The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

[The Velvet Curtain]

Quick rant:

A bottle of water at the branch of Boots at London Heathrow Airport £2.95
A bottle of water at the branch of Boots at Bangkok Airport 20p.

Ever get the feeling you've been ripped off?

 

[caseydog]

Quick rant:

A bottle of water at the branch of Boots at London Heathrow Airport £2.95
A bottle of water at the branch of Boots at Bangkok Airport 20p.

Ever get the feeling you've been ripped off?

Airport prices are nuts, but they know they have you trapped. Where else are you going to go? Did you buy an alcoholic beverage at Heathrow? Fifteen bucks US for a beer that would cost two bucks at a 7-Eleven.

CD

 

[Yorky]

Quick rant:

A bottle of water at the branch of Boots at London Heathrow Airport £2.95
A bottle of water at the branch of Boots at Bangkok Airport 20p.

Ever get the feeling you've been ripped off?

The last time we went to UK (around 2005) I ordered a pint of Boddies and a glass of water for my wife. They charged me £0.80 for the water. I told them, "Next time get it from the tap. There's nowt wrong with tap water in Cheshire!".

 

[Yorky]

The last time we went to UK (around 2005) I ordered a pint of Boddies and a glass of water for my wife. They charged me £0.80 for the water. I told them, "Next time get it from the tap. There's nowt wrong with tap water in Cheshire!".

The same trip - Manchester Airport on the way back here. £3.80 for Boddies!

"Jeeze", I exclaimed, "How much for a pint?".

"£3.80" he said.

"Why are you charging me £3.80 for three quarters then?"

He topped it up.

There's being ripped off and someone taking the pish!

 

[Yorky]

Quick rant:

A bottle of water at the branch of Boots at London Heathrow Airport £2.95
A bottle of water at the branch of Boots at Bangkok Airport 20p.

Ever get the feeling you've been ripped off?

It's all this advertising that says you need to drink 2 - 3 litres of water a day in hot climates. I don't think that I've ever drunk that much water in a month.

Liquid, yes.

 

[caseydog]

It's all this advertising that says you need to drink 2 - 3 litres of water a day in hot climates. I don't think that I've ever drunk that much water in a month.

Liquid, yes.

A lot depends on activity. Sitting on the porch in 100F/38C is not the same as working in the same temperature. The human body will tell us how much water we need. We just have to know how to listen. I learned that working pipeline construction in Texas during a heat wave.

CD

 

[Yorky]

A lot depends on activity. Sitting on the porch in 100F/38C is not the same as working in the same temperature. The human body will tell us how much water we need. We just have to know how to listen. I learned that working pipeline construction in Texas during a heat wave.

CD

I've worked in the gulf at 50°C but still didn't drink water. Plenty of grapefruit juice and that awful Kaliber pretend beer but minimal water.

 

[caseydog]

I've worked in the gulf at 50°C but still didn't drink water. Plenty of grapefruit juice and that awful Kaliber pretend beer but minimal water.

Grapefruit juice is mostly water, and Kaliber is water with some wheat in it, and no alcohol.

BTW, what Gulf was that? 50C is 122F. That's got to be in the Middle East.

CD

 

[Yorky]

Grapefruit juice is mostly water, and Kaliber is water with some wheat in it, and no alcohol.

BTW, what Gulf was that? 50C is 122F. That's got to be in the Middle East.

CD

Qatar in the 80s. Probably '88. It only hit 50°C on two days though. And very dry heat. Still bloody 'ot!

I am given to understand that most liquids contain water, even draught beer (although I've always doubted it).

In fact during a discussion with a mate once in a pub on The Wirral, he stated that the pints we were drinking contained water. The next round I told the landlord "Jeremy, Colin over there says there's water in your beer".

I'm surprised that Colin wasn't banned!

.

 

[The Velvet Curtain]

Airport prices are nuts, but they know they have you trapped. Where else are you going to go? Did you buy an alcoholic beverage at Heathrow? Fifteen bucks US for a beer that would cost two bucks at a 7-Eleven.

CD

The 20p water was in departures in Bangkok, the prices of everything else was well above local prices, but water wasn't. Yorky might be able to shed some light on why... it would make sense that the price is hrld down by legislation because affordable access to clean drinking water is a basic right

 

[Yorky]

Qatar in the 80s. Probably '88. It only hit 50°C on two days though. And very dry heat. Still bloody 'ot!
.

After another stint in Qatar some months later I flew out via Bahrain and had a three hour stop over. I left the airport and told a taxi driver to take me to where I could get a beer. He took me to the Holiday Inn but all they had on draught was Double Diamond which I would normally consider dishwater but I ordered one anyway. Half the pint went down in one but it all came out again - of every pore in my body.

 

[Yorky]

The 20p water was in departures in Bangkok, the prices of everything else was well above local prices, but water wasn't. Yorky might be able to shed some light on why....

Cannot, I'm afraid. Water has never been on my list of essential consumables. If I have had any time to spare before departure (which was rare) and it was past midday, my only purchases would have been at the bar. I even stopped buying duty free booze in the 80s because the amount saved was not worth the hassle of carrying the bottles on the flight.

 

[Lullabelle]

On the long flight home I watched Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood doing what he does best, didn't realise it was sad at the end

 

[TastyReuben]

The last time we went to UK (around 2005) I ordered a pint of Boddies and a glass of water for my wife. They charged me £0.80 for the water. I told them, "Next time get it from the tap. There's nowt wrong with tap water in Cheshire!".

On our first trip ever to Germany, back in (probably 1994), upon arrival, our tour guide was giving our group (mix of Americans and Brits) tips about ordering food, drink, and generally getting around:

Guide: “…so if you want water with your meal, you have to ask for ‘leitungswasser,’ that’s tap water. Otherwise, they’ll bring you bottled water and it’s very dear, more expensive than the beer!”

MrsT: “I’ll just order the beer, then, and make it easy on everyone.”

 

[Yorky]

Myself and a colleague arrived at a hotel in Dussledorf quite late and the restaurant was closed. However, we noticed that there was a buffet on the next floor down so we got into that. A waiter came around and we asked him for a couple of beers. He went off and spoke to a guy who came over to us to explain that we were at a private party and whilst they didn't object to feeding us for free they were not going to stand for our beer!