joaokorb, see, your making this thread even more interesting! Welcome aboard!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Glad to help fender on manufacturing processes !

As far as the whole Fender changing paint suppliers, I will concede it is possible this is the reason for such a back log, or part of it. I just find it hard to believe that a company that has been around as long as Fender would not know where to get paint other then one supplier. This is why I have my doubts.

As far as the whole Ketchup thing..as I stated, in France I did not ask for Ketchup. Actually the only place I had asked for Ketchup was in London.

One time was at a Mcdonalds..I was surprised they wanted to charge me 50 cents per packet (it may be more now) for a small packet that here in the USA are free all you want.

Another time was for fish and chips. I guess they like to put mayo on fries there. We asked for Ketchup and it looked to annoy them. Then they brought this thing to the table that looked like a fire extinguisher and you had to pump the ketchup out of a hose. Took us a bit to figure out how to get the ketchup from it..required a procedure. As well, it did not taste right because it seemed to be sweet..I think it had sugar in it.

I was not implying that it is a bad thing that it is difficult to get Ketchup in Europe. But just siting these instances as an example of some things we take for granted in the states.

I have some hard core Italians in my family and if you DARE ask for ketchup at the table..you will be mocked and verbally reprimanded. The word "Heinz" is not permitted in their house. Everything is home made fresh and takes hours and hours to prepare..so it is an insult to ask for ketchup. I can understand that.

However I can walk into any fast food place in the USA and grab all the handfuls of ketchup I want for free.

As far as the sarcasm...I hope no one thinks I was offended in any way, and I hope no one has taken offense to anything I replied..it is all in good fun. I do not know of any other forum where a topic of a post like this would lead to what we are all discussing...I think it is awesome.

Now..as far as the bad experiences standing out over the good ones in my travels...maybe it's just me. I probably had too many bad experiences simply because I am awful as a traveler, make no preparations and never have enough money. But this is not to say I don't enjoy myself as well..if that was the case I would not travel so much. I think it is just my sarcastic nature..and my sense of humor that makes me enjoy sharing my bad experiences abroad as the stories are in my opinion funny..perhaps not always at the time..but looking back...

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Ah I know in England that ketchup is free in the big fast food places (maccies, BK, KFC.) But unless your in maccies things like bbq sauce and mayo are gonna set you back 10p :p

I worked in KFC for 3 months last summer when I was desperate for some cash for a flight. The way we did it there was if your a nice customer I won't charge you for sauce. If your an $@!&#*% your gonna have to cough up for it

Ya, been there sand done much of that. Odd thing is, I have visited Pizza Hut in several countries, right off I am thinking of Bucharest, Romania. You get your pizza and then on every table is a bottle of Ketchup. And everyone was using it ON TOP the cheese. Ummmm.... And then they did their fries in Mayo....I came back to the US mixing Mayo and Ketchup for my fries...

But since we are talk'in Ketchup.... In the Philippines they have banana Ketchup. Kind of clearish/yellow and tastes amazing like tomato Ketchup, just a tad sweeter. Pretty weird using that stuff on your fries!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Hmm, I seem to recall I had to pay for ketchup packets in London..maybe I am confusing it with another country.

As far as KFC..I remember they had one right across the street from the first place we stayed in London..but is was "Kansas" fried chicken, not Kentucky.

I have a KFC walking distance from where I live now in LA. It is actually the only fast food close enough to walk to. So if i don't feel like driving and am hungry for chicken, I walk over. Every time I eat there I am sick for a day or two afterwards...but still every so often I still eat there. It tastes good but certainly does not agree with my stomach.

Regardless I hope they think I am a nice customer..I am never ever rude to employees of any place I patronize...perhaps that is why they never charged me for sauces?

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

ever thought of giving portugal a try?

some nice little views...

a nice population

a little country with a great coast...

2nd in 2004 euro

and we live next to Espana the world cup and euro winners

http://bpiw.net/_uploads/4636c262-6530- ... _BEACH.jpg

http://www.2010againstpoverty.eu/export ... rtugal.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GO9aiSwW-lQ/S ... rtugal.jpg

give portugal a chance

I would try banana ketchup..sounds kind of exotic. as far as putting it on pizza..big no no.

