Saturday, May 01, 2004
Catch up news
Not a lot to catch up with actually - haven't done a lot since last blog.
The meal at the Spanish restaurant was not very Spanish - a bit like going to a Chinese restaurant and ordering a porterhouse steak, though there were some Spanish choices.
The meat here is really good - even though the cuts you buy are not like ours, and look like somebody has attacked the animal with a chain saw.
The appetiser was served first as you would expect. The salad came next. I think if you didn't eat your greens you didn't get your meat, because it wasn't served until salad was finished. The waitress asked if we would like ground pepper, and then ground it over the meal and took the pepper away. Before dessert she asked if we would like coffee - not 27 different types of coffee - just coffee, and served it from a pot, with top ups as required.
Another shopping trip to the mall while Ev worked on Friday, and bought a heap more clothes. I don't know how I am going to get them home.
I had a Chinese massage of some sort today and went supermarket shopping with Ev. They have the system here, which has been suggested in Australia, of noting the price per pound of products, so that it is easy to compare prices of things in different sized containers. A good idea.
The men with beards have to wear hairnets on them. They look so funny, as if they have false beards.
Supermarkets have motorised wheelchairs with trolley attached, for people who are not actually in wheelchairs, but can't walk distances. Also they have groovy little cars for the kids with the trolley attached to the back - another great idea.
The meal at the Spanish restaurant was not very Spanish - a bit like going to a Chinese restaurant and ordering a porterhouse steak, though there were some Spanish choices.
The meat here is really good - even though the cuts you buy are not like ours, and look like somebody has attacked the animal with a chain saw.
The appetiser was served first as you would expect. The salad came next. I think if you didn't eat your greens you didn't get your meat, because it wasn't served until salad was finished. The waitress asked if we would like ground pepper, and then ground it over the meal and took the pepper away. Before dessert she asked if we would like coffee - not 27 different types of coffee - just coffee, and served it from a pot, with top ups as required.
Another shopping trip to the mall while Ev worked on Friday, and bought a heap more clothes. I don't know how I am going to get them home.
I had a Chinese massage of some sort today and went supermarket shopping with Ev. They have the system here, which has been suggested in Australia, of noting the price per pound of products, so that it is easy to compare prices of things in different sized containers. A good idea.
The men with beards have to wear hairnets on them. They look so funny, as if they have false beards.
Supermarkets have motorised wheelchairs with trolley attached, for people who are not actually in wheelchairs, but can't walk distances. Also they have groovy little cars for the kids with the trolley attached to the back - another great idea.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
There's a bear out there!!!
Not just any old bear! I mean a BEAR!!! Close to the size of my car - I'm not kidding! Ev said it would weigh about 600 pounds.
I was just about to take some rubbish down to the bin when Rex said he would do it, as he had to sprinkle it with ammonia to keep the bears away. He had only just been back inside a minute or so when I saw this thumping big thing strolling in the front yard of the house opposite. Later we found Rex's bins tipped over and the contents scattered everywhere. It must have been very close by. That's the last time I go outside in the dark for a smoke and I don't think I'll be doing any more walks - even though I have Rag to protect me.
Rex took the day off today, so we went touring the local area and looking for birthday presents for Ev. She turns 60 today. I bought her a beautiful Delft blue platter (the real thing) from all of us. She has a collection of Delft, so she should like it.
Tonight we are going out for dinner at a restaurant which is a million miles away (as usual). I think it is a Spanish restaurant.
I was just about to take some rubbish down to the bin when Rex said he would do it, as he had to sprinkle it with ammonia to keep the bears away. He had only just been back inside a minute or so when I saw this thumping big thing strolling in the front yard of the house opposite. Later we found Rex's bins tipped over and the contents scattered everywhere. It must have been very close by. That's the last time I go outside in the dark for a smoke and I don't think I'll be doing any more walks - even though I have Rag to protect me.
Rex took the day off today, so we went touring the local area and looking for birthday presents for Ev. She turns 60 today. I bought her a beautiful Delft blue platter (the real thing) from all of us. She has a collection of Delft, so she should like it.
Tonight we are going out for dinner at a restaurant which is a million miles away (as usual). I think it is a Spanish restaurant.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Bits and Pieces
Not much doing today, and just as well because I woke up at 8-45am!
I haven't taken a lot of photos yet because the scenery is pretty much the same in all the areas I've been to - hilly, deciduous trees (still quite bare), rocky, not very much land that seems to be of any use. Rex has given me a camera for all of the birthdays he has missed, so I'll have to get snapping.
By the way, the tours cost $619 and $669, which I thought was reasonable. Most meals, tips and entry costs are included.
No wonder Americans don't like Vegemite - the bread is so sweet, it's like raisin bread without the raisins and the margarine is sweet, too.
