Rob Boyd, Esq

British Patriot. Interested in US/UK Politics. Free speech realist.
Memes, Food, Fun 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇦🇺 🇨🇦

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

EV Owners - If you've bought your own electric car, is your insurance more expensive than a petrol car because of the fire-risk from Lithium batteries?

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

I think the village pub is still alive & well, but as you say the food in pubs is mostly dire. It's very unusual for a pub to have a fish & chips that isn't frozen.

Before lockdown most chains had 2 for £10 basic mains. At that price you didn't mind too much about the quality. Now at twenty quid per person for very average food, I think more people are going to M&S and spending a bit more on their weekly food budgets, and realising they can buy prepared food that is much better quality than what pubs are serving.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

The pubs were mostly empty last night, on a hot, English Summer evening.

What's the reason? I know pubs are struggling with increased costs, but have people just locked themselves down & retreated to their homes?

It's no longer 2020, you know..

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@mcrstuart What a great idea. Must be a nice, mint, 924 out there. What a great first car that would be!

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

As a young lad growing-up in the North West during Thatcher's Britain, I longed for my 17th Birthday, and the opportunity to get my first car.

Everyone in my class at college, both male & female, also felt that same enthusiasm - because even if you weren't a car nut, passing your driving test gave you something that getting on a bus could never replicate.

It gave you independence.

The ability to just pop out for a quick drive, go and see a friend, or in my case, do a bit of evening plane-spotting at Manchester Airport.

By the way, back then you would get a free hour's parking if you wanted to visit the shops on the concourse, and grab a drink.

But things have changed. I don't see any desire in young people to see their seventeenth birthday as a landmark date of independence any more.

In that respect, your 17th was a much more significant birthday than your 18th.

Maybe it's because parents treat their teenagers like babies, so they are not ready to go out into the big, wide world?

A teenager should literally be aching to gain independence and learn to drive at the earliest opportunity.

If your kids can't travel independently on buses & trains at fourteen, they are going to flop as adults.

Who is to blame for this phenomenon? Teachers, Parents, or the Kids' themselves?

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

It's great you've got them driving so young, but even if I wasn't into cars, I'd still have wanted the independence of my own transport.

Insurance costs haven't helped. Back in the day you could just become a named driver, or add a second car to your Dad's policy until you're 25 and insurance dropped significantly.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@LionOfBritainUK That's pretty good including the wine as that would be £15 or so on it's own in a pub.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

You can make a great Sunday Roast for four people, using farm shop produce, for less than £20.

Or you can spend £100 in a pub eating supermarket-grade beef and microwaved vegetables.

Which would you choose?

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@SetagWerdup666 I can get a nice piece of Topside for 4 for less than £15 at the farm shop. There's never much price difference to the supermarkets.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@GuyfromKent There is nothing more half-arsed than sending someone an e-card for their birthday.

Even a service like Moonpig, I'd think that person was lazy for not going to the shop & choosing a card themselves.

I'd be insulted by it, and wouldn't do it for someone else.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

Want to know why a First Class Stamp costs a whopping £1.80?

Royal Mail are in the midst of going electric for their deliveries, & have purchased almost 10,000 electric vans.

Net Zero hits you right in the pocket, every single time.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

I think pubs are going to have to get more creative and hold more events.

But it's also up to the local community to support them if they are spending money getting bands on at the weekend etc.

Also maybe have themed Indian & Thai nights. People won't pay twenty quid for frozen fish.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@NotfarW Spoons is packed to the rafters on benefits day with chavs drinking Doom Bar at £2.99 a pint.

Real pubs are usually dead though.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

I don't think the industry has recovered since lockdown. But prices have gone crazy. You're talking £20 for Burger & Chips in a lot of pubs.

The younger generation not drinking doesn't help either.

I think the lack of socialising will prove far more damaging than a moderate amount of alcohol in the long-term.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

Some of the beef I've eaten in pubs has been like shoe leather.

It's most likely been brisket which is very cheap to buy.

Much better to get a farm shop piece of Top or Silverside and cook it yourself.

And pubs and restaurants never cook carrots properly. They are always rock hard.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@handyman_neil Quite amazing really. Usually the main reason you want to pass your test at 17 is so you can pull the birds in your motor.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@siobhanworld Yeah. In the 80s you could add your kids to your parents insurance for a very small fee, and a second vehicle for a fairly cheap price.

It's no wonder so many teens drive without insurance.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@JohnHann04 Fantastic. I think it's also a responsibility of the parents to get them enthusiastic about it too, as teachers probably don't want to promote cars or driving to pupils.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@TraceyLee_07 Anything with Reese's in the title 🤮

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@saniyafatma1278 This account will be gone shortly.

[Rob Boyd, Esq @AvonandsomerRob]

@BritisherPaz49 They have been scrubbing the logos completely or adding their own to copied content.

The rules apply from yesterday, so if they continue to do this until Sept 7th they will fail the review.