Things America does well

So here's the sister post to the last one.

What America has right:

Private bathrooms. In people's houses, the majority of American bathrooms have cabinets which is really handy for keeping little items in, like towels. Also, there are power outlets, which are handy for, oh, I dunno, HEATERS and hairdryers and curlers and radios and....

On ramps. On a multi-lane divided highway, on and off ramps are very convenient.

Road signs. Except for slummy neighborhoods where the cool kids steal them, most streets have their actual name written on a sign, posted at every intersection, so that one can know, at a quick glance, what street one is on (or approaching). Also, the highway department has a standard method of signage, so whichever town you are in, you can be pretty sure that the major streets will be marked enough ahead of time for you to do something about it (like change lanes, brake, etc).

Tumble dryers as standard. Often, right next to the washer!

Central A/C. Sometimes, it just gets hot and you want to do something about it.

Parking lots. Just about every store has one, so that one can actually drive to the location of one's choice, park the car, and go in. They don't charge for it, either. I hope it's a long time before I complain about having to walk across a parking lot (as opposed to walking across town).

Electricity. America has a building code, so that every plug is wired the same way; every lightbulb and switch have the same wires and connectors. Also, we use 110 voltage which is less lethal than twice that, and all American plugs fit in all American sockets (except really old houses which sometimes have ungrounded sockets) - you won't find a myriad of plug adapters there. AND, every room has its own circuit so that if you ever do blow a fuse it doesn't turn off the whole house (and you are much less likely to blow one).

Garage sales. Depending on the town, you can stick a sign up in your front yard and thow a bunch of junk out on the lawn any time you want to.

Advertising. (another weird one to mention) Americans know how to get the word out. If there is an event, a sale, whatever, chances are people are going to hear about it. Stores have signs, which does clutter the view, but it makes it a lot easier to find them.

Restaurants. They're big, and there are lots of them. We only had to worry about getting a table if we went to certain popular places at 7pm on Friday. And even then it was a matter of waiting for a clean table, not a matter of them not having room for 8 people.

Churches. There are more of them, more choices. And since people actually go there and pay tithes, the churches don't have to resort to becoming a book store or a day care or renting out to the boy scouts to stay afloat.

(Disclaimer: on both of these lists I have resorted to a lot of generalizing. Of course not EVERYthing will be true of any country ALL the time. And some things are true of both, to an extent - I know America has radiators up north. And the list is by no means all-inclusive. I've already thought of another thing to add to the England list.)

Also, as I'm making my lists, I find that something I really like is conformity and standards, which is funny for a libertarian-leaning type like myself. Hmmm. I'll have to ponder that further. And there are a lot of issues I'm just not going to touch, like media and health care, because I don't have sufficient knowledge of those things. So anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

Things England does well

I wanted to do this as a side by side comparison of things England does and things America does, but I guess it'll do as a stand alone (since I have no formatting skills) - anyway, this way I can talk more about some items if I want to.

So, after a year of living here, this is my list of things that England has got right.

Public bathrooms. (This may come as a surprise if you have read Dave Barry's travel guide, and it takes some getting used to, but...) Not every store has a toilet, but nearly every town does - often at the parking lots - and they are actually open to the public (though some do charge a fee). The coolest thing is that the stall doors actually overlap the door frame, so there isn't the 1-inch gap that people walk by and look at you through. The doors also come down almost to the floor.

Roundabouts. Except for on major highways, roundabouts are very efficient at moving traffic.

Front-load washers as standard. They are quiet, small, efficient, and gentler on clothes.

Fireplaces. Most houses have one, and they are small enough to not be drafty.

Radiators. In my opinion this is a nice way to heat a room - non drying, no blast of cold air when the heater kicks on, and each room can be set to a different temperature.

Pedestrian areas. Every city has a pedestrian zone where you walk from shop to shop. It's personal, healthy, more fun and interactive.

Mail. The Royal post is efficient (I keep using that word...). Mail is delivered the day after it's sent. Packages are sent quite cheaply.

Home delivery. Groceries ordered online (or bought in the store) can be delivered to your door when you like for a small fee.

Organics. Organic produce and dairy aren't much more expensive than "regular" stuff.

Farming. Small, local farms are highly encouraged, and people actually go to the farms and buy directly from them. All the animals I've seen around here are "free range."

Boot sales. Sort of a flea market/garage sale where one sells from the boot of one's car (or laid out on a tarp). Prices are usually terrific and they are held nearly every weekend all summer.

Churches. With one standard denomination, every village has a church and it is part of the village. Most churches are open for people to just walk in, and many of them have an honor-system book store in the back corner. Also, churches have graveyards.