My personal rules are..no ketchup on anything that already has, or is supposed to have a real tomato sauce. The Sicilians in my family do not even call it "sauce", it is called gravy.

I do know two people that must put ketchup on their pasta. It makes me want to smack them in the neck...lol.

I also have a strict rule..perhaps being originally from NYC. Mustard is for hot dogs, ketchup and mayo is for burgers. You put mustard on my burger I get very upset. But it seems most states other then NY..do put mustard on burgers.

My best friend in the world can not eat a steak unless it has steak sauce and ketchup. That is fine at a BBQ I suppose, but it is embarrassing if we are at a real fancy restaurant and he asks for Ketchup and steak sauce. I know it has to be offending someone..at it even offends me. Show a little class. He even asked for ketchup once when we were at a very fancy breakfast at a french restaurant. They didn't have ketchup but I was so embarrassed when he asked..who puts ketchup on a crepe?

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

In fairness the sauce packet situation has been changing frequently over recent years from location to location, you never know what you will find

I'm sure you are a very polite customer too, and having worked either in retail or directly with the public for all my life your are much appreciated. It's staggering just how rude some customers can be, please and thank you costs nothing. Plus if your rude I will go out of my way to make your ordering experience much much harder than it has to be, if you have basic manners I will help you out as much as I physically can.

I must say I'm currently working at a pretzel shop which is giving me some cash during uni, and we get a lot of American tourists come by, and they tend to be incredibly polite and social, can be a breath of fresh air from our typical crowd of chavvy scumbags I spend my day serving

I find in general, most people are polite. Even if I am dealing with someone who seems to be miserable, if you are really nice to them..you might get a thank you. But there are always the exceptions of course.

I found in NYC..people will go out of there way to help you..and you normally get incredibly fast service. But, many do not understand the sarcastic nature..and the fact that they are only rushing because they have things to do..not because they are rude. As well..in NYC it is not uncommon to call someone a bad word, and it is not taken seriously. Here in LA I have to be very careful what I say to people as the take offense sometimes and do not understand sarcasm sometimes.

But I also have to work in retail at times so I do understand the importance of treating others with respect. If a customer abuses me..certainly the level of service will drop proportionately. Some people just think they are "entitled" to everything..no..you have to earn it.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Yep these people who just think that they have some divine right to whatever they please.

Everyone gets greeted with a smile and a "how are you", they get the chance to be polite human beings, if they choose not to take it then too bad for them


NYC is one of those places I really want to go to just to see what it's like. I can take sarcasm too, I think its hardwired into us english too, it adds a bit of depth to life. However it has certainly made some situations awkward on my travels before, you soon learn where to tone it down a notch or 10!

Oh and in the interests of keeping some remnants of the thread...

something something paint? something. I like paint.

Agree. I am getting better at toning it down. I used to be much worse. I think you would enjoy a visit to NYC..there is so much diversity..and unlike most who think we do not have culture, there is no shortage of it in NYC. Grew up there and still have not even seen close to everything.

But it really is the people that make a city special. Every place in the world had nice views and old buildings and new buildings and grass and water and trees...but there certainly are differences in the people and the way they do things. That is what makes it exciting and interesting...even if you run across a few bad moments.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

One of my friend worked there for a year and he said if you could see they way they process that chicken you would NEVER eat there. He said it was so sick and disgusting!

I have never been to Portugal, but have heard wonderful things about the place. I want to visit soon!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

I know from my time there cleanliness wasn't exactly the buzzword. Standards of washing up were very low and a whole tray of mini fillets was dropped on the floor once. The guy just threw them into the fryer basket and fried them again and sold them. I mean sure the heat of the fryer would kill anything on them but not exactly up to health and safety code

I'm pretty sure the guy who battered the chicken didn't wash his hands after the toilet either, but no-one aside from him knows for sure

You'll not be disappointed mate!

Such beautiful places there...

I'm from Porto the famous Porto wine...

we have our share of guitars (portuguese guitar and cavaquinho)

some good music here too...

and we have the oldest movie director still in work! Manoel de Oliveira 104 years old! Can you believe it?

Daniela Ruah's from portugal, CR7's portuguese...

we have no lack of talent but few uses it