Chris and I get off work and decide I'm too tired to cook, which happens on average of once a week, sometimes twice if it's a really bad week and we're both working late/overtime.)

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Sorry to report, but the Big Macs in the UK are the same as the Big Macs in the US.

McDonalds tries very hard indeed to make that the case. What they are ultimately selling is consistency: you can go to a McDonalds anywhere, order the same dish, and expect to get the same dish. They have fast food down to a science, with detailed specifications for everything: ingredients, preparation, service, store design...

There may be regional differences in terms of specialty items, but you can assume those will be carefully crafted to please the local market. Meanwhile, a Big Mac is a Big Mac is a Big Mac, no matter where you get it. If it isn't, the outlet that sold it to you has failed, and can expect trouble if word gets higher up.

It's interesting that Thailand should have the difference you note. At a guess, it's intrinsic to meat sourced from Thailand, and may be tolerated (if HQ knows about it) because the cost of getting the required quantities of meat elsewhere might be prohibitive.
______
Dennis

[Fbone]

I love the dollar menu items.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

It's interesting that Thailand should have the difference you note. At a guess, it's intrinsic to meat sourced from Thailand, and may be tolerated (if HQ knows about it) because the cost of getting the required quantities of meat elsewhere might be prohibitive.
______
Dennis

And that is exactly what lies at the heart of the matter. It's very, very difficult to get good beef anywhere in Thailand. The local cows just do not put on fat! The non-beef items on the Thai McD menu are right there in taste with the rest of the world, but forget any beef item. But then, generally speaking, Thais don't care for beef. The pork there is fantastic and the chicken tends to be free range.

Even in the lower end steak houses such as Sizzler, the problem is the same. (Even the ground beef is tough!) When we lived there, and wanted a roast beef, I would have to use a 'larding needle' to thread strips of fat through the meat to flavor it. This works very well, but isn't something that a fast food place with bother with.

I will admit surprise when going into a McDonalds in France and seeing wine being served!


Stitchawl

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

And that is exactly what lies at the heart of the matter. It's very, very difficult to get good beef anywhere in Thailand. The local cows just do not put on fat! The non-beef items on the Thai McD menu are right there in taste with the rest of the world, but forget any beef item. But then, generally speaking, Thais don't care for beef. The pork there is fantastic and the chicken tends to be free range.

"Thais don't care for beef" is probably the biggest factor, though I'd suspect differences in cattle breed, environment, and feed to play a part.

Even in the lower end steak houses such as Sizzler, the problem is the same. (Even the ground beef is tough!) When we lived there, and wanted a roast beef, I would have to use a 'larding needle' to thread strips of fat through the meat to flavor it. This works very well, but isn't something that a fast food place with bother with.

By definition, a fast food place won't do that. It takes too much time and is labor intensive. It's food, but it's not fast.

I will admit surprise when going into a McDonalds in France and seeing wine being served!

I'm not, given the importance of wine in France. It's one of those regional differences carefully catered to. (And doing it might just have been a requirement by the French government to allow McDonalds to set up shop in France at all.)

I do wonder what sort of wine gets offered. I know some wine connoisseurs. I'll have to ask what they'd recommend to go with Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets.
______
Dennis

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Glad to see you back here, KK. Sorry that your problems haven't resolved themselves.

I have a rant this morning. It's about refills in restaurants. It works for you coffee drinkers but not for us teaists.

After dinner the wait staff is very attentive, walking around refilling coffee cups. No charge. But if we tea drinkers want a second cup, we have to beg, and then at most get offered some hot water to make a weak second brew. God forbid we ask for a new tea bag.

Tea is MUCH cheaper than coffee. A pound of tea will produce about 200 cups, where as a pound of coffee only about 50. Yes, tea is more expensive than coffee, but not 4x the cost. If we ask for another tea bag, we usually get charged for it. This is blatant anti-tea bias, and should NOT go untreated!

