Thread "Impressions of America" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 7:08AM, Aug. 14, 2010

I'm a sucker for giving homeless types a buck or two to go away

I prefer Ozoneocean, Paul… It's sort of grown on me over the years :)

And any spare change if you've got some?

5$?

Posted at 7:08AM, Aug. 14, 2010

Heh. That explains the Oregon/Scotland reference. Maybe you can then answer my question… Does Idaho smell like potatoes… or do potatoes smell like Idaho?

I guess I just assumed that since you live in GB (or, at least, that's what I'd thought) that you were a Brit. As for Idaho, I love Coeur d' Alene. Unfortunately, I was more often in the lower portion of the state, which doesn't quite compare. The canyon that runs through the Snake River Valley is cool though.

Well, I've been to a bunch of places, and none of them ever seemed like each other except those two. It was something about the quality of the light and the way the plants grew and how the roads were. And I do live in GB, I moved here 5 years ago. :] Sorry if I sounded shirty.

Most of southern Idaho smells like dirt, and I think it's the potatoes also that smell like dirt. Clearly you are not driving through the horrid parts of Idaho that smell like sugar beet or paper factories (Nampa or Lewiston). Northern Idaho is much prettier, but s. Idaho does have amazing scenery, often with colorful names. Hell's Canyon, Seven Devils Mountains, Sawtooth Mountains, Craters of the Moon… what do those all have in common? Dirt and rocks. Come to Idaho, see dirt. Beautiful dirt!

I'm guessing parts of southern Idaho looks a lot like parts of Australia.

Posted at 1:08PM, Aug. 14, 2010

Clearly you are not driving through the horrid parts of Idaho that smell like sugar beet or paper factories (Nampa or Lewiston).

One time when I first started driving trucks I was on another guys truck for a while as a team driver and we got a hot load that somebody else bailed out on. (I think they had quit and just parked it in the yard then turned in their keys.) My dispatcher lied to the customer so that they wouldn't get reamed out over the phone. They told them we could get from SLC UT to Nampa ID in less time than humanly possible. So we get there and it turns out there are 2 of every street, depending on which side of main street you're on, or whatever, so we got a little turned around… and when we get to the stupid grocery store, we're like… way way late.

When we got there, the manager hands me his phone and his regional manager starts yelling at me for being late when it was not my fault and out of my control. So you can imagine, I remember Nampa quite clearly. After he unloaded on me, I told him calmly that while I regret we couldn't fly that bitch over the mountains, somebody lied to him and it was beyond our control as to why we were so late. (Well, I didn't say "fly that bitch over the mountains"… but I wanted to.)

Posted at 5:08AM, Aug. 17, 2010

The interesting thing about both Scotland and England is that fact that they are so small compared to the US and yet you only have to drive five miles or sometimes even less to end up in a place with a different overall culture, accent, slang, trends and even different styles of buildings than where you started. So you feel like you're a world away when you're really not… Compared to the US. It's still about a few hours drive to get to Glasgow Yorkhill from Fife and back. I found that out the hard way.

Posted at 12:08AM, Aug. 20, 2010

Bare in mind that there's a lot of regional variation in the US. For example, in California people will stop on a dime for pedestrians. This is because the penalties for running into one are EXTREME in Cali. This does not apply in other states, though. The worst driving I've ever seen in the US was in Connecticut. It was…hair raising. Absolutely hair raising. The miniature dog thing is also particular to California. Think I once heard about a pack of feral chihauhuas that was causing trouble. XD

As for dress…not quite as much regional variation, although there is some (i.e. Texans going for the whole 'western' thing.) I knew plenty of guys growing up with long hair, but many of them had to cut it once they got out of college in order to land a job.

The flags thing…well, I tend to agree. It used to be worse, though. You should have seen it the year of 9/11. I wouldn't mind, except that so often it's just an empty gesture, or a mark of jingoism rather than actual solidarity.

