tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43410416300778599522024-03-13T00:14:06.198-04:00From Sheep to AlligatorsA US immigrant, British expat blogger, exploring the difference between American and British culture and the American and British English difference. Also my trials with my USCIS K1 fiance visa, Adjustment of status application, opening a US bank account as a non US citizen, and getting a social security number SSN.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-39854188262708627592023-09-17T09:44:00.000-04:002023-09-17T09:44:05.125-04:00My Greek Destination Wedding in Hydra<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It's been a long time since I last wrote an article for this blog, over seven years in fact, and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.<br /><br />I'm still living in Florida but there have been a lot of changes in my life. I came to America nearly thirteen years ago to marry but that partnership didn't work out and we split in 2016. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I got into a new relationship a year or so after the finalization of the divorce and this new relationship has been far happier.<br /><br />After living together for six years or so, we decided to tie the knot earlier this summer. The ceremony was on the Greek island of Hydra and we spent our honeymoon on Corfu and driving around the Peloponnese.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It was a marvelous wedding and vacation and something that I'll remember for the rest of my life!</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4FMpMMdBLD98ZWQw89PJI_kkVEtB79-ivdKbRtx2E60hKcULrh3PHS0XmHytsVRlh7nWbzGZBQ5gF_pzgcIJgyjT7wboRVlZpyNd4gqqwWJWAKs0R5t8vXL3EfjnGtNbiip-zmbBPfJB33vJpev4zNKOrpPzpSaqhKigvTKR0oL4p2X2skpRYqkWBM7u/s2048/hydra1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1542" data-original-width="2048" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4FMpMMdBLD98ZWQw89PJI_kkVEtB79-ivdKbRtx2E60hKcULrh3PHS0XmHytsVRlh7nWbzGZBQ5gF_pzgcIJgyjT7wboRVlZpyNd4gqqwWJWAKs0R5t8vXL3EfjnGtNbiip-zmbBPfJB33vJpev4zNKOrpPzpSaqhKigvTKR0oL4p2X2skpRYqkWBM7u/s320/hydra1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Boats moored in the harbor area in Hydra, Greece</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Hydra is such a beautiful little island. We originally visited in 2021 because I wanted to see where the writer and singer Leonard Cohen lived but we fell in love with the island straightaway and decided that we would married there.<br /><br />Vehicles are banned on the island, so walking and mule are the main transport.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMn4XJg99PrEDIERIceiwMa56phvJBWpMMUWg2EadbwunEBvb1_NH-kZJnUFF_E_UcEmEjlC8vv8IYpOGnowZ0zy17tPZPPCQjZjZjAt8EolmIU5QzJ_7oEjEMVN_GaWjgNRhwhw1i0gi5R5jPgKROs5MBqEAqx1tu49kksoGem142AJcIuibR7GIr1mqU/s2048/hydra2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1542" data-original-width="2048" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMn4XJg99PrEDIERIceiwMa56phvJBWpMMUWg2EadbwunEBvb1_NH-kZJnUFF_E_UcEmEjlC8vv8IYpOGnowZ0zy17tPZPPCQjZjZjAt8EolmIU5QzJ_7oEjEMVN_GaWjgNRhwhw1i0gi5R5jPgKROs5MBqEAqx1tu49kksoGem142AJcIuibR7GIr1mqU/s320/hydra2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Mules on Hydra<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">My wife and I arrived a few days early and there was some time to relax before our wedding day.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhUmRjUG7ceSAJSVAQoNLJoEwWHG7mUWbbfqiXtXUTyYsP9nVdnti3oztlhIBqxYnTTj2ChfDcE5arNfg8Pp04sS5ZoEpAFDPDf2aZ6OXBvzkccPHzlKGMBxJ4U2KldEO4MmNWz_a1nByuUL7KmJLUtqcbnBoo6E5pS9QJHSSQvWODKMSTE1neQo4yXXo/s2048/hydra3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhUmRjUG7ceSAJSVAQoNLJoEwWHG7mUWbbfqiXtXUTyYsP9nVdnti3oztlhIBqxYnTTj2ChfDcE5arNfg8Pp04sS5ZoEpAFDPDf2aZ6OXBvzkccPHzlKGMBxJ4U2KldEO4MmNWz_a1nByuUL7KmJLUtqcbnBoo6E5pS9QJHSSQvWODKMSTE1neQo4yXXo/s320/hydra3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">My wife and I relaxing in the sun.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />The wedding was wonderful and the photographer captured some beautiful shots. That said, Hydra is a photogenic place with lots of sunshine and beautiful scenery.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_C6Tn9rCXIUqNLqjTmidBW94EK1WGR-vqqfp3erl6snKkkvw7JFoXSzdh0wrQmZMGTJ7D_Xr8WBiidkbrkcwK5cBEdcJO6G9p0BiSolfPTw0yJ8qcsONX0XdR-PhIpP2CtMr6R24x6yc3T_32Sv1lP7EXpbt3AKWMWRSuHtiVNb7J9HTtbe5aWfyOjnLC/s1600/wedding%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_C6Tn9rCXIUqNLqjTmidBW94EK1WGR-vqqfp3erl6snKkkvw7JFoXSzdh0wrQmZMGTJ7D_Xr8WBiidkbrkcwK5cBEdcJO6G9p0BiSolfPTw0yJ8qcsONX0XdR-PhIpP2CtMr6R24x6yc3T_32Sv1lP7EXpbt3AKWMWRSuHtiVNb7J9HTtbe5aWfyOjnLC/s320/wedding%202.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Wedding day. The cat looks on!<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmydCHcPNvv0FMmMmMHMUeLtyLsZb4FxnCkgueQre9V-Eo2DVAZRTXsuqjETonP6MojdSNl8n9S3iyUAP6QxjTFqakDDWhzYWRlN8yVUIrFUt1WbdtJZIf7ofCCDNwePCE8P4gHqwY4hqdPwvT6CbKqTtvr-vcm5z4ecIXpH6QXLUy0NR4zUYCRpC7rEd3/s1600/wedding%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmydCHcPNvv0FMmMmMHMUeLtyLsZb4FxnCkgueQre9V-Eo2DVAZRTXsuqjETonP6MojdSNl8n9S3iyUAP6QxjTFqakDDWhzYWRlN8yVUIrFUt1WbdtJZIf7ofCCDNwePCE8P4gHqwY4hqdPwvT6CbKqTtvr-vcm5z4ecIXpH6QXLUy0NR4zUYCRpC7rEd3/s320/wedding%203.JPG" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Kissing on the steps.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The ceremony was outside on the roof of the town museum. There were some worries that it might rain but the weather was perfect on the day and everything ran smoothly.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnow3xlz6PWIBhxLyLtRUBBuPbdLSitjRVBaqTHZUwTokqgL0RUTmoOYPjYaXsph3tXkKVYMxB-AszdcUR49d-YcgvHc4mu7gynuD3oFdFSx0xxvKBsFyuLbKIOpO2cg_d6nPzG7FQCNYz6B4Y349YzwwAZIVFHcN5ZFyDGomH1DIZigY7rDmBZTEAtKHY/s2048/wedding%20ceremony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1689" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnow3xlz6PWIBhxLyLtRUBBuPbdLSitjRVBaqTHZUwTokqgL0RUTmoOYPjYaXsph3tXkKVYMxB-AszdcUR49d-YcgvHc4mu7gynuD3oFdFSx0xxvKBsFyuLbKIOpO2cg_d6nPzG7FQCNYz6B4Y349YzwwAZIVFHcN5ZFyDGomH1DIZigY7rDmBZTEAtKHY/s320/wedding%20ceremony.jpg" width="264" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We married on the roof of the Hydra museum</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHBhAehLco_JpKRBprY-GIMzxTq88NWP8MEjPphL24YTS2t4eU_Kz43m5SPc1vjfKvgvO_mvxpRDJ6vWrAaPYWSHUIEy4iFVA9F7cCHgjaIVxa1pWbt1ObJTRkT2-Z-QOUw5nWsPHAHSYEON8Ifi1qKHAxpR1FXU3smWPH7H4Xv8_k7WwLY78CeSJ-jaG/s1600/wedding%204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHBhAehLco_JpKRBprY-GIMzxTq88NWP8MEjPphL24YTS2t4eU_Kz43m5SPc1vjfKvgvO_mvxpRDJ6vWrAaPYWSHUIEy4iFVA9F7cCHgjaIVxa1pWbt1ObJTRkT2-Z-QOUw5nWsPHAHSYEON8Ifi1qKHAxpR1FXU3smWPH7H4Xv8_k7WwLY78CeSJ-jaG/s320/wedding%204.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">With all the guests outside the front of the museum</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />One of the fun Hydra traditions is that the groom leads the bride on a horse from the site of the wedding ceremony to the reception venue.<br /><br />We went through the busy port area which is full of restaurants and people eating outdoors. There was a lot of cheering and clapping, as well as a few witty heckles as we passed by!<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rs9Nq-UJS-MlxlqBPeWjjTfoX1v-KyU79bBVEoga8uehuDjgYaT0DbGRqU1KxxT9qXuUYGxAdnjwaAsV6CxmWzRD1MT4xncwRv2dYmb5Sx-6jidl6cU2_KRUTq5vVGadyjtKBSAx8wQDI4JmIEmsnh3xPO0cj36813McllShw8nvUWSCwc79V1EKa0pI/s2048/wedding%20horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1797" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rs9Nq-UJS-MlxlqBPeWjjTfoX1v-KyU79bBVEoga8uehuDjgYaT0DbGRqU1KxxT9qXuUYGxAdnjwaAsV6CxmWzRD1MT4xncwRv2dYmb5Sx-6jidl6cU2_KRUTq5vVGadyjtKBSAx8wQDI4JmIEmsnh3xPO0cj36813McllShw8nvUWSCwc79V1EKa0pI/s320/wedding%20horse.jpg" width="281" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Hydra tradition is that the bride rides a horse to the wedding reception<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv13BKz1KxljodoLQkJ3XLzeexQhVZsiDATCO0JhhTOkECmgjc5OIBnBOt2ZYx2HPExE0tasLnNQe8taYZFYV_g-oY4BUxgwlRCN_XUQ9QuK4AWx01_ehbd4z9eUae7Hjqwa2sP9BSeCunUH7g1ZG7JByDkQVpemtz7bCw2VAEZFsWr7CzRsVVvF_l6pnp/s4000/0887-foto-Attila%20Hajos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="4000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv13BKz1KxljodoLQkJ3XLzeexQhVZsiDATCO0JhhTOkECmgjc5OIBnBOt2ZYx2HPExE0tasLnNQe8taYZFYV_g-oY4BUxgwlRCN_XUQ9QuK4AWx01_ehbd4z9eUae7Hjqwa2sP9BSeCunUH7g1ZG7JByDkQVpemtz7bCw2VAEZFsWr7CzRsVVvF_l6pnp/s320/0887-foto-Attila%20Hajos.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leading the horse through the cobbled streets</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBoJGCQWWSwxGs5jQCHqYmok5vKT7bDR9Wzf4uSz-loXnwlAbj8HWOJCwDHkA6-64pv_D4gLRztpy1W9HraaI9Dodk3xbWLdRlnPsvRd8FZytQUu04qMkC_HqSIGQzxATgjaAfv3uuStxgGN5Bkj54A8FJJ3LUupGsgWwpjvS3HCK5UfEJsnkLCj4YCwM4/s960/wedding%20reception.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBoJGCQWWSwxGs5jQCHqYmok5vKT7bDR9Wzf4uSz-loXnwlAbj8HWOJCwDHkA6-64pv_D4gLRztpy1W9HraaI9Dodk3xbWLdRlnPsvRd8FZytQUu04qMkC_HqSIGQzxATgjaAfv3uuStxgGN5Bkj54A8FJJ3LUupGsgWwpjvS3HCK5UfEJsnkLCj4YCwM4/s320/wedding%20reception.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Joyful at the wedding reception</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-60284079924224208842016-02-19T10:13:00.000-05:002016-02-19T10:14:14.290-05:00Kendal, Lewes, London, Leeds, and Hamburg!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After all the drama of flying into North West England at the
peak of the floods (see previous), the rest of December was generally pretty
quiet for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZf-psP1sTCB_wO77QgYgZ7HaIeMusuIIAe0JL8iDzVY1j84mbXhlXo8LCK-SkaRy-sTuaLRTmTTZzPQ5rPji6ooBOu2t4o93Md0eiDKmekPM2csl3PONtNvIUWsvdMP1DHb8fc4IGhGD/s1600/129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZf-psP1sTCB_wO77QgYgZ7HaIeMusuIIAe0JL8iDzVY1j84mbXhlXo8LCK-SkaRy-sTuaLRTmTTZzPQ5rPji6ooBOu2t4o93Md0eiDKmekPM2csl3PONtNvIUWsvdMP1DHb8fc4IGhGD/s320/129.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kendal Town Hall viewed from Allhallows Lane</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I more or less stayed in the old home town of Kendal for a
month.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I grew up and went to school there
until I was 18, but now I know virtually nobody there anymore apart from my older
relatives.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pretty much all my old friends and contemporaries have moved away over the years, lured away by colleges or job
opportunities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s a little strange, to be honest, I know the streets and
buildings so well, and the whole place has large amounts of personal history for
me, but I am essentially a stranger here now in many respects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5wWBok60Y-a8qSNn9MWxCtG8_5O7hvJmwTv_uczJ7zXXPYBNzbFlqexKJAqs3-31D95v4VGhaojPoJGO3uAtnhlU2SiKZShG_L1vXH7ejCiEuUOG81w1pnoZaJXgZF2-YKA_1xUMWbX9/s1600/146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5wWBok60Y-a8qSNn9MWxCtG8_5O7hvJmwTv_uczJ7zXXPYBNzbFlqexKJAqs3-31D95v4VGhaojPoJGO3uAtnhlU2SiKZShG_L1vXH7ejCiEuUOG81w1pnoZaJXgZF2-YKA_1xUMWbX9/s320/146.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lower Fellside, Kendal</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I did manage to track down a couple of old friends whilst in Kendal, however, who had been away and come back.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I got to chew the fat and catch up with the news about people from school that I’d lost touch with for thirty years or so, which was great!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0Rfm47kIxBLEXcwGdsjq_vdbYw2XjwkUZSscXp-QNqRlwygDroSiBR3QgjCmI4PVx8Y_BAZEDZGcIM6MW5Om0t7FopV2Hs1BKh4nYgQ0G_oI2oWmhIuXJXg0Nc_ijCQ1_jSH8Lbel60n/s1600/101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0Rfm47kIxBLEXcwGdsjq_vdbYw2XjwkUZSscXp-QNqRlwygDroSiBR3QgjCmI4PVx8Y_BAZEDZGcIM6MW5Om0t7FopV2Hs1BKh4nYgQ0G_oI2oWmhIuXJXg0Nc_ijCQ1_jSH8Lbel60n/s320/101.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had a fairly quiet Christmas and New Year period with the family. The furthest I traveled was a couple of trips into the Lake District.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdHjDsX9WSmQDLsxvD1kFUy_D45dLCYq2rj7UW35XSvMZ2jRtiVx48s6aBPevgvbVMdQBf1oQVhY-S0uZ3tqoKt9ExW0SGyI9Vrv-RMU2Ki-YJmbvBBgvTVgQPOGJhyphenhyphenDKtHqrjNXpNrO4/s1600/131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdHjDsX9WSmQDLsxvD1kFUy_D45dLCYq2rj7UW35XSvMZ2jRtiVx48s6aBPevgvbVMdQBf1oQVhY-S0uZ3tqoKt9ExW0SGyI9Vrv-RMU2Ki-YJmbvBBgvTVgQPOGJhyphenhyphenDKtHqrjNXpNrO4/s320/131.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bridge House in Ambelside - I did managed to make a couple of trips into the Lake District during December.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">January was a complete
contrast to Deceber, as I started some of my English/European traveling in earnest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First on the list was a trip down to the South Coast to see
my brother and his family in the Brighton/Lewes area. The South of England has a different feel and
culture to the North, for such a small place England manages to have a host of
accents, dialects, geography, and cultures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The narrow streets of Lewes</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was great to see my young nephew.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He’s currently losing his baby teeth and
getting his adult ones</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpIiohDemhxB4I5r9DQBbRXtEwlKxJXJDgOhfTbciaOGIFyA7VT2sgWsyIWuAOvPfv5wHkoa6tIQdRlmFbP2p2eGrYcKpfE4kfsw4cGijmZQbMac_IvM0ma4AcaQoW2Qhb1LXZr_PstEU/s1600/104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpIiohDemhxB4I5r9DQBbRXtEwlKxJXJDgOhfTbciaOGIFyA7VT2sgWsyIWuAOvPfv5wHkoa6tIQdRlmFbP2p2eGrYcKpfE4kfsw4cGijmZQbMac_IvM0ma4AcaQoW2Qhb1LXZr_PstEU/s320/104.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My nephew</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also managed to Squeeze in a day trip to London. I visited the National Portrait Gallery (mind-blowing!), The National Gallery and the Tate Modern. As well as a couple of super old pubs on Fleet Street.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9k1VthJ7eJSyWd00ltQBJXciYDyHIB-h88hJtGth9jdj-5kIB71S1BszW1zQXzuSVQWLn_aLwFs6FcuMyZ_wj2uVRKq6bFlWoMgpHc9N0lKGk3ozR2S2brYOchkeCsqM4af2Q2kU3Nd0b/s1600/112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9k1VthJ7eJSyWd00ltQBJXciYDyHIB-h88hJtGth9jdj-5kIB71S1BszW1zQXzuSVQWLn_aLwFs6FcuMyZ_wj2uVRKq6bFlWoMgpHc9N0lKGk3ozR2S2brYOchkeCsqM4af2Q2kU3Nd0b/s320/112.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching St Paul's Cathedral on Millennium Bridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Z4Cje4twU1mJhsonykv__C0ux6bqy78XjPqHPaszd0ilbqtgr-BAzKr2zEarLkXHCCeSPl4imH5BPNscdBp8iqF628UqiPouZb0OwoinyldhK7w-x5YimAyJXoL-B_cZlkQsztMOhXiH/s1600/110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Z4Cje4twU1mJhsonykv__C0ux6bqy78XjPqHPaszd0ilbqtgr-BAzKr2zEarLkXHCCeSPl4imH5BPNscdBp8iqF628UqiPouZb0OwoinyldhK7w-x5YimAyJXoL-B_cZlkQsztMOhXiH/s320/110.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down the Thames from Millennium Bridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3Ie3pvv20t4WIPlSHpBX7KUa1DM3JdGTRuv6sMmDl3be-rta0DVolnYjoEtWX2dBumY1P0-Ff9nzs6aIzEY9-d-5aMzRrN53SVHhTlyT9aj2p_MjLtOnc6vFr_YsLxMMt1qwKHWqDetm/s1600/109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3Ie3pvv20t4WIPlSHpBX7KUa1DM3JdGTRuv6sMmDl3be-rta0DVolnYjoEtWX2dBumY1P0-Ff9nzs6aIzEY9-d-5aMzRrN53SVHhTlyT9aj2p_MjLtOnc6vFr_YsLxMMt1qwKHWqDetm/s320/109.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selfie with Van Gogh's Sunflowers behind me</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKYeOW3ZDgNrZIWpM6Vwds4gn3gmU03sHlbvKT67xvPtXAz0GfveMyMsABxKll2Wrk2JXlU_Jqr6tyHKSJwTL5UYsEETgVWmXw50Kq0lnwt2sx80U5kU_9kbti8x-lhtRE49X-GIl9x5o/s1600/108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKYeOW3ZDgNrZIWpM6Vwds4gn3gmU03sHlbvKT67xvPtXAz0GfveMyMsABxKll2Wrk2JXlU_Jqr6tyHKSJwTL5UYsEETgVWmXw50Kq0lnwt2sx80U5kU_9kbti8x-lhtRE49X-GIl9x5o/s320/108.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The National Gallery</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My second journey was to Leeds, a city I lived in (or
thereabouts) for about twenty years.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I
met up with friends for a curry and then drinks in the pub.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You don’t really get snow in Florida, so I
always hope for a little when I visit colder climes.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Amazingly it snowed that very night, making the
meet-up all a little extra magical.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9GtFPU5rgN8qFpHw8bMWhPg1BBqmw188fGGJqGmA4fj_MIZyqi40GgqyT5Dqh7LNSGtlMQncULXyOsMJGOCQLuXsvr4_hMyOfl7Ah2kteYZifZDk7rp9Q0fkvtZhEZYFMqMRqea0YTOH3/s1600/124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9GtFPU5rgN8qFpHw8bMWhPg1BBqmw188fGGJqGmA4fj_MIZyqi40GgqyT5Dqh7LNSGtlMQncULXyOsMJGOCQLuXsvr4_hMyOfl7Ah2kteYZifZDk7rp9Q0fkvtZhEZYFMqMRqea0YTOH3/s320/124.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A snowy Chemic pub in Leeds</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Towards the end of January I flew to Hamburg, Germany for a
few days. I was getting a bit blasé about
traveling by this point so didn’t do a lot of preparation. Consequently I arrived in the evening with
just a crap map that I’d printed off the internet and it took me some time to
find the right train and then walk to my friends from the station.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hamburg was excellent.
