Off The Record With Debbie & Tony

Since tomorrow is 4th July and it falls on a Saturday this year, I had today off work, which makes for a nice 3 day weekend.

Fortunately I was allowed to go and see my daughters (4 and 8), so I took them out to eat at Einstein Bagels, which is where my eldest daughter likes to go for breakfast.  They are usually pretty good when I take them out to eat, and after breakfast we headed down to Topeekeegee-Yugnee Park (popularly known as T-Y Park), which is only a couple of miles up the road from where they live.  T-Y Park is pretty large, 150 acres, and they enjoy not only the playground, but also walking around the large lake, feeding the Squirrels, and especially petting each and every dog that passes or comes close to them.

Today it was pretty hot and sticky, close to 90 degrees and not much of a breeze at first, so I took them to the playground, where they had a good time, and then we wandered across to the lake.  It has been raining so much the last couple of weeks, that the level of the lake is close to 2 feet higher than normal, so it’s larger, deeper, and the fish seemed to be having a good time, as well as the dogs that were swimming in there.  Walking around the far side of the lake we found someone who had 2 large black dogs that enjoyed swimming, and they would race each other to get to every stick that the girls threw into the water.  They had a great time.

We also fed the Squirrels, or at least I did.  Someone had left a pile of peanuts on one of the picnic tables, so I grabbed a few and had the Squirrels eating out of my hand.  Unfortunately the first Squirrel who I tried to feed wasn’t too sure, so instead of reaching out for the peanut, he clawed my finger and then bit it, his claw drawing blood, but so far I don’t seem to have suffered any infection.

Being a Friday there were fewer people there than usual, and subsequently there were more Squirrels, Birds and Iguanas out.  We usually see quite a lot of Squirrels, and birds too, but today I managed to get some good photos of a Blue Jay, almost got decent ones of a Kingfisher, and I got excellent ones of a couple of the larger Iguanas that were out sunning themselves on the grass.

Their Mom wanted them back by 12:30pm, so after the park we headed to Wendys, usually easy to get a quick bite for lunch, but today it was packed, and since this must be about the slowest Wendys in the country (service is always horribly slow, pathetic, and they take an hour to clean up and mess or restock too), we headed to McDonalds instead.  Now this isn’t the best either, but today it was practically empty and at least the service was quick.

Back to the house, dropped them off, got my usual myriad of hugs from my eldest, much to the disgust of her Mother, who usually just wants me out of there as quickly as possible, and back home, via my local Walmart to do my weekly grocery shop.  Now for the last 2 months they have been completely revamping the food section, and it’s a nightmare trying to find anything.  So since today was chaotic in there, I just got most of the essentials and then headed to the Farmers Market down the road for the rest.  The service here is really good, friendly, and the prices are good too.

Tags: 4th july, birds, blue jay, daughters, farmers market, florida, holiday, hollywood, iguanas, kingfisher, local park, mcdonalds, park, peanuts, playground, squirrels, topeekeegee-yugnee, walmart, wendys

Things almost went into a meltdown yesterday in South Florida where temperatures hit an all time high in Fort Lauderdale (see report from the Sun-Sentinel) where it reached 100 degrees at the airport, with a heat index of 111.

There wasn’t much breeze all day, it was really hot, sticky and uncomfortable.   When I left work and got into the car, the temperature showed 108!   Driving for a few miles it dropped to 98, but then as I headed south down I95 towards Fort Lauderdale it rose again to 100.   Since the air conditioning isn’t working in the car the fan was just blowing hot air and almost sand-blasting my face.

I got home and Tim, my landlord had left the sauna on, so being hot and sticky I headed down to the pool, had a good sauna, and did 30 lengths in the pool.  I felt much better after that, especially since some clouds came over and a light breeze got up, making it feel a lot more comfortable.  It really did feel good cooling off in the pool after an hour long drive home from work.

Later in the evening, Tim and I decided to take our evening walk around the golf course, as we do most evenings, and as soon as you opened the door to the condo the heat hit you, phew!   It seemed like the temperatures just weren’t going to drop, but fortunately as we headed out onto the fairways and away from the houses and trees, a nice breeze got up from the west, a sign of weather changes, and it did cool us down somewhat.  There was also some nice heat lightning out west, no clouds or rain, just bright flashes in the sky.

