Lunch report - Tuesday 15th February 2011

Thanks for all the posts in response to my Monday Lunch Report. I will read them all and respond as appropriate.

Lunch:

Didn’t go well at all today. Off to Evesham (Worcestershire, United Kingdom) today. Early start. 60 minutes drive to the railway station, then two trains. 3 hours door-to-door each way. Managed to eat my ham sandwich ‘at a gallop’, but not the fruit yoghurt. Grrr! Is it just me, or do others here have the same problem? For those of you in full-time employment, do you always manage to get yourself a decent lunch break every day? Some decent time out to have a decent meal? Maybe get together with friends? A good balance in your work? Or, is my situation just peculiar to the UK economy? I am a ‘wage slave’. I’m shattered.

G&L Topic of the day:

Steve Grom to be nominated for an Oscar? Well, maybe not, but don’t you think he’s doing a really great job giving us all an insight into the workings of G&L? I’m talking about that occasional series of videos we’ve seen to date on YouTube. Like the look at the pickup manufacturing line (well, a little noisy in the workshop there), the comparison he did between the Legacy and the S-500, the Plek machine, etc. They are a great glimpse into the workings and the world of G&L. I’d like to see more like that. I’d like to see maybe a video following a guitar right through the manufacture process, from raw materials right through to the finished product. What would be on your G&L video wish-list then?

Edit (16 Feb 11): Really great YouTube vid here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nswcAPvH0P8

Non-G&L Topic of the day:

Things I like to do in my spare time. Apart from playing my G&Ls of course. Well, living in Shropshire (United Kingdom), it’s perfect territory for hiking. Not wilderness hiking, but just getting out into the countryside, follow a route, and just see what’s around that corner, over the hill, etc. Always work in a stop at a pub for a pint (or two) of good British Real Ale. Lots of great breweries here in Shropshire alone. Check out the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) website for details. For those already living in the UK, what’s your favourite Real Ale? For those who have visited the UK recently, can you remember any good Real Ales that you’ve tasted? For those who have never visited the UK, what good beers can you recommend from your own country? And why?

Thanks again for reading my ramblings folks. Take it easy.

Bill

Edit: Really need some willing volunteer to step forward for next week's Lunch Report please. I've PM'd a few already, but no takers yet. C'mon folks. It isn't that difficult to do. Write about whatever comes to mind. I do. I hope my ramblings have given you all a small glimpse into the world of a fellow G&L enthusiast. PM me if you are interested please. Please???

Last edited by BillEvans1956 on Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Lunch: I try to 'claim' time for lunch. Most days, if not all, my employer is providing food for us; even different kind of food on different floors. Free food! What not to like about it? Well, you never leave the building and are basically on the job all the time. I like to step away from all the madness and have lunch with some choice colleagues elsewhere. We may still be talking shop, but at least it is in a different environment. Great way to vent

G&L: With all the modern media available, there is a whole slew of new possibilities to expose and promote your products. I love what G&L is doing on YouTube and certainly think that Mr. Grom, and anybody else involved, should be applauded for it. I would love to see an A/B testing session between an ASAT Classic and ASAT Special to demonstrate the difference in these types of MFD's. There are plenty of stores that also do A/B testing presentations. I just like it when it comes from the horse's mouth.

Beer: There are many micro-breweries here in te Pacific Northwest. Among all of them I love Red Hook, Pyramid, Mirror Pond, and Mac and Jack's the best. But I wouldn't say no to a nice Guinness or a creamy Boddingtons either.

- Jos

P.S. As somebody who has had the LR duties a couple of times now, most recently 2 months ago, I support Bill's assertion. It is not that hard and it is fun. In these 2 months, a lot of 'newbies' have taken on LR duties and they all have been enjoyable (Thanks guys and galls!). It is entirely up to you how much work you want to make of it and whether you want to use polls, pictures, vids, etc. or not. And I want to quote the following from the All about the G&LDP Weekly Lunch Reports entry:

The out-going G&LDP Lunch Reporter shall nominate a replacement. Service in this position is compulsory, and it is considered to be the second highest honor that fellow GbL enthusiasts can bestow upon one of their own.

Should the nominee be unwilling or unable to fulfill the obligations and responsibilities required of the Official G&LDP Lunch Reporter, the nominee must identify an alternative solution acceptable to the outgoing G&LDP Lunch Reporter and the G&LDP Executive Committee. Such solution may include but is not limited to procuring the services of a mutally acceptable and willing replacement enthusiast. This substitute enthusiast's enthusiasm must have been clearly demonstrated either via posts to the page, or an airbrushed image of him/her appearing on his/her partner's guitar (the latter is known as the Joe Perrone Airbrush Clause).

