Strange things you're not used to

[Reba 2]

mmmmmmmmmm....moose meat

[TBoneTX 46,284]

mmmmmmmmmm....moose meat

Moose brisket is good, but I prefer pollo (whether feliz or loco, eh, si man).

[Reba 2]

we're moving back north so we'll be closer to the moose. My husband has never seen one, let alone tasted one. Of course, I don't know if there are any in New York state, but we could maybe go hunting up in Vermont or Maine.

But even the deer are bigger up there than here in NC. They're just puny little things here. Hardly worth the effort really. We keep feeding them, hoping they'll fatten up, but they still don't get as big as the ones up home.

[StillThePrettiest 3]

there might be some diversity in Texas, but there's nowhere near the diversity there is in England, and I've lived in both places now, so will brook no argument

don't eat fried chicken, so can't answer that question... we've found a few non-chains, including the place we got tonight's FAAAAABulous Vietnamese sandwiches (3 for $8! $4 for each person! can't get much better than that ) but it's a bit of a struggle...

I also hate the way tax isn't included in the ticket prices! just stupid

and yeah, I can't get used to the non-metric system... I'm constantly asking Dave how many cups in a quart, or how many pints in two gallons, or some such... sort of used to temperatures, but under protest... writing the date backwards is just DUMB, and the paper sizes annoy me too! nothing's logical... and I can't get any of my pictures framed because they're 'non-standard sizes'... (I wanted to tell the girl in the shop they were standard for every country in the world bar the US, Myanmar and Libya, or whichever are the only other two remaining countries which haven't gone metric, but thought it would sound sour and mean when it wasn't HER fault )

we tend to buy veges and fruit once a week, and I find it almost all lasts... I'm not sure why it lasts so well; I get a bit suspicious, but it IS all fresh (I dislike most canned or frozen veg) so I just have to accept it

I've started growing some of my own in little pots on the window sill... I've got rocket and some other lettuces going well, and have just planted some extra herbs, and some roma tomatoes

and we paid $109 for our electricity (3 bedroom house in Houston) in June B)

I was aiming for under $100 in July, but it ended up being $133... I was all disappointed, until I looked at the fine print, and realised the price for kilowatt hour had gone up by almost 40%... so we actually used less, but still paid more

oh well, it's 100% green power, so I'm not THAT annoyed... just a little

no progress on the recycling thing

but we DO have funky in-ceiling speakers, which are playing my fave Australian radio station as I type (ah, the wonders of the modern world!) so SOME things are moving forward

oh, and I'm working (strictly voluntarily) three days a week, so that's good

(and explains my absence from here recently )

[TBoneTX 46,284]

there might be some diversity in Texas, but there's nowhere near the diversity there is in England, and I've lived in both places now, so will brook no argument

It's so cool to hear from StP, si man! However, we must agree that Texas has more Mexicans than England does, so Texas is therefore more diverse, si man.

and the paper sizes annoy me too! nothing's logical...

It's quite logical, actually: Our paper is called "letter-sized" because it's, well, letter-sized, si man. "Yours" is so wacky that it's not called "letter-sized," but rather A4, like something that some worker-bee scientist cooked up in a Petri dish, si man.

(and explains my absence from here recently

But, then, who would be The Prettiest in your stead? Someone could certainly be The Loveliest, but not The Prettiest. Ergothuswithforthly, you should be un-absent from here recently, si man.

One thing that I consider eminently charming about Brits is their use of the term "whilst" instead of "while." It's almost as endearing as saying "si, man" instead of "eh," si man, eh.

I hunger for a mooseburger, yet none is forthcoming. Whilst waiting, I may have to settle for pollo, si man, eh, verily, wot.

[Gemmie 142]

It's so cool to hear from StP, si man! However, we must agree that Texas has more Mexicans than England does, so Texas is therefore more diverse, si man.

You think having Mexicans makes Texas more diverse than England??

Seeing as you live so close to Mexico, that's not too surprising, even expected.. you should see the amount of foreigners we have all over England. Mostly Asians, but of course many Europeans.

Not to mention that I live in Bath, which is a major tourist spot. You literally have to dodge your way around all the foreigners just walking through the centre! So I'm pretty used to seeing all different kinds of people and am surprised when I go to the US.

[StillThePrettiest 3]

what TBone THINKS and what TBone SAYS do not always have to agree

[Krikit 1,165]

P.S. Years ago, I had a Canadian girlfriend, so I have a lot of good-natured cheap shots to share, si man, eh.

Shoot away. I love good-natured cheap shots. lol

But, then, who would be The Prettiest in your stead? Someone could certainly be The Loveliest, but not The Prettiest. Ergothuswithforthly, you should be un-absent from here recently, si man.

One thing that I consider eminently charming about Brits is their use of the term "whilst" instead of "while." It's almost as endearing as saying "si, man" instead of "eh," si man, eh.

I hunger for a mooseburger, yet none is forthcoming. Whilst waiting, I may have to settle for pollo, si man, eh, verily, wot.

Hey man. Don't bogart that joint. Pass some over here.

[*julez* 124]

Having a lot of Mexicans in Texas does not make Texas extremely diverse. It just means it has a lot of Mexicans, which is expected for a state that shares a border with Mexico.

[TBoneTX 46,284]

what TBone THINKS and what TBone SAYS do not always have to agree

We are the chorus, and we agree. We agree, we agree, we agree. Si man, si man, si man.

[TBoneTX 46,284]

You think having Mexicans makes Texas more diverse than England??

Si, man!

you should see the amount of foreigners we have all over England.

Here, we call them "furriners." Maybe some of them skin moose for a living, si man, eh.

Not to mention that I live in Bath

I commend you on your cleanliness, si man!

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Americans mostly do all their shopping in one huge go, because the markets aren't on every corner like they seem to be in most other countries. Its not as convenient to do shopping every evening on the way home from work. In the town where I live, everything is soooooooooo spread out its just crazy. The bank is on one side of town, the drug-store over there, and the grocery over there and so on and so on. Any neighbourhood I've lived in in Ontario, everything is all pretty much in one spot, grocery, drug-store, bank (at least a machine), and other shops. The way the town is set up here, is incredibly in-convenient, we have to drive all over the place just to get our weekly errands done. Its one of the major things that bugs me here.

Older, larger cities in the US are different of course, and set up with more of everything all together and within convenient reach of each other. But it seems newer towns and cities just kinda plop #### down wherever it lands and don't think about it, so that everyone is entirely dependent on their cars.

I had never really noticed or cared about that before I lived in Germany for a few years. I had always lived in cities of relative inconvenience. What other world was there? Now it really annoys me.

What annoys my husband is turning cycles for stop lights. I never noticed it either before he pointed it out, but hmm. Maybe a conspiracy of the automatic transmission industry? He said he can't wait to get back to driving on roads that don't have semi-eating potholes in them. Like every pothole he hits burns into his soul somehow. He also now understands what I meant by 'construction season'. All of the main arteries near our house are completely ripped up save one.

Edited August 19, 2008 by Wacken

[Krikit 1,165]

What's a turning cycle?

[Dr. Obvious 49]

It is the time it takes for stop lights at an intersection to cycle through all of their colors and turns. In Germany, it is set up to optimise gas mileage and decrease unnessary stopping, where possible. Here, in his opinion, it doesn't seem like that was given any consideration. I get to hear about it all the time.

[StillThePrettiest 3]

I'd agree with that... lights in Australia and the UK seem better attuned to the actual traffic flows than they do here... sometimes you seem to stop forever and no one's even coming the other way