I woke up this morning and wondered why it was still dark.  One thing you learn about the tropics, is that when you get a spell of extremely hot weather, it usually causes the gods to get angry, and this morning they definitely got out of bed on the wrong side.  

It was pouring with rain just before I had to go out to the car, but I was lucky and it stopped for 10 minutes so I could get out and start my drive.  The car needed filling up before I headed up the highway to work,  and I didn’t want to do this last night in 100 degree temperatures, but this morning with the rain, the traffic was heavy, and then I found my local gas station was closed, so I had to drive to another one.   While there I could clearly see the skies over the coast to the east, and they were as black as ink.  I knew that my drive north up I95 was not going to be a pleasant one.

I got onto the highway, and it wasn’t more than a minute or two before the lighter rain turned into a monsoo0n, with traffic slowing down to 25 mph as the road soon started to flood and a lot of vehicles were having trouble staying on the road.   Fortunately my Toyota Avalon grips the road really well, and also has great visibility, so I get rather frustrated at all these people who can’t see a thing.

By the time I got to Boynton Beach, which is a few miles north of Boca Raton, the rain was so heavy that it was pounding on the roof of the car, it was just like a monsoon!   It definitely got a good power wash today!   The drive was so slow, but about 10 miles further on the skies brightened up a bit and I managed to escape the storm.

Amazingly enough, everyone actually had their lights on this morning, which is a miracle for South Florida!  Quite a few even had their hazard lights on to warn drivers behind them, which is also rare.  Maybe there were a lot of  ”out of state” drivers on the highway today…

But I got to work in one piece, only 5 minutes late, and it was a cool 75 degrees compared to the heat of yesterday, so quite comfortable by comparison.

Tags: air conditioning, black as ink, boca raton, boynton beach, bright flashes, evening walk, extreme heat, fairway, fort lauderdale, gas station, golf course, hazard lights, heat lightning, heatwave, heavy rain, landlord, light breeze, local gas station, monsoon, pouring with rain, sauna, south florida, swimming pool, temperature, torrential rain, toyota avalon, weather

I was born in England and spent most of my life there, apart from a year in New Zealand in the late 1980’s, but although I am well travelled, having visited many countries around the world both on vacation as well as for work, the cultural differences between the UK and the USA never cease to amaze me.

In 1994 I moved from the UK where I had been living for 15 years, to Northern Indiana, where I would spend the next 12 years, before heading south to Florida.

Most people think that the biggest difference between the UK and the USA is that in England you drive on the left side of the road, and in the USA you drive on the right side, but it’s really far more than that.  There are a myriad of cultural and social differences that only really become apparent when you spend a significant time in the other country.

There is an awful lot that I don’t like in the USA, I have to admit that.  Let’s face it, I didn’t grow up here, so things are not what I am used to, and that is normal for anyone to find.  However there are also a lot of things I do like here, and a lot of things that I don’t like about England too.   In a perfect world I would take a blend of ideas from multiple cultures to get the best of everything.

I have learned that paradise doesn’t exist, since nowhere is perfect.   Take that dream of a tropical paradise for example.  It sounds perfect doesn’t it!  Golden sands, the sound of the ocean, little tiki bars and restaurants, swaying palms.  On the other hand you have maybe a high cost of living, limited entertainment, limited shops, theaters, museums or any of those things that you take for granted in the big city.  Hurricanes!  Did I mention those?  Frequent power outages… just to name a few things that you might miss.   Have you ever wondered how many people who live in places like Jamaica and The Bahamas actually go to the beach?  Relatively few actually.  Like most people, you don’t visit places that are on your doorstep.

However I am digressing instead of writing about the original topic, which was differences between the UK and the USA.  I’m good at getting sidetracked, as Debbie well knows

I found so many odd differences between these two countries, that I have actually pondered whether someone said “we have to be different to England, so let’s make everything work differently to them”.  Read on and you too might wonder, but I also wonder which came first, the American or the British version…

We all know that electricity in the UK runs on 240 volts, and in Europe and most of the rest of the world on 220 volts.  The USA and it’s neighbors runs on 110 volts.  Why is that?  It seems that 220 volts is more stable, but I have no idea why the difference.

