Decent cigars

It's strange what you discover when you look up or down while out blipping. I've certainly never before spotted this advertising sign on Grafton Street before today. Don't know why, but for some reason it struck a bit of a Wild West story-book chord, hence the treatment.

I came across it on my way back to the bus after a visit to the National Concert Hall with two others from the Music Group for a lunchtime concert of American music. The RTÉ Concert Orchestra were on top form, and it was all highly enjoyable, beginning with Leonard Bernstein's Candide Overture and ending with a symphonic paraphrase on Gershwin's Porgy & Bess.

It was fortunate that we were high on adrenalin when we went across the road to the Conrad Hotel for coffee and chat. The service was appalling, with first one guy getting our order utterly wrong and then the second guy making a total mess of serving us when he eventually established what we wanted. It was only soup, tea, coffee and scone, but he made such a meal of serving it to us that we had to call over the manager to complain. She calmed us down, apologised, and didn't charge for what we had. This was the least she could have done. We certainly won't be rushing back.