Strangely, when it comes to trains there's a huge difference between the coasts and the midwest. Midwest doesn't have many passenger trains, which is stupid since people like to be able to get across the giant open grain fields any way they can. But I guess there are plans for light rail. Finally.

As for food…yeah, I have trouble with the massive helpings. it's this mentality that you get a lot of bang for your buck…but I can't eat that much. Traveling can be rough 'cause it's hard to eat healthy. I guess there are always grocery stores, though, for the default PB&J sandwich. Or peanut butter and honey. Mmm…

Anyway, glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself! We're not terribly used to hearing GOOD experiences with Americans when it comes to travel stories. >_> But that's probably because we make a big target out of ourselves.

Posted at 8:08AM, Aug. 20, 2010

Bare in mind that there's a lot of regional variation in the US. For example, in California people will stop on a dime for pedestrians. This is because the penalties for running into one are EXTREME in Cali. This does not apply in other states, though.

Noted!
I've let my mum know about that too. She's flying to New York sometime in September for a bit of a holiday…

Anyway, glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself! We're not terribly used to hearing GOOD experiences with Americans when it comes to travel stories. >_> But that's probably because we make a big target out of ourselves.

It would've been interesting and even fun to actually see some of those crazy Americans people make such a big deal out of… but they seemed in short supply.

It was a nice place. At least where I was. ^_^

I took a short commuter bus ride through Oceanside and it was like an episode of Cheers for f**ks sake! O_o
Seriously!
The bus driver personally KNEW almost ALL his passengers. And they knew each other!
Bus passengers. Commuters. Chatting about old times and personal stuff. Knowing the driver by name.
And the driver was a really, really cool guy!!!!

Jebus freaking parallel worlds Batman! O_o_O_0_o
That was so very far out of my experience that I really DID feel as if I'd just come from Mars or something.

Posted at 1:08PM, Aug. 20, 2010

Hmm. I went to New York last summer. Driving can get pretty hairy as you approach New York City. You get drivers from all over. Really, she's probably better off taking public transit when she can. For one thing, it's a lot faster. The city tends to be pretty gridlocked. As a pedestrian…well, I would not take for granted that cars are going to stop for you, but often cars are stopped anyway and you can just weave through them. That said, New York City drivers are usually really pissy people 'cause they've been stuck in traffic for far too long.

Still better than Connecticut, though. The horror, the horror…

Also, the east coast tends to be the less friendly part of the US. Not that people can't be friendly, they certainly can, but they do tend to be gruff and rushed.

Posted at 11:08AM, Aug. 22, 2010

During rush hour, cars in Massachusetts and Connecticut are allowed to drive in the breakdown lane. It's a bizarre sight to behold.

Posted at 11:08PM, Aug. 25, 2010

As for dress…not quite as much regional variation, although there is some (i.e. Texans going for the whole 'western' thing.) I knew plenty of guys growing up with long hair, but many of them had to cut it once they got out of college in order to land a job.

Just like to point out that MOST people in Texas who dress like that are not from Texas. At least, most of them that I've encountered. I don't know why so many people are under this impression that we all have thick drawls and needlessly large belt buckles.

Good to know you had a nice time when you visited America. As someone else already pointed out, it's not often I find people having anything nice to say about paying us a visit.

I can't really say much about the rest of the country, as I've never left Texas, but you really should come down here and try our 'Mexican' food to compare (Tex-Mex.) It's quite addictive.

Posted at 1:08AM, Aug. 27, 2010

Dang, now that you mention it, it's true… All the movie posters everywhere in the USA (NY and NJ for me). I'm abroad now and I don't see movie posters (everywhere) anymore… I really miss it!

Posted at 7:08AM, Aug. 27, 2010

After 14 years of living in the US, I can say they're doing well here. We can buy "Left 4 Dead" uncensored and the murder rate dropped down to only 5 million a month! Yep, livin' the dream *goes to cry*, XD!