Supermarket sweep

My local Stop and Shop is a very interesting place, it contains a million and one things I don't recognise and don't know what to do with them, on the plus side the staff are really friendly, happy and helpful which makes a change from some of the misery's I have encountered over here in retail, forget what you think about service in the US this little bit of CT seems to not want you to shop! any road up I like the staff they are really good (oh another notable exception Big Y Groton) my biggest complaint after "why didn't you give me a job???? I have rarely failed an interview before! I am a broken Women! (actually I think the lady was pretty honest at the time and said the hours I could do wheren't what they wanted, but we had a great chat anyway, she had twins too) is that the shop seems designed to stop you from shopping and Stop and Shop is not alone here and is not the worst by any means, some good mum friendly stuff is the wagons or carts or carriages can't remember the name, my people call them trolly's if that helps?? they have fabby cars on the front which you can tie down and trap your little darling or darlings, or one where they can sit facing the traffic as it were, by the handle and they have enough of these that I have always managed to get one even today at 14.00 on a Saturday...brilliant, I can also normally find them in the car park so transportation into the shop is eased, small males of the twin variety are hard to herd, and from that moment until I reach the door of the store bliss...

then it goes down hill... some of which is my ignorance of brands, words, etc and an inability to communicate in the same language, "your after Oregarknow herb?" it should be Oregano erb!, coriander? cilantro! aubergine-eggplant, -barcarb-baking soda, toilet roll- bathroom tissue, that ones raised some eyebrows I can tell you, at least I can be thankful I didn't ask for Bog Roll!

and then sometimes it becomes really, really confusing, Milky way is a Mars bar and Milky way is 3 musketeers??? Marathon is a snickers! oh no hang on that's my age! Snickers are Snickers, Chips are Fries and Crisps are chips!

one thing is that at Americans pronounce words as they are spelt which make sense its just 38 yr of pronouncing one way is hard to brake.

Oh and hands up UK people, who knew that Tuna comes in white? me neither! and it looks really odd, I like to pride myself on my knowledge of all things tinned and fishy and would regularly expound my theory's on pink and red salmon, farmed and wild, but White Tuna! who'd have thought it? I am having to reevaluated my whole life now.

Okay I am at the door of the shop, carts, trolleys whatever are difficult to navigate at the best of times but one heavily loaded with small boy twin things and about 1/2 mile long, the openy door things opens and I spend half an hour try to get through the EXTREMELY narrow corridor to the next openy door thing, I am shunting, 3 point turning, think Austin Powers in the transporter in Dr Evils lire! that me, not funny! I am forming a queue behind me! fortunately Americans are very polite, well I suppose they don't know who has a gun! and I am sure that I look like I am about to go postal by the time I burst through the second set of doors, it actually like being reborn as you shoot out of that narrow entrance!

As said before I don't understand alot of products, but I am getting better and "thank you globalisation" there are brands I recognise, hurrah!

So I go round the shop, well I say go round, I have to stop every 15 seconds as more that two carts and people browsing means that you are stuck! or if looking yourself, blocking other people! nightmare!

The pricing makes nooooooooooooo sense at all it has a unit price, I don't know what a units is? and sometime it will say on a paper ticket, for instance $1.25 and under price 4/$5! UH! of course it is! but another item will say $1.25 on the paper ticket and then 5/$5! which is a saving, whats going on?

Alcohol! don't even get me started! you can buy beer in a supermarket now, but not on a Sunday! no alcohol anywhere on Sunday it is a religious based law...in a secular country! mad!

Then the Bacon, forget it, gone is my smoked or unsmoked, back, middle its poverty bacon all the way (streaky).

Sausages again forget it, Italian is all on offer, sweet or spicey both yukky, but on a more positive note sausage meat is pretty much sausage meat yum!.

Veg- see previous post.

Then the check outs, forget queue busting...20 lanes 3 open and a mad women with a million coupon in front...oh no hang on that's me! see previous post- although once a checkout was opened and I was first but I think the supervisor saw my going postal look and thought it best to hurry me along.

Again on checking out the birthing process, I actually feel like cattle about to be milked the way they corral you at a funny angle, and the sweets and kiddy stuff on display! well what can you do with 2 children hassling you? that's right you take them off the small person and drop them on the floor! or in the magazine rack anywhere but where they are supposed to be! it makes my blood boil that they do this! I never buy, once in the UK I was in a super market (most in UK don't do this due to consumer pressure) and one of my boys 18 months at time took a bite out of a chocolate bar, wrapper and all, the cashier asked to scan it, I asked him who I should write too, to sue for my son ingesting a wrapper! and did he know what chemicals where in the ink! NO CHARGE!

