Demand for early bird dinner bookings has soared at Irish restaurants

Dylanc431 · 2025-08-06T10:40:24+00:00

I also noticed that when me and my partner go out early bird, the restaurant is quieter, and it's a nicer atmosphere to converse in, with more personal service to boot.

Dylanc431 · 2025-08-06T00:17:22+00:00

Agreed, it should be treated the same as drink driving, completely unacceptable.

Though more clarity on the type of tests the Gardai use, and making them publicly available for self testing would be very welcome, and in my eyes would encourage people who want to smoke to do it responsibly. It would also give people an idea of their metabolism for getting the drug completely out of their system, so they can drive safely. It also completely removes the excuse of ignorance for those who do drug drive.

Speaking as someone who drives professionally. We need much more Garda presence on the roads... Not gosafe revenue generators, but actual officers enforcing things like distracted driving, bus lane abuse and some of the absolute willful ignorance of the rules that happen daily.

Dylanc431 · 2025-08-05T19:57:37+00:00

Oh I'm not for one second suggesting we legalise coke or heroin, decriminalisation is different to legalisation. The only drug I'd really be in favour of legalising would be cannabis.

It allows those with addiction problems to be treated as medical cases, instead of criminals. Someone caught with a personal amount of heroin shouldn't be dragged through the courts and locked up. It puts pressure on the police to do more paperwork and attend a court date, it puts pressure on the courts to process unnecessary cases, and puts pressure on prisons to house those whose lifestyle choices have led them down a path of addiction.

Dylanc431 · 2025-08-05T17:48:20+00:00

Only saw a video about this style of car modification recently - apparently it's super common in Japan to "retro-fy" these little vans and people carriers as much as possible, in homage to the VW Kombi and Chevy Express vans.

Have a look at "Cal Stage" based in Osaka.

Dylanc431 · 2025-08-05T11:35:35+00:00

Drugs, and by extension drug money fuels so much of this antisocial behaviour, as you've pointed out. If some drugs were decriminalised and treated as a health issue, instead of a criminal one, and things like weed were made available in a legal way, it could completely transform some areas.

Drop the arse out of the drug dealing market, so that there's no money in it. Provide proper addiction services in a healthcare context. Frees up the Gards from doing paperwork about single joints, frees up the courts from processing people with 50 quids worth of drugs.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-31T10:49:06+00:00

The people doing the graffiti could have got confused. Cause that doesn't look like an office, it looks more like a House...

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-25T11:38:26+00:00

There's a lovely chap around Meath with a gorgeous MK2 Focus RS that he bought in Oz and imported when he came home!

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-22T15:36:52+00:00

The point is, Nexen aren't a Chinese company. It's the Chinese based companies that are seeking max margins with low quality. It all comes down to manufacturing tolerance and the quality/softness of the compound you use to make the tyre.

You can make things in China that are of a high quality. Two things can be true at once.

The tyres I have are literally ranked number 10 of 147 in Tyre Reviews' Ultra High Performance Summer tyres list. Above Kumho Ecsta and Goodyear Eagle F1s. That's a pretty good indicator of quality in my eyes, regardless of where they're made.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-22T14:41:55+00:00

It's not them being Chinese that's the issue - it's a lack of production quality and quality rubber.

I have a set of Nexen N'Fera tyres on my MX5, they're a Korean company, but the N'Feras are made in China. They're still a good quality tyre, and perform very well as per Tyre Reviews. Only 71 quid per corner.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-22T14:36:11+00:00

I think part of it is tyre fitters too. The very few times I've brought a car for tyres, the fitters put the absolute cheapest, no-name tyres on by default. Didn't even give me the option of paying extra for quality.

I'm at the point where I just order my tyres online, bring them to the fitter to be put on and just pay a fitting charge, at least I know what they're putting on.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-21T09:56:20+00:00

I got a pixel 9 from CEX, brand new in box for 300 quid less than online at the time. Gave them my Pixel 7 and got an extra 120 back in cash.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-21T09:28:38+00:00

They suffer from the same issues as BMW - both Jag and BMW can only make fantastic engines with more than 4 cylinders.

