Alleged Chocolate
Posted by Anya in Stuff that's different and weird, Uncategorized on May 16, 2008
OMG you would NOT BELIEVE what passes for chocolate in these parts. I was really hungry tonight and hadn’t been shopping so I went hunting around the kitchen cupboards. I found a Hershey bar (came from a hotel welcome pack from way back – I wouldn’t have bought the noxious substance). Anyway it says chocolate on the front but that’s a LIE! The stuff is revolting. A brief perusal of the ingredients explains why – there’s no cocoa in there! It probably harks back to the war when they had to make chocolate out of melted down tanks.
Now I know that I’m a bit of a chocolate snob (yes I put my hand up to cooking with no less than 70% cocoa chocs) but this completely takes the biscuit. At best they only use cocoa butter. That’s what I use as moisturiser! although now I come to think of it I think the moisturiser would taste better.
Apparently there’s a chocolate factory you can visit in Hershey Pennsylvania. That’s one place you can be sure I won’t be going. Urgh.
Speaking of Rome
Posted by Anya in Activities on May 11, 2008
I’ve been reading a series of books recently that I’ve really enjoyed much to my surprise – the first was left here by my father when he visited. They are all about ancient Rome and the rise of Julius Caesar. Now neither have really held my interest that much before ( all the stories of marauding Romans in Latin textbooks bored the hell out of me when I was 11). Anyway they are by a chap called Conn Iggulden. A cracking good read.
When in Rome…
Posted by Anya in Activities, Car stuff on May 11, 2008
The sunshine, the open road, the deafening throb of a Harley Davidson engine – this is clearly the only way to get about in the US. While in California I hired a bike to go cruising around the Napa Valley wine region. Now I’ve always been a bit sniffy about HDs (this one was a 1200 for example – no clue where all that power goes because it isn’t exactly nippy…sit on a 1200 BMW and it’s like a rocket) but there’s something about the gentle chugging, the exhaust note and the leisurly ‘ sat in a bath’ riding style. Also the suspension – carefully honed to support the ample backsides of some of the heaviest bikers I’ve ever seen – is just perfect to wallow through the inevitable giant potholes on the dreadful roads here.
Anyway I’ve completely transformed my idea of biking. Years ago it was all about the speed, now I think it is the best way in the world to take in the surroundings. In the same way that driving around in a convertible car gives you a better, more intimate experience of the surroundings than a car with a roof, touring on a bike puts you another level closer. I guess that means I’m mellowing.
Pertrolhead Paradise
Posted by Anya in Activities, Car stuff on May 11, 2008
Just spent the weekend in Petrolhead heaven – at the Infineon racetrack in Sonoma for the Ferrari 430 Challenge. So there were a number of races over a number of days – each affected start positions for the next. The 21 or so bends of racetrack are organised compactly so, from the right vantage point you can see almost all the action.
The best bit for me was that you are able to wander around the pits – talking to drivers and engineers, poking about in the cars etc. With the challenge all the cars are the same production spec but it is amazing to what extent some cars are more equal than others. Spot the enormous cheesy grin 🙂
Actually it made a very welcome change to spend some time with people who like driving and who don’t think that American cars are acceptable modes of transportation. Bliss.
Mail order trash
Posted by Anya in Uncategorized on May 9, 2008
Now I don’t spend that much time at home and don’t create masses of rubbish yet I am forever looking to get rid of bags of rubbish. Why? Because I get vast forests worth of restaurant details, local rags and other random stuff through my door on a regular basis. I haven’t even signed up for anything much, it just arrives. Not only do I get all this unsolicited junk through – most of it refers to me a valued customer. Urgh. As soon as one of them sends me a reply paid envelope – I’ll send some back.
Words you don’t get in America…
Posted by Anya in Two nations divided by a common language on May 9, 2008
It’s great – you can ramble incoherently and people think your are just using words they don’t know.
Some that you don’t get here: fortnight, Bollocks, gobsmacked, boffin
Then pavements are sidewalks and roads are pavements, chips are fries and crisps are chips…
Still the hardest thing of all is ordering a glass of water (even harder getting it without a ton of ice) because somehow I can’t say “water” in a way that people understand…
Chicago voyeurism
Posted by Anya in Uncategorized on May 9, 2008
I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago recently. I rather like the hotel – the rooms are nice, the smellies in the bathroom are pretty good and it has a reasonably spacious gym (ie not a broom closet for a change) that’s open 24 hours. The best thing of all is that it has wonderful sheets (shame I had to get up crazy early to catch the train out of town).
Anyway, this time I was in a great corner room with views all the way down Michigan avenue. Wih so many windows you could see anyone in the buildings around and they could see you. (It was like that awful film with Sharen Stone where everyone has a telescope to spy on everyone else). Most disconcerting of all was the large plate glass window next to the shower. Turns out it is the perfect place for exhibitionists too. Before you wonder – the bathroom blinds remained firmly down.
Another classy beverage
Posted by Anya in Uncategorized on May 9, 2008
Sampled at a bar recently. Actually not feckin bad.
Two nations divided by a common language
Posted by Anya in Two nations divided by a common language on April 24, 2008
Over here SO many people have RVs – recreational vehicles. Otherwise known as shed draggers. This has never made any sense to me as they are ugly and HUGE and the cost of driving one around has to be more than petrol for a car + the cost of a nice hotel (and the RV parks seem to be a) pikey magnets and b) always in the most horrible locations.
Anyway – I was riding around recently when I spotted the name of a particularly common brand. I almost fell off the bike. It turns out that a large proportion of Americans drive around in giant Tiogas. Hilarious.
On a sort of related note – this made me laugh out loud – there’s nothing funnier than a government office taking itself too seriously: From the Register “UK Office of Government Commerce Cracks one off”
And a follow on thread: What happens when designers go bad/ blind.
Restaurant etiquette
Posted by Anya in Stuff that's different and weird on April 9, 2008
Imagine you’re having one of those wonderful meals (think French style dinner) that drift on for hours with languid gaps between courses where the food is important but not the only reason for being there.
That wouldn’t happen in the US.
Not just becuase of the food (obviously a major factor but I won’t go into that now) but because as soon as your cutlery has touched the plate it is whisked away, regardless of whether everyone else has finished. So even working in Pizza Hut (surprise revelation for you there- promise not to tell?) we never cleared so much as a side plate until all diners had finished. Here, even in a smart restaurant they clear things away immediately. I don’t like it – it makes me feel rushed and uncomfortable – they are obviously trying to get you out the door asap.
Another weird thing is how the locals use cutlery here – almost noone uses a knife and fork simulataneously. The way to eat, eg a steak is to cut some chunks off, swap fork into right hand and then stab the bits and then swap hands again if more chunks need cutting off. The first time this was pointed out to me I was horrified then when I recovered from the initial shock I thinkI giggled through an entire meal.