Stitchawl

thanks! so much sadness which is why I carry a small tin of tea bags in my purse. not only do I resent paying for more tea, I dread many of the tea options

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Yes, we noticed that too, at least in the South! (Not so much north of the Mason-Dixon Line) All the fast food places in the south seemed to offer free refills on soda and Ice Tea, and even when served at the table by wait staff the ice tea was freely refilled, as was coffee. Just not hot tea! Odd... Both are sold in restaurant bulk packs, so it seems not so much a case of costs.

In Japan, oolong tea, both hot and cold, is given freely with meals. But for hot tea, you pay by the tea bag! Coffee is NEVER refilled for free except in western style hotel restaurants, but there one is paying $8-$10 for the cup.


Stitchawl

I've never been turned down for a free ice tea refill anywhere in the US. when I am eating out, I either have ice tea, water with lemon, or a drink, usually wine, so I've drunk iced tea pretty much in every state in the Union

Originally Posted by TheKindleWorm

And here in the UK, you're lucky if you get free anything! I've certainly never been anywhere that offers free refills - I think the drinks make up a bigger percentage of profit than the food. If you even want tap water, you normally have to ask for it because it isn't usually placed at the table - and then we've had funny looks doing this because restaurants want you to pay for fancy schmancy bottled water.

I am very, very keen to visit America one day and discover genuine "Big Macs" and not the slightly pathetic, limp offerings we get here and also free refills!

no, you don't want to do that! find local/regional food! we ARE more than mickey d's!

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

And that is exactly what lies at the heart of the matter. It's very, very difficult to get good beef anywhere in Thailand. The local cows just do not put on fat! The non-beef items on the Thai McD menu are right there in taste with the rest of the world, but forget any beef item. But then, generally speaking, Thais don't care for beef. The pork there is fantastic and the chicken tends to be free range.

Even in the lower end steak houses such as Sizzler, the problem is the same. (Even the ground beef is tough!) When we lived there, and wanted a roast beef, I would have to use a 'larding needle' to thread strips of fat through the meat to flavor it. This works very well, but isn't something that a fast food place with bother with.

I will admit surprise when going into a McDonalds in France and seeing wine being served!


Stitchawl

and in Germany they have beer, and it tends to be the local beer

[TheKindleWorm]

Interesting posts now on Mac Ds! I remember visiting a Norwegian one years ago and trying some kind of fish burger which was local to Norway at the time - didn't like it! A burger needs to be either beef or soya for me as fish in a bun doesn't quite cut it!

Glad to see you back KK and yes if I'm ever lucky enough to travel over the pond, I'll definitely want to try some local foods too. My Dad has been to Las Vegas and he was bowled over with the steak - the size and the flavour.

Unfortunately, I find it very hard to travel by airplane (big phobia and sickness) and the longer the trip, the worse it is. I am hoping that one day we can take a ship over to America - that is a big dream of mine.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by kennyc

We have a disaster recovery drill in progress that started at 6 AM. It is now 3 PM and they are still working with network issues to get the recovery personnel connected to the recovery site! The Drill is supposed to demonstrate our ability to recover from a total data center destruction within 48 hours.....it's gonna be a LOOOOOOONG night..,.

It was relatively awful, but as of yesterday about 5 PM all the machines/systems I was responsible successfully passed the validation tests.

We had a couple of relatively minor issues mostly to do with the conditions of the test, but some useful items that we can fix and improve on. It's still a couple of hours til the overall formal test ends and the full results will be interesting to see.

[thinkpad]

Originally Posted by kennyc

It was relatively awful, but as of yesterday about 5 PM all the machines/systems I was responsible successfully passed the validation tests.

We had a couple of relatively minor issues mostly to do with the conditions of the test, but some useful items that we can fix and improve on. It's still a couple of hours til the overall formal test ends and the full results will be interesting to see.

Wow, I'm glad the company I work for has outsourced the operation of the servers. Now the contingency plan and disaster recovery is someone else's problem

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

Wow, I'm glad the company I work for has outsourced the operation of the servers. Now the contingency plan and disaster recovery is someone else's problem

That's the Ticket!

[GeoffC]

Ticket !

You have to have tickets these days to order a disaster recovery ....