You beat me - I was going to mention that... on the grocery store shelves I think they have about 250 different types of spam as well... not to mention the plethora of spam cookbooks we saw there

As for snow - the UK comes to a standstill as well... it is pretty tragic

So true, It's like 'OMG, OMG there's SNOW! Close the schools, pack a sleeping bag and thermos in your boot incase your stranded, make sure you salt your driveway' Jeez it's like they've never seen the stuff.

Jeez is right. And, to think about it, snow is merely "fat water." Si, man.

Sidebar: My best buddy used to eat yellow snow. Maybe he thought that the color was of treacle, but it was likely from more of a trickle.

Finally: Don't let the barbaric cottonheads... er, North Carolinians hear that Hawaiians consume more Spam than they do, no man!

But...I am American, why do I need welcoming? I'm talking about the Australian roaches charging me when I went to visit my fiance!!

then they must have known you were a yankee, and were seeing you off the premises

LMAO, I wouldn't be shocked if that was true!! I think that's the only part of my next visit I'm not looking forward to!

Had you let these Australian roachcocks (I like that term) get closer to you, they would have rolled over in hopes of a tummy-rub. That's what my cat does, so I offer this analogy as fact, si man.

Aww - gotta love them roaches... Here is my latest escapade:

http://jeraly.blogspot.com/2008/09/e-mail-to-mox.html

my almost-four years in the UK was a lovely little holiday from cockroaches... I don't think I saw a single one the whole time I was there

I don't like them, but at least I'm used to them - when the first one appeared, a week or two after I arrived here, I just sighed and said 'oh yes, I remember...'

we had the house sprayed last week and now I keep finding dead ones
strangely, rolled on to their backs, T-Bone; next time I find one I'll call you to come and give them some pats

Why, thank you for your generous offer, StP. They like to be brushed, actually. Also, they are a fine source of protein, especially when slathered in treacle. I liken the taste to a stale mooseburger that has long since gone to its reward, si man.

no, they taste like chicken

Hmm that was mean.. I'm not used to not know my neighbors and chatting with them and exchanging food with them..

Hrmm - we were contemplating using a fogger thing but I'm concerned about the safety of them - especially with the cat... what sort of spray did you use StP?

they put on a liquid spray around the skirting boards; I put the bird in the bathroom and they skipped that room, but I don't think it would have hurt him
it dried in about 45 min... seems to have been very effective so far

Like bald eagle, actually, but you are forgiven, Dear.


Treacle, from a pump-sprayer bottle. Or, maybe it was paint-thinner with a little grenadine (my favo[u]rite beverage, si man).

Ahh - you got proper exterminator people - we can't afford that so guess we'll have to do things the evil pollutant way and keep the cat out of the house for a while or something

Does your landlord not provide any kind of exterminating? I would have thought that it would be in their interest to keep their properties relatively bug-free.

if you are going to use a fogger, I would take the cats out of the house.. you can get this dry fogger stuff too that doesn't leave a film of guck on everything.. it is a little more expensive but I think it is worth it... it is called Hot Shot No Mess Fogger (it says something about dry fog on the box).. I picked it up form Home Depot for like 10 bucks for 3 cans... I need to do it again because the first time didn't help because I didn't use enough... with that one you also don't have to worry about making sure your pilots lights are off and stuff...

I'm not sure - I might annoy Jeremy to e-mail him or something - find out what is going on with the pool and about the roaches... thing is, "exterminators" here would prolly be much the same as the "gardeners," "air con men," "handymen," and any other titles you can think of - ie the Mexican gentlemen who live on the complex They would prolly come around with a fogger or some raid or something and that would be it!!!


Oh that would be worth looking into! The reason we didn't use a fogger when we went away was because of the pilot lights - the cat was safely in boarding so it would have been an ideal time! First though we need to figure out where they are getting in...

By the way I looove the pic in your siggie - it is soo cute

it also didn't have a strong smell when I cam back in.....