My favourite part was the evening spent in the Reeperbahn district with
an old German friend, seeing some of the old Beatles haunts, the famous redlight
area, and the lively dive bars that never sleep. Hamburg has definitely joined my (long and
growing) list of favourite cities.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqv3jJKRNLJRl7LgeFzZCBnWK6aejwUB6IvJgpezBxpB0uCTrpiaxy9USdhh2Oow3ixkPn53o8huK0Aiv8LBVptqNkdal-i2MIrjSlBUt7b1Hzy748Xr1WROz3TXErs7x8AeSsbN9xOuo/s1600/139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqv3jJKRNLJRl7LgeFzZCBnWK6aejwUB6IvJgpezBxpB0uCTrpiaxy9USdhh2Oow3ixkPn53o8huK0Aiv8LBVptqNkdal-i2MIrjSlBUt7b1Hzy748Xr1WROz3TXErs7x8AeSsbN9xOuo/s320/139.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Reeperbahn in Hamburg</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37LF-no1oI18LdN1-VhOtVORMaxfKDyJlsblmgkFxWrny4bWNvugjapMndJG5YOB8_AJpQP2fHfjHcPPzpCw47uxR5IlzoVqAtHo4-RAEjMHOO98Hhg8d-8yyMe5XDlDnjx9dZSFEBCRL/s1600/140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37LF-no1oI18LdN1-VhOtVORMaxfKDyJlsblmgkFxWrny4bWNvugjapMndJG5YOB8_AJpQP2fHfjHcPPzpCw47uxR5IlzoVqAtHo4-RAEjMHOO98Hhg8d-8yyMe5XDlDnjx9dZSFEBCRL/s320/140.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the /Star Club, and old Beatles hangout</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEippMyrKO27xo5WsZBedwiDHlYzadpacjFqDV4BfFIcP60ra-064sgfaoB45wqcJjzRH5YDy7yXF22cbEJdLsdZTbQIVfIvDdjqgIVMXwzGB6ZkV79ac2vdrv9Qd0qMHhVq3BlekpDqPNwr/s1600/135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEippMyrKO27xo5WsZBedwiDHlYzadpacjFqDV4BfFIcP60ra-064sgfaoB45wqcJjzRH5YDy7yXF22cbEJdLsdZTbQIVfIvDdjqgIVMXwzGB6ZkV79ac2vdrv9Qd0qMHhVq3BlekpDqPNwr/s320/135.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birds skating on the ice in central Hamburg</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI4xJrWqZtIh4pssO0A6LDTUPqZdXCHh61Rp-RXscOXiRMb5A1tMOQuyPotg5oi0K7tbYJKzdoJPd_s24Sh_nSWbkBgMHF18cuozuol7ZmA-m-nDUHZDaHa0mknhY509kes1Hfhd7h2w_X/s1600/133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI4xJrWqZtIh4pssO0A6LDTUPqZdXCHh61Rp-RXscOXiRMb5A1tMOQuyPotg5oi0K7tbYJKzdoJPd_s24Sh_nSWbkBgMHF18cuozuol7ZmA-m-nDUHZDaHa0mknhY509kes1Hfhd7h2w_X/s320/133.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Docks area of the Elbe River</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was a great month with some unforgettable traveling but
by the end I felt a little worn out and a rest was in order. If anything, I knew that February was likely
to be just as busy, if not more so!<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I laid low at my parents’ house for ten days or so.<br />
<br />
I had Liverpool, Chester, Cornwall, London, Lewes, and at least one trip into
the Lake District on the schedule for February.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-16178923853839258632015-12-17T08:58:00.004-05:002015-12-17T08:59:26.954-05:00American Christmas vs British Christmas: My Top 10 Differences<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's the same holiday and the same festive season, but there are differences in the experience according to which country you are in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGlqHe9OOdCchwsOjD94pIidpFniAu_TI-A0LPfMVM7WSt8iqpYtET-aeeaVpYCuHIUILAlyV33PfnRQhnLzgnI2Kh2-l8u2BNBnkMBYxCHN6DVmp1B3-ibgOMtIyVaSBqDmiR1zMr9GS_/s1600/Xmas+in+Skipton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGlqHe9OOdCchwsOjD94pIidpFniAu_TI-A0LPfMVM7WSt8iqpYtET-aeeaVpYCuHIUILAlyV33PfnRQhnLzgnI2Kh2-l8u2BNBnkMBYxCHN6DVmp1B3-ibgOMtIyVaSBqDmiR1zMr9GS_/s320/Xmas+in+Skipton.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Myself, drinking a pint of Christmas cheer in a pub in Skipton, Yorkshire, during the festive season.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Below is a list of the main things that I've noticed:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For sure, Thanksgiving steals the thunder of Christmas in the U.S. to some extent. Relatives often make a long journey to meet up for Thanksgiving and don't repeat it for Christmas. In Britain, there are no nearby festivals to rival Christmas (November 5th is a very different sort of event) and so it is usually the only big meet up point for families during the Autumn and Winter months, perhaps even the entire year.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe surprisingly, given that America is a much more religious place, most of the public holidays tend to be secular, presumably due to the separation of church and state. In the U.K. the longest and most important holidays of the year are Christmas and Easter, when the country closes down for at least two or three days.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the U.S. workers maybe get to leave work early on Christmas eve, then they have Christmas Day, but it is straight back to work on December 26th. In Britain there is Boxing Day straight after Christmas Day, so the holiday is automatically longer.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On top of that, the work culture is much more laid back, so Britain effectively semi-shuts down for the entire period between Christmas and New Year, making the holiday period feel much longer. I also suspect that the Christmas period generally involves more work social events, extended lunches, and finishing early, than the more work-intensive U.S.A.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For better or worse, a British Christmas tends to involve more alcohol.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Perhaps linked to the above, Brits generally tend to be more reserved in everyday life, but they go a little crazy when they party and really let themselves go. Americans tend to be more balanced in that they are more outgoing in general life and less crazy when it comes to partying. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most of the connotations of Christmas tend to be Wintry: reindeer, snow, etc. This fits in well with Britain and the Northern U.S., but it can seem incongruous in the Southern states where the Winters are much milder. Sorry, but seeing a snowman displayed next to a palm tree in Florida just looks wrong.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Americans are way more outgoing, and even brash (according to British tastes) in their decorations than the more conservative folks across the pond. It is not uncommon to see entire houses, even streets lit up for the festive season in the U.S., which is much rarer in the U.K. There often even appears to be a competitive element, with American neighbours attempting to outdo each other.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The U.S. "Culture Wars" often play out in the festive season, with high profile constitutional disputes over nativity scenes at public buildings etc. In the U.K., where religion is less powerful/controversial and there is no legal separation of church and state, such disputes don't generally exist. Although there is to some extent a politically correct movement in the U.K. that sometimes challenges the dominant role of Christianity, especially in non-Christian areas of the inner cities. The disputes are minor in comparison, however, and not on the same scale as the U.S.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">America has produced some of the great classic Christmas movies: It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, etc. but there is not quite the same tradition of T.V. Christmas specials which go on for about a month in the U.K. Generally speaking, the modern U.S. tends to be a more movie orientated country, and the U.K. is more focused on T.V. and radio.</span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihJb-lPknA1TQR3uq7zZR06AyVaWPYTv2AZj7f1kGBznVxXbJ5HQBm_ogrKQpHlzkToACISX-vUNOTSziy0m7AM0lawykCmvHVycgdQBF1KscTJBPje-ARoYoeoGlvcV2hDsiD82YdsppB/s1600/800px-ChristmasCrackers_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihJb-lPknA1TQR3uq7zZR06AyVaWPYTv2AZj7f1kGBznVxXbJ5HQBm_ogrKQpHlzkToACISX-vUNOTSziy0m7AM0lawykCmvHVycgdQBF1KscTJBPje-ARoYoeoGlvcV2hDsiD82YdsppB/s320/800px-ChristmasCrackers_2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A pair of Christmas crackers. Source: Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, one tradition that you won't find in the U.S. is the pulling of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker">Christmas crackers</a>, which is done in the U.K. usually during the festive dinner. The cracker is pulled by two people, one at each end, it makes a crack/bang, and then the central cardboard chamber is ripped open to reveal a small present or puzzle, a festive paper hat in the shape of a crown, and a written joke that is traditionally read out to the other guests.</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-44052687793795183252015-12-09T11:24:00.002-05:002015-12-09T11:24:16.350-05:00Back in the UK: Culture Shock!<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I am back in the UK for a few months, after spending a week in New York en route from Florida.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <br /></span>I <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">also managed to get</span> caught up in the Storm Desmond drama when I eventually arrived back in the North of England (more on that later.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had a great time in New York, staying with my old friend Ed at East Northport, near Huntington, on the north coast of Long Island.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHA-97rokz6YIEgvSBBT6Cfd3wNOFX-EQRDZoZkY2zy_SHRZPJNmPCmn89bC4EHV1CueUgCCpDJx6rYTcjXOHnWgL6-ADiB3pAtXrQ9net-PeB2pvKaU2_BxCBNulRILDfAlS-3tqMkiNr/s1600/IMG_0477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHA-97rokz6YIEgvSBBT6Cfd3wNOFX-EQRDZoZkY2zy_SHRZPJNmPCmn89bC4EHV1CueUgCCpDJx6rYTcjXOHnWgL6-ADiB3pAtXrQ9net-PeB2pvKaU2_BxCBNulRILDfAlS-3tqMkiNr/s320/IMG_0477.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Northport, Long Island, New York.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I arrived on a Saturday morning and we had a quiet day eating, drinking<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, and catching up on <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">people and events</span> since the l<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ast <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">time I was in New York, seven years ago</span></span></span>.<br /><br />We went into Manhattan the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">following</span> day and did poetry readings in the city and then Brooklyn, which as fun.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9znuWvE75bLvF3smzVtZ1Y8pd348IH9AnFLt7rDo3luP-EltakcQIOeyrnwdLx1xKWDQSY-ruN4t9C8pswx0mpkV-9H8egc5jW2jWgLqEv0AG8gmwCmkzXvyb9zMy8bA67k23uIu5FRpx/s1600/IMG_0460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9znuWvE75bLvF3smzVtZ1Y8pd348IH9AnFLt7rDo3luP-EltakcQIOeyrnwdLx1xKWDQSY-ruN4t9C8pswx0mpkV-9H8egc5jW2jWgLqEv0AG8gmwCmkzXvyb9zMy8bA67k23uIu5FRpx/s320/IMG_0460.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ed and I on the F Train.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilWjBe3YUyZ-Ep60t55gNeFad1NJTH77cpfUytRORWJXDJsJYtIGXxOr2YJhpTGA6tBIJfrW6T6dxiZllkBK5wsii_u2BFKx2M1k5cy8pil0BdyrnsMHZeUSUk1DfbfpCCV6sXuxebZNg/s1600/IMG_0471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilWjBe3YUyZ-Ep60t55gNeFad1NJTH77cpfUytRORWJXDJsJYtIGXxOr2YJhpTGA6tBIJfrW6T6dxiZllkBK5wsii_u2BFKx2M1k5cy8pil0BdyrnsMHZeUSUk1DfbfpCCV6sXuxebZNg/s320/IMG_0471.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Me and Ed with poetry host, George Wallace outside the Parkside.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKHYVmgsBtArFE1-DTU5N048lOIGgPfo59N976cPn0-WmVov7Wq1hSQoG7bEr7fF7PezNLNjYt6V0qpdUHsZxr7Xc1hbTjyTeyEBI62vJ9Zv0AoUAGq2m-R6Xp2DDnThHCtQ1R3_IYlkl/s1600/brooklyn+reading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKHYVmgsBtArFE1-DTU5N048lOIGgPfo59N976cPn0-WmVov7Wq1hSQoG7bEr7fF7PezNLNjYt6V0qpdUHsZxr7Xc1hbTjyTeyEBI62vJ9Zv0AoUAGq2m-R6Xp2DDnThHCtQ1R3_IYlkl/s320/brooklyn+reading.jpg" width="234" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Me reading my cheese poem in Brooklyn (photo thanks to Dasha Bazanova)</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had some great time exploring Long Island with Ed, and met up with my old friend, Lorraine, who showed me around the last time I was in New York, as well as hosti<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ng a poetry event in Valley Stream</span>.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOIwz4lYIIcKNj8fbLvqzegn1AoPlhIAoAbCREsU-ZDoVBa7zKReAGpI5-DKfdCYK9szAVMN6fzf7x36QqtAtKO3fKJXK9aTH79pSKGvFEfVf9mo9GZH-o4MLsIpqmzIP6QjRRwYIUCn2/s1600/p+and+la.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOIwz4lYIIcKNj8fbLvqzegn1AoPlhIAoAbCREsU-ZDoVBa7zKReAGpI5-DKfdCYK9szAVMN6fzf7x36QqtAtKO3fKJXK9aTH79pSKGvFEfVf9mo9GZH-o4MLsIpqmzIP6QjRRwYIUCn2/s320/p+and+la.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With Lorraine in Sip This, Valley Stream, NY </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also went into the city on my own and visited the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Modern Art,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">loved the dinosaurs and there was a Jackson Pollock exhibition.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwClDWQIHRxljGCUyX37eyWYy3K4r9Pu52Ruxribj6eNzPpbwQAJWXnXfB-YcDqTJy6LM7nUznZtXFqdfsctFKw8tyRpNLoU8qcLpTybs9nQ_VLIwb-Ocd0nFEfmPTw4deFZGn8V0pFJ-T/s1600/IMG_0483.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwClDWQIHRxljGCUyX37eyWYy3K4r9Pu52Ruxribj6eNzPpbwQAJWXnXfB-YcDqTJy6LM7nUznZtXFqdfsctFKw8tyRpNLoU8qcLpTybs9nQ_VLIwb-Ocd0nFEfmPTw4deFZGn8V0pFJ-T/s320/IMG_0483.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Me with <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ed</span>. He had lost a lot of weight by this point and was becoming increasingly aggressive(!) ;)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-GFSr7NHk5LRtttCNn96ep3NZGm-bS_PNMMnrKhx6YE1llrmlm3fHF-yUG0aYdzEUT2Bbbdkf1kTJooWN3jdVK6dVQOkAtCI75mU3Fww7PUT7fKz-yY4PpnXRFoBXYtYST8m2-e2617G/s1600/IMG_0490.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-GFSr7NHk5LRtttCNn96ep3NZGm-bS_PNMMnrKhx6YE1llrmlm3fHF-yUG0aYdzEUT2Bbbdkf1kTJooWN3jdVK6dVQOkAtCI75mU3Fww7PUT7fKz-yY4PpnXRFoBXYtYST8m2-e2617G/s320/IMG_0490.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I walked through Central Park from the Natural History Museum to the MOMA<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrUDG9z661_kZw5DqjwJSOIhIw6PkJl-YtAlYqIYVGv6dDOxIgi8LktQP3QKV1jc2wN7Khir-6-tLRF1qtovrKXkWDPB2bVlmlJVUdDapxrOpfXLXEaMn_Us-Lt6uozNWVkrdZXI9aOTl/s1600/IMG_0493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrUDG9z661_kZw5DqjwJSOIhIw6PkJl-YtAlYqIYVGv6dDOxIgi8LktQP3QKV1jc2wN7Khir-6-tLRF1qtovrKXkWDPB2bVlmlJVUdDapxrOpfXLXEaMn_Us-Lt6uozNWVkrdZXI9aOTl/s320/IMG_0493.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Jackson Pollock painting at the MOMA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's difficult to cover everything during my action-packed week in New York and all the folks I met, but it was wonderful.<br /><br />All good things come to an end, however, and the time came for me to journey to my next destination, dear old Blighty. I was travelling to the northwest of England, Kendal, Cumbria, to be exact.<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Due to heavy traffic, I arrived late for my flight check-in at JFK. The lady at the desk saw that as personal insult, and was consequently a cow, but I survived (she made me jump through numerous extra hoops just to show her displeasure). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The subsequent flight to Iceland went pretty smoothly, however. I was impressed by all the improvements they've ma<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">de to </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reykjavik airport. It used to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">look</span> like an <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">old</span> (I think it is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a former </span>hangar<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span>, now it's li<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ke something from an IKEA catalogue.</span></span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My</span> flight from </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reykjavik to the UK was delayed by 45 mins but nothing remarkable <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">otherwise</span>.<br /><br />I arrived in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Manchester the following morning feeling tired and hungry, but pretty good. Then I found out that due to Storm Desmond and the intense flooding in the North West of England, there were no trains running north of Preston, Lancashire. It was a similar story with the coach/bus service.<br /><br />The storm had flooded out whole areas of some towns, including Kendal, knocked out the power, damaged bridges, roads, and caused mini-landslides. I was stranded just one and a half hours from my destination.<br /><br />The options for me were to stay in a hotel in Manchester or Preston; stay with a friend in the area; or get a ride home by car from Preston.<br /><br />After talking to my parents, I caught the train to Preston. The station cafe bar was full of stranded people: families; mountaineers; students; businessmen; old people, young people, and others. I consoled myself with a couple of quality pints of draught dry cider (a relative rarity in the US).</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the end, I was lucky enough to get a lift from my parents from Preston to Kendal, but the journey took twice as long as normal, thanks to the flooded roads.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYU5sgWHuC4WIFMjgrui_8h-ktXy2W805TLFxDfmAs99qEfpnA24UYQbQcgGJmtaIm4A9XWz5Y8Y-_tRQc5V8n8XYCY9LlzOF6Udlt1oD53QKjBodXOsAGy5xRg9Qej9Epd3QSBZdxK3wN/s1600/DSCF0867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYU5sgWHuC4WIFMjgrui_8h-ktXy2W805TLFxDfmAs99qEfpnA24UYQbQcgGJmtaIm4A9XWz5Y8Y-_tRQc5V8n8XYCY9LlzOF6Udlt1oD53QKjBodXOsAGy5xRg9Qej9Epd3QSBZdxK3wN/s320/DSCF0867.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Auld Grey Town" of Kendal at dusk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>Culture Shock</b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few things I've needed to adjust to since arriving back, both good and bad:</span></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I got confused by British coins initially, I thought the 5 pence was worth ten, because it is a similar size to a dime. Kind of embarrassing.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The roads were unnerving for a while, as I thought we were driving on the wrong side.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pleasantly reminded of the low prices <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of</span> beer in the pubs. In the US you have to take out a bank loan to go out for a night of beers(!) Prices are less than half here in the UK and you're not expected to tip on top for every beer too. (Liquor is cheaper in the US, including Scotch whiskey, but that's another story!)</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The English seem so quiet, gentle, and reserved, when you are used to Americans.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> English customer service continues to improve, although it is still not always great. America is still the king of customer service.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Americans think the English are super-polite, but the truth is that it is very variable here. You can go into a shop or stand at a bus stop and chat to some super polite person, then walk down the street and hear young children call each other f**king c*nts. Courtesy and rudeness t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">end to </span>rub shoulders much more.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Drivers here are almost always way more sane and courteous than Florida, however.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm still a little jet-lagged, my sleep patterns can be <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">erratic at the best of times, but throw in <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a five <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hour time shi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ft and things get <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">interesting<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-62469551122700047552015-10-12T08:00:00.001-04:002015-10-12T08:01:24.180-04:00The trip is on!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>“For a long while- for many years, in fact- he had not thought of how it was before he came to the farm. His memory of those times was like a house where no one lives and where the furniture has rotted away. But tonight it was as if lamps had been lighted through all the gloomy dead rooms. It had begun to happen when he saw Tico Feo coming through the dusk with his splendid guitar. Until that moment he had not been lonesome. Now, recognizing his loneliness, he felt alive. He had not wanted to be alive. To be alive was to remember brown rivers where the fish run, and sunlight on a lady's hair.”