Now driving on the other side of the road I can understand, and it historically goes back to horse drawn transport centuries ago, but other things I have no idea about.

Take the old rotary phones, which I grew up with.  In the USA the dial and numbers went the opposite way around to in the UK.  Fortunately I didn’t have to use one, because it would make calling really hard.  It was bad enough in the UK, especially when the phone slipped on a high digit, causing you to mis-dial and you had to start again.

Many locks on doors turn the opposite way in the USA compared to the UK.  What’s the logic there?   And light switches go the other way.  In the UK you flip the switch down to turn a light on and up for off.  In the USA it’s the opposite.

One thing that you will never change my mind about is chocolate.   To my dying day I would declare that Cadbury’s is the best chocolate in the world and not Hersheys!

But take something like health insurance.  In the UK it’s free!  If you go to see the doctor, or need a triple bypass – it’s free!  In the USA you could end up spending a small fortune if you got sick, and you have to pay high premiums on health insurance.  It’s also almost impossible to afford if you lose your job or your work doesn’t provide health benefits.  However, if you get sick in the UK and your treatment isn’t urgent, you could end up on a waiting list for a year.  The quality of treatment is often better in the USA, but it comes at a price.  Good if you can afford it.

The thing that really hit me hard was when I got my first job in the USA.  I had been living in the USA for 5 years before I got my first job, having been employed by a software house in London since I relocated.  I had a horrible shock when I was told by Human Resources that the working week was 40 hours (but they expected more like 60), and that there was no vacation time the first year (”come again?”), 5 days the next year, and then 10 days off – but wait – you get 3 weeks off after 5 years service!   I was shocked!  In Europe by law companies have to give you a minimum of 23 days off a year, and many companies in the UK expect you to take a 2 week chunk of that during the summer, rather than have constant long weekends throughout the year.  Many places also have a 35 or 36.5 hour working week.  My heart sank as you can imagine when I heard that.   But I have gradually got adjusted, except when I hear from friends in England who have been on an exotic trip for 2 weeks, and then are planning another week somewhere in the fall, whereas I have to figure out how to make the most of my 10 days, allowing for trying to take time off over Christmas, which leaves maybe 4 days for the rest of the year.

Easter always hit me hard too, since in the UK everyone gets both Good Friday and Easter Monday off, making it a 4-day weekend.  This falls in the middle of the 2 week Spring Break for the schools, so it’s great for parents.  I couldn’t believe that a country that is far more religious than the UK would not have time off for Easter, at least in many companies.   Then Christmas of course, where in the UK we have Boxing Day, the day after Christmas Day.  It’s hard to think about going to work the day after Christmas, but so far I haven’t had to and hope I never have to.

There are so many things that I can think of.  If you know of any differences that I haven’t listed, or have any theories, please leave a comment.

Tags: 110 volts, 220 volts, 240 volts, cost of living, cultural differences, cultures, door locks, electricity, england, golden sands, holiday, horsedrawn transport, hurricanes, inventions, light switches, overtime, paradise, rotary phones, society, tiki bars, uk, USA, vacations, working week

Well finally as of 17th June 2009 I am a US Citizen, having had my Oath Ceremony yesterday.

The ceremony started with a lady from the immigration service singing the Star Spangled Banner, like she was doing it at a concert.  It was full of warbling, extreme high pitches etc, but her voice was definitely not good, so most of it was not only off key, but went up and down and croaked at the same time, with intermittent really loud sections.   It was like one of those American Idol auditions that is too painful to listen to,  and the woman sitting next to me looked at me as we sat down after the singing stopped and we both laughed, because of course the singer got great applause, and nobody dared to laugh for fear of losing their long waited for status for showing disrespect.

Then came several speeches, introducing people that were there, a couple of short videos, including one from the President, and then the Oath itself.

