To Change or Not to Change... (That is the difference)

Getting back to the Sheraton after a short time at home, I learned that my couch had been upgraded to a new couch! This seriously felt like my lucky day!

The next day at work I was relaying this enthusiasm to my favorite British coworker. (Or "favourite") He had a different perspective (something along the lines of) "well, it's not Your couch anymore. What if you liked that couch. Change isn't always good" ugh, how very British! I explained once again that I got a Brand. New. Couch. For free!

But that made me think... Maybe there is something to the British anti-change culture. This tradition and change-adverse attitude is potentially the reason England has so much culture. (And because the country is umm so much older than the us?) this is why we will see the traditional red phone booths here - we would have torn them out long ago! What do we lose with out "out with the old and in with the new attitude?"

Why constantly change if what we have is good? Maybe my coworker needs to go talk to the people who wait all night (or 3 days) in line at the apple store for the next iPhone - which is basically the same as their old one. Just food for thought.

In conclusion: If anyone from the Sheraton is reading this? Thank you so so so much for me new couch! And please don't take it away! You have one happy American on your hands!

Food British People Eat

British people eat some weird things. Maybe they are normal if you grew up in the UK, but they sure are strange to me (feel free to argue if you disagree - but I will most likely just think you eat weird things too).

Due to the popularity of my "take pictures of actual civilians on the subway" post (further showing that you all are just as creepy as I am), I decided to sacrifice my pride once again and take pictures in the local M&S Grocery store. People did look at me strangely, but it is all in the name of learning... right?

(1) Anything with Rhubarb. If you are like me, you might have heard of rhubarb but never actually had it. You can't avoid it here. They have it in deserts and jams and everything that you wouldn't want a vegetable in.

(2) Pig obsession. I believe that the Brits have a pig obsession. Exhibit A (below) shows a whole row of "Percy the Pig" gummy candies. They advertise that they are made with pig gelatin (ew) and you can't get any other gummies except these pig ones. They also have a kid's TV show called Peppa the Pig. If they found out that the beef was filled with pig meat instead of horse meat - I don't think the whole "scandal" would have been a big deal.

(3) Gooseberry and Elderflower. I have seen both of these names places. I don't know what a gooseberry is or if I've ever had it. But I guess it is luxurious?

(4) Hot Cross Buns. THEY DO EXIST! And all these years I thought it was just a song we played on the recorder growing up. They actually have them here and they actually have a cross on them.

(5) Rocket. Or actually Arugula, for those of us speaking modern English. I can hardly go to a restaurant with out there being a Rocket option. "Rocket and cheese", "Rocket and olive oil", etc. I did not order it for awhile because who knew what rocket was!? Try googling rocket and you will find something more space related than food related.

Sigh. Sometimes I dream in Queso and Whataburger ketchup....

Don't Mess with Texas

How is it that so many Europeans know that saying? Clearly the best anti-littering campaign gone viral. Maybe it stands for much more now?

There are just some things in Texas that you don't see other places (London). I may not have always thought about them before but they saying going away and coming home brings a new perspective. (Besides its time that I poke alittle fun at my own state since I've poked alittle fun at the uk)

- Land. Lots and lots of flat land.
- Highway's signs advertising tractor rentals
- Fat people
- Signs written in Spanish only
- Sunshine
- Bud light
- Salsa, I mean, real salsa
- Queso... not just a block of cheese
- Trailer hitch
- 18 wheelers
- Strangers talking to each other on the bus
- Massive trucks
- College stickers on cars
- Bar-b-que pit restaurants on the highway
- Highways in general
- People getting married before 25
- People getting married before 30
- People actually getting married (just kidding. Kinda)
- Texas flags on every tenth building
- McDonalds the size of Westminster Abbey
- Real tortillas in the grocery store (if they aren't hand made in front of you, they aren't real)
- Chick fil a
- Gas stations (where do the taxis fill up in London?)
- Lunch for $5

London Math

London math blows my mind. I am an accountant and yet I think I appear to be missing basic math skills. (See the elevator floors post)

I am going to hit daylight savings time in the US (march 10) and lose an hour. then hit daylight savings time in the UK (march 31) and lose an hour. Hypothetically, if I am not in the states for the fall daylight savings time (nov 3) and ONLY hit the one in the UK (oct 27)... Where does that extra hour go!? Do I lose an hour on my year?

I decided to take a poll from my coworkers (They were also the only ones online early in the morning)

Nathan	i think you're overthinking this
◄	don't overthink it

◄

it's just rounding

Andre
◄	oh, 21st century problems
◄	that is actually.... interesting to think about
◄	you do lose an hour in the year don't you?
◄	glitch in the matrix

Andy
◄	time change between TX and London is what
◄	6 or 7 hours?
◄	7?
◄	okay 7
◄	you go back October 29th say
◄	whats the time change then
◄	fall back
◄	so one additional hour
◄	you make my head hurt

The real answer is provided by Joerg. Pretty much I have come to realize that if there is any issue/question, he is probably the most knowledgeable person to go to (and on top of that, has this insane ability to tone it down to my level of understanding capabilities).

Short answer: You "make up the time" in flight.
Correct answer: You never "lose time" since it is a manmade concept and the only thing that actually changes is the time set on your clock (or the time that your iPhone states)

Any conversation with Joerg requires pen and paper. Below are my notes that demonstrate how my flight travel is actually where the hour is altered back and I don't end up with a year that is short an hour.

You will also note that there are other lessons on this paper. I am going to summarize them now because they are simply fascinating concepts - I will elaborate on them at a later date when it is appropriate to have another mega-long-blogpost-science lesson. (Don't say you didn't learn anything from reading my blog!)

• Time zones only started because of of the Train's timetables
• Every city used to have it's own time. All of them varied by seconds to hours from Washington DC time
• In 1884 there was an International Meridian Conference
• All countries were on board in 1956
• Leap seconds - We actually have leap seconds! Common people just don't know. turns out the world is slowing down and we have to have leap seconds to make up for it. This might not affect your everyday life, but for tons of scientists out there? its pretty difficult to coordinate.

Moral of the story: I will not lose an hour off my year.

"If you don't learn something new every day it wasn't worth living." - My grandfather.
Happy learning.

"We open when we get around to it"

My laundry and dry cleaning needed to be picked up today. The cleaners are a cute little mom and pop shop - as many of the restaurants and shops are in mu are. so cute indact that they are only open from 8:30am-6:00pm (see picture below).

That's great of course if you are one of the typical people in Mayfair who is either a "stay at home trophy wife" or "can just have your maid go pick it up". I don't fall into either category.

At 8:50am I am still waiting outside the shop. I am not going to be 30ish minutes late to work since I have to drop the clothes off (I can't leave them in the tube the way I could in a car!) and then fight tube traffic. (And by fight I mean literally throwing bows). I understand that things come up and people are late. But it was late to open two weeks ago for me and last week for a coworker. And dropping off Saturday to Saturday is not an option for the small amount of clothes I brought!

This is one of the many examples of the casual "we open when we want" attitude that I've seen all over the uk (and eu)