Electrical fittings are made of metal! Power points have only two holes and there is no on/off switch, so you plug into a permanently on hole in the wall.
When Ben went to West Virginia, to cut a long story short, he was invited to join the KKK. He said he would be really interested and told them he had a few friends who might like to join. A meeting date was arranged and Ben turned up with a very enthusiastic group of his football team mates, all saying "Can I join,too?" "Can I join, too?" His friends were all very big and very black.
The Health System is in a mess. If you don't have medical insurance or nursing home insurance, there is a system something like Medicare - no levy is paid for this - and you are treated like a leper. Insurance is extremely expensive, pre-existing conditions are not covered and many people simply cannot afford it.
If you have insurance, the company tells you which pharmecutical contractor you must deal with, and regular medications are bought in 3 month supplies over the net.
Ev sell all types of insurance on commission. If a client moves to another state, she loses the contract because all contracts are state specific.
I haven't taken a lot of photos yet because the scenery is pretty much the same in all the areas I've been to - hilly, deciduous trees (still quite bare), rocky, not very much land that seems to be of any use. Rex has given me a camera for all of the birthdays he has missed, so I'll have to get snapping.
By the way, the tours cost $619 and $669, which I thought was reasonable. Most meals, tips and entry costs are included.
No wonder Americans don't like Vegemite - the bread is so sweet, it's like raisin bread without the raisins and the margarine is sweet, too.
Electrical fittings are made of metal! Power points have only two holes and there is no on/off switch, so you plug into a permanently on hole in the wall.
When Ben went to West Virginia, to cut a long story short, he was invited to join the KKK. He said he would be really interested and told them he had a few friends who might like to join. A meeting date was arranged and Ben turned up with a very enthusiastic group of his football team mates, all saying "Can I join,too?" "Can I join, too?" His friends were all very big and very black.
The Health System is in a mess. If you don't have medical insurance or nursing home insurance, there is a system something like Medicare - no levy is paid for this - and you are treated like a leper. Insurance is extremely expensive, pre-existing conditions are not covered and many people simply cannot afford it.
If you have insurance, the company tells you which pharmecutical contractor you must deal with, and regular medications are bought in 3 month supplies over the net.
Ev sell all types of insurance on commission. If a client moves to another state, she loses the contract because all contracts are state specific.
Monday, April 26, 2004
A Day Off!
A day off, thank god!
I don't know how Ev does it. I could hardly move this morning, and she was tired, but off she went again. I forgot to mention that she sold 2 insurance policies while she was having her hair done. They both came to her while she was trapped in the chair!
I think I have been talking myself into being an invalid. I have been wearing normal shoes - no orthotics - and walking quite a bit. I'm quite exhausted today, but not dead. Walking up and down stairs all day is doing my legs the world of good I think.
Ev asked me to cook a pot roast for tonight, but I think it will be stew because pot roast takes 8-10 hrs to cook as I just discovered on the net. Meat is about half the price we pay, or less. There is a 9 pound pork loin in the fridge that cost $14 - that's as big as a very big baby, and a 6 pound leg of Australian lamb for $13!
It's raining today, but not cold. The squirrels are running around looking like drowned rats.
I don't know how Ev does it. I could hardly move this morning, and she was tired, but off she went again. I forgot to mention that she sold 2 insurance policies while she was having her hair done. They both came to her while she was trapped in the chair!
I think I have been talking myself into being an invalid. I have been wearing normal shoes - no orthotics - and walking quite a bit. I'm quite exhausted today, but not dead. Walking up and down stairs all day is doing my legs the world of good I think.
Ev asked me to cook a pot roast for tonight, but I think it will be stew because pot roast takes 8-10 hrs to cook as I just discovered on the net. Meat is about half the price we pay, or less. There is a 9 pound pork loin in the fridge that cost $14 - that's as big as a very big baby, and a 6 pound leg of Australian lamb for $13!
It's raining today, but not cold. The squirrels are running around looking like drowned rats.
The Christening
Up early on Sunday to attend a family christening in the Old Dutch Church at Kingston in New York State. I managed to get some pictures of the church and one of the oldest streets in USA. Ev is going to get them on disc, so I may be able to send some from now on.
After the ceremony we went to Ev's sister's house to pick up food. The house is 3 stories high, with cellar and attic. Lots of decorative features turn it from a box into a very pretty, and to me, quaint home. It is about 150 years old, and feels like it when you walk around on the top floor.
Then we went to the home of the grandparents of Sophie who had been christened. Set way out in the woop-woops on 27 acres of extremely rocky unusable land, covered with the usual forest. From the outside it looked a little different from all the other houses, but inside ultra modern and luxurious.
Lots more getting to know the natives and driving endless miles - 200 miles for the day actually!