</i> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">― Truman Capote, A Diamond Guitar </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After a particularly challenging period in my personal life, I have decided to embark upon a major trip at the end of November. There may well be a few more legs to the experience but currently only the first two are planned. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4URFXvjVDd3v06SgXuxQJbdxC7LbqQqwcCXm_upcGpn9tzUnJGPYcmFXSXSlK0ObzoynsWml6dpJkjYhampW4SIn71YRhy0CTkEUyjSQjaSvZEqUSd1HpjB4j_z4dem6BhgKZS66GtHNS/s1600/test+pics+127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4URFXvjVDd3v06SgXuxQJbdxC7LbqQqwcCXm_upcGpn9tzUnJGPYcmFXSXSlK0ObzoynsWml6dpJkjYhampW4SIn71YRhy0CTkEUyjSQjaSvZEqUSd1HpjB4j_z4dem6BhgKZS66GtHNS/s320/test+pics+127.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>On the first leg</b>, I am going to spend a week in the New York area. I am going to meet up with old friends on Long Island and do a couple of poetry readings, as well as see some sights in Manhattan (I've been there before but there is always lots more to do!). I am looking forward to it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am flying up there. I did seriously consider renting a car and driving up to New York. It would have been great to visit friends in North Carolina and Pennsylvania en route, but in the end I decided that the expense and hassle were a little too much for my budget - part of the problem being making the journey during the Thanksgiving period (I've still not got fully used to the American calendar). </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgBBResbFgzXzVciyCQ1N9y5bkEkfPN7L9FMgG5C1Fu4U4E6qcHRSmr5itwJa509GeFd5fitgRfRjwIC5ilJhoMzMYHz79aixyeOkz5OVgf-4DvX7T1A0tFxP739iJLtdoklxHI4mqQ4Y/s1600/DSCF1005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgBBResbFgzXzVciyCQ1N9y5bkEkfPN7L9FMgG5C1Fu4U4E6qcHRSmr5itwJa509GeFd5fitgRfRjwIC5ilJhoMzMYHz79aixyeOkz5OVgf-4DvX7T1A0tFxP739iJLtdoklxHI4mqQ4Y/s320/DSCF1005.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The second leg</b> of the journey will be an Atlantic flight from JFK over to Blighty (that's an affectionate name for England/Britain, if you're not familiar with it!). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm going to spend some time with my family in the English Lake District, hopefully scale at least one mountain (maybe England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike this time? Although that might be a little optimistic in the middle of Winter, I don't know?). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> I also want to spend time with my brother and his family down on the south coast of England in the Brighton area.
It would be great to visit others too, and maybe even go over to continental Europe if my finances allow. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> I will be heading back to the USA at some point in the new year. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxxF2AXrKUBGvD4xW9eyYooJiF-hAmzEO0HTDRW1dl6cnjoyTfYX12fDBPYuuer7bGxavLu-PW_pohCTFiufhQ5JfdfMCLllMZt8zyk7FMYIGwK_VcBZtvdDevi8xlH9SSxj_cWuYViWdp/s1600/DSCF0984.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxxF2AXrKUBGvD4xW9eyYooJiF-hAmzEO0HTDRW1dl6cnjoyTfYX12fDBPYuuer7bGxavLu-PW_pohCTFiufhQ5JfdfMCLllMZt8zyk7FMYIGwK_VcBZtvdDevi8xlH9SSxj_cWuYViWdp/s320/DSCF0984.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Things that I have missed about the UK</b> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> • Friends and family, of course. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> • Fish and chips with mushy peas. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">• World class Indian food at very low prices. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">• Cheese and onion pasties. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> • A creamy, foamy pint of real ale in a centuries old pub. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">• The sweeping hills, mountains, lakes, and dales of Cumbria and Yorkshire. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> • The dry English sense of humour. It sometimes feels like every other person you meet is a quality comedian in the UK, and the perception that life is more than a little absurd is common. Americans in general take life more seriously and the humour can be less subtle. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt9OTzHvOFLzGkNQ1MsFq15Kg3pNSYJwH7xyXhxCbwKF1lY_QczBG6uV2ZEdbgBq4Cht7MSYSTcRLfjySZuEwznDZ8iEU-NGckxa2tPNRmhTfXF4JmEIFzqQqKEtWTJu-xbRm7jkzKcZpI/s1600/nationals+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt9OTzHvOFLzGkNQ1MsFq15Kg3pNSYJwH7xyXhxCbwKF1lY_QczBG6uV2ZEdbgBq4Cht7MSYSTcRLfjySZuEwznDZ8iEU-NGckxa2tPNRmhTfXF4JmEIFzqQqKEtWTJu-xbRm7jkzKcZpI/s320/nationals+photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Things I will miss about Florida/the USA</b> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">• All my friends here, who have become as important to me as my old friends back in England. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">• The openness, warmth and friendliness of Americans generally. The English, as we all know, are more reserved. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">• The Florida sunshine and beaches. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> • The exotic wildlife. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">• My tennis exploits and my tennis comrades. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> • The space. Lots of space in the US. Everything can seem a little cramped in Europe when you return. Driving is a completely different experience, not so much because of the driving on the left hand side thing in the UK, more that everything feels more pushed in, busier, and narrower. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">• Last but not least, the cafe bar at Lucky's Market, my peaceful little port in a stormy world.</span>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-59459659334120278522014-09-09T10:35:00.000-04:002014-09-10T09:41:21.604-04:00A Fistful of Cents: British Money vs US Money<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One thing that any foreigner has to contend with when moving
to another country is the currency.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Back in England,
we use pounds and pence (not the Euro, as some Americans seem to believe), but
in the USA it
is dollars and cents, of course. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After living here for three years, I am at home with the
notes, or "bills" as they say here, but (probably to my shame) I can
still find the coins a little confusing at times.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWgj2vjNNmiZk6PqJuZ2smy14jJWjh4CFIRAi4gspvl2bzOYMLMaJQ-mwBpb4bycBj198s_Cm0LjknKXZkRvTNORstuDNKwyQyObG1zEDCjDGKy35M0xcOm-3Gs91HGmL8HK2hyUT07WB4/s1600/us-dollars-84594_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWgj2vjNNmiZk6PqJuZ2smy14jJWjh4CFIRAi4gspvl2bzOYMLMaJQ-mwBpb4bycBj198s_Cm0LjknKXZkRvTNORstuDNKwyQyObG1zEDCjDGKy35M0xcOm-3Gs91HGmL8HK2hyUT07WB4/s1600/us-dollars-84594_640.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">US Dollars: Public Domain Image via Pixabay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bills and Notes</b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think the biggest difference in paper money is the
preponderance of the dollar bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back
in the UK, the
lowest paper note has a value of 5 pounds, the equivalent to around $8.50 at
the time of writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dollar bill is
worth about 60 pence in Brit money.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The British pound note, which was around for most of the
twentieth century, disappeared in the late 1980s, mainly because its value had
decreased and it was far less durable than a coin equivalent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bottom line was that it was deemed too
uneconomic to produce by the Bank of England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The demise of the pound note caused an uproar at the time in England, in
large part because the new pound coins were heavier on the pocket than the old
notes and you couldn't carry around large amounts of them easily.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Coming to America
felt like going back to the old pound note days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to say that the dollar notes are good
in that respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are light on the
pocket and slot into the wallet easily, making them user friendly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Designs and
Construction</b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Both countries' notes are pretty conservative in their
design, but the American notes are probably more traditional than British ones,
in fact, my research tells me that the images on US notes haven't changed since
1929.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That means that the images reflect older values, there are
no women on US
notes - neither are there any great American figures from the middle or late
twentieth century.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The best thing about US
"paper" money, however, is its resilience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's because although it looks like paper, it
is actually made from cotton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
effectively means that if you accidentally leave your money in your pocket on a
wash day, it can go through the laundry and come out the other side with
virtually no sign of damage or wear and tear!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7sBcwqRyKHP4XKACFU3SVhyphenhyphenf7GQ-5ERI56bBCtV6snyDM2IReOLPUIhsf1nvOYgM_eLVP18PJ7qNANSPDr534Iy63MEX0sxCZOJaTmh2ssZd8CIIZ4HRStrwCuCvlE3O0vgnso2OMCYU/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="American Quarters, Nickels and Dimes and Pennies" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7sBcwqRyKHP4XKACFU3SVhyphenhyphenf7GQ-5ERI56bBCtV6snyDM2IReOLPUIhsf1nvOYgM_eLVP18PJ7qNANSPDr534Iy63MEX0sxCZOJaTmh2ssZd8CIIZ4HRStrwCuCvlE3O0vgnso2OMCYU/s1600/photo.JPG" height="240" title="US coins" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A random handful of US coins</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Coins</b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The downside of US
money is that there are lots of small and low value coins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one cent coin, for instance, is worth
barely more than half a pence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dropped
coins can be found all over the place, because the effort of picking them up is
not seen as worth it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a Brit, I can find the design of US coins counter-intuitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The quarter (25c) is the biggest, next comes
the nickel (5c), followed by the dime (10c) - why a nickel is bigger than a
dime, I have no idea!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are all
circular with no variation in shape, which doesn't help, although the one cents
(pennies) are a different colour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The long and the short of it is that in practical terms, I
tend to avoid counting out the coins whenever possible and stick to using the
notes/bills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That isn't actually all
that strange, as many Americans don't use coins much either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On more than one occasion, I have received comments about <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my (English) wallet, which has a separate
little pouch for storing coins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is pretty
normal where I am from, but apparently a quaint eccentricity for some
Americans, who are more likely to store their coins in pockets, or loose in
hand bags (or "purses" as they are typically called here!).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dollar Coins</b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite the bill being the norm, every now and then, you
will come across a dollar coin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
have an emotional, nostalgic value, as "silver dollars" were the norm
before paper money in the US
and are far less common.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I actually got given an old dollar coin as a gift one time, which was a nice thought.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There is also apparently a two dollar note, which was issued
for the bicentennial in 1976, but I have yet to encounter one.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Future?</b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In some ways, a comparison of money seems like a moot point
in that paper and coins are inevitably giving way to credit and debit cards and
other forms of electronic transaction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Electronic payments, as well as credit and bank cards work a
little differently to the UK,
the security is a lot slacker, for instance, but I guess that's another
story!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-14285475950982887942013-12-03T16:32:00.001-05:002013-12-03T16:32:49.168-05:00Rediscovering Cumbria and Yorkshire<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After my arduous flight, it was a relief to reach my
mother’s house in Kendal, Cumbria.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was sure that it would seem freezing in the north of
England after Florida, but it didn’t seem too bad (although later on, the cold
did seem to seep into my bones!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
had some winter weather clothing stashed at my mother’s place, which I dug out
from the loft – woolly hat, raincoat, fleece, Doc Martyns, walking/running
shoes... </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What impressed me most initially was all the Autumnal colors
in northern England (Florida doesn’t really have a great deal of seasonal
change), as well as the dramatic and attractive Lake District scenery.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I spent the first couple of days acclimatising and indulging
in some of the things that are impossible or difficult to do in Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ate cheese and onion pasties and fish and
ships, drank cider, and bought some North of England ale.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the weekend, I went to a folk music club in Kendal on the
Monday night, which was fun, listening to some traditional British and Irish
music.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadOMN7A1VA9F_PPq41BaPIXHvlTUfjOB24qaNhyphenhyphenPZuDsj0GWpFxDrxe_ftF6Bx-4oIz1EvgrNY5spS3H7lRxdVLxelMeQUBObe3Jwmg_pG3ZxawtnVsRN6XHQ5ih2fNfUvCMVWl1n8ygZ/s1600/DSCF0875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadOMN7A1VA9F_PPq41BaPIXHvlTUfjOB24qaNhyphenhyphenPZuDsj0GWpFxDrxe_ftF6Bx-4oIz1EvgrNY5spS3H7lRxdVLxelMeQUBObe3Jwmg_pG3ZxawtnVsRN6XHQ5ih2fNfUvCMVWl1n8ygZ/s320/DSCF0875.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I bumped into an American singer from Nashville whilst I was
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://rodpicott.com/">Rod Picott </a>had just finished a European
tour and stopped off for a night in Kendal on his way from Scotland to
London, where he was due to catch his flight back to Tennessee. He told me that
he wanted to experience some traditional music and this was his first time at a
UK folk club</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He was a lone American in a room full of Brits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am used to being a lone Brit in a crowd of
Americans, so I felt a connection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was a really nice guy and I would highly recommend his music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Having found my Blighty feet, I set off on my first major jaunt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I worked and lived for many years in the Leeds area, so I
embarked on a trip over to Yorkshire to see my old friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To get there meant driving through the
narrow, winding country roads of Cumbria and North Yorkshire (my mother had
kindly insured her car for me and offered me its use).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was great fun and a definite contrast from
the broad, straight highways of Florida.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I visited a few old work friends from the time I spent working
for Leeds Libraries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I drank with some old friends in the pub (I do sometimes miss
the cosiness of the traditional British pub, living in the US).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I also went for some excellent walks with old friends
through the parkland and woods of north Leeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Meanwood Park was visited by J R R Tolkein when he lived in
the area and some scholars believe that it influenced his vision of Middle
Earth that he used when he wrote The Hobbit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My weekend in Yorkshire seemed to go by too quickly, but it
was a great first trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I headed back to
my base in Kendal and made plans to head down to the Brighton area, Sussex
(south coast of England) next, and also Edinburgh, Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I also drew up some plans for some more forays
into Yorkshire and a mountain climb in the English Lake District.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My trip was off to a great start.</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-11782589943123776102013-11-13T08:25:00.000-05:002013-11-13T08:26:22.167-05:00Bad Flight – Crossing the Atlantic the Hard Way!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Before I set off for England, my wife asked me how I felt
about my imminent journey?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I told her that I possessed a mixture of anticipation and
trepidation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would enjoy being in
England, but I wasn’t looking forward to all the flying, airport security,
waiting around, anxiety over delays etc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The last trans-Atlantic flight I went on was when I flew
over to Florida from England to get married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The plane made a short, first leg journey from Manchester to Dublin, where
it proceeded to snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My main flight from
Ireland to Orlando was cancelled and I spent an unexpected night in a hotel in a
very cold and white Dublin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I finally got to Florida the following evening, but there
was a lot of extra stress and worry – plus additional expenses relating to
hotel fees and food, which it took over a month for me to claim back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgth2qcxAzMzMeHsGREuo7p39NUc0lS8Y3PSX5R6QtmUZ3De4g3afge5qoS3IK_SyWv0zN0vnIn3XgEDDcx6-miH5tlgLpP6ObNbnKUCR4ZIatWz1YqoF8OhYNj6GZKaBJfirW-RPQc0ckf/s1600/DSCF0181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgth2qcxAzMzMeHsGREuo7p39NUc0lS8Y3PSX5R6QtmUZ3De4g3afge5qoS3IK_SyWv0zN0vnIn3XgEDDcx6-miH5tlgLpP6ObNbnKUCR4ZIatWz1YqoF8OhYNj6GZKaBJfirW-RPQc0ckf/s320/DSCF0181.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Ill-Fated Dublin Flight in 2010</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This time my wife reassured me that things would be
better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it did start out very
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife and I drove to Tampa, we
had a nice meal and a drink, and we said our farewells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I flew up to Boston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there I was due to fly overnight to
Reykjavík, Iceland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was actually very
much looking forward to arriving in Iceland the following morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though there wouldn’t be much to see apart
from the descent into Reykjavík and the airport itself, Iceland has always
struck me as a fascinating place to experience, even if just from the air.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Reykjavík flight was due to leave at 8.30pm Boston time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But just before we were supposed to take off
they told that there was a mysterious technical problem – mysterious, because
they knew that it existed but they weren’t sure exactly what it was.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An hour later they told us that they now knew what the
problem was, but they needed a part to fix it, and that part had to be flown in
all the way from Atlanta, Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
the part arrived at Boston, the Icelandic air stewardess assured us, the