It was amazing how many people were there to be sworn in as new citizens of the USA, 170 people in all from 40 countries.   They called each country in turn with the number of people from that country who were being sworn in, and it went like “Albania 1, Belgum 1, Cuba 6, Colombia 15, France 2, etc.   More people from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela as expected, only 2 from the UK, and finally 30 from Haiti and 35 from Jamaica! 

It’s a miracle that there is anyone left in some of the islands in the Caribbean.  I heard years ago that there were more Jamaicans in new York than there were in Jamaica, and probably the same is true for London, let alone South Florida.  I think that the more family and friends you have in another country, the more attractive the move becomes.

Well finally, I got my certificate, and a US flag to wave (I couldn’t help wonder if it was Made In China like so many other things these days which woudl be ironic), and then some forms to fill in.

I couldn’t apply for my passport there and then, so I have had to make an appointment at the Post Office to get that done.  Until I get my US Passport I can’t leave the country, which is a little bit worrying for anyone who has family or friends overseas, just in case anythign happens that requires you to travel in an emergency.

I also completed a form to update my Social Security status to Citizen, and felt sorry for the solitary guy from Social Security who had to deal with all the applications.  He had a desk outside the building, where it had been raining at one point, but in any case was really hot and humid.  The desk was in a corner of the building, and he had over 150 people both trying to take forms to complete as well as hand completed forms in to him, all in a narrow space.   It took a while for him to take my form because of people coming up and thrusting theirs in front of him, which was rather rude, and it’s not in my nature to do that.  When he did take mine I thanked him, which almost nobody else did either.   At least he acknowledged that.   They could have found a place inside for him and maybe given him an assistant, that would have helped a lot.

So now I just have to get my passport, and I will be 100% valid to come and go and won’t have to worry about my green card expiring either.

Tags: citizen, green card, homeland security, immigration, made in china, naturalization, oath ceremony, oath of allegience, social security, star spangled banner, ucis, us citizen, us passport, voter registration, voting

Oh dear… where to start?

Tony keeps gently reminding me that we have a blog and that some input from me would be nice.

I keep meaning to write on here, but what can I say?   My head is full of pregnant daughter… make that HEAVILY pregnant daughter, her up and coming house move whilst heavily pregnant,  Tony’s plans for coming home which just happens to be the same week as my first Grandchild will arrive,  Rocketmoms on Squidoo which I just joined, and the major, number One distraction in my life… TAGFOOT!!

I’ve just completed my first Rocketmoms lens When Debbie Met Tony

I have no idea how I get all this stuff done and still manage to work full time.

I’m barely sleeping where I’m so excited about Tony coming back and the baby arriving… oh, we know the sex!!! 

When Tony is back, he’ll then have to find a job here and then we’re moving house at the end of October and oh, I almost forgot… there’s a little thing called a wedding to plan too

Isn’t life great?

Tags: baby, pregnant, rocketmoms, Squidoo, tagfoot, Travel, weddings

I was watching a documentary on television last night about a group of scientists who had a theory about the era of the dinosaurs ending because of an asteroid hitting earth, causing widespread destruction, an ice age and dust clouds that blocked out the sun for tens or even hundreds of years.

It made me think, “WHAT’S LIFE ALL ABOUT?“ and also “WHAT’S THE POINT OF US BEING HERE?“.

 In the scheme of things, man has not been around for very long.  New evidence shows that primitive man has been around for close to one million years, and it’s possible that there were advanced civilizations even before the last ice age, but so long ago that practically all traces have been eradicated.    As far as we know (at this time), civization began in the last 10,000 years with Sumeria and Egypt, and India, and that’s only a fraction of time.   The modern age with cars, flying machines and space travel is just over 100 years old, which is barely a dot on the time chart of earth.

It’s truly amazing when you think of how far mankind has come in the last 100 years, even the last 50, 20 or 10 years, but if a rock from space measuring no more than a few hundred feet across could destroy life on earth, you have to ask “WHAT’S THE POINT!”

Everything that has evolved, all the creatures, not just man, could be eliminated in a matter of minutes or months, depending on the nature of the impact, and it just makes you think that if man is here for a purpose, then how could out page just be torn from the book of the universe and tossed away forever.

