World Tour of America #5: Update 2
Another Thursday, another update! I'm not sure I have much to update about this week, mainly because of the weather. Hmm, that seems like a good place to start though...
Hotter than Hell
One of the reasons I'd been wary about coming to the US over the summer was because of how hot it can get here. Even though I'm from the UK where our summer is either postponed entirely like last year, or consists of three days of temperatures round about 30°C at the very end of August, I'm no stranger to proper summers thanks to growing up in Germany. I don't do well with heat, being overhot gives me migraines, I dehydrate easily and I'm so fair that I burn within microseconds of merely looking at the sun. Last week, it was rainy and cool enough to require long sleeved T-shirts. This week? This week was Pretty. Damn. Hot. When we were getting ready for our usual Sunday morning stroll to Dunkies, it was already 26°C by 9.15 and ended up getting to 34°. I'd already noticed that we were in for a warm spell (typical British understatement there), and had got into the habit of checking the forecast 8 or 9 times a day. At least. So I was already aware of the fact that Monday and Tuesday were going to be the big two.
On Monday, it got up to 35 but with the humidity, it felt more like 38. Unfortunately Michael's house has very little in the way of air conditioning, unless you count the windows, but he does have a nice line in lots of fans. The blowy kind, not the admiring kind, although he does have a nice line in those too. Anyway, on Monday afternoon, we were desperately seeking proper air conditioning and so we decided to make a brief run to the nearest mall like the good little suburbanites we are. Thankfully, having wandered round Target and Best Buy for a good three hours, we managed to come away with having spent nothing. Well.... mostly nothing.
When I checked the forecast on Monday night for the following day, I noticed that there was a weather advisory in place. Although the temperature was going to get to 36, the heat index was such that it was going to be well over that. Actually, it was going to be between 40 and 42°C. Eep. They were warning everyone to stay in air conditioned places and drink plenty so Michael and I made suitable plans. In the morning, we washed the car. It was in serious need of it anyway, being covered with pollen as it was. We dressed in t-shirts and trunks and once we'd washed the car with soapy water, out came the hose to wash it all off. The hose seemed to have a mind of its own though and kept drenching us instead. Funny that. Then in the afternoon, we decided we'd hide out in the library to partake of their air conditioning. And free wifi. It was nice to get out of the hot stuffy house and where better to go than to the library?
Thankfully now the weather has got a lot nicer. It's still a little on the unseasonably warm side so it's in the high 20s, rather than the mid 20s as it should be at this time of year but at least there's a nice cool breeze now to go with it. I wasn't looking forward to Pride in 40° heat, I can tell you that much!
The Car Saga Part Deux
The way we'd left things last week was that the original garage was quoting 3-4 weeks and $lots to get a new transmission for the car. After spending Thursday morning making lots of phone calls to other garages, we found one that was closer which was quoting 2 weeks and $lots minus quite a bit which sounded much more acceptable. Then, Friday afternoon, as I was sitting at home working hard - yes, I was, don't laugh! - I got a text from Michael squeeing over the fact that the original garage had been in touch with him and said that they were working on his car at that moment and that it would be ready to pick up on Saturday morning. I nearly fell over in shock. I think Michael's response was something similar. I'm not entirely sure how it went from 3-4 weeks to under 24 hours, but it was Very Good anyway.
On Saturday morning, we schlepped up to the garage where we hung around in their show room for a while. Very bizarrely they have little tables and chairs dotted around their showroom, so you can spend your time waiting for the oil change for your Corolla while attempting to shimmy past the new Highlander and not scratch it as it towers over you looking not unlike some big blue hulking Godzilla in vehicle form. We decided to hang out by the TV to spend the time watching old cartoons, the end of The Goonies and groaning with exasperation every time the satellite signal gave out which was every other minute. It was so good to have the car back, even though it felt tiny after the rented Accord. It was also really good to be able to give that back and have the rental figure knocked down by over $100 due to the bloke that dealt with us in the first place not having a clue what he was doing. So now we have the car back and there is no more angsting over not being able to go places and do things while I'm here!