Not such a good ending point, but I think my list is getting long enough for now.

not much

Just little things going on...
Friday was Bob's squadron "holiday" party, so he didn't get home until 9:30 or so.
Saturday we pulled some stuff out of the storage building and boxed up some movies. See, military movers have to count all your movies and cds and list them separately from your other stuff, so we thought it'd be handy if we just took that ourselves in the van (as we'll be driving back and forth anyway to clean/eat/etc).
Then, after lunch, we went out to run some errands. A man in Beck Row was giving away a trampoline (had an ad on the base web site) and we got to it first. (I'm not celebrating yet since we haven't got it together yet and I'm hoping all the parts are there.) Then we went to the BX and Taryn and I each bought a pair of dress shoes - $8 total. The store doesn't go far toward meeting our needs, but sometimes they have good clearances. Then I popped in the commissary for diapers and sour cream, and we came back home.

Sunday Bob woke up with a migraine. He is used to "cluster" headaches but this was different. The lights and sounds were making him sick to his stomach, so after a few minutes he went back to bed and didn't get up again until after 11. So we missed church. But I got to bake a little for a breakfasty lunch and that was good therapy. Bob still wasn't feeling terrific, so I took Naysha and Cedwryck with me for the rest of the trampoline and gas for the mower. Got back in time for dinner of canned biscuits and smoked sausage.

Today Bob had a dentist appointment - for his teeth gaurd, I think. At his regular check-up they noticed he'd been grinding his teeth and so fitted him for a thing. Anyway... I called BT to transfer our services, as the website said to give them 14 business days notice, but the guy said he was getting an error message and they'd have to call me back. I wonder if the currant occupant of our new house hasn't cancelled yet. At 2 we have a mover guy coming to see how much junk we have so they can bring the right amount of boxes.

And that's that, I think.

par-tay

Thursday I wasn't full speed, but recovering. Taryn was iffy, Naysha was recovering. So I let them watch videos in the morning while I made cookies for the party. We did get the living room tidied, but the kitchen is a lost cause.

The Christmas party was listed as 2-4pm, but we got there at "1:30" (we nearly made it) to help set up. It was pretty much done. Bob managed to get away from work to come help. Thinking about it later we decided the thing would have worked better if more men had been able to make it. There were crafts, snacks, and friends to visit with. A game or two, a "program," and door prizes. What more could one want?

Our children behaved very well, and I told them more than once how proud I was of them.
The program started with a string quintet, and then a little girl got up to read Luke 2:10-12. When Riah saw how nervous she was, he about lost it. He didn't want to say his "rememory" verse. But there was plenty of time for me to calm him down before his turn came. We decided that I would go up with him and hold the mic, and he could just say it to me. He did fine. Then they all sang "I'm in the Lord's army" and then "We three kings" - they sang the first and last verse together, and Riah, Naysha, and Taryn each did a solo on the kings' verses. Then Cedwryck said his verse, a few other people did things, and Naysha said her verse. Ella (who is used to saying a memory verse at home) jumped up and said, "My turn!" and was rather upset to find it wasn't. She tends to try for cute instead of just saying her verse. Anyrate, as they all started to sing the first song, she was saying her verse on her own.

Sorry if this doesn't make any sense. The children are VERY interupty this morning. I guess they used up all their good behaviour for the week yesterday.

After the party we had dinner at Burger King and I went in the commissary for a minute to get milk and fruit.

Now I just have to clean up the kitchen...

Thanksgiving

Bob had off Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving, so naturally we took a trip.

Thursday morning we got up at 5 in an effort to beat the traffic on the M25, and we almost made it. We stopped at Tesco for bread (for lunches) and doughnuts for breakfast, and were on our way. Drove down toward London, then around the M25 toward Heathrow, and headed west after that. Yes, we could have gone straight south-west, but it would have added an hour or more to the trip.

First stop, Bath. They have a "park and ride" system, but the "park" part of it wasn't working properly - the lot was overfull when we arrived - so we drove on into town and eventually found a parking lot there. Then we walked. Past the Royal Crescent, past the Jane Austin center, to the baths. The pedestrian signs didn't quite point the right way, but between them and the map I'd printed before we left home, we managed to find our way. The Roman baths cost a LOT to go see, so we contended ourselves with shopping at their craft fair and using their toilets. Bob bought a hand carved (from local limestone) nativity set for me.
We ate some lunch at Burger King, but no one got full. We walked through the Christmas Market and down to the river. There was a green there and the children ran around while Bob took pictures and I rested (I need new shoes). Then back to the car where we had some peanut butter sandwiches, apples, and chex mix.

From there we drove to Plymouth, where we had a hotel booked. Once we got parked and found our way to the front door, checked in, and put our stuff in the room, we asked where to eat. They pointed us down the road (nearly a mile) to a local pub that was good and cheap. It was also small and crowded. We tried to order so the food could cook while we waited for a table, but they wouldn't let us order without a table number. Maybe they should charge a little more and hire people with brains. So we walked all the way back, hoping to get a phone book and order some pizza or Chinese, but the staff was gone to bed. (It's a 'small' hotel.) So we went up to the room and had another peanut butter sandwich and went to bed hungry.