I almost missed this:No roachcocks in the U.K.? And the U.K. calls itself diverse?! Oof, man.

~~helpful tone~~ This is the perfect opportunity to become acquainted with one's friendly neighbo(u)rhood roachcocks. Most are excellent conversationalists, si man.

~bump~ This thread sure died... eaten by roachcocks?

I'm a native Americano/Colonist, and I don't like hurricanes, strange or known!

I think you might be a thread-killer

strange thing I'm not used to: farking hurricanes


but seriously: why the DANG are the street numbers all so high? my first street number in Australia was a single digit (5); my two addresses in London were three digits (111) and two (16) respectively, and here our address has FIVE bloody digits (18010)! I could sort of understand it if that made the number totally unique for the district - fewer postal mix-ups - but no; there are at least three more in our subdivision alone! and there's no standardised way of saying it - is it 'one eight oh one oh' or 'eighteen oh one oh' or 'one eighty ten' or 'eighteen thousand...' you get the idea

in the words of Obelix (slightly paraphrased): these yankees are crazy

You answered your own question StP. You bloody Aussies and Brits took all the low numbers, so we're stuck with all the big ones. In fact, by the time California became a state they'd run out of numbers out here, so all our addresses are made up of wingdings. True fact.

*pinches mox*

how do you tell someone your address then? 'ambulance smiley-face aeroplane heart star arrow, Cambell Parade, Los Angeles'

Exactly.

And if you think that's bad, it was really crazy down in Pitcairn. They don't even have a written alphabet, so each address is assigned a unique smell. My fiancee's address was:

" "
Pitcairn Islands
The Ocean

If I wanted to mail something to her, I had to put a little drop of the postal scent (obtained during my visit) in between the quotes.

Ahh Pitcairn - I never realised it was a Polynesian island

As for numbers - we are 912 but all the other addresses I have known Jeremy living at were five digits as well - I used to just say each number individually, but of course that prolly changes depending on the number

"I posted to VJ, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt... er, hat -- si, man!" And numberlessness. Guess I'll have to go to a numberyard, si man.

bloody hell; that thread-killer's back

I can't be bothered to find another picture now

Awwww, Mox. I've missed you buddy. Glad you're back.

I really like the toilet seat covers they provide in a lot of the washrooms here. I also like the great rest areas/welcome centers on the highways. Except for the one whose toilet seats were so high I had to climb up to use it. Ew. Thank God for toilet seat covers.

I like the automatically flushing toilets - they rock. I feel unclean when I have to pull the flush myself now Except in our own house of course

I don't recall ever seeing where they ask for race on an application anywhere. There may be a box where they ask for your ethnicity but its OPTIONAL maybe you missed that part..

every time I see a 'race' box I just want to put 'human'

Omg me too, i really hate that. When I was filling out papers to register my kids in school i left it blank i'm sitting there and the lady is like you left the race part blank i looked and said nothing hubby told her. I'm there thinking good god. Then I had someone from the school call me to set up an appointment and she was what race i'm like what, so she repeated herself and asked again whats the race. I told her sorry I'm not used to that question, and how you can't ask that question back in Canada. She goes on to say well here we have many different ppl here and we need to know the race. But then shes like we accept everyone so i'm like so whats the point then. Ya like Canada doesnt have many different ppl there gees talk about brain dead ppl.

My kids started school and my daughter comes home and tells me she was asked what her race was. Poor thing she was clueless to what they meant she just said i dont know i'm from Canada. She made me smile. Well for many reasons I pulled the kids from the schools here they are now being home schooled. But we wont get into that.

Maybe its supposed to be optional but if you dont put it in the dum computers wont accept it at least thats my experience

it's tricky all right... I know that a lot of the time data like that can be useful for stats, demographics, funding, whatever, but at the same time it just perpetuates the idea that we're all somehow fundamentally different when in my opinion we should be focusing on what makes us similar

Si, man -- like how real Americans (the guys, anyway) use their FOOT to flush a public-restroom toilet. And, at the next public census (2010?), I will be more tempted than ever to report my race as "Guamanian," si man.