MIT
As it was a bit cooler yesterday - and by a bit cooler, I mean the high was just over 30°C instead of closer to 40 - so we thought we'd go out and about and do stuffs. I'd found a couple of leaflets at the car hire place of things to do and found one about the MIT Museum which sounded like a great place for two geeky boys to spend the afternoon. It was way out in Cambridge so we had to take the T so I wasn't really looking forward to that. I've spent too much time sweltering in the Tube in the summer to look forward to riding a bakingly hot subway but to my great surprise and delight, the trains have air conditioning! And even the platforms weren't too bad. The museum was pretty good. I wasn't expecting it to be too big until I read what it had there, and then I expected it to be bigger! It was a shame that some of the displays weren't working but it was still interesting, although possibly a bit samey towards the end. The section on robotics was very cool and the hologram display was fun. I especially liked the bit with the City Car, it looks like a great idea. It made me wish a bit that I was geeky enough and smart enough to go to MIT, it does sound like an amazing university. Actually, it re-awakened my desire to go to university here, but I think that's probably better dealt with in another post.
That's about all the main stuff for this week really. In other news, I am broadening my restaurant horizons! I've now sampled the delights of TGI Fridays which is somewhere I've wanted to go for ages. There's not one near me though, I think the closest one is Manchester, but they're amazingly expensive anyway. I've also been to Applebees. Its menu was pretty decent, especially as I'm a fussy sod, so anywhere with lots of choice for me is going to be favourite. They had an offer of a 3 course meal for upwards of $9.99 which was great; you had specific starters, main courses and puddings to choose from and the total price depended on the main course you picked. There was quite a good selection, if a bit lacking in choices for me. I think Friendly's will still be my favourite but Applebees will be a close second. I definitely want to go back and try other things on their menu though. In still other news, I'm introducing Michael to lots of my favourite films that he's not seen before. Last week it was Young Einstein, this week he got to see The Italian Job. The original version, naturally. I'm glad to say that he enjoyed it and seems to be quite amenable to being introduced to my favourite films. Now, what can I subject him to next week?
There's a couple more hours until Michael comes home, so maybe I will go and play some more Guitar Hero before then. We're off to GenderCrash tonight and I really need to decide if I'm going to read and if so, what! Guitar Hero first though, I think...
Hotter than Hell
One of the reasons I'd been wary about coming to the US over the summer was because of how hot it can get here. Even though I'm from the UK where our summer is either postponed entirely like last year, or consists of three days of temperatures round about 30°C at the very end of August, I'm no stranger to proper summers thanks to growing up in Germany. I don't do well with heat, being overhot gives me migraines, I dehydrate easily and I'm so fair that I burn within microseconds of merely looking at the sun. Last week, it was rainy and cool enough to require long sleeved T-shirts. This week? This week was Pretty. Damn. Hot. When we were getting ready for our usual Sunday morning stroll to Dunkies, it was already 26°C by 9.15 and ended up getting to 34°. I'd already noticed that we were in for a warm spell (typical British understatement there), and had got into the habit of checking the forecast 8 or 9 times a day. At least. So I was already aware of the fact that Monday and Tuesday were going to be the big two.
On Monday, it got up to 35 but with the humidity, it felt more like 38. Unfortunately Michael's house has very little in the way of air conditioning, unless you count the windows, but he does have a nice line in lots of fans. The blowy kind, not the admiring kind, although he does have a nice line in those too. Anyway, on Monday afternoon, we were desperately seeking proper air conditioning and so we decided to make a brief run to the nearest mall like the good little suburbanites we are. Thankfully, having wandered round Target and Best Buy for a good three hours, we managed to come away with having spent nothing. Well.... mostly nothing.
When I checked the forecast on Monday night for the following day, I noticed that there was a weather advisory in place. Although the temperature was going to get to 36, the heat index was such that it was going to be well over that. Actually, it was going to be between 40 and 42°C. Eep. They were warning everyone to stay in air conditioned places and drink plenty so Michael and I made suitable plans. In the morning, we washed the car. It was in serious need of it anyway, being covered with pollen as it was. We dressed in t-shirts and trunks and once we'd washed the car with soapy water, out came the hose to wash it all off. The hose seemed to have a mind of its own though and kept drenching us instead. Funny that. Then in the afternoon, we decided we'd hide out in the library to partake of their air conditioning. And free wifi. It was nice to get out of the hot stuffy house and where better to go than to the library?