Then home relief over for another week.

Stuff

what I really wanted when I went home
Indian-got
Chinese -didn't get
Chinese-curry and chips-didn't get
Wagamama's got at airport, lovely nearly missed flight! RAN A LOT!
Nando's (chicken shop) -got
Fish and Chips- got
Saveloy and chips- got
Kebab- got

politness

One thing I can't do is American politness, it is very hard to do when you are used to asking for the toilet... in a home it's the bathroom and in shops ect it's restroom...how can you rest????, I need a wee, or pee if your American why do I need a Bath??

in the UK we talk sanitry towels, in America femine hygine products, UK toilet tissue, US bathroom tissue! whats wrong with bog roll? you will not believe the amount of Americans who have heard that expression and loooove it.

Underware is intimate apparell! or Delicate items!

Although I always snigger that trousers are called Pants..haven't worked out what Pants are called yet???? I think something like underapparell???

American don't sware, seriously, i have a neightbour and she has started swearing cos she has clicked I don't care, I don't swear very often but when I do (actually that said as a British person of my age I don't swear! alot) words that don't count Bloody, crap, shit, wanker, bollocks, slag and thats becouse my Mum didn't think they where swear words seriously, from a young age I could use these words and my mum wasn't worried but the F or S word with or without an Ite' ! forget it beaten bottom and to bed without any supper, but now even the F and the C words are very excepted in the UK and I use both without thinking.. I do wonder when I post this to an American site what will happen??? different values..(I swear very little as a UK person people remark apon it at home, but maybe because I was brought up in an atmoshere where in the right circumstances it was permitable, just a thought!), that said Brit swear alot, and you don't even see it, they are discriptive and poetic, try it you might like it?

What I like

Its very rare I assume, (and never Assume anything cos it makes an ass (out of)U (and) me (old joke) for any of us to think about what we like, so here's my list in no particular order, although the first two are my most important.
Watching, listening to my children, I have learnt a lot from them, what they see that I miss and their own particular takes on the world, such as "I want to go to the Park" "the parks too far" "I have an idea Mummy? we could run"
Laughing, I love it, I read that as we get older we laugh less and less, but I hope I'm not, I noticed that in the UK, we laugh such a lot with complete strangers, unfortunately in the US, I joke and either time delay (although I find that gratifying) or NOTHING, I have been to American Doo's and no Laughing...weird! although when I get started they seem very responsive to the idea or maybe they are laughing at me? who knows...I don't care.
Standing, do you ever do that? just stand and take it in? helps if it is you garden or somewhere amazing, but standing is great.
Skipping along, I have an aunt who asks the question, "when do we stop skipping?, children do it all the time" news for you! I have never stopped skipping (not as in boxers/fitness we are talking skipping down the road) don't do it every day but when happy, I skip.
Spinning round and round or rolling down a hill, rediscovered the joy of this through my children.
Cycling, can't do this due to small children and now they are getting to a age to join in, we have moved to a place with hills... I don't do hills!
Wine- can't beat it, but in moderation...not!
Projects - love um, whether inflicted by others or thought up by myself, I go mental, I should win awards for some of them. current projects; veg gardening, home schooling, sewing a quilt, recycling EVERYTHING, blogging and inventing ways that DH has to get up at the crack of dawn to deal with children, so I can lye in!
Walking- this will throw up some memories for some friends, I love walking and recently I spent 7 weeks in the UK using public transport, which involved walking to bus stops, rail stations and some time I just chose to keep walking... and I loved it. the memories are, I had a car and I used to walk to the supermarket and none of you could understand me! I only used the car when buying heavy items. I once thought my car had been stolen, I went to use it and it wasn't parked in the car park, I worked back and I hadn't used it for 6 wks and it was still parked outside the pub!
Public transport, I mean buses, coaches, and rail NOT TAXIS AND CABS (not that I don't like them but public transport?) I like double Decker's the best cos you can nose into gardens!
Being nosey! nothing better, double Decker's, gossip, local papers, up my street, zillow, you name it, I am being nosey!
Keeping secrets! if you tell me something in secret I will not pass it on, I enjoy the knowing, and nobody else does, this weirdly has upset a few of the people who said "don't tell any one this..."???Uh! (part of the nosy stuff I think)
Beer; see wine.
Running/swimming- haven't done these in a while, if you don't count running after the boys as they run rampage! I love the being in your "own head"
Comedy; mainly British but a few notable exceptions, Scrubs and My Name is Earl, well two!
Radio 4 and 7
Friends- I have and amazing bunch of friends, in such interesting jobs or interests, I even have one who has a wiki entry, very short but he's there (Dick Millington). My friends are without exception insightful, caring, funny, educated and/or intelligent and care about the world and world politics but retain their sense of humour! most times!
Meeting new people.
Funny/useless facts...I lap them up, MISS QI soooo much, thank you, You Tuber who puts them on in high def so promptly whoever you are.
A good sneeze.
A cuddle
A weepie movie/tv program which isn't sickly, I am thinking A Matter of Life and Death or EXTREME HOUSE MAKEOVER!! just kidding about the extreme makeover!!
My Family, they are a really amazing bunch, the last year I have really understood how good and selfless they are, plus they have humour and the girlie's of the family have a great business idea.
Reading, I read anything, backs of cereal packets, rubbish book, I read and enjoy.
so that some of the stuff I like, by know means a exhaustive list but, take a minute to think about what you like and enjoy.