engineers would fix the plane and we would fly out at 12.30pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, the cynics amongst the
passengers could be heard to mutter quietly their doubts that the plane would
leave the runway that evening, although everybody wanted to hope for the best.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, 12.30 came around and they cancelled the
flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That left more than 200
passengers with nowhere to sleep, and perhaps worse, no definite flights to
their final destination (Iceland was just a stepping stone for most of us).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A slow, but chaotic series of computer
bookings and general irritating nonsense ensued at the flight company’s checkout
desk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The nearest hotels that they could book us into were 30 or
40 miles away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They managed to book me
onto a flight to Heathrow (then on to Manchester) leaving later that morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In theory, I had a hotel to sleep at, but
there wasn’t time for me to travel all the way to the hotel to rest and then still
get back in time to check in for my early morning flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I spent the night sleeping (or at least
trying) beside the airport’s Dunkin’ Donuts outlet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fun fun fun, it was not.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset Over the Atlantic Above the Clouds</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To cut a long story short (I will miss out the incorrect
boarding pass that I was given for the flight to Heathrow, followed by the
delays with my final flight of the journey) I did eventually make it to
Manchester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But at such a late hour,
there was no way that I could catch a train up to the Lake District.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, my mother and her partner had taken
pity on me, and they came down to the airport to collect me in the car. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise that would have been another night
in an airport.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, I am here now in (rainy) England and determined to
enjoy myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which I will.</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-41092661170701353202013-10-22T13:06:00.001-04:002013-10-22T13:06:54.998-04:00Playing Tennis at the Nationals in Tucson<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I planned to blog about my time at the tennis nationals a couple of weeks back, but due to time pressures, I’ve not had the chance until now. That said, it probably isn’t a bad thing that I have a few weeks distance for reflection, as the experience was an emotional roller coaster, to say the least.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b>Saguaro National Park</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Those of us making the road trip arrived a couple of days early, giving us an opportunity to explore, chill out, and acclimatize (or acclimate, as they say in these parts). The four of us were joined by a fifth team member, Bobby, on the Wednesday, and almost immediately a plan was formed to visit one of the Arizona National Parks (this was just before they all closed for the government shutdown which began the following week).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />We opted for the Saguaro National Park, famous for its giant saguaro cacti. The scenery was truly stunning: a range of incredible cacti in a rocky, dry desert setting, with a fabulous mountain backdrop. We drove and walked around and I got the Paul-stood-next-to-giant-cactus-photo which I had hoped for!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FwCGVpgwPsYN_-DNK4Z7dF734MCBteKPmaNFvf0us7kf8SwOGLdovnlFwYAqSoHyfy8pNhHd7pQgb1uSkWnLhQ6hyphenhyphen8u4tRuTCnGrrmAQTW1NGNQTFIPys9XK0HHqpdl3WfnaeU4m-y0v/s1600/desert6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FwCGVpgwPsYN_-DNK4Z7dF734MCBteKPmaNFvf0us7kf8SwOGLdovnlFwYAqSoHyfy8pNhHd7pQgb1uSkWnLhQ6hyphenhyphen8u4tRuTCnGrrmAQTW1NGNQTFIPys9XK0HHqpdl3WfnaeU4m-y0v/s320/desert6.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with giant cactus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scott on a rock formation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another interesting cacti, in bloom.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLc5n2xcGTziqoZWm2j03Jb1T5MTpVZS-ECOF1L-DlpKtHTlglRWFt8WDH0omqvMvbNJZBHNf7lS93Us0NTU_LX2uSk5ORyJCS2bry-eheULK5cVIXntXp9XkSgiu28PngW2D0WE72f_v/s1600/desert+17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLc5n2xcGTziqoZWm2j03Jb1T5MTpVZS-ECOF1L-DlpKtHTlglRWFt8WDH0omqvMvbNJZBHNf7lS93Us0NTU_LX2uSk5ORyJCS2bry-eheULK5cVIXntXp9XkSgiu28PngW2D0WE72f_v/s320/desert+17.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stunning scenery</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Buoyed by our visit to the park, we headed back to the hotel, where the rest of the team were gradually arriving in readiness for the next day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b>Let the Tennis Begin!</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Background</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Basically, all the men’s teams were split into 4 different groups. There were three other teams in our group. If we won all three matches, then we were through to the semi-finals. If we won two out of the three, we could still make it through, but it would be tougher.</span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrySgAgpdwIXfINLblEFggLXTlTAzUByyccirSLvg_4IIMPQSKyOEWd19fslFBUieX7sYTxygD_OGQ_GNWrBmx-KtoS5nOOO6Y8-9iEE19okvonYSXTD-eUi8gK987u-WvaOXx03pil2nU/s1600/team+jump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrySgAgpdwIXfINLblEFggLXTlTAzUByyccirSLvg_4IIMPQSKyOEWd19fslFBUieX7sYTxygD_OGQ_GNWrBmx-KtoS5nOOO6Y8-9iEE19okvonYSXTD-eUi8gK987u-WvaOXx03pil2nU/s320/team+jump.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nationals Team</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrxL1vsriO6raZ9MPuudDRGLg4JQR73ndBF2J3pUc8sRFZE9e9S523KGt_qIvgjAk_LizjxF4u8gXEeNjhsET4kVS6J1Rvyh1ypUIDNJYknQF0mGU9gYZHN6u5aGW84o7zYCQgMNQgoAJ/s1600/e1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrxL1vsriO6raZ9MPuudDRGLg4JQR73ndBF2J3pUc8sRFZE9e9S523KGt_qIvgjAk_LizjxF4u8gXEeNjhsET4kVS6J1Rvyh1ypUIDNJYknQF0mGU9gYZHN6u5aGW84o7zYCQgMNQgoAJ/s320/e1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erin kept everyone back home up to date on the scores via Facebook</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJSHftRpKAgnZUT2tqPQn2Q2Zw03Gg2m67Ndzl4oh_-_Udbhlf7N53w6fhHqfztUursciPLf-TJf2YlrVjiwzcsd6Lla1WxQXI4OOZEe05IHsncwrRUeL9AcGKxvbh3bQQ6bspP7oIPh8/s1600/c+and+h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJSHftRpKAgnZUT2tqPQn2Q2Zw03Gg2m67Ndzl4oh_-_Udbhlf7N53w6fhHqfztUursciPLf-TJf2YlrVjiwzcsd6Lla1WxQXI4OOZEe05IHsncwrRUeL9AcGKxvbh3bQQ6bspP7oIPh8/s320/c+and+h.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cam was supposed to be playing but got (unfairly) disqualified from the competition at the last moment. Heather took most of the photos.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Friday - First Match</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Our first match took place ridiculously early in the morning, but it didn’t seem to matter, as we were all thrown out by the time difference anyway (thanks to the different time zones and Tucson not doing Summer Time, there was a 3 hour difference from Florida). Our first match was against South-West, a team from Arizona composed entirely of players who were ethnically Indian (that’s the subcontinent, not Native American). They were a friendly bunch but some of our team had trouble deciphering their accents.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The first match was close. We lost both the singles courts decisively, but Daniel and I won our doubles match comfortably, as did John and Aaron on doubles #2. The deciding match ended up being court #3, where Paul D and Erik, having narrowly lost their first set, were battling to win the second set and force a tiebreak – it wasn’t to be, and the Florida team ended up losing the first match 3 courts to 2.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjAfs_1ZbNCz0A6vDxpSysdgh-IPLX2SDG7a20D5femJN3jtIznaPYotedwNsYwcL58TuMc6M4QDNaWJP3DvBGZml661VvU04Ebbyc6e-QmMlLkk-S41NBv5-cd9mB_IuuXwB8wY5FDtR/s1600/dan6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjAfs_1ZbNCz0A6vDxpSysdgh-IPLX2SDG7a20D5femJN3jtIznaPYotedwNsYwcL58TuMc6M4QDNaWJP3DvBGZml661VvU04Ebbyc6e-QmMlLkk-S41NBv5-cd9mB_IuuXwB8wY5FDtR/s320/dan6.jpg" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel on the attack</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMv79T_51ApVUHg5WXQRk8wIvk-ftixYjw1tPj3hqQuWjwwj7_FNKjcv7zIUl9GPBFg3p58zVoL-cTOi6MHY1juun8Q622DC6b2N9zsIR0j1ICMQPfX4UPspgd9FUJ8j_ChmzUWuJzC2c/s1600/bob1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMv79T_51ApVUHg5WXQRk8wIvk-ftixYjw1tPj3hqQuWjwwj7_FNKjcv7zIUl9GPBFg3p58zVoL-cTOi6MHY1juun8Q622DC6b2N9zsIR0j1ICMQPfX4UPspgd9FUJ8j_ChmzUWuJzC2c/s320/bob1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bobby moving in</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkveyolXncgbiSQN1P6382LOqvvHa-GpreR4po2GcOEVlhnk9wH3_nqyvZttNl3eFQM_2eVVROb8G8QRMldotG13HODkp7nbiuZzm1S2leqjSOonnUr3WuG_bXKpES60tfNpiXAC3AQmOG/s1600/scott2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkveyolXncgbiSQN1P6382LOqvvHa-GpreR4po2GcOEVlhnk9wH3_nqyvZttNl3eFQM_2eVVROb8G8QRMldotG13HODkp7nbiuZzm1S2leqjSOonnUr3WuG_bXKpES60tfNpiXAC3AQmOG/s320/scott2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scott striking out</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrxL1vsriO6raZ9MPuudDRGLg4JQR73ndBF2J3pUc8sRFZE9e9S523KGt_qIvgjAk_LizjxF4u8gXEeNjhsET4kVS6J1Rvyh1ypUIDNJYknQF0mGU9gYZHN6u5aGW84o7zYCQgMNQgoAJ/s1600/e1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b>Friday - Second Match</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The first match was actually the first one that our team had ever lost and I think it’s fair to say that some players were downhearted after the defeat. But we had to bounce back quickly as we had our next match in the afternoon against Texas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Texas were a pretty strong team, certainly in the singles department, but their doubles pairs were beatable. Historically, they generally seemed to win their matches by winning both singles courts and at least one of the doubles. A number of our team strongly suspected that their captain employed a strategy where instead of putting the best pair on court #1, the second best on #2, etc., he mixed the order of his pairs up, increasing the chances of at least one doubles win. This practice is against the spirit of the competition, but unfortunately so common in some circles, that many captains see the practice as acceptable. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Anyway, suffice to say, we lost both the singles matches (I personally was slaughtered 6-0 6-1!) but our doubles pairs all won, including victories by Paul D and Erik, who returned with a vengeance after their defeat in the first match, and a nail-biting tiebreak where Bobby and Scott eventually triumphed! That gave us a 3-2 victory that we badly needed.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcmW2xRZCIOh_yJyVr9MpfPg8uU7jNu1MunCFRulftaiOtJ2NVG9MCH9mHitO-WfUwIDJkF0g4cIAyPpTuANQHz74vMbPK4NRJ4SVVTVcYH_LfwdAdP1A5DStPHa9FP5sfgKxrvxnR2C8/s1600/e+and+p2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcmW2xRZCIOh_yJyVr9MpfPg8uU7jNu1MunCFRulftaiOtJ2NVG9MCH9mHitO-WfUwIDJkF0g4cIAyPpTuANQHz74vMbPK4NRJ4SVVTVcYH_LfwdAdP1A5DStPHa9FP5sfgKxrvxnR2C8/s320/e+and+p2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erik and Paul D</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclYB9iWg-aWP7N0c_wdPht4dqbQK-Yn21kfnYUjws0U4qOAlSj4aa-enEp6TqgCWye7SPZLMjd71Vpj_VFVBcw_h9h-d2Mx8j9FZtUF52nF4UVAySJan_ooXui_mAaFbjolC30ACpUKkw/s1600/aaron7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclYB9iWg-aWP7N0c_wdPht4dqbQK-Yn21kfnYUjws0U4qOAlSj4aa-enEp6TqgCWye7SPZLMjd71Vpj_VFVBcw_h9h-d2Mx8j9FZtUF52nF4UVAySJan_ooXui_mAaFbjolC30ACpUKkw/s320/aaron7.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaron getting ready</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdXE8vvqEc0M34fNdAzV4_p65LvgvZrA9bRMtC5yw8UOGJy8Xt87uqPYNcqZA-_uqu4v6g9gVfXkNgVUkUqRjbhjYdsYLUSisnS-VdfCcMd5ACtWs1kkOCn3eHPxrKQBDbDc2XtXvkE9P/s1600/j3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdXE8vvqEc0M34fNdAzV4_p65LvgvZrA9bRMtC5yw8UOGJy8Xt87uqPYNcqZA-_uqu4v6g9gVfXkNgVUkUqRjbhjYdsYLUSisnS-VdfCcMd5ACtWs1kkOCn3eHPxrKQBDbDc2XtXvkE9P/s320/j3.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John serves one up</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <b>Saturday</b><br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To get through to the semi-finals, we now needed two things to happen. Firstly, we needed to win our final match against the Ohio team decisively (i.e. 4-1 or 5-0) and secondly, we needed Texas to beat the Arizona team 3-2. This all seemed very feasible, so we entered the third match determined to give it our best shot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Daniel and I steam-rollered our opposition on the doubles #1 court (they were nice guys and they put up stiff competition, but we were determined to not let them into the match), which meant that Daniel and I got to see all the other matches, as they gradually finished. Incredibly, our team won all the courts, giving us a 5-0 victory. Now all we needed was for Texas to do their bit.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXq7YXVmqZa-nRRsSOVMxrMWvG0T_xglsmWiocsR19z9fkqo3EimWimccRcMofA6A9Yh-TsDo56wlywqeNKWR2K2ZG7QREjv39zQ-EiTENNWv_ZnJseG9AWZaAVx2xoBpuQmvq8M3Ha6Mm/s1600/aaron1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXq7YXVmqZa-nRRsSOVMxrMWvG0T_xglsmWiocsR19z9fkqo3EimWimccRcMofA6A9Yh-TsDo56wlywqeNKWR2K2ZG7QREjv39zQ-EiTENNWv_ZnJseG9AWZaAVx2xoBpuQmvq8M3Ha6Mm/s320/aaron1.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaron volleys</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9xCM2TsTyc2f8yEX4bUchRL-MRgkAWX3sQ7AW6zVqTnlPOX6JLXodvx-AT21Isj7ltGol4JJXImpmK076HfSZfimHcoDighCKrR4ZvqPdjLsFBjb9KRddFLNJF-14aWm-8Dbh_-GoxyU/s1600/p13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9xCM2TsTyc2f8yEX4bUchRL-MRgkAWX3sQ7AW6zVqTnlPOX6JLXodvx-AT21Isj7ltGol4JJXImpmK076HfSZfimHcoDighCKrR4ZvqPdjLsFBjb9KRddFLNJF-14aWm-8Dbh_-GoxyU/s320/p13.jpg" width="287" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me in action shot</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHPBIeOPmRLrQ7FVimJxtkhtD8lVTl8IHK8te2m3M-1dhNiSEcYlgNpl0qMHkMaQnbw_uBMbgLZrKE0gckKDrwLPtQyXnRHs5SfKge9wFD3KzZk9IZ1dRaTgkysMehX7T2wpJRVE4xc0Q/s1600/pd1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHPBIeOPmRLrQ7FVimJxtkhtD8lVTl8IHK8te2m3M-1dhNiSEcYlgNpl0qMHkMaQnbw_uBMbgLZrKE0gckKDrwLPtQyXnRHs5SfKge9wFD3KzZk9IZ1dRaTgkysMehX7T2wpJRVE4xc0Q/s320/pd1.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul D waiting to strike</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyaVV3DfmoREXadMs1hECiu1do3BW4kKefF_6KCnYY5yRClGgh2YHDDlJLmy5bOu_hrUMo2PgjDM97xBPNpVJ7Pbxhkp0g3sYssGTvXr5F8PeOuOJNArFPZFkVQPv5uwRKSeurdOU3Ask/s1600/d+and+p5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyaVV3DfmoREXadMs1hECiu1do3BW4kKefF_6KCnYY5yRClGgh2YHDDlJLmy5bOu_hrUMo2PgjDM97xBPNpVJ7Pbxhkp0g3sYssGTvXr5F8PeOuOJNArFPZFkVQPv5uwRKSeurdOU3Ask/s320/d+and+p5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel and I watching a tiebreak</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The Texas v Arizona match was close, and after four courts finishing, it was 2-2, then the fifth and final court went one set all (remember, we needed Texas to win 3-2). The tiebreak decider was almost certainly the most nervy and emotional time that I’ve had at a sporting competition – I could barely watch, the anxiety and anticipation was so high. The teams were neck and neck all the way to the wire, until eventually Arizona squeaked a 2 point victory. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Florida were out of the competition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b>Sunday</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />After some overnight partying, most of us turned up the following day to see the finals. The men’s competition was won by Puerto Rico. I am not kidding, their team had its own traveling coach and a guy with an ice box who went around giving the players drinks during breaks. The team build ups before their matches was like a national pride march, with songs, chants, and general jubilation. Clearly the amateur tennis competition is a source of honor in Puerto Rico! They were a well-oiled, professional machine and they demolished the Hawaiian opposition (certainly no slackers!) 5-0 in the final!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Arizona, the team that won our group (we finished second in the group), went on to secure third place in the competition, after losing to Hawaii in the semis and beating New England in the 3rd/4th place play-off match.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />I certainly don’t think we could have won that competition, but we were so close to getting to the semis and maybe even getting third place. Just being able to say that we were one of the top four teams in the US would’ve been something to tell the grandkids! Oh well. <br /> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Epilogue</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />On the way back, I’d come to an arrangement with a friend, who owns a junk collection franchise, that I would drive a truck back from Austin, Texas. He got the truck delivered, and I got a free journey back to Florida. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <br />We picked up the truck and headed into downtown Austin for lunch.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUW406U1UAcIXmvD6kAq0rNox19_OIEIb7wL559-9MaG6THNJDuXWxUsUr1ilriOj63sFTFLstwvSI84Sh-th6kJpxCO6rUiE2OjXdF4Q5H-NwbfdhBe_7QQqcAXIDYDAs-jXAURVc6Cf/s1600/gotjunk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUW406U1UAcIXmvD6kAq0rNox19_OIEIb7wL559-9MaG6THNJDuXWxUsUr1ilriOj63sFTFLstwvSI84Sh-th6kJpxCO6rUiE2OjXdF4Q5H-NwbfdhBe_7QQqcAXIDYDAs-jXAURVc6Cf/s320/gotjunk1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Austin dump truck</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZ-ynvYjOCijxYyn53-nghJX5CC3L68ukplnnDh-M587Y2GcvB37TlmXQAChgb72KbDp3yLJ7px1XoeWunbzjRh-JEmZpMOgDiCpT3Fmnf80vSxFr3Zjo9Jb-_habXSMrU3X7hJt6_Knc/s1600/gotjunk2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZ-ynvYjOCijxYyn53-nghJX5CC3L68ukplnnDh-M587Y2GcvB37TlmXQAChgb72KbDp3yLJ7px1XoeWunbzjRh-JEmZpMOgDiCpT3Fmnf80vSxFr3Zjo9Jb-_habXSMrU3X7hJt6_Knc/s320/gotjunk2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the road</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClnkYwk7KNioR7UDADC3NyffoacqemH-wWegiGPSvmcVw9uceZliUKCSufLPAGhM5M2zas_rFJkJ9T9OoHv55m9xc6a1KZnFytPAu1-CxHgdHQj-vVfv78-VPrJGSSBTXTG0SQBAt_-wY/s1600/Photo0142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClnkYwk7KNioR7UDADC3NyffoacqemH-wWegiGPSvmcVw9uceZliUKCSufLPAGhM5M2zas_rFJkJ9T9OoHv55m9xc6a1KZnFytPAu1-CxHgdHQj-vVfv78-VPrJGSSBTXTG0SQBAt_-wY/s320/Photo0142.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keep Austin Weird</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The trip back was grueling at times. Aside from the weariness of long-distance travel, it was more than a little lonely in the truck, driving on my own. The radio didn’t work either, so I found myself doing a lot of a capella singing. On top of that, the fuel gauge was stuck permanently at zero due to a fault, so I had to make regular stops at gas stations, rather than risk running out of diesel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The others drove ahead of me in the car. We stopped overnight in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Maybe it was a mixture of fatigue and relief at reaching my (temporary) destination, but the city and waterfront looked rather splendid, lit up under the night sky, as I rumbled in via the interstate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />From Baton Rouge, it was one last stretch to North Central Florida. Back to my wife and daughter and the settled, mundane life. I was tired, but satisfied to be home.</span>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-56732333318272712442013-10-09T07:14:00.000-04:002013-10-09T07:14:48.095-04:002000 Miles and 7 States - Adventures on the Road<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As some readers will know, I journeyed 2000 miles across the
southern USA in late September, mainly to play in a National tennis
competition, but also to see some more of the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drive took my three friends and I through
the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico, before we
eventually arrived at our destination, Arizona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The trip was full of adventure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">New Orleans</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We began our road trip early, 5.30 am, and after eating
lunch with family of my friends, we spent the first night stop in New Orleans.
