Bus Fun

Yesterday on my way home from Oxford Street I was sitting on the bus behind two Australians, one living here and one visiting. They were talking about various things and the one who lives here happened to mention that he had no idea London was such a "city" before he moved here. His friend, the visitor, said "really?" As you would if someone said that to you. The unaware Aussie then said that he watched The Bill (a British police show) and he just assumed that London was all outer suburbs, like the ones in the show. He had no idea the city was really a city, and he admitted that was stupid. Surprisingly his friend did not press him on this, or tell him that admitting his stupidity was an understatement. Therefore I was tempted to poke him and ask "are you kidding?" I mean if my friend moved to London and then told me she had no idea London was such a CITY, I would stop her right then and there and ask a few more questions.

     You had no idea London was a city?

     Really, you hadn't considered it? It's in the same vein as say...Paris, New York, Tokyo, Mexico City, Hong Kong...

     No really, had you not heard much about London? Did you not know it has a big population, around 8 million people? A city that size is not strictly suburbs.

     And you based all your knowledge about London on a TV show? So before moving here you did absolutely no research aside from watching a cancelled police drama?

     You really thought it was just suburbs? Really? No city whatsoever?

I would probably stop there, but believe you me I would be tempted to press a bit further. How does someone move so far from home without knowing something as simple as whether he is moving to a proper city. And he's from Australia! It's not like Australia doesn't have a close relationship to the United Kingdom. Did he assume the Queen lives in semi-detached? So many questions.

Election Day!

My blog post titles are really suffering...

I didn't sleep well last night. I am sure I won't sleep well tonight. And it's all due to that little election thingy we've got going on in the US. I admit it, I'm nervous. They are predicting an incredibly close race, and I am worried my candidate won't pull out a victory. But I am staying positive, I am going to cheer him on from here and wake up at a god awful hour (assuming I sleep at all), perhaps 2-3am tomorrow, to watch the results live on tv.

I voted by absentee ballot about five weeks ago. Voting that way is totally anti-climactic. There's no polling station, no standing in a small booth behind a small curtain, no feeding your ballot through a slot (up until the last time I voted, in 2008, SF still used paper ballots, not sure if that has changed) and no "I Voted!" sticker. I missed the sticker the most. I remember four years ago, the excitement in the air, the feeling of change, the lines of people waiting to vote at 8am. Living overseas has kept me removed from all of the election drama. Of course I still watch the news and read a lot of it online, but I don't have the election day build-up, the charged atmosphere, the emotions behind everything. I must admit, I in no way miss the political ads, the robocalls, the negativity, the attempt by one party to smear the other. I like politics, but I don't like the dirty parts. Living overseas I have been able to tailor my coverage to what I want and prefer, which was refreshing.

I won't turn this into an overtly political post, those who know me know exactly how I feel and who I voted for. In fact I can be a bit vociferous about my political views, but I won't do that here. Instead I will, at least online, silently root for the right candidate to win and hope that everyone in the US makes it out to vote, to have their say, to speak their mind, because after all we are fortunate to have that right and should use it. Riley will be wearing her (fingers crossed) lucky dog collar, showing her support for a particular candidate. Hopefully we'll have a clear winner by late morning UK time on Wednesday, no repeat of 2000 thank you very much. And I'll have an answer as to whether I will have a self imposed 4-year exile outside the US, or whether it will be safe to move back if we so choose in the next four years.  Happy election day everyone! May the best candidate win. Please.

Bath Day!

There are no words to describe her whiny behavior. Well, except embarrassing, immature, silly and/or shameful.

There Is a Time and a Place for That

I was in Starbucks the other day and had the wonderful pleasure of listening to a couple argue. For about 45 minutes. I noticed them when I was ordering my drink because she was repeatedly telling her boyfriend (I think) that what he was holding was not an iPad. And trust me when I tell you it was NOT an iPad. But she needed to tell him that about 10 times, each time getting a little bit louder. After I sat down, about five feet away from them, they proceeded to argue about where to move. She made it clear that she a) is older, 66 so b) needs health insurance and c) a job. But going back to a) that made it harder for her to get c). She wanted to stay in Western Europe, he wanted to go to Israel or maybe Japan. She quickly vetoed Japan due to living space constraints. She also vetoed Frankfurt because for some reason she was convinced that moving to Frankfurt with him meant she would end up staying home and washing his underwear. The discussion regarding Israel allowed her to mock him for his lack of sincerity in practicing Judaism. Now that's a touchy subject if you ask me. The argument also included a hand being slammed down on the table, her asking him if he "really knows what love means," an insistence on moving her instruments from the US and her finally telling him he made her unhappy and killed her well being. She then took her giant rolling suitcase and wheeled it out the door.

By that time I needed to leave, so I didn't really get to read in peace and quiet. Not that I wasn't slightly, just a tiny bit, enjoying all that. I mean, I'm not an eavesdropper but sometimes you can't help yourself. Like when two people insist on talking about extremely personal things in public. The whole encounter made me wonder why there are some people who can't limit those discussions to private places, or at least avoid having them in small Starbucks where every single patron could overhear them, and potentially make metal notes of the argument to blog about it later (or perhaps email snippets to their husband). Even doing it out on the sidewalk would have been slightly more private because there wouldn't have been a room full of strangers forced to listen in on whether she wanted a small living space (no), to do his laundry (no) or live in Israel with a non-practicing Jew (no). I do wonder if she took her suitcase and rolled out of his life forever, considering he killed her well being and happiness. I suspect, and hope, my future Starbucks visits won't be so colorful.