coupons, promotions and free stuff

Here something I love, stuff for nothing, or reduced price, I am a bit of a magpie on such things and I dip into it from time to time, as anyone who disturbed me in my lunch break would find, I love suddenly getting something in the mail I have forgotten I ordered, these things take 4-6 weeks to be delivered.
The main disadvantage is of course these thing start blocking up you e-mail so top tip, get a Yahoo or Google account which you use for free samples and signing up and never look at it! you might think that giving your address to companies will clog up the mail box, but it doesn't seem too, I think the companies rely on e-mail to save money.
It is very female centric as most offers appeal to women and it make me chuckle to think that the new inmate at our old apartment is male and still receiving sanitary and make up freebies.
Make up is brilliant, well lippie, glosses and body washes you get a lot of sample sizes which is great for travel and handbags.
Some great stuff I have found in the US; Upromise, cash back and discounts $50 dollars so far and saved about $450, Example Best Buy- Internet price for plasma TV $50 less than in store price, $40 best buy loyalty credit, Free Portable DVD player, store price $175 (not available free in store with TV) and $30 back on Upromise, and best of all ordered at home for in store pick up which we did, and got it 1 hour later without waiting BRILLIANT!
Even if you don't want or need College credit of (this is what it is set up for) you can donate your savings or request a check to be paid into any account but my feeling is this maybe taxable income so ask an accountant.
Upromise is also for anyone thinking of college education, so not just for children and family and friends can sign up to help you.
Ebates, same principle only straight cash back, sign up for both as the rebates differ between sites, so Upromise Joann Fabric 6% back, Target 2%, Ebates Joann Fabric 5% back, Target 3%.
Research before buying, no point in buying from best buy at say 2% back if radioshack is cheaper without rebate!
Coupons- proper coupon hunters will change brand willy nilly to secure the best price, which I do on certain items, but I do have some brand loyalty, such as ONLY Hellmann's Mayo, so I wouldn't brand swap, on the other stuff I don't care about such as tomato ketchup, I will only use the coupon, if it make the branded item cheaper, but another cool thing here is that supermarkets do coupon doubling, so say in Stop and Shop (my local) I have a coupon for 75c they will make it a discount of $1.50, up to 99c, so a coupon for $1 is actually $1.99 (I think having read their policy?, not actually check my till receipts cos I only found that out today, all I know is recently a cashier said "wow! that's one hell of a saving on those coupons you have there") they will not give you the product for free so say the coupon is 75c but the product is $1.30 they will not double you may pay a nominal charge.
Best time in life for hunting, early 20's all that make up, pregnancy and babies,menopause but only if you want tenalady and multivits!
happy hunting

Other things to worry about...

A couple of years ago my husband had to go on a business trip to Switzerland and he phoned me to confirm the dates, I said "No way, you will be away on my works Christmas do", so he changed it, arriving back at Heathrow at 4pm (ish) on the day of the do. I wasn't happy, "What if your flight is delayed?" (we have 2 children so babysitting was needed), "Oh don't be ridiculous, the fight isn't that long and it's scheduled BA"... tornado in London, flight delayed, didn't get to Christmas do.