Either that, or are we just a miracle of evolution, maybe one of many throughout the universe, that appears and then disappears in a fragment of universal time without any real significance.

So I ask you, are we really important in the scheme of life, does any great being or life force out there care if we flourish or perish, and what do you think our chances are should another space rock make a bee-line for us?

Tags: asteroids, deep thoughts, dinosaurs, documentary, egypt, evolution, impact, life on earth, mankind, space rocks, sumeria, the universe

This is the start of my third week back at work, and I am gradually getting used to my new routine.

It was really hard going back to work after three months off, and the timing was not exactly good as there were things I still wanted to work on, but will now have to wait until I have the time.

True to form, this job is in an area of South Florida that I didn’t know, and actually I think that every single job that I have ever had has been in an area that I didn’t know before I started working there.  It’s a bit daunting at first, but it does give you a chance to explore new areas, and you never know what you will find.  Here for example there is a state park opposite where I work, so I can walk through there at lunchtime, look at the turtles in the marine center, and stand at the top of the beach, enjoying the cooling breeze while I talk to Debbie on the phone.

The sad thing is that I started back to work the week before my daughters finished school for the year.  It would have been nice to be able to take them out during the week, especially since they live with their Mom 25 miles from me, but now I am too busy at work to be able to do that.   Also this is a long drive for me, as the work location is 45 miles north of where I live.  The girls of course live 25 miles south of me, so if I was to try and see them in the evening during the week it would be a 70 mile drive in rush hour traffic and in my old car too, so it isn’t going to happen unfortunately.

Admittedly the drive is 45 miles each way, but so far apart from Friday evening when it was raining heavily, the traffic flow has been good, and it takes about 50 minutes.   That’s not so bad, considering that in the early 90’s I used to drive the 10 miles from home to work in London, and it would take at least an hour, and on several occasions 2 1/2 hours!   My last job was really close to home, so that took just over 10 minutes to get to and from the office, but most of us aren’t that lucky.  In the scheme of things 50 minutes isn’t that bad really.

My main worry though is my car.  I drive a 1996 Toyota Avalon, which has almost 142,000 miles behind it.  It’s in good condition, the engine runs great, there is no rust, it even still has the original muffler (exhaust), but the suspension needs looking at.

The Toyota dealership said that it needed new struts and quoted me $1,800 to replace them, which is rather expensive for a car that’s only worth about that if I was to sell it.  Especially after three months off work that’s a big financial OUCH!    Since the car was starting to vibrate a bit at speed, I took it into a tire place, where they put it up onto the ramp, and checked it out.  No mention of any problem with the suspension, but they said that one fo the rims was bent and the wheels needed to be rotated and aligned.  $22 later the car now runs smoothly.

However it’s not all good news, as they said that the tires were cracking and would need replacing.  There is still plenty of tread on them, I have probably only done 10,000 miles if that, so now with driving over 500 miles a week I have to watch out for that too.   I can’t justify paying expensive maintenance bills right now, and I also can’t afford a newer car.  Don’t you love being in these catch-22 situations?

So I just have to drive carefully, not do any sharp manoevering or braking, and keep my fingers crossed that my car will last as long as I need it to without having to spend a lot of money.

Tags: avalon, new job, suspension, tires, toyota, toyota avalon, turtles, vibrate, work

Today was my first day back at work after three months of being unemployed.

So naturally I was rather nervous, as most of us are when starting a new job, and as is typical for me, every new job I have takes me to somewhere I don’t know.  This one is no different, at Juno Beach, just north of West Palm Beach in South Florida.

It’s a 45 mile drive to work, and as I had to be there by 9:30am to meet my new boss, I thought I had better leave by 7:45am in case the traffic was heavy.   Well as it turns out, pretty much nobody went to work by the look of it, so the roads were fairly empty, and I got there by 8:50am!   I still had to wait until 9:45am for my boss to arrive, as he had to go to the other office first, so by the time introductions had been done in the department and I had got my security card etc, it was time for lunch.