We found our hotel, The Hilton, in the city centre, unloaded our bags, and
opted to pay for valet parking, as it worked out only a few dollars more than
doing it ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was only when we reached the checking in counter that we were
told that there are three Hiltons in New Orleans and we’d gone to the wrong
one!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily we were given a free glass
of wine and managed to catch the car before it was driven off to the park!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After finding the right hotel, we unloaded our bags, drank a
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took in the ambience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After eating a
meal, watching the street from a balcony, and experiencing some live jazz
music, we headed back to our rooms, tired but fulfilled. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">San Antonio</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We hit the road again early the following morning and it
didn’t take too long before we hit Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Driving through the Lone Star State would take up most of the second day
(and a large chunk of the day after that too!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We arrived at our next stop, San Antonio, late afternoon and headed straight
for its most famous building, the iconic, Alamo Mission.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I wasn’t sure how the boisterous Texans would present their
most famous building, but it was all rather tastefully done and it was great to
take in some history.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Afterwards, we checked our bags in at the hotel and headed
to the River Walk, an attractive downtown development running along the San
Antonio River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ate some Tex Mex food
and ordered quite possibly the biggest margaritas in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We opted to imbibe the drinks through straws,
but had we brought our bathing costumes, we could quite easily have dived into
the limey-tequilerish beverages and swum around in them, such was their size.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">West Texas Birthday</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The population and the vegetation thinned out as we drove deep
into West Texas the following day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
were some large, crazy rock formations and the first hills I’d seen for three
years (Florida is pretty much totally flat!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was also, by a strange coincidence, my birthday that day.
It was decided that the anniversary of my arrival into the world should be
celebrated with me drinking shots from a plastic cup in the shape of a cactus
every time that we stopped, whilst a collection of hit songs from the year of
my birth, 1965, was listened to when we were on the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unfortunately, the cacti shot cup leaked more
bourbon than it held, giving the interior of the car, as well as my clothing, a
whiskeyish flavour – perhaps not a good thing, given the strict Texas alcohol/driving
laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">El Paso</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">We ate lunch in El Paso and caught a glimpse of the Rio Grande, the security border fence, and the hills and shanty huts of Mexico. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">New Mexico Customs</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">New Mexico turned into dry desert plains and mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bourbon and pop music led me into a
satisfied relaxed state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, in the
middle of nowhere in particular, all vehicles on the road was funneled into a
self-described “customs post”. This caused some anxiety, as my green card has
lapsed whilst the USCIS process a replacement. They did send me an official
letter saying that my permanent resident status had been extended a year, but
I’d left it back in Florida, not expecting to cross through any customs posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were officials with dogs flagging down
vehicles, presumably looking for illegal Mexicans. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite my faultless immigration status, my concern was that
we would be delayed for a long time - but to my relief, after removing our
ponchos and sombreros, we were waved through without any problems. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Okay, I made that bit up about ponchos and sombreros!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tucson at last!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The last stretch of the journey through New Mexico and
Arizona seemed to drag a little, especially after the sun went down and there
was no scenery to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arriving in
darkness, it was difficult to know what to make of Tucson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wouldn’t see its dry desert splendor until
the following morning - the rocks, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>huge
cacti and stunning mountains in all directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We would have a couple of days to rest up and do some gentle
exercise, before it was time to play some serious tennis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It should also be noted that during the last leg of the
outward journey, the cap of my family-sized mouthwash bottle had come loose,
leaking its contents into my suitcase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite
rinsing out my clothes, I would spend the remainder of the trip exuding a minty
aroma wherever I went.</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-26911516010048347072013-09-21T10:50:00.000-04:002013-09-21T10:50:28.983-04:00Road Trip Time – Florida to Arizona and back (all for a few games of tennis!)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I’ve been living here in the USA nearly three years now, so
I am more than ready for my first major road trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my <a href="http://fromsheeptoalligators.blogspot.com/2013/07/florida-tennis-champs.html">previous post</a>, I wrote about winning
the tennis sectionals in Florida in our ratings category (3.0), and how we
would be heading to Tucson for the Nationals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, the time has arrived.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We will be traveling across from North Central Florida to
Tucson, Arizona, staying in New Orleans and San Antonio en route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To say that I am looking forward to it is an
understatement.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will be traveling from the hot and sweaty humid climate of
Florida to the dry heat of Arizona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moisture wicking
clothing is pretty much de rigueur in Florida if you play sports, but
apparently the sun evaporates your sweat in the South West, so perspiration is less of a problem, although staying hydrated can be, apparently. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will get to see
some new landscapes too - see my first desert and big cacti, the soil is grey and sandy here, but reddish in
Arizona.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GFCDoj4k2RYlz1o0hWmKnozm-RGkTEFArcMah7zTsvlH4lNqcancQgHvcbUnsVcV8Ky95EjY8uDgo4IMb4ssVW_Y_GJH6n1L2vXbP_nx1A7tdjltKvb_VpAxxgng3IIGrxsr857nbMkG/s1600/paul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GFCDoj4k2RYlz1o0hWmKnozm-RGkTEFArcMah7zTsvlH4lNqcancQgHvcbUnsVcV8Ky95EjY8uDgo4IMb4ssVW_Y_GJH6n1L2vXbP_nx1A7tdjltKvb_VpAxxgng3IIGrxsr857nbMkG/s320/paul.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Me on the courts in Florida.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We will be representing Florida in the tennis tournament,
playing teams from different states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
we win our group games over the Friday and Saturday, we get to play in the
semis and if we win that, the final on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wish us luck!</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lajgTnyaMz5Ty5WaMvIlMYlQbFvcrnqboNv9f3LE0XVg-pJwK2r8mqodSiJGDXmTiO9mvyKy9jxiTaXa5ZTDoCqbB94iJO4kqmhWHZxfQPdBnnbmhbPYYDUXRQpIPB5hwpm5LTbYgy8_/s1600/paul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lajgTnyaMz5Ty5WaMvIlMYlQbFvcrnqboNv9f3LE0XVg-pJwK2r8mqodSiJGDXmTiO9mvyKy9jxiTaXa5ZTDoCqbB94iJO4kqmhWHZxfQPdBnnbmhbPYYDUXRQpIPB5hwpm5LTbYgy8_/s320/paul.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You know when you are overheating in Florida because you drip with sweat. It's easier to get dehydrated in Arizona without realising it, because the dry hot sun evaporates your perspiration.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the way back, we will be going to Austen, Texas, where I
will be collecting a junk truck and driving it back to Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me explain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I make most of my money via the internet via
a number of income streams but in recent times I’ve been working part-time for
my friend’s junk collecting franchise to earn a little extra money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, he’s bought a truck in Austen, Texas
and has asked me to drive back in return for gas, hotel, and food money, which makes
the trip more affordable for me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am treating the whole thing as an adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am packing right now and we are leaving at
6.30 am tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still seems a little
surreal, but the reality will sink in once we’re out on the road, I reckon.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will take my camera and let you know how it goes.</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-51225198554176129532013-07-18T08:30:00.000-04:002013-07-18T08:30:33.442-04:00Florida Tennis Champs!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am going to take some time out from my opinionated, amateur analysis and comparisons for this post and blow my own trumpet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As some of you will know, one of the things I
love about living in Florida is the tennis scene – there are lots of players, facilities,
and the good weather means that you can play pretty much all year round.
</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My Over 18s Team</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I joined a team not long after I arrived, and have been
playing friendlies, practices, and competitive matches ever since, typically playing three
or four times/week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Currently I am in 3 teams: a
men’s over 18s; a men’s over 40s; and a mixed over 18s team.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Me on the tennis court</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Players and teams have a rating that is used by the tennis governing body,
the USTA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both my men’s over 18 and men’s
over 40s won their leagues in their respective categories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means a trip down to Altamonte Springs
near Orlando to play a tournament against other Florida teams.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With Daniel, the Over 18s team captain, who is also my doubles partner</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was my over 18s team’s turn to go to Altamonte Springs
this weekend just gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teams we played had each finished top of their respective county leagues, so there were no easy matches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Basically, the format was two groups of four teams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Each team</span> plays the others in the group,
and then the winners of each group play each other in a final.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rear view of Daniel and I playing a match</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is pretty arduous fitting a tournament into one weekend, as many players, including me, end up
playing two matches in one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Playing
a singles match can be especially physically taxing in the Florida heat and
humidity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, to cut a long story
short, we won our group and then we won the final too!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Me taking a drink of cool water after our victory.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This means that we are through to the nationals, which this
year are held in Tucson, Arizona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
on the other side of the US, of course, so there is no simple or inexpensive
way of getting there and staying for a weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We also need at least 8 of our players to commit to going.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOSmYNmM4Tz27iovGwoBkXXcbvlm1Rh22572Z4Oh907p7OJOzw0bAtRZ0s15kLdFkG22VMSHdI9tLdUCyXTK3C0zlwKgHDrDMOtrvMFi3Z63VNyR7kdXA8L-aeV5tVxWhhL3i727C9jx6/s1600/team+w+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOSmYNmM4Tz27iovGwoBkXXcbvlm1Rh22572Z4Oh907p7OJOzw0bAtRZ0s15kLdFkG22VMSHdI9tLdUCyXTK3C0zlwKgHDrDMOtrvMFi3Z63VNyR7kdXA8L-aeV5tVxWhhL3i727C9jx6/s320/team+w+sign.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are the Champions</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It looks like a few of us will be
traveling there by road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am actually
pleased with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only will it make
the trip affordable for me, but I will also be able to see some more of the
USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s face it, I’ve been here over
two years, it’s about time I did an epic road trip!
</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-54120144963512420432013-07-03T11:38:00.000-04:002013-07-03T11:38:19.160-04:00Sense of Direction<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll be straight with you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A sense of direction is something that I’ve never had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My intuitive notion of North and South and
where landmarks are in relation to each other has always been very bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can get lost in relatively familiar places back
in Blighty, so transplant me to a different country with a different set up and
I’m bound to struggle, even with the simple stuff.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Most US towns and cities follow a grid layout, which is all
very simple and rational, so it should be easy, except that I still manage to get
confused – mainly because I over-complicate matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.travelpod.com/cache/accom_maps/Holiday_Inn_Gainesville_University_Ctr_Fl-Gainesville.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.travelpod.com/cache/accom_maps/Holiday_Inn_Gainesville_University_Ctr_Fl-Gainesville.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gainesville - Straight lines and 90 degree corners</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back in England road networks in towns can follow almost any
pattern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a large town or city, the
roads will usually extend out like the spokes of a wheel, but then there are
other roads connecting the spokes in an essentially random fashion, so the
overall effect is often something resembling a drunken spider’s web. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Over the years I gradually developed my own idiosyncratic methods
of finding my way around English towns and cities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trick is generally to link together
landmarks and road names and gradually build up a kind of mental map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I like a drink or two, I often picked
pubs as my landmarks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>British pubs are unique
institutions, different to bars, they traditionally function as social and
community centres, as well as drinking holes, and you will find at least one in
pretty much every city suburb, town neighbourhood, or village, so they make
effective markers.*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But orientating yourself via pubs is completely useless as a
navigation method in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For one
thing, there is no real equivalent of a pub here in Florida (although some of
the Irish bars make an attempt).</div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwJIqcw2zpDFA2L3Xh7l365CtICz8ADoNol6zD9psoaHCtQaPkERIG5clkN0IkY7TcDuUY8_Dym24rsts79wz2gYaANUJn_6qsDQJ4Jq6Vtyh_o3LAqkVmhwdMmp43kLgE6D6V4V34YOC/s572/leeds-marriott-hotel-map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwJIqcw2zpDFA2L3Xh7l365CtICz8ADoNol6zD9psoaHCtQaPkERIG5clkN0IkY7TcDuUY8_Dym24rsts79wz2gYaANUJn_6qsDQJ4Jq6Vtyh_o3LAqkVmhwdMmp43kLgE6D6V4V34YOC/s320/leeds-marriott-hotel-map.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leeds - Drunken Spider's Web</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Grid systems have numbered, rather than named streets like you
get in Britain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Numbers are definitely
easier for travelling in that you can work out which direction you are heading
by whether the numbers are increasing or decreasing in size, but I can also find
specific numbers easy to forget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow
names are always more memorable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in
my home town there are streets with names like “The Shambles”, “Captain French
Lane”, and “Gillingate”, all of which conjure up mental images of one sort or
another, just through the sound of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A number is just a number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
someone says they live on “Serpentine Road”, I have more chance of remembering
it than, “27<sup>th</sup> Avenue”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Having said that, I will, of course, have a good idea where 27<sup>th</sup>
Avenue is on the grid, whereas I would have absolutely zero notion of the
location of Serpentine Road, unless I’ve been there before!)</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/55/115655-004-2CB4C710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/55/115655-004-2CB4C710.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Auld Grey Town where I grew up</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Florida is also very flat and the buildings are generally
all single storey (apart from the very biggest cities where they do have high
rises).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The North of England is very
hilly and so you will often find yourself at a vantage point, able to gain a
panoramic view from a high spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
Cumbria, or much of Yorkshire, you can navigate quite easily by your relative
position to a hill, as many towns are built in valleys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a similar situation with tall buildings,
I almost always knew where I was in Leeds relative to the city centre, because you
can see the office towers and university buildings from miles away.</div>
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Basically, I’ve had to learn to drop all the idiosyncratic
methods for locating myself, and just read the street numbers, which is what I’ve
done, but I do sometimes miss the eccentricities of travel in England.</div>
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*<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sadly, the
traditional British pub has been in decline for the past ten years or more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are closing down at an alarming
rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-15205801806780832582013-06-24T11:03:00.000-04:002014-09-09T10:53:45.848-04:00Memories of the US Poet: Lyman Andrews<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Writing a blog about being a Brit in the US, my mind often
goes back to the expat Americans that I’ve known living in England over the
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I thought I’d dedicate this
post to by far the most colourful character I’ve been friends with, the
poet, Lyman Andrews, who had a creative and non-conventional
approach to life (often fueled by alcohol).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When I knew him, he was an American Studies lecturer, but he'd also worked as a poetry critic at the
Sunday Times, through which he met literary luminaries such as William
Burroughs and Allen Ginsburg, as well as partying with pop stars, such as Mick Jagger and Ray
Davies from The Kinks, plus he served as a witness at one of Britain's biggest obscenity trials of the 1960s.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdNmU9MkfBwcl2PJ_hQXPZ6rWq3zxSVpscWMC77bi9czC59om282TLEsyXh1Tpj_3btfKSU7bBst-08KPwDe_cZcrI_FxMMAn-CctHGk1eSHSHIXnfctJ1mHQ71_vAqTito1D_pVWOEbfA/s1600/Lyman_Denver_79_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdNmU9MkfBwcl2PJ_hQXPZ6rWq3zxSVpscWMC77bi9czC59om282TLEsyXh1Tpj_3btfKSU7bBst-08KPwDe_cZcrI_FxMMAn-CctHGk1eSHSHIXnfctJ1mHQ71_vAqTito1D_pVWOEbfA/s320/Lyman_Denver_79_crop.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman in Denver 1979 (photo courtesy of Michael Baird: See comments!)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First Meeting</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I met Lyman during my second year of university, when I was
studying Philosophy at Leicester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
staying in student accommodation, a shared house of ten people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us had lived there the previous year,
but there were a few new tenants, Lyman being one of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was somewhat surprising to have a middle-aged lecturer
move in with us, the rest of us were generally in our late teens or early
twenties and undergrads or post grads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It gradually came out that Lyman had previously been sharing a rented
property with his boyfriend, but the relationship had broken down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyman had continued to live there on his own
for a time, but a burglary had made him nervous about staying in the property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further complicating the matter was Lyman’s
heavy drinking, which always added a layer of chaos to his personal life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he had approached the university
authorities and said he’d needed a place to live, and they had put him into
university accommodation with us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I suspect that they chose our house because we already had a
reputation for drunkenness and had received numerous official warnings for
rowdy behaviour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think they assumed
that we wouldn’t object to one more crazy person, which on the whole was
correct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the university authorities,
being of an older generation, seemed even more concerned by Lyman’s sexuality than
his drinking and antics (he was bisexual, but tended more towards homo than
hetero).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyman’s sexuality wasn’t really
much of a concern to us, with the exception of the Methodist who lived on the
bottom floor, who told us that he prayed regularly for Lyman to be cured of his
homosexuality (Lyman found this hilarious, rather than patronizing).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">From Denver to the
Sunday Times</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman was born and raised near Denver, Colorado, and would
often relate with affection stories of hunting with his father when young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the homosexual stereotype, Lyman was
in not effeminate in any way, if anything, he veered to the opposite – he expressed
a dislike for effeminate homosexuals, relating far more to the very masculine
writer, Ernest Hemingway, who was one of his great heroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apart from his father, the only other family
member who I ever heard him mention was his sister, who he managed to maintain
contact with over the years, despite very infrequent trips back to the USA.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman studied at Berkley and then crossed the pond to study
at King’s College, London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was during
the late 60s and early 70s that he had his poetry collections, including his
most respected, <i>Kaleidoscope</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">,
published.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He effectively achieved a
great deal of artistic success at </span>a young age, although sadly, he would
never again reach those creative heights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He used his creative and academic success to carve out an academic
career for himself, however, teaching American Studies in Leicester, and
working for many years as a poetry critic for The Sunday Times.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Lb2owMMHB0O9YE_3-uS8wsGyJTvAFEvRRlM2snReAnTqSpovSFeRPlgSWVmlAEh6cWzyBU1pDy14ulUT8m6Yv-0iEOCsDzrisCI7mJ8Sd6GwwyIAMxkUEOI0IiF2ogJgbO8xNfqTfjp-/s1600/lyman1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Lb2owMMHB0O9YE_3-uS8wsGyJTvAFEvRRlM2snReAnTqSpovSFeRPlgSWVmlAEh6cWzyBU1pDy14ulUT8m6Yv-0iEOCsDzrisCI7mJ8Sd6GwwyIAMxkUEOI0IiF2ogJgbO8xNfqTfjp-/s320/lyman1.JPG" height="320" width="253" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman reading in Yugoslavia 1960s</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Sunday Times
Period</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The 1960s and 70s was an interesting and exciting period, as
far as culture goes, and at the Sunday Times, Lyman was notable for being one
of the first poetry critics to take popular song lyrics seriously, an example being
the well-crafted songs of The Kinks – this seems uncontroversial nowadays, but
was revolutionary at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This meant
that he was often invited to backstage music parties (some of them pretty wild),
as well as the more formal events that might normally associate with a Times
poetry critic (he was asked to attend a royal garden party, for instance).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of Lyman’s anecdote’s was how he “slept with Mick Jagger”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He'd say that to get your attention and then
explain that in truth, that he’d attended a drunken party, collapsed onto a bed
fully clothed and woken up with Jagger slept next to him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Another of his anecdotes was when he first met William
Burroughs, he’d confused him for a waiter at the party after the </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Last
Exit to Brooklyn</i></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i> </i></b></span>obscenity trial (see below) and requested a drink before realising his mistake (Burroughs
