Bulk food Awesomeness

When I first moved to New Hampshire, I wanted to find some familiarity. Stores, the landscape, the climate, many things were different than what I was used to. But, when I visited the local Costco, I found it to be a familiar and happy place. I was also at the time overcome by discovering their beer aisle. How naive I was!
Today I visited a UK Costco. It was a bit of a pilgrimage as I had to take the train to get there, and then walked quite a distance, but when I arrived, I knew I was in for a foreign bulk retail treat.
I did find it strangely familiar with almost the exact layout of my store at home, and extremely similar products and brands. I found myself looking for my usual Costco shopping companions, which did make me feel a bit sad.

So, I spent an unusual amount of time combing the aisles for differences. I indulged in many samples of course, most notably, alcoholic beverages. Where the NH store had beer and wine, the England store surpasses it with liquor. Jameson to Baileys, and everything in between, it made me feel that the Maryland Costco is seriously lacking. And then they gave me samples!

The most glorious thing I found was a bag of 1610 PG Tips tea bags. It was absolutely enormous to the point of ridiculous. I was actually pretty sad that it was so big, as I couldn't really justify buying it. It came to about 9p a bag, which really is a good price, but really, 1600 tea bags! Just think of it. I could have 4 cups a day for a year! I could make over 800 good pots of tea with that. 800! By the time anyone normal drank all this tea, even a heavy tea drinking household, half of the bags would be expired. But regardless of how impractical it was, this gigantic bag of tea filled me with joy. Basking in its glow, I was suddenly struck.
“Excuse me. You’re going to think I’m insane, but could you take my picture with this enormous bag of tea?”
“Sure, I’m an American, so I understand.”
I stumbled upon the only other American I’ve seen in England at the Costco, in the tea aisle. The coincidence kind of freaked me out.

I also found haggis, literal tons of Cadbury chocolate bars, giant square pizzas, American peanut butter, a yard of jaffa cakes, pounds of Haribo gummies, and a $6 bag of pure American marshmallows.

I had something to eat at the cafe of course (where you can indeed get a hot dog and drink for £1.49) but I got a decidedly British alternative of a jacket potato with baked beans, and the first coke I’ve had in two months.

I made it home on the train with far less confusion and anxiety than last time.

Leeds

Last week I went again into the north to Leeds. I didn't really know what to do here to take up all of our time, but we started in the local art gallery. Unfortunately much of it was being constructed upon and some galleries were closed. They did have some nice modern sculpture. From there we went to the Leeds City Museum. This is a very nice place that takes you through the history of Leeds, and I mean history. From the movement of tectonic plates bringing the UK out from underwater, to local Roman artifacts, to a unique collection of taxidermied wild animals. By the time we finished there it was raining. Surprises.
One thing Leeds does have is malls. Whatever you call them, downtown Leeds is full of malls, they are around every corner, in various degrees of posh. We spent most of the rest of the day seeking refuge from the rain in these various malls and got really good at wandering in circles. Leeds also has a great huge market. So I enjoyed seeing all the weird things you could buy there.
A word to the wise, these are not gummy colas. Even when I confirmed with the seller. They are in fact, gummy beers. And they are in fact, horrible.

By the Sea

Before I got there I knew a few things about Blackpool. It had a beach, they lit lights in the fall, and James May had never been there because he ran out of gas.
I know a bit more about Blackpool now. In November, the lights are beautiful, the sea is cold and turbulent, and it never rains. No wait, wait, I mean, it always rains.
It was sunny blue skies for most of our journey to the northwest coast of England. Then we made a turn and, welcome to North England: it's raining. I didn't mind, figuring it would be just like in Cov; rain for 10 minutes then clear up. Oh how wrong I was.
I did feel quite excited to be on the coast, thrilled even to see hear the incessant waves and seagulls. The rain was off and on throughout the day, but mostly on. We had a nice blue badge tour of the high spots. The guide did her best to keep us dry, touring more inside than out. We finished in the center of the city and immediately found the closest chippy as it was raining again. Fish and chips taste better when you're looking at the sea. Though I could have been overly influenced by a warm dry shelter. No, it was still the best fish and chips I've had.