My boss was busy, so I took a walk out, a chance to call Debbie, and also my Son, both in England.   The office is in a small strip mall, and across the road is a park.  The other side of the park is the Ocean Drive, and beyond that the beach!   There was a wooden walkway with steps leading down to the beach, so I stood there to make my phone calls and took advantage of the nice breeze that was blowing, it was great to not feel as sticky as I had just 1/4 mile inland.

The afternoon went well, with me getting into the systems and looking at a few programs, and then the drive home was fairly uneventful, getting home at 6:30pm.

I thought as I had been sticky, it would be a good idea to put the sauna on, and with luck someone had already used it, so it was still pretty warm.  Nice to only need 15 minutes to warm it up instead of almost an hour!   I had a good sauna, did 30 lengths in the pool and then back up my well trodden six flights of stairs to the condo, by which time it was close to 8pm.

I was ravenous by this time, having only had grapefruit juice and a banana before I left this morning, and just water and two cups of green tea all day.  I didn’t care to go out to eat, I preferred to explore a bit and make my phone calls instead.  Starving I was, but I didn’t want to overdo things as it was late, so I just made a cheese and tomato sandwich with some German Black Bread (Pepperidge Farm, really good) and peeled and sliced 3 carrots and had those with some ranch dressing.  Yumm…  Followed by a Raspberry Fat Free Yoghurt.  That hit the spot, and wasn’t too heavy either.   Now if I can do the same tomorrow, I ought to lose a couple of pounds for sure…

Watched a bit of tv, nothing much on though.  Caught up on my email, tried to print a couple of documents, but the ink was low on the printer, need to redo those at work tomorrow.  And now, last thing before bed, to catch up on Tagfoot.

So now I am winding down, and about ready for that trip to the Land Of Nod.   Catch you tomorrow… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

Tags: beach, cheese and tomato, first day, florida, new job, sandwich, sauna, south florida, strip mall, swim, tagfoot, west palm beach, work, yoghurt

Tomorrow I head back to work, starting a new contract after three months of being unemployed, and so apart from weekends, today marked the last time I expect to be able to take my morning walk around Deer Creek.

I have really enjoyed getting out of bed in the morning, and heading out around the lakes and golf course at Deer Creek to stretch my legs, listen to the birds chirping, and to watch the wildlife and trees.  There is always something different to see every time I take a walk, and I will really miss it.  At least I should have one weekend day when I can take my walk (the other I see my daughters and take them for breakfast, so no time).

I also still hope to go walking most evenings, which I also enjoy, and it’s different, especially in the dark.  Of course now with Summer here it doesn’t get dark until late.  Going out for a walk at 8pm even a few weeks ago would provide you with an awesome clear sky full of stars.  Now the sun still hasn’t set by that time.

Well it looks as if my Squidoo Lens about my walks around Deer Creek has started a trend.  Today Clouda9 published a lens about a Walk On Our Country Road, a lovely tour of the rural area where she lives, and it’s so different to Deer Creek, being out in the countryside.

I hope many more people will think about doing this.  It’s so nice to see the places where people live, so inviting to stroll along with them on a virtual tour of their favorite places to go walking, and nice to see the photographs of these special places.   So if you think you might like to do this, let me know.  Just stroll out, camera in hand, create a lens or a blog post, and I will write about it.   Maybe we can acquire a nice collection of these as time goes on.   If nothing else, these will make great memories in years to come, something to hand down to the children and grandchildren.

Patricia Sanders (aka Jewelsofawe) also has a great lens about being out on her sister-in-laws farm.  Take a look at Out On The Farm and see if you feel envious of the beautiful scenery.  She also created a lens that gives a wonderful virtual tour of her Garden Of Veggies – the Apple Pie looks delicious.

Tags: clouda9, country road, countryside, daily walk, deer creek, deerfield beach, favorite places, memories, photographs, Squidoo, squidoo lens, stroll, trees, walk, wildlife

I managed to capture a Mockingbird this morning on my walk around Deer Creek.   It was only 7:30am on a Sunday and it was so quiet out -- apart from the birds…
Shame I had the camera set to record on compact, but the audio is what I was trying to capture.

Tags: bird songs, deer creek, mockingbird, nature, south florida