Now interestingly, Britain has more tornadoes per square mile than the US, but like most British stuff compared to American, eg; teenagers, chicken, steak, cars, portion sizes, the British equivalents are pretty puny in comparison (and the US is consirably larger with huge tracts that never see tornadoes).

Now I worry about tornadoes and hurricanes, apparently not unusual in this neck of the woods, but normally not as bad as some areas of the USA, thankfully. I read an article this week that said 57% (I think it said 57%, I can't be bothered to run upstairs to check my facts) of Americans haven't got an adequate supply of water in their disaster kits... which means that most Americans have a kit, all be it inadequate, I don't even own a band aid! help! Actually, on further checking, I have 3 band aids of the Scooby Doo variety, 2 are stuck together, phew I thought I was in trouble then!
I also live near a nuclear power station, so I should have my iodine tablets... should... you see my problem. It's not something I remember, not top of the shopping list, eggs, sugar, iodine tabs... escapes me completely.


Guns here's a biggy. Now a little known fact to a lot of Americans, we Brits can hold rifles, and a licence is not difficult. I have been shooting and enjoyed it, and have many friends who have weapons at home, the difference and the big difference is that they have to be stored in secure cupboards with internal cages so the cupboard can't be broken into easily. Also, rounds are not allowed to be kept with the guns. This was brought home to me early on in the US; I joined a group of lovely mums; mainly wives of Navy personnel, and we had a play date. All the children were in a back bedroom playing, whilst the mums where in the front room. Suddenly there was an almighty bang (as someone who has heard gun fire at a distance, I know that the sound is a sort of a crack rather than bang) we all rushed through and a chest of draws had fallen over and injured the hosts son; relief all round that he wasn't badly injured. Big chest with TV on top and small child. Later on, when we where laughing with relief, the host said "I was so worried one of the kids had got the gun out of my bedside table". UH! I noticed I wasn't the only one to make a swift exit soon after that remark, what worried me was she had a gun but clearly not fired one, because you can't mistake that sound once you have heard it. It wasn't locked away with small children in the house and for me it had never occurred to me that guns would be unsecured!



I have since found out from a neighbour it is acceptable to ask in a unfamiliar house if the owner keeps a gun and if it is secure!


I quote, guns don't kill people, people kill people... well, I find people with guns are more effective at killing people than say a watermelon or knife!


I was reminded of these 2 when the removal men unpacked our school desk, one reminised about his childhood then started telling me of his fears for his youngest children who are at high school. He asked me if such things as Columbine happen in the UK, and I said yes and told him about Dunblane and remembered the year 1996, you're not about to forget that... he said yes you are, we have so many multiple shootings that you do forget, not just the year but the incident.


Dunblaneen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre verses St Luke's PrimarySchool, Wolverhampton en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Potts and a big thank you to the teachers who saved lives.

Mineral

Not a lot to write about here, just to moan about the amount of stone in the lawn and garden but that is understandable when you see their big brother!

Animal!

I am a bit of a country girl at heart, well fully, and have prided myself on my knowledge of the countryside. Some little known facts, even to some of my closest friends, are:

I have stock judged

I have shown cattle at the Kent County Show; involves months of planning and practise with your cow... seriously, its hard work, you and the cow have to learn how to stand and walk, I came 5th and highly commended, in case your interested. The cow came last!

I was on a Staffordshire team which came 5th in the National Finals of the Same-Lamborghini Agricultural Quiz.

I was a Young Farmer for 8 years in 4 different Counties (like 4H only you're older and drunk)

I have killed a rabbit with myxomatosis (eyes closed; mine, the rabbit was already blind!)

I attended Hunt Balls, despite the fact I hate fox hunting, but in my defence alcohol was in the offing and serious that's hard to turn down, I am but flesh and blood.

I was guest for 5 weeks of the Kenyan Agriculture Ministry and had an official dinner with President Moi... okay not a nice man but when will I ever meet a President again, let alone eat with one.

I have dipped sheep, milked cows and eaten goat, mutton and a cow I had previously been acquainted with.

I have been pooed on, wee'ed on and stamped on by the best of British and Kenyan Animals and I thought I was hard...

It seems to me that moving to a place with a disease named after it probably wasn't the best move however Lyme's disease seems like a walk in the park compared to the Brown Recluse Spider! I don't even know what one looks like, oh I've googled them, they cannot survive the winter here and only a few cases of bites in CT due to shipment!! what are they posting themselves? only the Northern Black Widow to worry about then? phew! there's a relief!