was dressed smartly in a dark suit and tie).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At another occasion to mark the release of a Kinks album, he
got into a drunken food fight with singer and lyricist, Ray Davies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to Lyman, his relationship with the Sunday Times eventually
soured when it was taken over by Rupert Murdoch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a lot of disquiet at the newspaper
at the time – for one thing the paper had a history of political neutrality and
Murdoch brought with him a reputation for conservatism, which many suspected
(rightly, it turned out) he would impose on the newspaper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the journalists who resigned at that
time went on to form The Independent, but Lyman dropped out of writing for
newspapers altogether, as far as I am aware.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Witness at the <i>Last
Exit to Brooklyn</i> Obscenity Trial</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Lyman’s poetry
publishers for his book, <i>Kaleidoscope</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> were Calder and Boyers, who were also the British <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>publishers of the controversial novel, <i>Last
Exit to Brooklyn</i>, which ended up having obscenity charges brought against
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was one of the big literary trials
of the 1960s, as the old obscenity laws were being challenged, and Lyman was
asked to be a witness, defending the literary merits of the novel.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/University_of_Leicester_towers_2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/University_of_Leicester_towers_2010.jpg" height="154" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">University of Leicester (via Wikimedia Commons)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">American Studies at
Leicester</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman had a reputation for outrageous behavior at Leicester
University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a typical tutorial of
his, the students would be castigated (in a semi-humorous way) if they hadn’t brought
a bottle of wine along (even if it was morning) and someone would be given
money by Lyman and told to buy a bottle from a local shop to bring back, if they hadn't.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman’s drinking would continue throughout the daytime and
usually continue in the Student Union Bar after classes were over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally by mid-evening he would be too drunk
to continue and head home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually he
would ask the bar staff to book a taxi and make his way home by himself, but
there were other times when he had to be physically carried from the building
by university security (no mean task as he’d put on a lot of weight by the time
he was middle-aged) and driven home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman almost always drank whisky in the bar and always did
his drinking in the daytime/early evening, almost never at night time – he said
that he didn’t like the rowdiness and loud noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from the university student union bar,
another favourite drinking place of his was the Magazine Pub (nicknamed affectionately, "The Mag"), now sadly
demolished, which was near the polytechnic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite being a smart man with a passion and deep knowledge of
American Literature, Lyman’s relationship with the university authorities were
always bad in the time that I knew him in the late 1980s, thanks to his personal
behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The relationship teetered on
outright hostility and it was an open secret that the university powers would
be happy to see him gone (it didn’t help that Lyman would proposition students
when drunk too, invariably without success). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyman himself, however, tended to see the
problems and his lack of popularity with the powers that be as amusing, generally
reveling in his rebellious reputation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One time, according to Lyman, he attended a big university
function.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drunk, as usual, and sensing
that the university vice chancellor was cold-shouldering him, Lyman approached
the vice chancellor whilst he was in the middle of a conversation with important
patrons of the university, and declared in a loud voice: “Hey, it’s your puffy
American Studies lecturer, why are you ignoring me?” before promptly biting him
hard on his ear!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Reclusive in
Nottingham </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman’s problems with the university came to a head in the
late 1980s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyman negotiated his
departure through his trade union, however, and managed to get early retirement
with a decent pay off and pension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was very happy about the situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“This is what I’ve always dreamed of,” he told me, “a regular income and
time to work on my writing.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Although,
how much writing he actually got done, however, I’m not sure of, I don’t think
he got anything published during this period). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After many years of living in Leicester, Lyman had come to
dislike the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He considered it to be
mediocre and provincial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to
separate his disdain toward Leicester, however, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from his feelings towards the university
authorities, people who had pressured him for years and who he saw as small
minded.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He lived in London for a time after he left Leicester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I remember was that it was a rather posh,
traditional public school sort of place with a large portrait of the guy who’d
founded the apartheid system in South Africa in the dining area (Lyman found
this terribly ironic and amusing).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still
feel a bit guilty, but it me who got him kicked out of there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I travelled down there with a friend on New
Years’ Eve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After socializing with Lyman
for a time, we wanted to go to Trafalger Square for the festivities, leaving
Lyman back at the flat (as I mentioned previously, Lyman hated too much rowdiness).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also told us specifically not to bring
anyone back (we were kipping in his small room), but after quite a few drinks
and a few hours in central London, I forgot what he’d said and brought back a
couple of women, who were looking for somewhere to stay. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was enough to get him kicked out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman spent his final years renting a room at a YMCA in
central Nottigham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had barely enough
possessions to fill a small suitcase and no particular ties to anyone in
Nottingham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seemed generally happy though,
when I visited him, working away on a novel and listening to Michael Crawford
singing Phantom of the Opera on his tape machine, smoking cigarettes and eating
hot buttered toast (“It’s one of the few things in life that never loses its
appeal, even sex can get boring”, he’d say).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My contact with Lyman stopped not long after I moved up to
Leeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years later, I looked him up on
the internet, curious to see if there was anything about him and if he was still
alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyman didn’t do internet, but I
had email contact in 2005 with the artist, Paul O’Donovan, who wrote about
Lyman in the magazine, Interzone <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– he told
me that Lyman had had to give up drinking due to health reasons and due to the
passing of Marion Boyers, no longer had a publisher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I considered going down to visit Lyman, but
didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died on the February 13,
2009.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90lYUh82-Jd0h1N05NFl_Fp_wqWIAUbs4J1imZG-y52EzjJXpTDKAVesTD5KH1akfLvGnNAEFqDdzjiXY-YAqNSadH3o360rLvi649LuWIcRccECK1u53AYY8KBx3FY64bkfy43QlvCIE/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90lYUh82-Jd0h1N05NFl_Fp_wqWIAUbs4J1imZG-y52EzjJXpTDKAVesTD5KH1akfLvGnNAEFqDdzjiXY-YAqNSadH3o360rLvi649LuWIcRccECK1u53AYY8KBx3FY64bkfy43QlvCIE/s320/13.jpg" height="266" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman in his flat in Nottingham, late 80s, wearing his stars 'n' stripes cardigan (Photo taken by myself)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Relationship with
England and the USA</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I talked to Lyman a lot about his views on England and the
US in the years I knew him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His feelings
on both countries were complex and mixed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a Englishman living in Florida, I can understand his situation in some
ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyman brought to the UK, a fresh
perspective from across the pond, which was interesting to people like me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it works the other way too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Living in other countries also opens the mind
up to other ways of looking at things and makes you view your home country
differently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not necessarily better or
worse, just differently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyman could find English people amusingly passive, compared
to the more independently spirited Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He thought that the class system had created a race of people who were
scared stiff of authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand,
he liked the strong literary tradition of Britain and the fact that education
and artistic/cultural values were generally taken more seriously by the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He also, I believe, enjoyed standing out from the crowd, too
– sometimes, when drunk he would bellow in an exaggerated Southern drawl and
play the part of a “dumb American” just for fun and to get a reaction from the timid Brits.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">His feelings about his home country were mixed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With many issues, such as gun
control, he felt that he could appreciate both the UK and US point of view – he
could see why the Brits saw public gun ownership as dangerous, but also had a
personal affection for his time spent hunting with his father as a young man
coming of age. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He saw the conservative forces in the US as sinister, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was strongly opposed to the Vietnam War,
for instance, and was glad that he got out of the country at that time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did speak with affection for the US too, its
independent spirit, his Colorado upbringing, its poetry tradition (he maintained
letter contact with some writers, including Ginsberg and Lowell), Hemingway, the Beat writers, etc. but he didn’t
seem in any rush to go back when I knew him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His sister gave
him all the family news he needed from the states and that seemed to be enough for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he traveled anywhere outside the UK, it
tended to be Morocco, a hangout for American expat writers in the 20<sup>th</sup>
Century, including Burroughs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
I would also add that whatever his misgivings about the US, in no way could you
ever say that he "went native", despite living in the UK for decades, he always
remained very much, an American.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
almost acted out a caricature at times, wearing, for instance a “stars ‘n’
stripes” cardigan, that had been knitted for him by a student.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this was his humour – his way of poking
fun at the British stereotype of Americans. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>This was the 1980s, remember, when holidaying
in Orlando, New York, and Las Vegas wasn’t as common as it is now, and most
Brits only experienced America through TV and movies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Culturally, as I now live in the US, I can appreciate how he
brought American sensibilities to the UK with him, which I didn’t fully
appreciate at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a very
generous tipper, making him very popular with waitresses, cleaning ladies, bar
staff, taxi drivers, and all other lowly workers, wherever he went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially, he tipped like he was in the
USA, where wages are small for those type of service jobs and tipping happens
all the time, as a pose to the UK where tipping is much rarer (but the wages are
generally higher).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He also refused to walk anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if it was ten minutes away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That seemed odd to me when I lived in
Leicester, but again, it is a less uncommon attitude in the US, where the car
is king.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lyman’s Relationship
with Alcohol</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Was Lyman an alcoholic when I knew him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will leave that for others to judge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was certainly a heavy drinker and he did
it pretty much every day when I knew him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He certainly wasn’t a self-pitying or morbid drunk, far from it, he was boisterous
and jovial when intoxicated - but he certainly drank considerable amounts every
day and always ended up seriously drunk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like some other creative people, he had a romantic attachment to the
idea of the writer as a heavy drinker and he reveled in the role of the
rebellious provocateur.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I do believe that the drinking had a negative effect on his relationships
and career, however, and more importantly, contributed to his decline as a
creative artist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyman also smoked
heavily and took almost no physical exercise (as I mentioned earlier, he would
take taxis everywhere, rather than walk).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a young student, I found Lyman’s crazy lifestyle
entertaining and exciting, especially when compared with the dusty world of
academia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is fair to say that all
the older adults, both within academia and in the arts field that I met who
knew him, even his old friends, generally saw him as an intelligent and gifted
person who had gone seriously off the rails (they would tell you so private).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In middle age now myself, my views on Lyman’s
behavior and drinking are somewhat different, and in truth, less favorable to
what they were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It should be noted, however, that during the exam marking
period, Lyman’s lifestyle changed considerably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He took a hiatus from the heavy drinking and worked away quietly in his
room, marking student papers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a
different man when sober.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could actually
see the responsible, studious man who’d studied at Berkley and King’s College,
London, and the dedicated writer who had produced such excellent poetry when
younger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He was a flawed man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But his early creativity, his anarchic spirit, his intelligence and
knowledge, his humour, unpretentiousness, and lack of materialism were and remain
big positives for me. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-19858975000330539022013-06-05T09:08:00.000-04:002013-06-05T09:08:29.495-04:00In Search of Cider<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some British expats may crave a creamier form of chocolate,
others may desire Heinz baked beans on toast, but my main miss (well, apart
from affordable dental care) is a certain
fermented apple drink.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes, English cider is tasty, refreshing and surprisingly
cheap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was my chosen beverage back in
my Bohemian days (many fond memories of slurping Old English with various punk
and anarchist types), but it is far less common in the USA, which comes
as a surprise, as it must have been brewed by some of the early settlers and
pioneers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another casualty of
Prohibition perhaps?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFnIPObn4-kYPY8kmStAwtQSxBCligIFZsPtBLGQzver_cHC5QvP6a-80PROCW2gwov2CvKfd7m-iAXXk4p3TU66oEWVURNDXW6zfu6Y72HC3kGvy0ykSYpyRkX6NcSF3AcZO2vMXXNGV/s1600/DSCF0779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFnIPObn4-kYPY8kmStAwtQSxBCligIFZsPtBLGQzver_cHC5QvP6a-80PROCW2gwov2CvKfd7m-iAXXk4p3TU66oEWVURNDXW6zfu6Y72HC3kGvy0ykSYpyRkX6NcSF3AcZO2vMXXNGV/s320/DSCF0779.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To be fair, there are American ciders out there, commonly
sold in small bottles, rather than the large one or two litre ones you get in the
UK – but it is often a bit on the sweet side for me (no sharp taste) and more
mid-priced than cheap, as well as being weaker in regard to alcohol content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is also the case that many Irish bars here in Florida do sell
cider from “across the pond” on draft, according to my experience, although it
is usually the modern Irish brew, Magners, which dominates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have come across Strongbow on draft a couple of
times, however, which is always a pleasant surprise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The truth is that I like the very dry, and strong taste that
is associated with the traditional English ciders, rather than anything sweet
and weaker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I am not averse to
seeking out some scrumpy or a pint of “rough” when down in the English West Country
– the cloudiness of the cider certainly isn’t an issue for me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Which is why I was thrilled to bits to find my recently
revamped local liquor store now selling cans of Blackthorn cider at a pretty
reasonable price (I like the way that the Americans label it: “Hard Cider” by
the way, it makes me feel a little more manly for drinking it!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But seriously, I am so happy, I am tempted to go into a few
verses and choruses of the Wurzels’ classic, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am a Cider Drinker</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
won’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, all right then: “When the Moon
shines on the cowshed…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/2zwwqEm5YhQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-47667733841191871162013-01-25T10:06:00.000-05:002013-01-25T10:12:37.790-05:00Those Long Winter Nights<div class="MsoNormal">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The main thing that I don’t miss about an English Winter is not
so much the weather, but actually the long nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can take the cold and I actually like snow
(as long as it’s fresh and not slushy), but the extended periods of darkness can just be plain
depressing.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The problem is that if the daytimes are overcast in England,
you can actually spend a week or more when it never seems to get light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You get up in darkness, go to work in
darkness, spend the day indoors looking out at the greyness and then return
home in the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The experience of
being stuck inside can also be exaggerated by an element of claustrophobia in
many cases, given that the size of rooms and houses are generally more modest
in England, compared with the USA.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have long speculated that the darkness contributes to the
melancholic streak in the English character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just as the US is 2 notches to the right on the political scale, Blighty
is 2 notches towards miserableness on the chirpiness meter.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not everyone in the US lives in Florida, of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the northern states have winters much
harsher than Northern England, or even Highland Scotland, for that matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some US Northerners, nicknamed ‘Snowbirds’
travel down to Florida for the Winter months in order to avoid the worst of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_7dJiSn5rY82lZe77U0wvU8zmXqMzoTsNdsaEUyXkH9h6Y0YMyuV04HH7gcnpfBABxnjlIeIsWNGJ9eGOOtkZHQXevOyo2uSdsDYpXLYlCd1Zltv-3Gf2dnqWAhywVJkJYr8qDG2PeeT/s1600/Photo0070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_7dJiSn5rY82lZe77U0wvU8zmXqMzoTsNdsaEUyXkH9h6Y0YMyuV04HH7gcnpfBABxnjlIeIsWNGJ9eGOOtkZHQXevOyo2uSdsDYpXLYlCd1Zltv-3Gf2dnqWAhywVJkJYr8qDG2PeeT/s320/Photo0070.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">December in St Augustine, Florida</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I do miss having four distinct seasons, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Florida it is (almost too) hot and humid
from May to September; sunny and comfortable for Spring (March to April) and Autumn
(October to November); with the Winter months being more like October in the UK:
cold, but only occasionally freezing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, that’s not true, the Florida nights can be cold, but the
daytimes are often sunnier and warmer than a typical Summer’s day in England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ironically, because the Winter can be so dark and miserable
in England, Spring can be a truly joyous time - when, much to everyone’s
relief, Nature literally seems to ‘spring’ back to life after lying dormant for
what seems like an age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t get
that in Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just gets gradually
hotter (and stickier) from February onwards.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6iSSqa6UuWBliwGRwKHli06z574pYf15xD9k5gB20fNlljIvS-12O-njn-k4vjQLUgQUM0DvDDHxOaxudfb9XFCKkN2pvqkKu0wd9X5T6fe_Tu47D-f1UVC8GXup403Sl0VHoHTRL_t2/s1600/snow+in+headingley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6iSSqa6UuWBliwGRwKHli06z574pYf15xD9k5gB20fNlljIvS-12O-njn-k4vjQLUgQUM0DvDDHxOaxudfb9XFCKkN2pvqkKu0wd9X5T6fe_Tu47D-f1UVC8GXup403Sl0VHoHTRL_t2/s320/snow+in+headingley.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Snow in Headingley, Leeds</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am certainly not moaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can play tennis here all year round here, which is pretty
amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Winter in Florida, if anything, can be
better for outdoor sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still
remember the singles match I played at the height of Summer, when it was over a
100 degrees F and even the spectators in the shade were dripping with
perspiration – it was more like a war of attrition than a sporting contest!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is also true to say that human cultures always tend to
adapt to their situation and make the most of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ‘indoor culture’ in England has no doubt
contributed to its wealth of literature, music, and numerous hobbies and
pastimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also no real equivalent
in Florida of stumbling up a snow covered hill, entering a pub with a real
fire, and supping a foamy pint of warm ale whilst you thaw out.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">English Winters can still be depressing though…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/From-Sheep-to-Alligators/167648403288680?sk=wall">From Sheep to Alligators at Facebook</a></i> </span></span></div>
<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-76002915422226424172013-01-14T14:48:00.002-05:002021-10-24T16:32:39.860-04:00More British and American humor differences<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have <a href="http://fromsheeptoalligators.blogspot.com/2012/02/american-humour-vs-british-humour-whats.html">written about this topic before</a>, but I was
inspired to explore it further after stumbling upon a fascinating Stephen
Fry video recently (more on that later!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Humour really is a fascinating area - what people find funny really does
give an insight into their philosophy, culture, and general world outlook.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some of the feedback that I got previously was that some
Americans felt I was a little harsh in my previous writings, where I said that
Americans were generally more serious and that a lot of British humour gets
lost in translation in the US, particularly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>irony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will try to explain these two points a little more, but
first I think it’s worth pointing out that I suspect the average American maybe
underestimates how many differences there are, when it comes to British and
American humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, there are large
areas of overlap, but also major differences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Okay, you may have seen Monty Python and Mr Bean, but humour operates
differently in all sorts of ways in the UK that don’t generally reach or work
on this side of the Atlantic. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Reverence</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One major difference that I remember the US writer, Bill
Bryson pointing out in his book: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076790382X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paugooshub-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=076790382X">I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=paugooshub-20&l=as2&o=1&a=076790382X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, is that humour generally is far more
revered in the UK than in the USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bryson
cites the classic (and rather great) John Cleese quote that: “An Englishman