We walked town to the center pier, and popped into the lifeboat store/garage. All the lifeboats in the UK and Ireland (as far as I know) are run by donations and volunteers. The Blackpool boat is very cool and my dad helped me realize that by seeing the rescue boat, the trip was "research."
The pier was huge and had rides, games, and souvenir shops on it. I got a few pieces of Blackpool "rock" which is basically just candy sticks with "Blackpool" written in them.
Around 5 the famous lights were turned on. Blackpool was visited by a royal, (Princess Louise) back in 1912. They decorated some of the streets with lights to greet her, and they liked it so much, they decided to do it every year, growing more spectacular with time. Now, novelty lights line the main promenade for miles, each block having a different theme.
Our trip organizer and bus driver cleverly decided to drive us down the promenade to see the lights and it was far better to see them all warm and dry from the bus. Sorry I didn't have more pictures, but well, I'm sure you can figure the reason.

Brom

Last week I met my friend who graciously showed me around her hometown of Birmingham. I had heard a lot about it, as far as I can tell, Birmingham really gets a bad rep. I found it to be pretty interesting; full of shops, history, art, and industry like any good European city.
We stopped in the modern art gallery, Ikon, where I didn't understand anything that was going on. We also went through the symphony hall, the war memorial, and to the other art gallery to see an exhibit of old photographs of the city.
A large portion of the city center is pedestrianized, making it very pleasant to walk through. Now, to the "pincushion" (pictured above). I got the feeling that the city has mixed feelings about it, and my environmentalist guide could barely look at it without needing a place to be sick.
I think it's kind of cool looking, which is high praise for a building that contains a giant shopping mall. I also think it's a little out of place, virtual yards from the undoubtedly beautiful St. Martins church.
After getting a quick view of the mall (it has a Krispy Kreme shop where one doughnut was £1.50!) and enjoying the detailed interior of the church, we went onto the immense Bull Ring Market. I don't know why, but I love markets. Especially the beautifully arranged fresh fruit and veg and the nerve wracking atmosphere of everyone shouting different deals in every direction. Oh, and the horribly fascinating array of meats at the butcher stands. Beef tongue? Tripe!?

Well, anyway, I enjoyed Birmingham, and since it only cost me £3.10 to take the train to get there, I am sure a return visit is in order. Oh, and speaking of the train. What brilliance! How fun! How confusing! I bought an open return, and happily collected my tickets from a fancy machine at the Cov station. I got there easily enough, (it is only two stops) but the return was a bit confusing. I walked confidently into the station, clutching my ticket, pretended for a full five minutes that I, (like everyone else there) knew what I was doing. It wasn't too long before I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. Trains were going everywhere, in every direction, and at least one was leaving all the time! (the one I needed? who knew?!)
More seasoned riders were running to their platforms, casually reading magazines, or buying overpriced sodas while I was wandering around reading timetables that might as well have been in Mandarin. After a while, Coventry flashed up on the noticeboard I happened to be staring at, and I immediately went to that platform. Now I was the confident one, listening to mp3s and having a snack, calmly waiting. Or at least I was for a few minutes. Doubt seeped in and I realized that I was only allowed to ride on a Virgin train, and the one I was waiting for was not run by Virgin. So I dashed back up the stairs, found the correct platform and made it there just in time. Now who's a master of the train system?!

Remember, remember

Thank goodness, in 1605, some Catholic extremists decided to blow up parliament. Thank goodness one of them lost his nerve and caused them to fail. If that hadn't happened, there wouldn't be a November holiday in the UK! Traditional Guy Fawkes day, or bonfire night, is celebrated with a bonfire including burning and effigy of Fawkes, and a fireworks display. What an impact on history he's had here, to have a whole holiday named after you, still celebrated 400 years later?! Wow.
Anyway. Thanks to Guy and his friends I found myself this evening pedaling 4 miles in the rain to Longford park to take in a proper English fireworks display.
My nerve faltered when it was so cloudy, but I was assured it would go on rain or shine. So, armed with my waterproofs, high-vis vest, and blinking taillight, I set off into the unknown.
I found the park without a problem other that by the time I got there I was an hour early and it was raining. A lot. I hid for a while under a bus stop, then found the giant Tesco and spent some time taking that in. This is a huge store/mall comprised mostly of a Tesco supermarket that was more like a super Wal-mart with clothes and other goods.
I dried out as the rain came to a stop just in time. I followed the crowd into the park and was very surprised to find a couple of carnival rides, games, and food stands. It was just like the 4th of July only cold. I got some absolutely amazing freshly made donuts that almost immediately put me into a euphoric/diabetic coma.
I enjoyed watching the rides go and the people for a while before the fireworks started. The display was much like at home, kind of boring until the end. I always wonder why they don't just light them all at once. Now that would be a show. Everyone ooh'd and ahh'd in the appropriate places, but they didn't play any British patriotic songs (if there are any) during the fireworks.
I managed to get away from the crowd exodus pretty quickly and enjoyed my far dryer ride home.