After the ceremony we went to Ev's sister's house to pick up food. The house is 3 stories high, with cellar and attic. Lots of decorative features turn it from a box into a very pretty, and to me, quaint home. It is about 150 years old, and feels like it when you walk around on the top floor.
Then we went to the home of the grandparents of Sophie who had been christened. Set way out in the woop-woops on 27 acres of extremely rocky unusable land, covered with the usual forest. From the outside it looked a little different from all the other houses, but inside ultra modern and luxurious.
Lots more getting to know the natives and driving endless miles - 200 miles for the day actually!
Western Night at the Yacht Club
On Saturday, after having my hair done, eyebrows de-bushed and a pedicure, we travelled 2 hours to the Yacht Club, which is on City Island, sort of between the Bronx and Manhattan. We had to time the trip so that we wouldn't get caught in traffic leaving the Yankees/Boston baseball game. There seems to be a system of controlling traffic flow to clear other areas. Advised delays of anything from 10 -40 minutes mean not moving at all for that time. Once you clear these areas traffic flows well and is surprisingly light, even just a few Kms from the centre of New York.
People are complaining about the high cost of fuel @$1-29 gallon!
Western night was great fun. Tons of "ribs on the run" type food, with salads etc.
The three piece group was very good, singing classic songs - not hillbilly western. They also taught a bit of line dancing. Very relaxed and friendly. The band leader told me he was so lucky to be able to earn a living doing what he loves. He said if someone asks if he would go to eg Georgia to sing, he says "Why, if you want me to come and sing for you, I'll go through hell and high water to get to you"
We were all given sherrif badges to wear. I had my first lesson in "What not to say" when I said to a man next to me " Do you think we'll get a gun with that?" as in will there be fries with that? He glared at me and snapped "This is the United States of America!" I felt like saying "Yeah, so where's the gun?" but I thought I'd better shut up. He is the only nasty person I've met.
Well, it was all going well when the restaurant next door set off their fireworks display from a platform on the water. It was really spectacular. They do it every now and then, and had arranged this one for the Yacht Club night. It is also good publicity.
So far, so good. Then a spark landed on one of the mooring pylons and it started to burn. Within no time the water fire service was there, but because it was low tide they got bogged, couldn't get close enough and the wind kept blowing the water back on them. They had to give up and call the Fire Brigade.
Two huge fire trucks arrived, but couldn't get to the water because access via the Yacht club was blocked with cars. As that driveway is actually a fire access lane, somebody will get a rap over the knuckles.
Finally they got out their huge hoses, and at least 8 firemen put the fire out. Which was all very exciting, but the yacht club people had told them to just let it burn, because the pylons are not used and they are trying to get rid of them.
One of the women asked me if I have been pleasantly surprised to find that Americans are really nice people and not as portray overseas on TV and in negative press.
I still haven't actually been into Manhattan, but have skirted around lots of it. The scenery is very pretty with trees coming into leaf or blossom and many interesting buildings - from the worst to the best - but I can't get photos because you just can't pull over and stop.
People are complaining about the high cost of fuel @$1-29 gallon!
Western night was great fun. Tons of "ribs on the run" type food, with salads etc.
The three piece group was very good, singing classic songs - not hillbilly western. They also taught a bit of line dancing. Very relaxed and friendly. The band leader told me he was so lucky to be able to earn a living doing what he loves. He said if someone asks if he would go to eg Georgia to sing, he says "Why, if you want me to come and sing for you, I'll go through hell and high water to get to you"
We were all given sherrif badges to wear. I had my first lesson in "What not to say" when I said to a man next to me " Do you think we'll get a gun with that?" as in will there be fries with that? He glared at me and snapped "This is the United States of America!" I felt like saying "Yeah, so where's the gun?" but I thought I'd better shut up. He is the only nasty person I've met.
Well, it was all going well when the restaurant next door set off their fireworks display from a platform on the water. It was really spectacular. They do it every now and then, and had arranged this one for the Yacht Club night. It is also good publicity.
So far, so good. Then a spark landed on one of the mooring pylons and it started to burn. Within no time the water fire service was there, but because it was low tide they got bogged, couldn't get close enough and the wind kept blowing the water back on them. They had to give up and call the Fire Brigade.
Two huge fire trucks arrived, but couldn't get to the water because access via the Yacht club was blocked with cars. As that driveway is actually a fire access lane, somebody will get a rap over the knuckles.
Finally they got out their huge hoses, and at least 8 firemen put the fire out. Which was all very exciting, but the yacht club people had told them to just let it burn, because the pylons are not used and they are trying to get rid of them.
One of the women asked me if I have been pleasantly surprised to find that Americans are really nice people and not as portray overseas on TV and in negative press.
I still haven't actually been into Manhattan, but have skirted around lots of it. The scenery is very pretty with trees coming into leaf or blossom and many interesting buildings - from the worst to the best - but I can't get photos because you just can't pull over and stop.