Friday we took full advantage of our included-with-the-room-rate breakfast. Everybody had a glass of juice, a bowl of cereal, and then a "full English." There was nothing left on the table except a few beans. Then we went to the quayside and saw the Mayflower Memorial. We also got to see a lock in motion.
After that we drove out to Tintagel and visited with King Arthur a little while. The tide was coming in as we got there, so Bob quickly climbed down to the caves while the rest of us stayed above. It was sunny when we arrived, but raining by the time we started up the stairs. The children ran around in the rain and *didn't* climb on the walls while Bob and I sat it out in a little bus-shelter looking thing. It stopped raining and we walked around on the hill and watched the waves, the rainbow, and the birds. Then back down the stairs (about 100 of them) to our waiting stroller, which was now wet, of course. We put William in anyway, on a blanket, and let Ella walk.
I can't remember where we ate lunch or dinner Friday. hmm. Must be the stomach bug.
Then we drove to Bristol to a Days Inn hotel for the night.

Saturday we went through Avesbury to Stonehenge, eating lunch at a pub on the way. At Avesbury I felt a lot of confusion at the stones. At Stonehenge I mostly felt cold. :-) And then we came home.

So that's the short version, I guess. You lucked out this time.

Sicky-icky

Well, it started with William, then Ella got it, and I was next. Cedwryck picked it up this morning. With the Christmas party tomorrow it has to stop there.

From about noon yesterday I didn't feel well, and from dinner last night I've been running to the bathroom every 30 minutes. Yay. Now I know why Ella was crying yesterday, saying "my back hurts" while rubbing her front. :-)

I did get Bob to stay home from work today and take care of me. At 5 this morning I could hardly walk to the bathroom. I'm not sure if the bug is passing or if it has simply run out of ammunition.

catch up

I want to do a detail trip report, but first I guess I need a follow up on my last post.

We have been on the base housing waiting list since last November (30 days before we got here), but everything indicated that it would be 3 years before a house would be available. As we were only planning to stay for 3 years, getting on the list was seen as a mere formality.

The desire to really move on base began to grow as the season changed, and Bob found himself driving to and from work in the dark. Then it got cold and we realized the bathroom radiator, always iffy, wasn't heating at all. We could call the estate agent, but if they decide we did something to it we'd have to pay the plumber. A cold bathroom may seem like a little thing, but it really wears on us.

Then Bob had some new guys at work who were getting houses right away - 4 bedroom houses - on Lakenheath. So we got to looking, and it turns out that when we arrived and had to pick the areas where we'd like a house (as "base housing" ranges from actually on base to as far away as Thetford and Ely), not knowing anything about the areas, we'd picked Mildenhall and Feltwell but not Lakenheath. I really think the people told Bob there weren't 4 bedrooms on Lakenheath so he may as well not put it down. Anyway, he updated the selections to include Lakenheath, and we waited.

One day (the day after I had to order more heating oil for this house) Bob called with the news - we've been offered a house. It's in the area known as Lord's Walk, and used to be within the confines of RAF Lakenheath, but they've recently re-drawn the boundaries so that it now lies just outside the fence. So it will be easier to get in and out - don't have to stop and show ID - but still close enough to consider things like riding a bike to work.

There was a catch with the offer, though. The house is occupied, and the owner was not available until mid-December. But we had to decide if we wanted that house (or wait for another offer) within 24 hours. They gave us the address and a floor plan - why would we need to see inside? At the very least, Bob wanted me to see the location, so I drove up to meet him after work and we went to walk around the house. Whaddayaknow? The current occupant was in the back yard. So we talked to him for a little while, and he eventually decided to let us in. It's doable.

The house is smaller, as we will lose our second living area, but there are two full bathrooms, and all but the master bedroom are bigger. The kitchen is bigger by square footage, but there are fewer cabinets and bigger appliances. But there is a hot pantry - I'll have to think about what I put in there (it's right next to the furnace and we were warned that chocolate will melt in there). The yard is bigger, and flat, so more opportunity for play equipment (I've been wanting to get something, but here it would have to go on the stone patio, which is bad for falls, because that's the only flat space). Also there is a sidewalk behind the houses where (I suppose) the children could ride bikes.

The whole thing will be an adjustment, but that's how life is. I'll miss my convection oven with broiler, but I'll be able to use my toaster oven. I'll miss the front-load washer, but it will be nice to have dryer right next to the washer instead of in the other room. I'll miss my larger sink, but will enjoy free water. And so it goes.

The movers will start packing us on the 8th of January, as Bob is on base getting the key to the new house. On the 9th they will finish up here and deliver to the new house. As that is Thursday and Friday, we will have the weekend to clean up the old house before turning it in on the 12th. Our housing allowance stops on the 8th, but we get a "partial dislocation allowance" to help with the out-of-pocket expenses and stress, etc. It's a rip-off, but we'll manage.

And that's that, I think.