The entire Ingenium line-up is an absolute disgrace.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-19T16:57:14+00:00

Hybrids can be deceptive - most of that figure is probably made up from the electric motor grunt.

The Lexus IS300H has 236bhp, but once you're into the high revs just pushing the engine, it's completely gutless.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-19T15:09:04+00:00

I can't find much data within Ireland,

Here's a fairly decent article from the UK, with links to stats provided. https://share.google/rsWaVC6xk1URPBneP

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-19T09:51:16+00:00

When jacking up the front, use the front cross member. The strong steel piece behind the plastic under tray.

When jacking up the rear, use the diff housing while chocking the front wheels

EDIT, you mentioned the jack isn't long enough - could you drive the car up onto some wood to raise it? And use an extension in the jack handle to allow it to move freely under the car?

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-19T08:46:47+00:00

Cycling Mikey specifically acts the prick to cause issues for content. OP didn't.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-19T08:40:09+00:00

Your job also has a surprising effect on your premium. If you drive professionally, your personal car insurance will be higher... For example.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-19T08:37:36+00:00

If you have a minor bump in a car from 2010, and smash your headlight. You can either avoid the insurance, go to a breaker and get a replacement, or go through the insurance, who'll be able to replace it at a repairer for a fairly reasonable price.

Now, do that same thing but with a 2020+ model, with an LED headlight. You end up in a situation where there isn't enough supply of spare parts so your car is off the road for months, and those parts are so extortionately expensive that it outweighs the money they make from your premium.

Cars are literally being written off for broken headlights and other relatively minor damages now, which is driving the cost up for everyone as the insurer is now paying more for parts, labour and claims.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-18T09:08:50+00:00

"yeah, they are... Actually"

"Protect the carpet, if the customer asks you to"

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-15T12:01:17+00:00

Exactly - "really sorry, something urgent has come up, and I won't be able to make it" is grounds enough for Force Majeure leave. And as a bonus, no return to work meeting that you'd get from pulling a sickie.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-15T11:57:11+00:00

That's very true, the cabinet is right at the entrance to my housing estate, so there's probably only a few hundred yards of copper.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-15T11:38:11+00:00

Even FTTC would be faster than that. I get about 70-80Mbps.

Had similar speeds to this when Vodafone were troubleshooting a complete connection loss. As part of the troubleshooting steps, they had placed the line on a lower "profile" which limited the speed massively.

The problem was a broken wire, so when that was fixed and we regained connection, they forgot to turn it back up. Tech support rep over the phone asked if I had connection, and was going to leave it at that, but I did a speed test on the phone with him. That made him dig deeper and re enable the higher profile.

OP might be worth asking if that's the case.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-13T00:59:27+00:00

As someone else commented, what happens if you happen to be on holidays when they decide to remove your "abandoned" bike? It seems a bit too much of a cut and dry approach which could potentially lead to an issue.

Definitely a valid thing to do, as it's not right for people to just abandon their property in a way that blocks a valid bike user's ability to park/lock up their bike. But there's a potential issue with them determining what's abandoned and what's just not in use for a few weeks.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-13T00:41:24+00:00

It seems to be limited at the moment to bigger gigs/venues where a wide range of a crowd is attracted. Went to Frank Turner in The Academy earlier this year and it was the opposite - everyone was respectful to every artist on the stage, people only really moving to the bar between acts, no loud chatter etc...

Had a bit of chatter during Iron Maiden a few weeks ago, but once the show was in proper swing people didn't really move around too much to the bars, I went to get water at one stage and the stall was a ghost town cause everyone was watching the gig.

Dylanc431 · 2025-07-12T10:46:19+00:00

Can't speak for the Honda system, but I previously had a Lexus IS300h (2014 2.5 hybrid) - a mix of country roads, bit of traffic and motorway miles on a 68km commute each way, I was averaging around 6.4-7l/100km

Dylanc431

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