British hotels to warm your bed for you

dwilson — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:12:11 +0000

Most of you are probably aware of the weather rocking Britain this year. They’ve been snowed-in, iced-in, and had some nasty cold. I was listening to BBC Radio 1 the the other day, I believe during Greg James’ show, and a caller was commenting how it was -20 Celcius in London, which is not a common occurrence.

Being Canadian, I couldn’t help being a little amused as I scraped my car off, listening to the British complain about a few days of cold. To be fair, you adapt to the conditions you live in, and a snowstorm in an area unused to them can be disastrous. I do not know if the issue has been resolved, but I remember UK ministers talking about how they were running low on grit to keep the roads clear – disastrous for drivers unused to snowy weather. I’ve been told that when it snows in the Carolinas, (snow, but not even to stay on the road) grocery stores are cleaned out of canned goods and people put chains on the tires.

Holiday Inns in the UK have come up with a creative way of dealing with the cold. Nobody likes to climb into a bed with chilly sheets. Their solution: have a staff member warm them up for you! The way I understand it, you call the front desk twenty minutes before bed, and a staff member will put on a fuzzy suit and lay in your bed for awhile to have it ready for you. Novel, I’ll give them that. I don’t know if this service will be successful or not – personally I would find it creepy to have a stranger in my bed – but I give Holiday Inn credit for promoting themselves in a unique way.

Merry Christmas Best wishes to you and your family this Christmas holiday. ...

Latvia and European Integration

dwilson — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 04:31:54 +0000

In the past I spoke of how Latvia,which had previously been a leader in economic growth, was in a bit of slump. In a followup to the situation, I was unfortunately not surprised when I learned that their situation has become worse. According to the BBC, the powers that be that determine the credit ratings of nations have determined that Latvia is now below investment standard. The country’s already had a rough go. They’ve taken out a large bailout and been forced to nationalise banks, and the picture doesn’t look like it is getting better anytime soon. Taken into consideration with the regional situation – such as Russia recentlycutting off oil to Ukraine – a grim picture is painted of Eastern Europe.

Tough times could encourage entrenchment into domestic affairs which would counter hopes for democratization and liberalization in Eastern Europe. The last ten years have done wonders for European integration. Under a structural framework, the European Union has succesfully encouraged a cooperative Europe which has included the former Communist nations. I’m not an economist but I feel that Eastern Europe, which was economically lagging Western Europe and trying to catch up, would be the worst hit by economic issues – and that could be like taking three step backwards down the path the European Union has gone. I feel that Latvia could be an indicating nations on what approach other Eastern European nations will do in dealing with these economic troubles – economic troubles which are a result of this integrated system.

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British hotels to warm your bed for you

Latvia and European Integration