If tha knows nowt, say nowt an appen nob'dy 'll notice.

I was just chatting with someone about what England *was* like in the early 80s. Some of the stuff that I found particularly funny at the time:

1) Fast food Wimpy burgers made with quasi meat (many fillers), lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers.

2) The fact that we have the same words for completely different things. For instance, the English really don't have American pickles. But they do have a "Ploughman's Pickle" which is more like a relish. Oh, here's an online description:

A brown sauce based pickle with chunks of crisp vegetables used to accompany meats, cheeses, pies on the plate or used to kick up the flavour in a sndwich.



Here's an American pickle:



How about jelly?

This is British Jelly (which we call Jello):



This is American Jelly - which is sort of close to a jam or marmalade without the bits of fruit in it. It's made only from the fruit juice.



You see how confusing it can get?

3) Trying to understand a fast-talking, dyed-in-the-wool Yorkshire butcher at the base store. OMG... LOL... I was trying to find you a YouTube snapshot of what Yorkshire sounds like, and I found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u89rOI8z8Oc&feature=related.

I actually liked this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO1keD1pHQQ&feature=related. More of an academic view of the dialect.

And here's an interesting blog on't: http://www.openwriting.com/archives/2008/07/true_yorkshire_1.php#more

Anyway, enough for one morning, me ducks. :)

Tirrah

Could this be the magic...

I've been reading a lot about finding myself lately. You'd think after 51 years on the planet, I'd know something about life. Anyone that says they do are kidding themselves.

Life is a huge mystery. It's wrapped candy on Christmas morning. It's wide eyed, over-the-top, magnificent beauty.

But sometimes it sucks. :)

Travel, to me, is like taking the wrapping off the candy and standing there in wide-eyed wonder at what's there before you. It's taking chances and visiting places you never would have dreamed existed. That's kinda one reason why I hate rigid schedules - though it looks like I have one at the present for this trip.

Even travel sucks sometimes though. Like the fact that I have two stops on my way over this year. That's going to suck mightily.

But then, there's the magic. Like flying home from my last trip and meeting two amazing men from totally different backgrounds... we talked life, philosophy, religion, and even sex before the flight was through. One was a psychotherapist, and the other an engineer. Funnily enough, the psychotherapist was downing drinks one after another. Maybe that old addage about people going into psychotherapy to fix their own problems is true? However, I won't take away anything from the gentleman - he was truly a lot of fun to chat with. I miss them both and haven't heard from them since.

It also took me 2 weeks to get over jet lag from talking almost 15 hours straight. LOL

Buttermere in the Lake District was a beautiful surprise.

Meeting strangers at the B&B in Keswick and having one drop me at the train station out of the goodness of his heart another.

Then, there was the B&B proprietess near the laundramat who rudely shut the door in my face when I asked if she might have some change for the washers. There wasn't really a change machine in the laundramat.

I tend to see them mostly as anomalies, though.

I love walking into Ripon Cathedral and feeling the age of the place settle in my bones.

Or the gay guys I met through Sarn who were eversomuch fun! I miss them even now. Perhaps I'll make an effort to drop by their hotel in the fall. :) They run a boutique hotel in London.

The best parts of travel are definitely the surprises - not the plans.

Which is, I think, a lot like life.

What is it about Tea?

I love tea. All kinds of tea! Ok,mostly all kinds of "black" tea. Green teas and most herbals don't interest me much.

I'm not sure where this love of tea came from. Maybe partially because I live in Texas and we drink lots of iced tea here. Maybe because I lived in England? Maybe because I don't drink coffee?

For whatever reason, tea is da bomb as far as I'm concerned.

My favorite is the Wild Strawberry from Fortnum and Mason.



But I also enjoy Georgian Peach from my local tea room (the Steeping Room at the Domain).



Of course, I have my old standby (Earl Grey). And I do like Constant Comment from time to time.

I also have many assorted flavors of loose teas. Currently, in my desk drawer, I have a Peach Decaf from the Steeping Room, and a nice black lavender tea from a local lavender farm. From the Tea Embassy, I have Black Currant Tea and Raspberry Mint tea.

It's a veritable dessert drawer! :)

At nights, just before bed, I treat myself to a nice cup of chamomile.

With all these teas, you'd think I'd attended many, many afternoon teas (of the English variety). But the only tea I ever attended was one I hosted, myself. I did try clotted cream once at the Steeping Room (Americans are way missing out on the boat by not using clotted cream!). It's like a very light, whipped cream cheese.




