It's becoming a sign of our times that we have what I refer to as the money spiral. Energy costs go through the roof, crippling small businesses that have to significantly put up their prices to cover costs. The prices become prohibitive, trade falls off and bingo we have a crisis.
Having said that the Waffle House in Norwich seems to continue to thrive. We went there for a Valentine's meal, taking with us granddaughter Poppy who was as delightful as ever. My main problem with the Waffle House has always been it's name. I thought it was somewhere you went to talk a lot, only to find the word waffle is a description of the food available.
Once I got over the name I realised that the waffles aren't hugely filling and having just one left me hungry. But it's a good place for children to eat. We didn't have a problem getting a table but by the time we left, people were queuing out the door.
There were no problems with quantity on Sunday evening at the Weybourne Ship pub in North Norfolk where we had a very tasty and plentiful roast.
Going back to the Waffle House, we sat next to a couple of youngish people who were obviously on a date night. Granddaughter Poppy soon worked this out and commented on it.
It soon became obvious to me that it was a computer generated date night. I couldn't help wondering what they thought of each other and whether the relationship would go anywhere. Sadly I'm not sure it would as the man spent the entire time talking about himself. We heard all about his work, his relationships, how he saw his own character and much more - not that I was listening in of course.
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Sometimes I think I'm going mad. Somebody rang my home phone yesterday to speak to my other threequarters about a medical appointment. She just happened to be on the other phone at the time, which I told them. I asked as I always do whether I could help them.
"Who are you? " they asked.
I told them.
"We can't speak to you without your wife's permission. Are you sure we can't speak to her." They responded.
"As I've said she is currently on another call."
Sometimes I feel like screaming with frustration.
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I have received a good response to my piece about the closure of Hethersett pharmacy which yesterday was shut for the second day running and which could well be shut today as well. People aren't happy and the point is that Boots are not providing an adequate service in our village. I will be carrying some of the comments in my next e magazine. This service is not fit for purpose.
I mentioned a few days ago about caffeine dependency and will now write about this tomorrow.