Thread: Anyone interested in Belgian Stuff like chocolate or waffles or such?

First of all, let me assure everybody that I haven't forgotten about it.

For reasons I will cannot go into (confidential), the heads of departments and the systems administrators (incl moi) decided that there was no other option than rebuilding the entire process control network from scratch, including the servers.

so on monday I simply worked late. On tuesday we ripped out the brains of the system, replaced the server and rebuilt it, and then rebuilt the rest of the system that had to be up and running in order not to lose critical data.
I went home on wednesday morning...

Yesterday and today we cleaned up minor problems and did all the validation paperwork, but I was still drained from the sleepless night before, combined with the joys of being woken up several times per night by a crying baby.

Anyway...
We will go shopping on saturday, and I will pick some quality stuff, calculate prices and then let people say yes or no.
Alcohol is a bit problematic because according to a knowledgeable person here, it could be a real pain to xport to the US. I will check with the US consulate in Brussels and let you know.

Beer would be nice too but I think there might be some kind of restrictions. I believe I've read somewhere that all imported beer has to be under 5% alc. Not sure about that though.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Alcohol is a bit problematic because according to a knowledgeable person here, it could be a real pain to export to the US. I will check with the US consulate in Brussels and let you know.

I don't mean to be negative about the ability to get good beers her in the USA... but I am relatively sure you will certainly find it problematic. My first thought would be taxes... both the federal and state governments apply taxes to beverages which contain alcohol. And then there's the requirement that all containers have the proper labels warning against consuming alcohol during pregnancy. Also, every state has their own laws regarding who is allowed to "import" and "sell" alcohol in their state... for beer (which is usually treated differently that distilled spirits) you'll find that some states allow it in grocery stores, while others restrict it to "beer distributors", and still others to "state stores" run by the state. There even used to be some individual counties within states that forbid the sale of alcohol... they were know as "dry counties"... my ex-brother-in-law used to live in one in North Carolina. I don't know if they still exist, nor whether those counties forbid the consumption of alcohol as well as the sale, although I can attest to the fact there was consumption... legal or not.

I also suspect some of the beers you might want to ship to the USA already have importers/distributors in the USA, so they could potentially raise a fuss (in the unlikely event they found out). In any case, isn't all that moot? Won't the shipping fee for something as heavy as beer be relatively prohibitive? I mean, if I was going to have you send me my favorite brew, I'd certainly want more than just a bottle or two...

...just my $.02

Originally Posted by chief

ofcourse the A-quality stuff remains here, only the factory seconds are for export

haha. I've long suspected that. I've your country and really enjoyed it. As an art fan, Amsterdam and Den Hague were very good.

In Amsterdam, I also wished that I had visited when I was younger and single. SOme of your shopping was very enjoyable. (wink,wink,nudge,nudge)

But, the beer, waffles, chocolate etc were top quality.

I've suspected that France also sends the "seconds" of their wine for export. Every glass of wine in France was wonderful, no matter how inexpensive. It's also that the fun of traveling makes the wine taste better.

Tom (in USA)

Originally Posted by straight boy

I've suspected that France also sends the "seconds" of their wine for export. Every glass of wine in France was wonderful, no matter how inexpensive. It's also that the fun of traveling makes the wine taste better.

Tom (in USA)

You DO know that serving snails in a restaurant is the longest standing practical joke in the history of France, do you?

It all started with the foreigner who wouldn't take a hint...