Change

The other day I spotted a coin on the floor and victoriously went to pick it up as finding coins on the floor is my only source of income. I turned it over in my hand and found it be American dime. So I had made a pointless 7.5 pence. But really, how weird.
Change here is an important part of the culture, I think. Mostly because there is so much of it. In the US $1 coins do exist, but are barely legal tender. When you use them, people look at them as strangely as if you'd handed them Monopoly money. After careful scrutiny, they relinquish and take it, still skeptical and wondering who Sacajawea is.
Here, on the other hand, they got rid of the pound note about 20 years ago and never looked back. Now, and probably then too, there are commonly used two pound, one pound, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, and 1p coins. That’s a lot of change! (I miss the quarter myself.) There is always a healthy amount of change jingling annoyingly in my pocket.

Over the last week, unbeknownst to me, I received a pound coin from the Isle of Man. I went to spend it today and they wouldn’t take it! It was like trying to spend Canadian money in America, only those are actually two separate countries. These coins look the same, are technically from the same country, have the same queen on them, but somehow are different. I guess it's a good excuse to visit the Isle of Man, so I can spend my 1 pound there.

I miss EMS

We were called out a 4am for a sick person. When we got there we went to the door and rang the doorbell.
An inquisitive “Who is it?” came from inside.
Were you expecting someone else at this hour?

We were called for shortness of breath. When we go there we went in and found the patient in moderate distress but able to say:
“I have oxygen here, but I didn’t put it on.”
That’s when I picked up the tank and smacked him in the head with it.
Cured.

We were called for a psych problem and arrived to find a lady rolling on the floor, shouting, and being generally uncooperative. Her friend came over to help us calm her down.
Friend: “It’s okay, it’s okay...you’re just crazy.”
Thank you, captain obvious.

31st October

I'm bringing the picture of the day project for October to a close with a visit to the lovely Coombe Country Park. It's about 5 miles outside of town and completely worth the drive/bike/bus ride. I'm sure the time of year had something to do with winning me over. The park has a huge abbey where you can stay the night or get married, or both. In fact, I saw two brides, and I was only there a couple of hours. There were a lot of other people enjoying the park today, allowing me to feel entirely safe. There was also a food stand, donkey rides, and possibly the greatest playground I've seen. It was like a ropes course for kids, awesome.
Strictly speaking I wasn't allowed to ride my bike down their tree lined, smooth, beautiful, perfect paths. But I did anyway. It was awesome, and it turns out that the crap bike likes trails!
So, happy Halloween, and I hope you enjoyed the pics.

Plug follow up

When I first arrived, I had the great idea of using a US power strip to power all of my US electronics at once. Genius, right? Of course not! When I plugged it in on the first night, I nearly caused a fire and needed new pants.
So, instead I decided to plug things in individually, using the adapters that I had brought. I had to buy these in a bit of a rush on ebay because the one I originally had only allowed for two prong items to be plugged into it (as opposed to the thee prong plug on most things i.e. laptops).
This worked, but not really. I was afraid of it because it would occasionally spark when I plugged it in. Silly me.
When this adapter failed to work in the library, worried that I would burn it down, I set off to buy an adapter that had a fuse or a voltage adaption feature. I found one with a fuse so I bought it for 7 pounds. Victorious, I plugged the lappy in and it didn't spark once. Totally worth the money, right? Of course not!
The next day, wandering aimlessly, I found another plug adapter with a fuse fore 2.50! I bought it thinking I could return the more expensive one. Wrong, so now I have two.
Today, a few weeks later, I went to the ASDA, and guess what I found? A plug adapter with a fuse for 1.50! No, I didn't buy it but I may have cursed aloud.
Lessons learned. So, if you're traveling to the UK and need an adapter, either buy one from me, or go to ASDA. Plug rant over.