Termites and wasps will eat your house... notice, I am still in the insect world!

Connecticut has apparently 14 snakes and I have seen one of them already, 38 yrs in the UK never saw a snake in the wild... but again don't worry, only 2 are poisonous, the Timber Rattle Snake and the Copperhead, and a useful web site ct.gov states they only bite if you annoy them! cue Craig Ferguson joke, only that was wasps (and stinging) !

Moving up you have your chipmunk, which eat your house, Bobcat reclusive and dying out and Possums, which strictly speaking are not dangerous but try telling my husband that after he trod on one in the dark and screamed like a girl after it lifted him off the ground... (they can be quite big, or that's his excuse)

Skunks... I have been Skunked when the car in front of me nearly hit one and it sprayed as I passed YUK! and I now understand Pepe La Pew, as it looked and moved like a Cat from a distance, smell told me otherwise!

You have your Coyote, and I saw one in my first week here when up at dawn with jet lag.

Then you have your Moose and Deer with suicidal tendencies, they like to throw themselves in front of cars, which can lead to fatality of the driver and themselves, I assume.

Finally the Black Bear which, apparently, rarely attacks!

Oh and rabies, just in case I wasn't scared enough!

So, on that note I am looking into buying a concrete house, a Hummer, wellington boots, tight trousers (pants, why do I grin when I write that?) and not accepting mail from areas where the Brown Recluse lives... not that blooming reclusive obviously!

Vegetable!

A strange place to start maybe, but it is a subject close to my heart, so here I go, I am a lover of my veggies and will eat all varieties offered with the exception of the broad bean and that is cos I am too lazy to peel the hard shell off, otherwise these are good too.

I had visited America several times before moving here, and assumed the reason I dreamed of veg half way through the second week was due to having the whole American experience and ordering every fat laden item on the menu, but having been here 6 months I have had to face the problem head on and admit that it is probably the high price and lack of variety that is more to blame... Although I have to say the corn on the cob has been the best I have ever eaten and the Apples ummm! the apples are fantastic and I can't wait for the next harvest.

so some of my musings on this subject;

On a menu "seasonal veg" means Broccoli...nothing else, don't get excited, it is always broccoli, this is a fact and I have done extensive testing on this subject without any fear for my own safety or waistline.

Carrots, come in 2 forms, carrot shaped and some sort of FBI witness protection program shape unrecognisable as a carrot except in color!

corn on the cob in a resturant, ask for it without all the rubbish on it, don't be fooled, this is an attempt by veg haters to make it inedible and as stated before, they are lush.

eggplant does not belong on a pizza.

Is it state law that no more than 1 vegatable is allowed on a Pizza? and if more than 1 they must be the most improbable mixing thereby making it yukky, I quote from a random menu selected by me from the menu draw...(I love this country there are so many places to eat the menus need their own draw) "vegetable pizza, onions, pepper, mushroom, olives (so far so good, but wait for it) broccoli !!! and tomatoes...

Broccoli AND eggplant DO NOT belong on a pizza!!

Roast onions and pepper do not exsist on a pizza in this state, you have to have so much of the fresh stuff that it becomes a soggy, slimy mess.

actually this is becoming a little pizza related...

You can't buy runner beans only squeeky ones...don't remember the name, they taste lovely don't get me wrong, I am not one of those squeeky bean haters, its just that they are not runner beans, I did some extensive research on this subject, well googled it, thinking it was possibly a native of Europe or something, but no shock horror! it is a native American plant, and not only that, native to New England!! where I currently reside, much prized food of the Native Americans and rejected by the early settlers in order to cut their numbers, prefering to starve to death! this was also much researched... well a Bill Bryson book on America.

It is illegal to sell prepared potato without fat being added.

Savoy cabbage must be kept until it is a little bit withered and soft before it can be displayed in a shop (of course that could just be my local supermarket)

So what to do? I could go home and be surrounded by all my lovely farm shops again which obviously I don't want to do, after all its only veg and I do like broccoli within reason, or grow my own! genius! I have absolutely no experience of gardening prefering the slash and burn and cover it in grass method, however I have a large plot which the previous owner kindly put over a small part to gardening and some lovely top soil by the looks of it, don't ask me how I know this, cos I don't really, I am an optimist.

so $100 later I await my seeds and even managed to track down the elusive runner bean, helpfully located in the flower section of my Johnny's seed catalog!!!!!!