Not like it was in my day...

I have three complaints today. I know that's quite a discouraging first sentence but that's life.

1 - They're changing the name of Henry's Bar. I noticed the other day as I was wondering back down Blackboy road and towards home, that there has now appeared, amidst all the scaffolding and general redesigning, a sign which says 'Mount Pleasant Inn.' Seriously. What sort of a name is that? As Jim Butler said yesterday as I was round his house to sample a homemade cheesecake of his and Lisa's creation (which was amazing by the way, but I'm getting distracted here) it's going to make the place worse just because it won't be Henry's any more, even if they keep all the decor, the pool table, the random signs etc. I would therefore like to appeal to anyone else who frequents the place to keep calling it Henry's. It is, and always will be. Besides, it seems an insult to the old guy who leans on the bar whilst his dog takes potshots at your ankles to call it anything else...it is basically his home after all.

2 - My second complaint. The uni library is now a bastion of appalling service. Basically they've replaced all the humans with machines. Instead of taking your library book to a counter, you now pass it through a machine to take it out. Instead of returning your library book to a nice librarian, you now put it on a machine with a big conveyer belt which takes it from you without a single word of thanks. It gets worse. There are now bright sofas all over the place, which make it feel a bit like a building society. And there's a big thing in the middle where you go to get advice or something, which they call 'the pod'. Oh my.
And certain members of the library staff seem to have been taken over by robots since last year too, such is their lack of charisma and warmth.

And that's all. I know I said I had three complaints, but I'm depressing myself now, and I hate being overly negative, so I'll leave my rant about people not understanding Dickens for another time...

I've started reading The HunchBack of Notra Dame by the way. Read Les Miserables over the summer and it was spectacular, and so far Hunchback seems very good to.

Anyway, that's enough for now. I should take a picture of my beard some time. I'm pleased with it so far though it still looks a bit sparse.

In the meantime, take care
Dave