Cadbury's Chocolate ( and cheese)

[SepticTone]

" ONLY a 15 hour drive" ???

I'd rather drill small holes in my feet & insert slivers of Limburger into them to attract malarial mosquitoes than actually drive North from the far South for 15 hours!

Particularly as the last 6 hours or so would involve driving on rubbish twisty Scottish 'B' roads, where it takes about an hour to go 15 miles.

By this time you'd be so stressed & depressed you'd probably be tempted to carry on driving straight into the sea to get to Iceland to cheer yourself up, as you'd just have spent 6 hours in Scotland!

& I speak from experience, as I've been to Scotland. You really wouldn't wanna go there twice, believe me.

(Joke, chris!)

[Cap'n Jack]

Hello again, and thanks for the warm welcome.

Cheese definatley rocks.
Yep, the UK isn't that big in the scheme of things. Don't listen to grumpy old ScepticTone, he is after all sceptic!
The UK has so many different sights and scenery for such a relatively small place, its a delight to drive along twisting country roads in the middle of nowhere. Its much the same when you get to Wales, there are very few motorways there, Scotland is not alone.
Motorways are okay to get from one place to another quickly, but need every journey be rushed? journeys should be a rush!
I went all philosophical then!

enough for now from me!

[SepticTone]

Don't get me started on Wales!!

[Kate]

I realized how small England is when we drove from London to Stonehenge in under three hours. That's less time than it takes to get from Springfield (my home) to Tulsa (where my best friend lives, and the halfway point on the trip to visit my grandmother - a 3.5 hour drive). It then took us about five hours a couple days later to drive from Cirencester to Holyhead.

I've heard that a lot of Europeans think it's outrageous that the majority of Americans don't own passports - but when our own country is so large that it would take a week of 10-hour days to get from coast to coast (if you're lucky - it'd probably be longer), there's so much here that a lot of people just never make it out - especially if you're in my area, in the middle of the country, where it would require long days of driving and at least one overnight stay to get to one side or the other. When my family moved from Las Vegas to Missouri, it took four days of driving.

(some perspective for you Brits - I think you could probably make it from Cardiff to St. Petersburg in about the time it took to drive across the US)

[SepticTone]

We don't think it's outrageous that most Americans don't own passports, Kate: we thank our lucky stars. Those of us not involved in the tourist industry, that is. (JOKE!!)

Americans can experience every type of climate they want in their own country, so why bother going abroad, where nobody speaks English, they do funny things & eat funny stuff & might kill you?

We don't need to drive to St Petersburg, either, as it's much quicker & cheaper to fly there via Ryanair (£10 to Riga, Estonia, from Manchester) then a 12 hour luxury sleeper train ride Riga to St Petersburg (£ 50 return). I know, as I've done it last year. However, it'd take you 3 days to do justice to the Hermitage museum & costs another £29.

[davec]

Sure, we have all kinds of climates, but there's culture to enjoy, too. I get really tired of being called an asshole everywhere I go.

'Prannock' might be a nice change of pace.

[Kate]

Yes, Americans need more variety in their insults. I'm a little tired of being called a "stuck up bitch." I feel like a pariah; I'm not American enough for most Americans, I'm too American for the rest of the world!

I don't need to travel anywhere to experience other climates. Springfield, Missouri, has officially been named as the city in the US that has the most rapidly changing weather. We had a couple pleasant days here (temperature made it to about 38 F, or...3-4 C?), but the temperature will be dropping rapidly to single digits (F, of course) as we get about eight inches of snow. Hopefully, it'll get back up to the 40s next week and we can melt the snow. Who knows, it might even head into the 50s. Missouri is known for the rapidly changing weather though - Mark Twain said "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes - it will change," and it's just about true. He was from the northern part of the state too, it's not as bad up there. Sometimes I remember longingly what it was like to live in Las Vegas, where the seasons were hot and windy, hot and dry, hot and windy again, and really warm and dry. Snow was so rare that I still remember the one time it happened - December 6, 2000. My sister woke up, looked outside, ran to wake my mom up, and told her someone had put salt all over the ground.

[SepticTone]

I get really tired of being called an asshole everywhere I go.

'Prannock' might be a nice change of pace.

Everywhere you go?? I think that must say more about you than the paucity of American insult-words, dave. Try giving people some free money (a tip I think you call it), before you leave the restaurant/cafe/barbers shop/petrol station/corner shop/hotel/pub/taxi, etc., in the US, as I'd imagine "asshole"'d be what I'd get everywhere if I ever went to the States, as I am British and refuse to give 'tips' as it's not in our culture to pay over the odds for something we've already paid for once.

Well, at least where I live it is.

You wazzock.

[SepticTone]

I'm a little tired of being called a "stuck up bitch." I feel like a pariah; I'm not American enough for most Americans, I'm too American for the rest of the world!

Snow was so rare that I still remember the one time it happened - December 6, 2000. My sister woke up, looked outside, ran to wake my mom up, and told her someone had put salt all over the ground.

A) I don't think you'd be called that here, Kate, as we're far too polite & cautious when sober to call a lady that ( well, at least not in front of your face, as that would be like, your interlocutor asking for an immediate Kirkby Kiss ). Perhaps "All fur coat & no knickers", but I'm sure that wouldn't happen either.

B) " Salt all over the ground": that is so sweet & made me grin.

[davec]

Actually, I was just setting up a joke. I seldom get called anything--many Americans are too disconnected from one another to tick off a stranger unless well motivated. If they don't like you, they just don't talk to you. I'm a very quiet and polite fellow, so when people catch the accidental whiff of my trainspotting side and don't like it, they just say nothing.

I tip generously because people who get tips often get paid less than minimum wage, and do need them. I am on friendly terms with waitstaff wherever I go, and have worked such jobs myself. I don't think I'd feel I was stiffing someone working a simple job for $10.00 an hour, as such jobs pay much less here.

And if you do come here and don't tip, nobody will say a word to you in most places. You'll maybe get an earful in New York City and perhaps large cities in New Jersey, but then again it's nearly impossible not to do so there, no matter who you are or what you do or don't do. (The phrase 'in a hot New York minute' refers to that interval of time that begins when the traffic light turns green and ends when the jagoff New Yorker behind you starts honking. It's an eyeblink.)

But you may be up for laggard service next time around. Or maybe not.