Thankfully now the weather has got a lot nicer. It's still a little on the unseasonably warm side so it's in the high 20s, rather than the mid 20s as it should be at this time of year but at least there's a nice cool breeze now to go with it. I wasn't looking forward to Pride in 40° heat, I can tell you that much!
The Car Saga Part Deux
The way we'd left things last week was that the original garage was quoting 3-4 weeks and $lots to get a new transmission for the car. After spending Thursday morning making lots of phone calls to other garages, we found one that was closer which was quoting 2 weeks and $lots minus quite a bit which sounded much more acceptable. Then, Friday afternoon, as I was sitting at home working hard - yes, I was, don't laugh! - I got a text from Michael squeeing over the fact that the original garage had been in touch with him and said that they were working on his car at that moment and that it would be ready to pick up on Saturday morning. I nearly fell over in shock. I think Michael's response was something similar. I'm not entirely sure how it went from 3-4 weeks to under 24 hours, but it was Very Good anyway.
On Saturday morning, we schlepped up to the garage where we hung around in their show room for a while. Very bizarrely they have little tables and chairs dotted around their showroom, so you can spend your time waiting for the oil change for your Corolla while attempting to shimmy past the new Highlander and not scratch it as it towers over you looking not unlike some big blue hulking Godzilla in vehicle form. We decided to hang out by the TV to spend the time watching old cartoons, the end of The Goonies and groaning with exasperation every time the satellite signal gave out which was every other minute. It was so good to have the car back, even though it felt tiny after the rented Accord. It was also really good to be able to give that back and have the rental figure knocked down by over $100 due to the bloke that dealt with us in the first place not having a clue what he was doing. So now we have the car back and there is no more angsting over not being able to go places and do things while I'm here!
MIT
As it was a bit cooler yesterday - and by a bit cooler, I mean the high was just over 30°C instead of closer to 40 - so we thought we'd go out and about and do stuffs. I'd found a couple of leaflets at the car hire place of things to do and found one about the MIT Museum which sounded like a great place for two geeky boys to spend the afternoon. It was way out in Cambridge so we had to take the T so I wasn't really looking forward to that. I've spent too much time sweltering in the Tube in the summer to look forward to riding a bakingly hot subway but to my great surprise and delight, the trains have air conditioning! And even the platforms weren't too bad. The museum was pretty good. I wasn't expecting it to be too big until I read what it had there, and then I expected it to be bigger! It was a shame that some of the displays weren't working but it was still interesting, although possibly a bit samey towards the end. The section on robotics was very cool and the hologram display was fun. I especially liked the bit with the City Car, it looks like a great idea. It made me wish a bit that I was geeky enough and smart enough to go to MIT, it does sound like an amazing university. Actually, it re-awakened my desire to go to university here, but I think that's probably better dealt with in another post.
That's about all the main stuff for this week really. In other news, I am broadening my restaurant horizons! I've now sampled the delights of TGI Fridays which is somewhere I've wanted to go for ages. There's not one near me though, I think the closest one is Manchester, but they're amazingly expensive anyway. I've also been to Applebees. Its menu was pretty decent, especially as I'm a fussy sod, so anywhere with lots of choice for me is going to be favourite. They had an offer of a 3 course meal for upwards of $9.99 which was great; you had specific starters, main courses and puddings to choose from and the total price depended on the main course you picked. There was quite a good selection, if a bit lacking in choices for me. I think Friendly's will still be my favourite but Applebees will be a close second. I definitely want to go back and try other things on their menu though. In still other news, I'm introducing Michael to lots of my favourite films that he's not seen before. Last week it was Young Einstein, this week he got to see The Italian Job. The original version, naturally. I'm glad to say that he enjoyed it and seems to be quite amenable to being introduced to my favourite films. Now, what can I subject him to next week?
There's a couple more hours until Michael comes home, so maybe I will go and play some more Guitar Hero before then. We're off to GenderCrash tonight and I really need to decide if I'm going to read and if so, what! Guitar Hero first though, I think...