In other words, Bill can just nominate you and then it becomes your problem to find a suitable replacement

Lunch: Well, I work for a small company, we are understaffed and overworked, same as a lot of places. Lunch is usually taken in front of my computer unless I'm having a really rough day. If I'm having a rough day, I tend to sneak out to a guitar store to relax a little. I do work remotely 3 days a week, and one of my coworkers has been telling me to take the mutt for a walk at lunch on those days. I keep saying I'm going too, but then I get busy and forget to. With the weather improving, I'm going to try and do better with that. Tomorrow's suppose to be 50 degrees, so it may be a good day to start.

G&L: I've seen a few of those videos since I found this site and they are pretty cool. I think Bill's idea is cool. I've played guitars on and off for 25 years, but until recently never thought how things actually go together...To see some videos showing the process beginning to end would be awesome.

Beer: I've enjoyed quite a few beers, but only in the last year have I tried an Indian Pale Ale. As for microbrewery's, My brother in law has been making his own home brews for the last 6 months and they are excellent. He is actually in the process of trying to get licensed as a microbrewery. I just finished a couple of his that he sent up last time we got together, thoroughly enjoyable.

Lunch :As a full time student I have a full hour for my lunch break, last year I had a three hour gap in classes over lunch. Unfortunately, as a full time student, I have very little money to capitalize on it fully - I can't afford to go to a nice restaurant or cafe, or go shopping or anything like that. I usually bring my lunch and talk crap with my mates, maybe kick a ball around on the grounds somewhere. I've had jobs in the past where the boss would attempt to deprive me of my lunch break and that sucked. I'd always take the breaks anyway, despite him saying I couldn't because it was too busy (BTW - this is an architectural hardware store, not the ER room of a hospital). They can't fire you for taking the break to which you're entitled.



G&L Videos: I want to see a video of the overdrive and boost pedals. Or an audio demo.



Beer: I really like the CAMRA ales, but can't remember the names of any of the ones I tried. I remember the pub though, this tiny, old stone pub in the Welsh countryside. It was a great place to drink those proper ales.

There's been a boutique beer explosion here in the last 10 years. Most of it is overly sweet, overly perfumed, heavy pale ale. Not the sort of thing you want to drink on a hot day. A lot of the big name beers here (Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught etc) are awful. You don't actually see Fosters in shops, and I've only ever come across it in a handful of pubs. My top two Australian beers are Redback, a wheat beer from Fremantle, and Cricketers Arms Lager which is made here in Melbourne. Redback is readily available and come in a great bottle. Cricketers Arms is hard to find, but my local bottle shop (or 'off license' as you might call it) keeps it in stock. It's cheap too.

Now I feel like a beer, and it's 10:51am.....

Lunch - Disappearing lunch breaks aren’t just a UK phenomenon, Bill. Lunch break used to be the sacred cornerstone of Australian working life. It was the worker’s hard earned right to sit down and enjoy their food and clear their mind. Over the last 10 years the traditional Aussie lunch break has been eroded to the point where lunch is now considered by most managers to be fair game for holding a meeting. The lunch time meeting happens a lot in my company and I hate every one of them. The English people that work here seem to regard it as normal, so maybe the UK is further ahead in the desecration of lunch than us Aussies.

As fate would have it, I will be sitting in a lunch time meeting today instead of enjoying a stroll in the sun with my sandwiches. It cuts against the grain because I enjoy my food and also enjoy escaping my desk. Guzzling down lunch in the minimum amount of time while watching a stream of technical presentations seems like sacrilege.


Beer - I lived in the UK for a year last decade and one of my favourite things was the variety of local ales, and the quaint establishments that serve them. How civilized to have nice pubs serving good brews along a walking route. I developed a taste for Theakston Old Peculier and Hobgoblin Ales but they’re nearly impossible to find in Oz. Thankfully the microbrewery trend has caught on here and there are some really good ones around. I discovered this place over Christmas and am working my way through their range.

http://moorilla.com.au/moobrew/

Their stout is really good stuff. You can almost chew it. Now I feel like a beer too, though it's 11:25 am now and almost permissible

It was 4 PM (1600) before I had lunch!!! I had a 1/2 of a Ruben sandwich
Breakfast was a handful of almonds and a Dr.Pepper. Days like that happen more often than not.
I work for a small company and sometimes it 12-14 hour days I also work with the elderly and I had one customer with dementia, That we had to handle with kid gloves. Wow!!!!!!! Dementia is bad stuff.
I just got off work at 8PM.