I'm looking forward to possibly going to a tea when I get to London (if there is time and energy for such a thing). The other thing would be wearable clothing for the event. I tend not to pack formalwear for my trips.

I'll give that one some thought. :)

Tirrah for now!

April Fools!

'ello me ducks... and how's life in your part of the world? I just got into work and am settling into the day's goings on.

Found out yesterday that we're going to have to take mandatory non-paid days off. I'm not too surprised.

I've been working on a book for the past couple of weeks. Mostly, just idea gathering. I'm hoping all these upcoming days off will allow me to focus on things a little more and maybe get a few chapters written. :)

I also have my resume in with a company that's bidding on a government contract. If they get it, my job is pretty well a lock. So, that will make things much easier all round as far as the planned travel goes.

I'm so glad I have this trip to take my mind off of things like paying bills and the long hours I put in with my various jobs. Yesterday, a friend pinged me about helping him with his resume. So many folks out there are just frightened to death about this recession. My friend has a very nice house that he bought a couple of years ago. Of course, making payments is getting harder and harder to do.

So, I've been finding interesting quotes lately. Let's see if I have any about travel I can pass on.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

Without travel "I would have wound up a little ignorant white Southern female, which was not my idea of a good life." -- Lauren Hutton

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." –- Miriam Beard

Let's see if I can come up with one all by myself.

"If you bring cameras, video equipment, cell phones, and computers on your trip, you're no traveler... you're just a tourist." -- Joy Owen

And that, as they say, is all she wrote. :)

What Happened?

Oh, I bet you're wondering what happened to my idea of having a travel companion.

I did advertise, and a couple of folks responded - then dropped off the face of the planet. I guess they determined they really didn't want to go after all. And Woofie, my adopted mom, decided that the trip would be much too strenuous for her (so we're thinking maybe an Alaskan cruise next year).

So, it looks like I'm on me own for now.

My job contract ends in June. I'm just hoping that I'll be able to afford it all. (I'm going anyway - just saying). LOL Once I have the plane ticket and rail pass, it's a pretty sure bet I'm ready to take the leap.

Speaking of the job market... I just went through an interesting series of interviews with a company in West Virginia. It's beautiful there, but so many difficulties in actually making it happen. I finally had to just say no to the opportunity. *sigh*

So, I'm out there and looking again. :) I wonder if Austin can support all the tech writers out there looking for work. I'm just grateful that LSI has been so berry berry good to me this past year. They've made it possible to make my bills and keep my puppies fed - so that's all good news.

I guess I'm out of steam for this blog entry, so chins up! Go 'ave a butchah's and I'll rabbit with ya latah.

Of Railways and Fur

I know, strange title, but I can't be held responsible for the workings of my brain this early in the morning. :)

Just wanted to drop a quick note about my latest updates.

Yesterday, I ordered my Britrail Pass (Lupe was my agent). He was such a funny guy! LOL. I should have pass in hand by the end of the week - as well as a Fodor's guide which he's throwing in just because he thinks I'm cool. *chuckles*

I also sent Kim 150 pounds for all the trouble they've gone through recently to make sure I have a good time on my visit with them. Kim's adamant that I shouldn't have sent so much, but she's also off researching whether I should wear a fur coat or stole to the 1940s event. Bless 'er cotton socks (as Greg would say).

I'm debating going ahead and paying for all the rest of my trip while the dollar is down so much against the pound. I shall give that some more thought. Any comments?

This weekend, I'm doing my taxes (ugh). Wish me luck (and a large return).

Seeya next time!

More Worms...

See earlier post for worm reference.

It happened again.

I contacted the car hire (not rental - hire) in the Lake District. They don't do these contracts via email, so I actually had to call on the phone.

As he was taking my information, the gentleman said:

"saname"

"What?" asks I.

"saname"

um....

I'm wracking my brains for what he could be talking about.

Then, it dawns...

Surname!

ahhh... God bless 'em. Not "last name" which is just fine and to the point. no no... let's call it surname and speak in a thick accent to befuddle the poor American woman!

I emailed the same gentleman a bit later to ask for a total for the car, GPS, and insurance.

Here is the gist of his answer:

Hi Joy

The total for your hire £135 inc sat nav.

The above price does not include our CDW if you wish to include this it
would be an additional £22.50.

Regards

Now... do YOU know what a CDW is? No? Well, I wrote back asking... and here is the response.

CDW is collision damage waver which reduces your excess from £750.00 down to
£250.00 which is £7.50 per day. Hope this explains what CDW is.

I can hear them talking now... "Dumb American Woman Strikes Again!" LOL

Will I ever learn how to speak English???