would rather be told he’s a bad lover than he has no sense of humour”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You can actually get away with almost anything in the UK, as
long as it is presented as humour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
can insult the queen, your employer, religion, the army, whatever, as long as
you do it right and make some people laugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even if someone were mildy offended they wouldn’t generally protest,
they tend to be more worried about appearing to have no sense of humour, which,
as Cleese says, is a major taboo in the UK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>America, with its diverse population, devout religious communities, and occasionally rigid political correctness, can sometimes seem very sensitive from a British
perspective. </span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A portion of British humour might be also labelled as “smart”
in the US, where although some people might find it funny, you can also get
into trouble for it more easily than you would in the UK.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course, it's also true to say that British irony can also very easily devolve into cynicism and sarcasm too, which are less appealing sides of the English psyche.</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Americans are more
serious?</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Generally
speaking, the American philosophy and approach to life is very different in certain respects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans are generally optimistic:
life is an opportunity for success and it has real meaning and there are always
avenues of improvement open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British
philosophy tends to be much more downbeat: yes, life can be good, but often it
can be an ordeal, tinged with absurdity, and sometimes you just have to just grin
and bear it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Twain1909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Twain1909.jpg" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark Twain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What gets lost?</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What Bill Bryson describes as “verbal sleights of hand” are just
far less common in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wordplay,
double entendre, and yes, irony, are far rarer here and the average American often just
doesn’t expect such trickery to occur in general conversation and so it goes straight past them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(When I was first living here, I had the
opposite problem, I tended to over-analyse things that Americans said, when
almost always, they were being completely literal.) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That doesn’t mean that I am saying that all Americans don’t
get irony, by the way, it is more a question of degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously, there have been many great American
humorists, such as Mark Twain, who were masters of ironic humour and there were
thousands of Americans<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who bought his
books and found them funny. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The humour differences can make things difficult sometimes
though, if you are a British expat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We Brits
don’t do overt shows of emotion much, so when our ability to communicate
through language and humour are limited, it can feel a little stifling
sometimes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stephen Fry</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, back to the excellent Stephen Fry video that I
mentioned at the start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In it, Fry
explores another aspect of British and American humor that differs
considerably.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Essentially, the British comic hero tends to be a
loser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He or she has high aspirations (and
may also be pompous, or pretentious), but he/she is constantly failing to pull
him or herself out of the hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The American comic hero, on the other hand, tends to be a success
- he or she is a wisecracker, throwing out clever quips at the expense of the
idiots that surround him or her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Americans tend to celebrate success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brits love a failure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fry says it better than me though…</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8k2AbqTBxao?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
</div>
<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-70449935516451846802012-12-30T11:12:00.000-05:002012-12-30T11:13:17.726-05:00The highs and lows of driving in Florida<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Let’s face it, driving a car is a bit like
parenting, most people like to think of themselves as pretty good at it, with
all the problems in the world being caused by the other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I am not “most people”, however, and must
confess that I have never been a great car driver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Come to think of it, my parenting skills
aren’t perfect either, but that’s another story!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Being a non-driver is not good in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">, (unless
you are in one of the big northern cities), as the country has largely been
built around car travel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Public
transport, such as rail and buses, is minimal and it’s almost impossible to get
around without driving.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">My
driving history</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The reasons for my poor driving are
historical, to a large degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After I
passed my test in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">, aged 18, I hardly drove a car – I had a motorbike for a few years,
then had no vehicle at all (living in a big city, there were always plenty of
buses and trains to choose from, if I wanted to go somewhere).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I don’t feel too bad being out on the
highway, driving around, but I am non-to-confident with reversing and parking in
an enclosed space, you just don’t have those issues with a motorbike
generally.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I also found it easier to stay alert on my
motorbike, where you are under no doubt how precarious your situation is - if
you make one slip, then you can be dead or severely injured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the car, seemingly safe in my warm little
metal box, I sometimes let my mind wander.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Pulled
over by a cop</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">One time in </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US">, a few
months back, I approached a junction too fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The lights went red at the last moment and then it was too late to stop,
so I went through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a police car
behind me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt sick in my
stomach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was such a stupid mistake.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The cop pulled me over further down the
road (“What choice did he have?” he later explained).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically, he turned out to be one of the nicest policemen I’ve ever met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could have fined
me heavily and delayed me getting my </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US"> license (I
was driving on my British one), but instead he issued me with just a warning
and a friendly smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Admittedly, my
English accent and fawning, penitent manner may also have helped).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpu5CjNvBBGVGpFyt4VU4i6dytCPaBztXoZfWkb-_GcV83pcxOYsb1Z-zhndzWs43qJc2L6A_OLGeAWUOfg36U6VFhBSfbK3IhJUS_Ue8BHHnWpZhhq0SHdxWqaaCvrKH_zwhMPiVzp9r/s1600/Photo0071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpu5CjNvBBGVGpFyt4VU4i6dytCPaBztXoZfWkb-_GcV83pcxOYsb1Z-zhndzWs43qJc2L6A_OLGeAWUOfg36U6VFhBSfbK3IhJUS_Ue8BHHnWpZhhq0SHdxWqaaCvrKH_zwhMPiVzp9r/s320/Photo0071.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Crossing the bridge from Tampa to St Petersburg</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Driving
in </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">My British license covered me legally for
driving in </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US"> for a time, but I had to get a </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US"> one at
some point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other problem is that
the insurance costs are extortionate, if you drive on a foreign license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Taking
the driving test</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Things went well to start with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>College educated and a fan of learning
generally, the written part of the test was a sail through for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I swatted up on the rules, regulations, road
signs, procedures, and scored close to full marks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only question I remember was not knowing
was how long the minimum legal tow bar length was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(It seemed like a very obscure question to me, but I guess there are a
lot of people towing caravans, boats, etc. in </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US">!)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Next was my road test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really didn’t know what to expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British driving test is notoriously
difficult – the driving part takes place out on the highway and safety considerations
are paramount.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US"> version is
on a dinky little off-road mock-up and it is generally more concerned with
skill at maneuvering the car – easier for many people, but not so much me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The first test I took was not good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My examiner was a grumpy bugger, which is
normal by British standards, but more unusual in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His spikiness didn’t do much to help my
nerves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the end, it was my
maneuvering and reversing skills that undid me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have failed a driving test before, when I was eighteen, but failing at
forty-seven feels a lot more embarrassing!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Anyway, I practiced my reversing and parking
for a few weeks and made another attempt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I didn’t relish meeting my grumpy examiner friend again, but was
overjoyed to find that I’d been allotted a rather affable chap this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I passed with a virtually perfect score and
the wonders of modern laser printing meant that I was given my license ID card
straightaway.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-74213711898929545812012-10-25T10:53:00.000-04:002012-10-25T10:53:11.177-04:00Bill Bryson: My Hero!<span lang="EN-US">I read my first Bill Bryson book back in
the 1990s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was his excellent book on </span><span lang="EN-US">Britain</span><span lang="EN-US">,
written from an American perspective: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380727501/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0380727501&linkCode=as2&tag=paugooshub-20">Notes from a Small Island</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=paugooshub-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0380727501" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> - a definitive
classic of the expat writing genre, in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<!--[if !mso]><img src="//img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Being a contrarian by nature, I had
resisted reading the best-seller for a number of months beforehand, despite many
friends raving about it, but once I succumbed to Bryson, I was hooked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I went on to read pretty much everything
that Bill had written up to then after that, including his fascinating book
about the English language: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380715430/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0380715430&linkCode=as2&tag=paugooshub-20">The Mother Tongue - English And How It Got That Way</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=paugooshub-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0380715430" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Bill_Bryson_edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Bill_Bryson_edit.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Bryson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Maybe I overdosed and read too much Bill,
because later, I kind of went off him a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it was mainly
because I became a little weary of his humour, which although very clever and
witty most of the time, can seem a little contrived occasionally. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Anyway, I was thinking about Bill Bryson a couple
of weeks back and I remembered that he had moved back to the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> for a
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t help wondering if he’d
written anything about his time back in the States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lo and behold, I discovered there’s a book by
him called: <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0552997862/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0552997862&linkCode=as2&tag=paugooshub-20">Notes from a Big Country</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=paugooshub-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0552997862" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span> (published in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> as:
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076790382X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=076790382X&linkCode=as2&tag=paugooshub-20">I'm a Stranger Here Myself</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=paugooshub-20&l=as2&o=1&a=076790382X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the
title implies, it’s about him trying to readjust to </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> culture
and everyday life after spending 20 years in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I forgot any previous misgivings and ordered
a second hand copy of the book straightaway.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I loved the book and my admiration for Bill
was reborn!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having been writing an expat
blog for a year and a half now, it really makes me appreciate the challenges of
the genre and I have enormous respect how Bryson tackles them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has a knack of hitting on some of the main
issues for the ‘foreigner abroad’ and condensing them into a few very readable
pages, with some great insights and humour mixed in – and he makes it all seem
effortless (though I’m sure that it’s not).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">His chapter on the differences between
attitudes to humour in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> and </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US"> was
excellent, for instance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a topic
that I’ve tackled myself and found difficult to encapsulate it all in a few
hundred words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bill seemed to take the
entire range of essentials and boil it down to few pages, something I might
have deemed impossible if I’d not seen it done. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are insights, witticisms, quotes,
cultural context, personal anecdotes - all put together in a flowing, easy
style.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">There are other great writers out there, of
course, but my big respect for Bill Bryson has been reborn! </span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-5366527135415546502012-09-21T11:43:00.000-04:002012-09-21T11:43:26.166-04:00Michelle Obama, Mitt Romney, and lots of parking trouble!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US">One of the advantages of living in </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US"> in
election season is that the Romneys and the Obamas are always coming around,
trying to woo everyone into voting for them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">This is because </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US"> is a swing
state (George W Bush won it by just 543 votes in 2000!) and has a very varied
population, even for the </span><span lang="EN-US">United States</span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Florida you’ll find
Cuban exiles, retired Jewish Americans, Mexican immigrants, traditional "cracker"
types, African Americans, Scientologists, and there are even some British
expats, I’ve heard!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like a US
Noah’s </span><span lang="EN-US">Ark</span><span lang="EN-US">, with two of every type of American (and others) crammed into a
hot, steamy, swampy flat peninsula.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Okay, maybe I am going too far now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But you get the message.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The bottom line is that the first lady,
Michelle Obama came to town this Monday and my wife managed to get some tickets
for us to go and see her talk at a rally!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">It was all rather exciting and took a bit
of organizing, as my wife had to leave work early, and we had a tennis practice
straight after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A further annoying
complication was that it was a very popular event and so we couldn’t find
anywhere to park on the day within a mile of the university venue.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Eventually, after driving around for about
twenty five minutes and getting more and more desperate, we managed to find a
metered parking space that allowed us 2 hours grace in return for a wallet full
of dimes and quarters.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Consequently, we arrived at the venue later
than we’d planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After negotiating the
airport-style security, we gained entrance - but having arrived late, we were
shunted into seats at the rear end of the indoor stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It meant that for the most part we were
viewing Michelle from the rear and had to view the big screens to see her face
when she spoke.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">But she is a good speaker with charisma,
who projects and induces a lot of warmth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her talk wasn’t so much about trying to convert the unconvinced, but
more of a rallying cry to the troops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Michelle has wide appeal, but she is also a particular heroine of
African-American womanhood and they were out in force.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksWzmdEvqKJpFmz1aiSai-R6-MNbfI6GAf57EMP5U8sI1Lly8B41DhxTjMBrYuzpgeu1Q83u1b-B8KwcXfD4Z89j9kCPm22FyOt9nTHuBEADHeYaXyZk2hUqg7-Do0Y-QyL2YMhwBbqtU/s1600/Photo0056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksWzmdEvqKJpFmz1aiSai-R6-MNbfI6GAf57EMP5U8sI1Lly8B41DhxTjMBrYuzpgeu1Q83u1b-B8KwcXfD4Z89j9kCPm22FyOt9nTHuBEADHeYaXyZk2hUqg7-Do0Y-QyL2YMhwBbqtU/s320/Photo0056.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The indoor stadium was packed!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OYeLCTDLU_Dt7UmXQS2_uOoxx_NMaagFkot7Vu7w1olJYTY-hwUutjIVvexD36REzdDN6BN9jTicf0TuyUqGLEf0JL8MuVna9t8ciaEHjU1OQSX-IU4vBv0Oh319NyPwK71O3YR4vZpx/s1600/Photo0058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OYeLCTDLU_Dt7UmXQS2_uOoxx_NMaagFkot7Vu7w1olJYTY-hwUutjIVvexD36REzdDN6BN9jTicf0TuyUqGLEf0JL8MuVna9t8ciaEHjU1OQSX-IU4vBv0Oh319NyPwK71O3YR4vZpx/s320/Photo0058.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the best view of Michelle - but at least there were large screens to watch!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">After the talk, we headed back to the
car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were well within the 2 hour
parking period and feeling rather buoyed up by the talk until we reached the
car and discovered that we had a parking citation stuffed under the windscreen
wiper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d been booked for facing the
car against the stream of traffic, a petty offence for sure, and ordered to pay
a 30 dollar fine!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Trying not to let it spoil our evening, we
tried to forget the fine and went to practice our tennis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t until we arrived home that I
switched on my computer and discovered the news about the secretly recorded
video of Mitt Romney, where at a private fundraiser, he seemed to imply that
47% of Americans were dependent on government handouts and that they would vote
for Barak Obama regardless of what Mitt said or did, so Mitt didn’t care about
them.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The Romney scandal seemed big.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like he’d self-destructed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It almost felt like the election was over
before it had even really begun. </span></span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-23785777884175476392012-09-10T10:39:00.000-04:002012-09-10T10:39:35.747-04:00The GOP and Democratic National Conventions<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">This is my first presidential election
since I moved to the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have followed previous
ones from the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">, but in some ways the perspective is a little different being
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I generally voted for the Lib Dems
(Centrist) or the Labour party (Centre-left) back in the UK, so my sympathies
tend towards the Democrats here, but I will try to be as objective as I can
(which is impossible, I know!). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">The
candidates</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I think it’s fair to say that neither of
the main candidates is super-popular with their own party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many Democrats, Obama has been a big
disappointment after all the hope and optimism generated during his 2008
campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the Republicans, Romney is
essentially a compromise candidate, the least offensive option for the various
factions that make up the GOP, and one that few in the party particularly seem
to love.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The general atmosphere of the political
campaigns is less positive than 2008.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their approach seems to reflect the above, in some ways, with each
candidate putting forward a message to the voters, which often seems to imply:
“You think I’m bad?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take a look at the
other guy!”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://fitsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/romney-sc-governors-mansion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://fitsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/romney-sc-governors-mansion.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">The
most memorable parts of the two conventions</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">This will probably seem shallow to some,
but the thing that I will probably remember most about the Republican
convention was the Clint Eastwood speech, where he addressed an empty chair,
with the conceit being that an imaginary Obama was sitting in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the idea may not have appeared to be
a bad one on paper, the reality of Eastwood’s speech delivered a level of
absurdity that wouldn’t have seemed out of place in a Monty Python sketch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a gift to American satirists too, of
course.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The actual serious political speeches at
the RNC were on the whole, very competent, but the atmosphere generally seemed
a little flat, probably for the reasons I outlined earlier – Romney is
respected but not loved by his party.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The most memorable thing about the Democratic
convention for me was the Bill Clinton speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was gripping, and quite simply a master class in political oration - </span><span lang="EN-US">Clinton</span><span lang="EN-US"> has without
doubt, a slippery and sleazy side to his character, but wow, what a speaker!</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The downside to the Bill Clinton speech, of
course, was that it reminded you what a genius </span><span lang="EN-US">Clinton</span><span lang="EN-US"> was and is,
when it comes to the Dark Arts of political strategy, tactics and delivery, and
by implication, what a mediocre figure that Obama can seem in comparison
sometimes.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/X_pb7lAKw6M/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/X_pb7lAKw6M&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X_pb7lAKw6M&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Other
thoughts</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">One thing that made a big impact on me was
the very different make-up of the audiences at the two conventions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to say that the RNC crowd seemed to be
drawn from a narrower demographic – they were older, whiter, and more male
generally, whereas the DNC audience appeared younger and much more diverse in
their makeup and backgrounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(One could
say something similar about the Conservative and Labour conference audiences in
the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">, of course, but in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">, the
difference seemed much starker).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The other thing that seemed a little odd
was that apart from Condoleezza Rice, there seemed to be no representatives of
the last Republican government at the RNC. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The most memorable problem for the
Democrats, of course, was the messy turnaround over them not including “God”