I just looked at the Gbl now.so I hadn't got anything to say about G&L guitars today.

Yea guys pitch in on the LR. It is fun the only drawback is thinking up questions and trying to get it posted around lunch.

Chet

We have the first certified organic brewery in the nation here.Ukiah Brewing Company and they make a great 10 Guilder (dark and toasty) that is fantastic with the brew burger they make(comes w gorgenzella cheese).
Also, it is the only place in town offering nightly entertainment.

As for hobbies, I write a lot and an a shutterbug and do some photography from time to time.

Cheers,

Vinnyk

Lunch: I try to 'claim' time for lunch. Most days, if not all, my employer is providing food for us; even different kind of food on different floors. Free food! What not to like about it? Well, you never leave the building and are basically on the job all the time. I like to step away from all the madness and have lunch with some choice colleagues elsewhere. We may still be talking shop, but at least it is in a different environment. Great way to vent ;)

Wow! Sounds like a good employer you have there, but I can understand the need to get away from the office. I work for the Government, so getting 'free' anything is never going to happen.

Bill

Beer: I really like the CAMRA ales, but can't remember the names of any of the ones I tried. I remember the pub though, this tiny, old stone pub in the Welsh countryside. It was a great place to drink those proper ales.

There's been a boutique beer explosion here in the last 10 years. Most of it is overly sweet, overly perfumed, heavy pale ale. Not the sort of thing you want to drink on a hot day. A lot of the big name beers here (Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught etc) are awful. You don't actually see Fosters in shops, and I've only ever come across it in a handful of pubs. My top two Australian beers are Redback, a wheat beer from Fremantle, and Cricketers Arms Lager which is made here in Melbourne. Redback is readily available and come in a great bottle. Cricketers Arms is hard to find, but my local bottle shop (or 'off license' as you might call it) keeps it in stock. It's cheap too.

Now I feel like a beer, and it's 10:51am.....

Ha! Great post. A good account of Australian beers.

...tiny, old stone pub in the Welsh countryside. It was a great place to drink those proper ales.

Ah, Wales. Land of my forefathers. And, where I did my schooling.

Bill

Lunch - The English people that work here seem to regard it as normal, so maybe the UK is further ahead in the desecration of lunch than us Aussies.

Yeah. I think we are. Quality of life is quickly eroded for us at the workplace. Managers here make a big song & dance about making sure staff take lunch breaks, but the reality is that they drive us too hard.

Beer - I lived in the UK for a year last decade and one of my favourite things was the variety of local ales, and the quaint establishments that serve them. How civilized to have nice pubs serving good brews along a walking route. I developed a taste for Theakston Old Peculier and Hobgoblin Ales but they’re nearly impossible to find in Oz. Thankfully the microbrewery trend has caught on here and there are some really good ones around. I discovered this place over Christmas and am working my way through their range. http://moorilla.com.au/moobrew/ Their stout is really good stuff. You can almost chew it. Now I feel like a beer too, though it's 11:25 am now and almost permissible :D

Mmm. Beer.

Bill

It was 4 PM (1600) before I had lunch!!! I had a 1/2 of a Ruben sandwich
Breakfast was a handful of almonds and a Dr.Pepper. Days like that happen more often than not.
I work for a small company and sometimes it 12-14 hour days I also work with the elderly and I had one customer with dementia, That we had to handle with kid gloves. Wow!!!!!!! Dementia is bad stuff.
I just got off work at 8PM.

I just looked at the Gbl now.so I hadn't got anything to say about G&L guitars today.

Yea guys pitch in on the LR. It is fun the only drawback is thinking up questions and trying to get it posted around lunch.

Chet

Hell Chet! You work harder than I do! "12-14 hour days"? That's not healthy.

I also work with the elderly and I had one customer with dementia, That we had to handle with kid gloves. Wow!!!!!!! Dementia is bad stuff

Yep. Will be visiting a good friend on Monday. She's 47 and has CJD. Things not looking too good for her. No dementia just yet, but that will come soon enough.

Bill

We have the first certified organic brewery in the nation here.Ukiah Brewing Company and they make a great 10 Guilder (dark and toasty) that is fantastic with the brew burger they make(comes w gorgenzella cheese).
Also, it is the only place in town offering nightly entertainment.

As for hobbies, I write a lot and an a shutterbug and do some photography from time to time.

Cheers,

Vinnyk

Hi Vinnyk,

Great to hear from you. I like the dark beers too. Sounds tasty when coupled with the brew burger. Yum.

Bill