I do that

Hmmm how about Pitcairnian?!

Ooo -- I'm staying away from you, Aly... a pitcairn is one of those vicious dogs that always makes the lead story on television for mauling children, etc. Have you had your shots? Produce your I-693A, Woman! Si, man.

In contrast to my usual, regular, proud, and true reports of American superiority over everyone else, I regret to report that natives of Liverpool, NY (a suburb of Syracuse) refer to themselves as (sigh) "Liverpoolers."

In related news, I stepped in a liverpudlian and splashed bile all over myself, si man.

Can we tell that there are only 16 days until C. is supposed to arrive, and my crib is still a cluttered disaster? At least the trio of Mexican babes who dispelled the dust & cobwebs didn't run out screaming, begging to be deported, no man.

I want to be a Liverpudlian when I grow up, si man, verily, wot.

Nope, it was not optional.

TB - not long to go now - you must be excited after such a long wait - how is your OH with things now?

As for de-bachelorising your pad, I would recommend throw cushions everywhere. They seem to multiply in the presence of women so maybe it will disguise the... *ahem* "manliness" of your home

I am too busy and stressed to be excited, si man. C. is just fine, si man, but equally as stressed regarding getting everything done in time. I hate cushions, but it is true that they femininely multiply, si man. My chief worry is to rid the casa of what is termed "gringo stuff" -- the duplicates and triplicates of everything that gringos have but will never use or need. I also have to copy house-keys, buy a step-stool for high cabinets (she's a Pequena, or shrimpette), buy a TV for the bedroom (she claims an inability to sleep without a TV on -- huh, man?), make room in the closets (a priority, and not easy for a clothes-horse like me, no man) and hope that the cat doesn't puke a greeting when C. walks in the door, barf man. This all presumes that the bastard consulate didn't put "hit" on her visa that will result in her dismissal at POE. Anything else being forgotten here?

you need a few plants
and make sure there's plenty of room in the bathroom cabinets! and no ring around the bath (or the toilet bowl, for that matter... make sure the seat's down, as well )

what are the 'duplicates and triplicates of stuff that gringos own but will never use or need'? I'm fascinated

we were fortunate - Dave bought this house over a year ago, but had a tenant in for a while, and only just moved in before coming down to Aus to meet my family and take me back with him - we've been able to set up this place together
it's helped that most of the furniture and pictures are mine, as well

Well Jeremy and I started from scratch and none of my stuff is here still! So yeah - we are kinda setting up together too - will be nice when I get a job so we can afford a dining table at least!!

Ooh - plants are a good idea And keys are nice too - I didn't have my own keys for about three weeks after getting here...

She'll have her own bathroom -- one that has been used perhaps half a dozen times in 5.5 years. This was not the one that took the poor Mexicana maid nearly three hours to scrub out the rings from, no man.

Let her put her own bloody seat down. Chicks make such a big deal of this. What, you get up in the middle of the night and you're going to fall in because the seat isn't down? Maybe we should then take the opportunity to flush YOU, si man. Furthermore, the cat needs access to her "adjunct" water bowl, si man, so the seat stays up, si man.

C. says that gringos invariably own two of This and three of That, and at least one of The Other -- whatever the item or product may be. She believes that ONE of something is plenty (gulp, man). There is some sense to this; early in my process of decluttering the casa, I did find a substantial amount of stuff to trash or to donate to charity, si man.

C. is such a minimalist that she thinks that she can immigrate here with just ONE 50-pound suitcase, si man!!!!! I asked her why she wasn't bringing more, and she said, "I got rid of it all; I didn't like it or won't use it."

Egad -- I also need to get her a temporary medical-insurance policy, si man. What are some of the better ones recommended on VJ?

*I* do not make a big deal of anything - I have a sensible husband who, like me, closes the lid, for hygiene's sake, so NO ONE gets put out about it... and in any case I wouldn't get too worried even if he did leave it up
don't assume too much