Talk and Drive?

As of December 1st, it is against the law to use your mobile phone in the car here in the UK. If you are caught by the police using your mobile without a hands free set while driving, you’ll have to pay a £30 fine. It’s been on the News and T-Mobile has been text paging us to remind us. They say that the age group most guilty of using a mobile phone and driving is 35 to 45 year olds. Some people even text page while driving. Not sure how they do that! It’s more than I think I could handle to drive on the left and try to type out a message on that tiny keyboard!

The News is News

Last night we were watching the late evening news. The final story of the day was a quick look at the next days newspaper headlines. We saw four different papers and had a recap of what the main story was in each.

The point? Not sure. Interesting concept though.

At the Movies

A visit to the theatre here is in many ways similar to a visit to any US theater. Tickets and concessions are still overpriced, the floors are still sticky, and someone inevitably talks a little too loudly during the movie (they just do it with a British accent).

There is no movie theatre in Datchet, or even in Windsor. In London at Leicester square they play new movie premieres, along with stars on the red carpet. Though we were tempted to go and see Keanu Reeves when the last Matrix movie came out, we go into Slough to the UGC Cinemas. They have nine or ten screens there. One screen is huge and has stadium seating for a couple of hundred people, one is decent sized but has no stadium seating, and the rest are small – just a bit bigger than a projection TV – and have seating for 40 at the most. We’ve learned to check which screen the movie is on so we won’t be disappointed. The kids and I saw The Two Towers there and were frustrated when we discovered that it was on a small screen. It’s really not the same. (Seems like they should charge less or something!)

The consession stand has sweet or salty popcorn. You can buy a bottled drink or a fountain soda. They have hot dogs, nachos, candy. Even the serve yourself, buy it by the pound candy.

One of the things that I think is especially interesting is the commercials before the movie starts. When you come into the theatre, they have the music playing and the slides of ads same as in the states. When it’s time for the movie to start, they play 15 minutes of commercials, most of them straight off of the TV before they do the previews. Then there are usually 15 minutes of previews as well. So, the movies don’t actually begin until 30 to 40 minutes past the time advertized as the start time.

Release dates differ for some of the new movies here. Right now the new movies playing are: Finding Nemo, In America, Kill Bill, Love Actually, Master and Commander, Steal, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Matrix – Revolutions, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Some movies that are already for sale on DVD in the states have not even come out here yet. I think the only ones that come out here first are the ones that were actually made here.

Crossing the Channel

I’ve crossed the English Channel several times since living in the UK. We’ve been back and forth twice via the Euro Tunnel and once on an airplane. Last week we went across on the ferry. Many years ago (30+) I crossed with my family from France to the UK and back on a hovercraft, but this was my first trip via ferry across the channel.

There are many different ferry lines to choose from, and we went on Sea France, who were running a special for a little more than £100 round trip. It takes us a couple of hours driving time to get to Dover, where the ferries are located. Close to Dover there are signs to the ferries, and by following signs it is easy to locate the departure dock. After passing through the check in booth, a vehicle traveling on the ferry must go through a security check point. Once passed the security check point the cars line up in a preassigned lane and wait to board. About 15 minutes before departure all the cars and trucks drive up the ramp on to the ferry. After parking all passengers are required to leave their vehicles. The ferry has shops, bars, a cafeteria to help pass the time. An hour and a half later the ferry pulls into Calais on the coast of France.

Next time I cross the channel on a ferry I will remember to take some Dramamine first, however. Especially on days when it is rainy and the sea is choppy. I felt green all the way across the channel. Not fun at all. Strangely enough, none of the shops had Dramamine. I would have been a willing customer and would have gladly paid double for just one pill!

