Today I had a brief opportunity to catch up with one of my professional friends, you know, the people you know only through work but with whom you eventually develop a casual friendship based on your jobs. Even easier these days with facebook and blogs. This one is quite amusing because I live [...]
Anyone who knows me well, knows that although I never had a problem with Minnesota winters (you can always put on more clothes) I had a real problem with Minnesota summers (you reach a limit where you can not take more clothes off!) The heat, the humidity, the bugs. The weather swings that can cause [...]
The Economist reports that Britain is tightening the visa-waiver rules, essentially rescinding the visa waiver programme for countries it has decided pose threats. I’m guessing that this will be part of a growing trend, that the age of free and easy entry into countries like the US and the UK is likely over. [...]
I realized this week that it was fifteen years ago last month that I graduated from high school back in Minnesota, back in the US. Now it’s impossible to guess on that day where you will be in fifteen years (and I don’t think I would have ever guessed England!) and who you will [...]
Two critical observations from my local Sainsbury’s tonight.
On Cheese. They did have some slices of something that looked like American cheese. As in, it was yellow and in a package of individually wrapped slices and called “Cheese-flavoured slices” which I thought was very amusing. They also had something shockingly scary-looking called “Dairylea [...]
I managed to trick my beloved nonagenarian paternal grandmother into staying on the phone with me for nearly an hour tonight, which was a new record in my nearly two years abroad. Her post-depression era tendencies are to cut off conversations at 15 minutes or so because of what it must be costing; it [...]
A few (or more) months ago, a tiny little Mexican food joint opened in my neighborhood. It was written up favorably in the local paper and I kept meaning to check it out, but I had not yet managed until today. It’s a take-out joint, there is no seating area but a few [...]
I have come to the conclusion that a big difference between American and British grammar in daily practice is in the Brits’ tendency to abbreviate. The discussion on “port of last departure” versus (the more specific but longer) “airport of…” yesterday, the “can I help?” statement, the “Big Issue, please” phrase and others. [...]
Warning to all who enter the UK, they have changed the “landing card” forms to make them more extensive, which means that on entering the UK you now have to provide much more information such as passport number, place of passport issue, and most puzzlingly, “Port of Last Departure”. I was surprised when the [...]
…do not seem to have the level of need for the internet that I have. My trip this week has been both wonderful and miserable at times, but most importantly, I have not been able to easily share either the good or bad, because I have had minimal if any access to the internet. [...]
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