I was only away for eleven days, but there was a marked change on my return to the US. The hills and wasteland that has been green through the winter and spring has turned yellow; a stark contrast to the rain fed green of the UK. However, unlike the UK where a dry summer will turn all of the grass yellow, here there are still swathes of green on the verges and in lawns. Despite the lack of spring and summer rain, the grass is kept well watered by sprinkler systems that are supposed to operate on timers. I say supposed, because I think that some work on proximity, turning on as I approach. The way that sprinklers cover move walkways and grass may be yet another reason that the locals drive rather than walk.
Eating Less Fat Reduces Analytical Skills
There was a packet of a snack product on our kitchen counter. The snack claims to have 30% less than regular crisps (Actually it uses the words potato chips, but I am still trying to use English and not American in this blog). In smaller print it then says that regular crisps have 10g of fat per oz, while these have 6g of fat per oz. Aside from the odd mixing of metric and non-metric measures, 6g is 40% less than 10g. The headline claim is thus wrong, but is understating the advantage; their marketers seem to be mathematically challenged.
Back to Blighty Part II
The late flight from London to Scotland meant that I was going to be running perilously close to arriving at my parents’ house at the time that we had scheduled going out for a meal. Fortunately, having only hand luggage sped my trip to the car rental counter and the car was ready for me. The roads were clear and I listened to Five Live for the two hour trip from Glasgow. I appreciate being able to keep in check on football scores via the net, but it is not the same as listening to them on the radio.
In addition to the eating and drinking, I took my mother shopping in the delightful nearby town of Castle Douglas and on another day to Wigtown, Scotland’s book town. This is a town that has dozens of second bookshops, including The Sign of the Dragon. Since I had little space in my hand luggage, I had to resist the temptation to buy lots of books. I came home with just a volume of Herbert Hoover’s memoirs.
On the way back, I met up with viberunner at Glasgow. We had a few beers and a whisky or two. The return flight went ok, though this time I had to use the booked connection via Denver. I landed in Oakland at about 8:30pm, so Monday in the office I was a little tired.
Back to Blighty Part I
I have just returned from an eleven day trip back to the UK. It was a holiday to see my parents and assorted friends. I took full advantage of the opportunity to eat proper fish and chips, black pudding, haggis, marinated herring, and curry.
The journey started well, I arrived at the airport early and was told that my flight was delayed. This may not sound like an ideal beginning, but I was then offered a direct flight from San Francisco to London, rather than the route via Chicago that I had booked. I had no one sat next to me as I traveled business class and was wined and dinned.
Ammonyte met me at the airport and we had a proper English breakfast in Windsor – in an Italian restaurant. Although I lived near Windsor for eight years, I had never visited the monuments to Magna Carta and JFK at Runnymede. Now, returning as a tourist, I did so. The Magna Carta monument was built by the American Bar Association. It is sad to think that it took the Americans to erect a memorial to this pivotal event in British history; sadder still that in both countries governments seem less interested in the concept that they should be bound by the laws of the land.
We drunk coffee in Burnham Beeches, an ancient woodland whose proximity to Pinewood studios has made it a much used location in films. The fine English spring day allowed us to sit outside, albeit in coats.
The day finished with a visit to the quintessential English pub, where several pints of fine ale were consumed. From the pub we moved onto curry, where more alcohol was consumed. I was glad that my flight to Glasgow was not an early one – although BA managed to take this ‘not early’ to extremes by having it leave three hours later than scheduled.
To Be Continued
