[Sussex] Christmas Meeting

[Jon Fautley]

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> > Nik wrote:
> > > aaaaah c'mon. the resturaunts are average , the parking
> > > irrelevant if you park
> > > in crawley ( for free I might add ) and get a train ( 1.20
> > > return ) and the
> > > associatted resturaunts are not to shabby. on the and you
> > > have excellent
> > > access for anyone arriveing by train ( which Im taking as the
> > > route for those
> > > in favour of drinking or in need of easy access ) .
> >
> > It's true that pretty much everyone from Brighton westward can get a
> > train to Gatwick pretty easily.  I imagine anyone coming from East of
> > there would have to go into London and come down.
>
> No it not to bad.  Trains from Eastbourne go via Lewis and then on up
> to Gatwick (takes about an hour).  From Hastings the train goes into
> Eastbourne and the buddy up.
>
> I agree that Gatwick has good access.  I (and Mrs. Ford) just don't like
> the place for a Christmas party.

Aww, nowt wrong with Gatwick. South terminal, anyway, not those foreigners
in the north. Admittedly it's expensive and the staff have all the
personaltity of a dead pigeon, but it's a nice place to be when working.
Oh, wait, christmas party, not working. Sorry... it's a sheet place to
hold a christmas party, but I hear the Hilton over the road is quite nice,
if not expensive and prolly fully booked.

> > I would certainly be in favour of a Gatwick meet purely for my own
> > convenience.  A could probably put a couple of people up at my place in
> > East Grinstead (only a short cab ride from Gatwick) if they wished.
>
> Okay that makes it 2:2.  We need someone else to break the dead lock.
> Cast your votes now!!!!!

Well, Gatwick is v. easy access for me... but I must say that i'd prefer
brighton, much more exciting :)

> > > As for ambience <grin> I say we bring our own ... heheh
> >
> > Yeah, the company you keep is more important than the food that you
> > eat.. :)
>
> True, but rememeber "Stale BR sandwiches do not a Christmas Feast make."

lol. That sums up most of the food at LGW actually ;)

> > Still Gatwick is not the nicest place in the world.  We could go the
> > other way - down to Brighton - there are some very good Restaurants down
> > there!
>
> A much better idea.  Rather than pick one join just paint the town red.
> Or as much of it as we can stagger to (mobility limits [alcohol & physical
> included).

:) Sounds cool :)

> > From an atmosphere point of view you can't beat Mamma Cherie's Soul Food
> > Shack - deep fried catfish and jumbalay is a real Christmas dish ;)
>
> I now see the point behind Gatwick.  We can each eat the food of our
> choice.  Geoff in Mamma Cherie's, me (I quite like the sound of the catfish
> and jambalay - but for the sake of this argument) in the Pizza Hut, Nik in
> Harry Ramsden's, Gareth in McDonald's.  We find a power point somewhere in
> the middle to plug in the WiFi basestation so we can "talk" via e-mail.

lol. Can prolly nab a phoneline for internet access there too :) But then,
brighton is full of consume nodes, so...

> > > and I thought about it cause I actually considered a
> > > convenient place for Mrs
> > > Ford to get access to as well as any other members who need
> > > good access.. that was all.
> >
> > There are two good points here -
> >
> > 1. Access.   I agreee that this is a concern.  Good thinking.
>
> True - but that depends on who can make it.

<nod>

> > 2. Partners.  Natalie is on the list, and is a geek ("chicks dig LINUX"
> >  - although in Natalies case that should read "Ladies prefer LINUX, but
> >     they marry OS X"), however, should we bring partners with us?
> >     In some respects this would make yet another christmas meal / night
> >     out more politically acceptable for those of us who are married.  In
> >     all likelyhood the Mrs's won't want to come - but they do like to be
> >     invited ;)
>
> Only if you have one.  I'm not going to go out and rent one myself ;-)

Hmm... Steve, you know somewhere to rent one? Care to pass on the phone
number to me? ;)

> > > most places to meet for drinks and food by now are a real
> > > bitch to reserve.
> >
> > Agreed.  Thus we should go for somewhere people wouldn't book for
> > Christmas.
>
> As I said in my other e-mail - lets just pick a pub somewhere

Yuppers. If we're gonna book, we need to do it now to stand any chance of
getting a table, especially for the numbers we usually get at the meets.

> > I dunno about you guys but I won't be needing another portion of turkey
> > around that time ;)
>
> I like turkey - so I don't mind

I also like turkey, but I have to admit it gets a bit boring over the
christmas period.

> > > Still if we are all in consensus as to no at Gatwick is there
> > > somewhere where
> > > we can ensure
> > >
> > > 1. Ease of Access for all members
> > > 2. Good available parking and transport
> > > 3. good choice of meals and drinks.
> > > 4. options of after meal entertainment ....
> >
> > On the first point:  Lets take a vote. Mail in (by Friday please - lets
> > keep it breif) either for Gatwick, Brighton, or make a suggestion of your
> > own.

I vote for... Brighton.

Jon
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