and “</span><span lang="EN-US">Jerusalem</span><span lang="EN-US">” in their platform, which caught the media and then public
attention.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">General
summary</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I must admit that for an old cynic like me,
political conferences can often fall a little short of the mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I almost always find myself wanting less
gloss and more substance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before the party
conventions, I naively hoped that I might find out a little more about what
Obama and Romney might actually do if they won the presidency - there was lots
of rhetoric, but precious little in terms of practical policies coming from
either of them. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">One background factor that can also be
somewhat disconcerting is the overall atmosphere of rancor and acrimony that
possesses US politics at the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Modern
British politics can often be somewhat dull and flat (certainly since the
turmoil of the 1980s), because the three main UK parties tend to squabble over
the same piece of centre ground nowadays (things seem to have heated up a
little in the UK with the austerity cuts and a fracturing coalition government,
but it still seems mild compared to the situation across the Atlantic).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">, however,
the Republicans and Democrats are polar opposites politically and passions can
sometimes spill over into a real sense of sourness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Having said all that, one refreshing thing
about US politicians is their willingness to roll up their sleeves and get down
and with ‘the people’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>British
politicians can sometimes appear stiff and aloof by comparison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">
presidential elections are also unique and special to Americans as it’s the
only election they have where the entire nation participates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no real equivalent in a constitutional
monarchy/parliamentary democracy like the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">, where
the head of state is hereditary and the political leader is chosen by their own
political party.</span></span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-5334649483246071992012-08-29T12:53:00.001-04:002012-08-29T13:44:57.690-04:00Hit the road Jack: Getting my Florida driving license<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></b><span lang="EN-US">There comes a time in every expat’s life
when he needs to stop driving around on his British driving license and get a </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US"> one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Technically, I think I should have done this
much earlier, but hey…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">Basically, you can drive here for a time on
your British license, but the insurance is ridiculously high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus a </span><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span><span lang="EN-US"> driving
license is used a lot for ID purposes.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Cycling</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">I have also been cycling around quite a bit too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We live way out on the edge
of town and since the public transport here is virtually non-existent and my
wife often has the car, there aren’t really any other options.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes me about 25 minutes there and back by
bike to the gas station for basics like milk, and 40 minutes to the
off-license/liquor store and back for booze! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t much fun cycling on a main road (what
would be called a “dual carriageway” in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">) with
cars and trucks racing past at 60 mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">There are also other hazards too, such as
the dead animals by the side of the road – armadillos, raccoons, even deer...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My main concern is encountering a living snake while cycling,
however, which hasn’t happened so far, though there have been dead ones – see
pic (extra kudos if you can identify the type of snake!).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja6Jqf_dHcl98XPVu6JC2S5XCW_L82U4bxAJk3gkefFqFtigNFPrOiLjhoAcmjhP4U57FfGvQwYhdx57SVjBkjF68fkOGJ324y7sQzWxVQBzhjX3lDM4w9Ftm5s8KDoYj3iHRl8oY052lV/s1600/Photo0052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja6Jqf_dHcl98XPVu6JC2S5XCW_L82U4bxAJk3gkefFqFtigNFPrOiLjhoAcmjhP4U57FfGvQwYhdx57SVjBkjF68fkOGJ324y7sQzWxVQBzhjX3lDM4w9Ftm5s8KDoYj3iHRl8oY052lV/s320/Photo0052.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">I am told that as </span><span lang="EN-US">Gainesville</span><span lang="EN-US"> is a
liberal, college town, the cycle lanes/paths are particularly good, by American
standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are fairly similar to UK
facilities, I’d say – which in some ways is a disappointment, as there is generally
lots of space here, so it wouldn't be so difficult to build a separate cycle lane
here which is physically separated from the car traffic, rather than just a
white line painted near the edge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tend
to want everywhere to be like </span><span lang="EN-US">Holland</span><span lang="EN-US">, however, as far as cycling facilities go.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">My </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"> Driving License</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">Each state has their own rules, procedures
and laws for driving vehicles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After spending
ages trying to work out the procedure for getting my Florida driving license
and spending 45 minutes on the telephone to an advisor (40 minutes waiting in
the queue, 5 minutes talking to the advisor), I arrived at the driving place to
find that the procedure was actually different to what the website implied and
the advisor told me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">Anyway, there’s two parts to the test I’ve
got to take – a written element and a “road test”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took the written test on the spot which was
split into General Knowledge and Road Signs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I needed at least 15/20 and scored 18/20 and 19/20 respectively, so that
was good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve not booked the road test
yet, as our car has a dodgy rear light, which needs fixing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I’m looking forward to it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">(I will write up a full account of my
driving tests on my visa site: <a href="http://myk1fiancevisaexperience.blogspot.com/">My K1 Fiance Visa Experience</a>, when I eventually
get my license.)</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-28188647322384230252012-08-10T17:11:00.002-04:002012-08-10T17:11:51.358-04:00The London Olympics, Mitt Romney, and the world’s opinion on the games<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">I must admit, I was one of the cynics
beforehand, but from the moment that Danny Boyle’s incredible opening ceremony
of the Olympics began, I have been enthralled by the whole sporting event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a expat Brit in Florida, I have been experiencing
things from across the </span><span lang="EN-US">Atlantic</span><span lang="EN-US"> in the </span><span lang="EN-US">USA</span><span lang="EN-US">, of course – but judging by the mixed, but overall favourable
viewpoints expressed in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-19195744">BBC’s article that I read on world opinion</a>,
it has been a great success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It hasn’t
all been plain sailing though, of course, though.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">The
Mitt Romney faux pas</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Before the Olympics even began, there was
the Mitt Romney faux pas on his trip to the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife told me Romney committed the sin of
not recognizing the fact that the Brits can criticize the Olympics but
foreigners should stay out of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can
see her point, but I think that there are also other factors at play.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">Yes, there were definitely problems with
security and travel strikes in the run up to the start of the Olympics, but I
think there was a cultural misunderstanding at the heart of the Romney faux pas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brits love to moan about things, we know that
we are an organized country, but playing up problems into virtual epic calamities
is almost a sport in itself and is seen as a strange sort of fun on some level
– at least when expressed as a talking point: “Isn’t it terrible, you’ll never
guess what’s happened now…” type of way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The British media, politicians, and general public all collaborate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span lang="EN-US">In the upbeat and optimistic US, the Olympic
security and strike problems, rather than being played up, would’ve been
handled as a “We’ve got it covered, it’s all going to be awesome,”
situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romney’s problem was that he
interpreted the British moaning literally and then was shocked by the response
he got.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moaning can often be a casual
thing in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">, like talking about the weather and people will even invent stuff
just to moan about – it’s a totally different mentality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">, a positive
attitude is de rigueur and every problem is there to be solved.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Then again, Mitt made his remarks in an NBC
interview, maybe he just didn’t expect them to be reported by the British
media…</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">The
opening ceremony</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It was just amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t believe the Queen’s parachute
act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was worried that the ceremony
might be too traditional or pompous, but if anything it was the other way -
modern and full of humour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I keep
meaning to watch the whole thing again as there was just so much in there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of it was pretty obscure unless you are
British – the first lesbian kiss on </span><span lang="EN-US">Brookside</span><span lang="EN-US">, Ken Loach’s “Kes”, other classic quotes and clips
from film, books, TV and radio through the decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is incredible how much culture, be it pop
music, Shakespeare, or Mr Bean(!?!) we have brought to the world!</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">World
opinion on the Olympics</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">As I mentioned, it was interesting to read
some of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-19195744">feedback from other countries in the BBC article</a>.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The criticism from the Russian reporter
that "The average Londoner doesn't make a big deal about food - feeding
the kids chips, pizza, toast and sandwiches…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>cannot even begin to imagine what would happen to Londoners and city
visitors if it wasn't for Chinese and Indian takeaways," is true in my
estimation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There is lots of good food to be eaten in </span><span lang="EN-US">Britain</span><span lang="EN-US">,
but the British public generally has no passion for good food and tends to
prefer crap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, the
situation isn’t much different in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> – but
they do know how to do customer service, at least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> has
the advantage of not having </span><span lang="EN-US">France</span><span lang="EN-US">
next door, reminding them of their inadequacy.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Some of the other criticisms though, I take
with a pinch of salt – biased refs (sour grapes!) and people not being
interested in the games outside the Olympic Village - I mean you have to
respect the fact that a lot of people just aren’t interested in sport, whether
it’s the Olympics, the football World Cup, or the Wimbledon Finals.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There aren’t that many complaints though,
it seems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that the London
Olympics have gone down well in </span><span lang="EN-US">America</span><span lang="EN-US">
from noting the reaction of the media and my friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Whatever its downsides (dirty, overcrowded,
expensive, grumpiness, etc.) </span><span lang="EN-US">London</span><span lang="EN-US"> is a world city and an iconic one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Things generally seem to have run very smoothly and the staffing has
been cheerful (which is an achievement).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even the weather has been good by British standards and Team GB have won
a few medals (</span><span lang="EN-US">Yorkshire</span><span lang="EN-US"> did so well they would have made it into the top 10 if they were an
independent country).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The BBC also have impressed me with their coverage - every sport shown live on the internet!</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I can’t wait for the closing ceremony
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently the Spice Girls are
going to perform… </span></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-10292860335306117982012-08-07T12:57:00.001-04:002012-08-07T13:09:19.777-04:00Atheism in the USA (British and American differences)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<span lang="EN-US">If you didn’t know it already, I am an
atheist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Non-belief is more common in </span><span lang="EN-US">England</span><span lang="EN-US">
where I am from, and the culture is generally a more skeptical one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it was definitely a culture shock coming
to the US where Christianity is still going strong and being religious is to some
degree very much part the norm.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Background</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This post was partly prompted by a survey
recently done by Gallup in the US </span>(June 7-10 2012)<span lang="EN-US">, where they asked people if they would be
prepared to vote for a politician who was Catholic, or Jewish etc. and as you
can see from the figures below, atheists ended up down at the bottom of the pile below Muslims, with just under half of Americans saying that they’d not be prepared to vote for someone
who was an atheist.</span></div>
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<i>The poll asked Americans if they would vote
for an otherwise well-qualified candidate who was black (96% would), a
woman (95% would), a Catholic (94%), Hispanic (92%), Jewish (91%), Mormon (80%), gay/lesbian (68%), Muslim (58%), or atheist (54%).</i><br />
<span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Several of my American friends actually expressed
surprise that 50% of Americans trusted atheists – they thought that the
number would be much lower!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Back in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">,
religion has been in steady decline for 200 years, but the process accelerated
somewhat in the latter half of the twentieth century and by the time it got to
the post-1960s generations most people stopped going to church altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, where I am in </span><a href="http://floridafacts.hubpages.com/hub/Facts-about-Gainesville-FL"><span lang="EN-US">Gainesville</span></a><span lang="EN-US">, </span><span lang="EN-US">North <a href="http://floridafacts.hubpages.com/hub/Fun-Facts-about-Florida">Florida</a></span><span lang="EN-US">, such are the
numbers of church goers that there is actually a rush hour when church ends on a
Sunday morning and the congregations turn out.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">American
atheists</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The core of atheism in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">, as
you would expect, is probably in academia and the scientific community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the American scientist, Carl Sagan,
has often summed up best for me why I put my faith in science and reason and believe that
God and religion are man-made phenomena.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There are also quite a few atheists on the
political left in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">, although nowhere near as many as you’d find in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">, or </span><span lang="EN-US">Northern Europe</span><span lang="EN-US"> generally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rightwing American atheists tend to be rarer
in my experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Probably one of the most famous atheists in
American popular culture is Bill Maher, although there have been plenty of
non-believing </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> comics in the past – W C Fields being maybe the most notable one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite US satire of American Christians is
probably the Ned Flanders character in The Simpsons.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Religion
and politics</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Although the post-revolutionary founders of
the US wanted to keep religion separate from politics and the state, fearing a single
religion becoming established like in England, where the Church of England was
and is still the official religion (at least nominally), they were only
partially successful, in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Issues of how much religion should feature in political life and what
its role should be are very much a hot topic of debate in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Whatever the debate over the relationship
of religion and the American state, the involvement of religion in everyday
party politics is without doubt huge compared to the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>American politicians on the left and right
will often claim divine inspiration, but it is probably fair to say that it is
those on the conservative right who mix religion and politics the most.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">,
religion is generally seen as a private matter of personal conscience for
politicians, as well as the general public, but Americans wear their faith on
their sleeve and will often define themselves by it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never occurred to me not to vote for Tony
Blair because he was a Catholic, but Americans take religious belief (or the
absence of) into account much more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think it’s also fair to say that for many Americans, being a Christian is
associated with being a respectable, upstanding, ethical person – whereas the
image of Christians in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US"> is far
more mixed.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">The
Practicalities of being an atheist</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Just as the politics of the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> is
skewed very much to the rightwing from a British perspective, the secular/religious
attitudes are very much skewed towards religion (especially so where I am in
the South).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I’d say that
without doubt most Americans are tolerant, there is also a devout minority of
Americans who see Christianity as being completely tied up with US values and
culture and by extension, all non-belief and non-Christian religions are
therefore “otherly” and a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>threat.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Just being an atheist can be perceived by
some as being quite extreme here where I am (rather than being fairly mundane,
like in the UK) – atheists are not uncommonly portrayed as being unreasonable absolutists,
with agnosticism seen as a more moderate and acceptable form of non-belief. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">(I should add that although I would
describe myself as an “atheist”, my assessment is that God [or gods] *very probably*
don’t exist, but it can never be fully ruled out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I therefore see religious people who claim
that their belief system is definitely the one true faith and their holy book
is *the only* one that is divinely inspired as being far more absolutist than
myself).</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Liberating</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">On a personal note, one thing that is strangely
liberating about being an atheist in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US"> for a
mischief maker like myself is that I feel able to be critical and satirical without
experiencing much guilt about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back
in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">, religious belief can seem so beleaguered at times that poking fun at
it can seem like kicking a person in a wheelchair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">
(certainly down here in </span><span lang="EN-US">North Florida</span><span lang="EN-US">) you definitely have the sense that you are the one who is part of an
underdog minority as an atheist.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Related
blog posts by Brits in the USA</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Iota Quota <a href="http://blogiota.blogspot.com/2010/11/religion.html">writes about how refreshing she finds attitudes</a>, as a British Christian in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Eve, a non-believer, <a href="http://eveinthequeencity.blogspot.com/2012/04/isnt-this-enough.html">posts about her frustrations with religion</a> in the </span><span lang="EN-US">US</span><span lang="EN-US">.</span></div>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341041630077859952.post-44278184347991037482012-07-16T13:51:00.000-04:002012-07-16T13:51:18.897-04:00Mosquito Plague<span lang="EN-US">The big news here in </span><a href="http://floridafacts.hubpages.com/hub/Facts-about-Gainesville-FL"><span lang="EN-US">Gainesville</span></a><span lang="EN-US">, </span><a href="http://floridafacts.hubpages.com/hub/Fun-Facts-about-Florida"><span lang="EN-US">Florida</span></a><span lang="EN-US"> is that in
the aftermath of Tropical Storm Debby, we’ve been hit by a mosquito plague and I
am covered in uncomfortable and itchy bites.
They kept me awake for most of one night, such was the discomfort.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiOh0-PLP-ZSW18KAS_AFdbLk_KkxLGCtZMy6ZRXtHk5Lg-WROsSNv7nOitr_v7CD23v6QezL41-E6agex1FzXhUx1sd5s0e4uCcoaiqzZQVZc-gAu845PrFGTO-jOj7oQoJ7-YuS1ZnZ/s1600/bitten.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiOh0-PLP-ZSW18KAS_AFdbLk_KkxLGCtZMy6ZRXtHk5Lg-WROsSNv7nOitr_v7CD23v6QezL41-E6agex1FzXhUx1sd5s0e4uCcoaiqzZQVZc-gAu845PrFGTO-jOj7oQoJ7-YuS1ZnZ/s320/bitten.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The joy of mosquito bites!</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">The reason for the mosquito plague is the
massive amount of water that Tropical Storm Debby rained down on us not long
ago. Mosquitoes like standing water as a
venue for their egg laying. Even if it’s
dry, the mosquito eggs can sit around for months, then spring into life when
the rain comes.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">By the way, for the linguists out there,
the shortened name for mosquitoes in </span><span lang="EN-US">England</span><span lang="EN-US">
tends to be “mozzies”, but in the </span><span lang="EN-US">USA</span><span lang="EN-US"> they
are more commonly referred to as “skeeters”.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Anyway, I am bitten to hell. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">A range of cures and reliefs have been
offered to me for mozzie bites, ranging from dabbing the bites with gin, to <span class="commentbody">tea tree oil.</span> The
alcoholic cure maybe sounds the slightly more appealing, but I am using
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CVV1H6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paugooshub-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002CVV1H6">Cortizone</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=paugooshub-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B002CVV1H6" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> at present. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I am spraying myself with “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000CNTC1/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paugooshub-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0000CNTC1">Off!</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=paugooshub-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0000CNTC1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />”, when I go
out, a DEET spray, which the skeeters don’t like (at least in theory!).</span><br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=paugooshub-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0000CNTC1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
<span lang="EN-US"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0Cs5kWXsTET6T9Ek9vScgMERqVY-1R52y61O2UxTJ_x0CYxVw0xDWy4YMz_NNBKGcOzObkpbVpJdnoYV-tSCxk34fu0TOTAJWWa_qGMuonUU9HHWeBYhd6wlKonqL4huOX0k5O_PJ8IQ/s1600/giant+skeeter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0Cs5kWXsTET6T9Ek9vScgMERqVY-1R52y61O2UxTJ_x0CYxVw0xDWy4YMz_NNBKGcOzObkpbVpJdnoYV-tSCxk34fu0TOTAJWWa_qGMuonUU9HHWeBYhd6wlKonqL4huOX0k5O_PJ8IQ/s320/giant+skeeter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The mosquitoes are worst in the morning and
at sunset. Unfortunately, at the end of
the last week, when I put the trash/rubbish out, the cat decided to make a dash
for freedom and explore the neighbourhood.
Pets aren’t supposed to roam around where we live, so normally the cat
spends its time shut inside, or out on the (mosquito-netted) porch. Anyway, I went after the cat and eventually
managed to retrieve it, but got bitten about a zillion times in the process.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We have mosquitoes in the </span><span lang="EN-US">UK</span><span lang="EN-US">, but
there aren’t a lot of them. There are
midges up in </span><span lang="EN-US">Scotland</span><span lang="EN-US"> which are maybe just as bad, or worse in some respects, although
they don’t give you any tropical diseases!</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125096218951977368noreply@blogger.com9