Ibuprofen

I’m starting to wonder if the Brits know something about ibuprofen that they have hidden from us in the US. You’re familiar with ibuprofen? It’s various forms being Motrin, Advil and so forth? Go to Sam’s Club or Target, buy it in a bottle with 500 pills? At Tesco if you want more than 8 pills you have to ask for them at the pharmacy. They’ll then hand you a package with sixteen 200 mg tablets. That’s the most they have in one pack as far as I can tell. They come nicely protected in those push out one at a time foil covered dividers. They take their ibuprofen very seriously!

Other things I have had to ask for from behind the pharmacy counter:

hydrogen peroxide
cold medicines
Compound-W

Remembrance Sunday

The 9th was Remembrance Sunday. We arrived at St. Mary’s a few minutes before the appointed starting time to find the place packed with people. (This is not the normal way of things at St. Mary’s.) The morning service was attended by several troops of scouts, local business people, members of the Village Council as well as Veterans with strings of medals pinned to their chests.

The Colours were paraded to the front and put on display for the duration of the service. There were prayers for those who fought in the war, as well as a reading of the names of all the young men who lost their lives during the two world wars. There was a short “sermon” on Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day. We sang a couple of hymns, as well as God Save the Queen. (My Country Tis of Thee is the tune – I used to know the words long ago when we lived in Australia, but no longer.) A collection was taken for the Poppy Appeal. After the Colours were retired, we all marched out to the village green and the War Memorial. There the scout troups, Village Council and business members participated in a ceremory placing poppy wreaths by the memorial. After this was done a trumpeter signaled and we observed two minutes of silence in honor of those lost in the wars. (This was done across the nation at 11AM.)

Poppy Appeal

The Poppy Appeal is a national campaign to raise money for Veterans. In most shops you can find a collection tin and a box of paper poppies. When you make a donation you take a poppy and wear it pinned to your lapel. Many people wear them this time of year.

To find out more about the Poppy Appeal, click here:
The Poppy Appeal

Ice, anyone?

Ice is something I used to take for granted. A lovely large refrigerator with a built in ice maker supplied my penchant for iced DP’s with chilly efficiency. At the most I had to move the lever up and down depending on whether the bin was too full or not. Here, however, it is a completely different story. A large refrigerator is a thing of the past, and an icemaker is not even an option. Ice is now a chore, and one I would gladly forego if not for my desire to have my caffeine ice cold.

When we first arrived we would make ice with two tiny ice trays. Then one day I noticed ice making bags at the shop. They looked intriguing, so we tried them. They’re plastic bags, with a hole at the top to fill them and little dividers that help form the cubes. Bizarre, but they work. Then this summer I first noticed bagged ice at Tesco. It made my day! Now, every week I buy a new bag of ice. The bad news is that the pile of bagged ice in freezer case has slowly been dwindling. I am afraid that now that winter is coming on, there will be no more bagged ice. I have the feeling I’m the only one buying it at this point. But, if they don’t give up on selling it and leave it in the case there is enough to last me until next summer when Brits start showing an interest in a bit of ice again.

Gardener

A couple of days ago the landlady called to say that our regular gardener had “gone abroad” for several months (smart of him to go right as the trees are shedding their leaves). She was in the process of hiring a new fellow and wanted to bring him over to look at the garden (yard) yesterday. After he came by and had a look with her, he showed up a couple of hours later with a leaf blower. He cleared a lot of the leaves, putting many of them over the fence into the cow pasture. I have the feeling if a good strong wind kicks up they’ll be right back in our garden.

It is nice to have someone to do the yard work. What a gardener does here doesn’t give you the same type of result as you’d get if you hired someone to do your yard work in the states. I’m happy to have him do the work, but always feel as if the job isn’t quite done all the way. We end up with a sort of semi-tamed wildness rather than the order that usually characterizes a US yard. I’m learning to like it though.

Postal Strike

They sure strike a lot here. Just yesterday yet another Postal strike ended. Steve’s job site was all locked down with strikers lined up along the curb. To get in there you just about had to give blood. For several days we have had no mail delivery due to strikes. Delivery restarted today, and we only got three items of mail. I guess we didn’t miss much.