Neoprene, Jim, but not as we know it
Posted by Anya in Activities, Uncategorized on April 18, 2010
In my last post I didn’t really explain much about Discovery Cove – it’s a man made oasis of a park with various different beaches and saltwater lakes – one with dolphins, another with Rays, and others for just relaxing. It is beautifully done. They also have a massive aviary you can swim through to see many hundred exotic birds including peacocks and brightly coloured parrots. The aviary could be seen as part of a meandering river that you float through on squashy inflatables, through waterfalls and past lush tropical undergrowth.
It really was stunning and relaxing but after the dolphin interaction, the most impressive element to me was the wetsuits. Now I’ve always been a bit of a water baby and have considerable experience with these things, not least of all as I’m a MAJOR blouse when it comes to cold water. I have worn my fingers out pulling them on and even spent a whole day in Swanage in my suit as it took so long to get on the first time. I’ve tried on many, many suits in my time so I thought that qualified me as pretty knowledgeable. Thanks to this not inconsiderable neoprene-based experience I also believed that, if you are any larger than *ahem* sturdily athletic, you have to get a custom suit made. Or so I thought until Orlando.
Our weekend in Orlando coincided with an unusual cold snap for Florida. That wasn’t too much of a problem once you are in many of the pools as they are heated to bath temperature, but the Dolphin pool was approx 20 degrees and of course the air temperature was pretty nippy to say the least. So on arrival my heart sank to see the wetsuits. After I’d trudged off pessimistically to the changing rooms I was surprised that the one I had slipped right on. OK it was a tiny but big but nothing too bad. Good start.
But the really amazing thing was that they had wesuits that were sized from “stick insect” through “sturdily athletic” right up to “OMG he’s beached, let’s push him back in”. Actually there were a few of the latter being used while we were there. Now I’m not REALLY surprised because this sort of resort has to cater for the clientele they are likely to get. What I can’t understand is HOW ON EARTH do you design an all in one for these sorts of extreme body shape? I have absolutely no idea but kudos to whoever does.
Like aubergines actually
Posted by Anya in Activities on April 18, 2010
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to join the chap in Orlando, Florida for a couple of days. Now I must admit that this wouldn’t be my first choice of destination but we had his work to thank for a conference he was attending there. In any case, determined to get into the spirit of things, we went to one of the parks there – Discovery Cove . I have to admit that despite myself I really enjoyed it (no we didn’t meet Mickey). A particular highlight was swimming with dolphins – of course it was a carefully stage-managed interaction but none the less moving for all that. I’ve seen dolphins quite close several times while diving but I just loved the opportunity to stroke and swim with them. I loved that they are so curious and independent minded (the dolphin we were interacting with swam off for a bit to go and investigate some other people before coming back to us). They have big brains so really are amazingly intelligent – well, they lark around and play all day so they are definitely more intelligent than we are…
The real surprise is how they feel to the touch. They feel exactly like aubergines – smooth but firm to the touch.
Tiling away the hours
Posted by Anya in House Renovation on April 18, 2010
I’m so ashamed. I’ve just realised that it has been AAAGES since I last posted. The last few weeks have been great but pretty crazy between a visit to the UK, some US travel, visitors from the UK, interviews and of course, the house. It’s been time consuming but I’m insanely excited about how it is coming together. It has been only 3 months since the building first started and it is really taking shape. I absolutely can’t wait to move back in.
I can’t believe how naive I was at the outset. I had no idea how many decisions need to be made every day. For example I have achieved my current ripe old age without giving door hinges a moment’s thought but all of a sudden I have to choose some. Ok so that wasn’t exactly the hardest decision – just where do you start?
The most time consuming decision so far has been the tiling (or as the locals strangely say for both singular and plural – ’tile’). I’ve schlepped around tile shops for hours – and have brought various samples back for consideration. Here’s what the apartment living room floor looked like for quite a while. I’m also ashamed to say I was dreaming about tiling for a while (I know, I know I need to get out more).
Which to choose?
I did finally come up with a plan for the bathrooms (pictures will be shared asap) and I’m really excited by how the whole house is coming together – I absolutely can’t wait to move back in. Have a look here to see what the place is looking like now. I’ve uploaded some new pics.
Public Radio’s week long donation drives
Posted by Anya in Stuff that's different and weird on February 14, 2010
I’ve said before that I like the choice and variety of US music radio stations, however I have been increasingly listening to National Public Radio (the closest we have here to Radio 4). It is on in my car much of the time and I play it at home. (Talk radio is no good for a radio alarm though – that’s set to loud rock). In any case it really is a source of interesting and thought provoking content. Its business model is unusual – it describes itself as “a privately supported, not-for-profit membership organization”. That essentially means that it is funded by donations.
Actually I couldn’t care less how it is funded MOST of the time but one week every quarter they run fundraising drives which are INCREDIBLY annoying. During that week all that great programming is greatly reduced and replaced with the DJs and reporters asking for money. For a whole week!
All those experienced radio reporters are reduced to talking about how fantastic the content is and drumming up more donations – so after every piece there’s a section along the lines of:
DJ 1: “Well I had no idea that there were so many things you could do with paper doilies/ people’s bogies/ old copies of Newsweek….that highly informative interview has completely changed my life.”
DJ 2 “Yes it is only on NPR that you get that depth of reporting into these valuable subjects. Now everyone can have friends as they have something interesting to talk about. Please give us more money or we’ll all be out of jobs.”
About as subtle as a poke in the eye and more annoying.
Now they talk about a combined audience of 26.4 million listeners across all the NPR stations. That’s a lot by my count – and many of them broken down into some useful niches. So how about a bit of advertising to reduce the pain each time around? Please?
I bet you are wondering – did I donate? Not during the fundraising drive but I like what they do so I’ll give them some cash another time. I’ll just hope they get on the advertising bandwagon pronto.
The house project
Posted by Anya in Activities on February 11, 2010
We’re having work done on the house! It is going to be fabulous but right now it is really rather disruptive – we realised that staying put was not an option so we’re watching the progress from a flat up the road.
We’re going to end up with some good sized rooms and two bathrooms that you could swing a cat in (sooo exciting). I’ve been asked a few times for info, so I’ve just added a page above with pictures – under House Renovation. What do you think?
The house is currently in pieces and the whole project is looking quite daunting. I don’t like seeing the place in such disarray. It seems like there’s a long way to go before it is a home again. That said, the builders are working fast in between snow storms so we’ll hopefully be back in before we know it.
The Amazing Calistoga geyser….NOT
Posted by Anya in Activities, Stuff that's different and weird on February 9, 2010
My current favourite tourist attraction in the Napa Valley is Calistoga’s “Old Faithful” geyser, which features for miles around on giant roadside hoardings where it is billed as being “AMAZING”.
It isn’t amazing of course and it isn’t even particularly faithful anymore, going off multiple unscheduled times an hour. I do think it is cool that superheated water gets shot out of the Earth on a regular basis – but I’ve seen the Yellowstone Old Faithful (which actually IS amazing) and this really doesn’t compete. What I like about it that it is in total denial. It just hasn’t come to terms with the fact that it is a faded attraction – a bit like many dying British seaside resorts, they keep going because no one told them not to bother anymore. The Calistoga geyser used to be Something once upon a time during the late 1800s when it was discovered. People used the volcanic mud as a cure for all manner of ailments and came from far and wide to the area. Since then it has become a bit of an also ran – and locals drilling geo-thermal boreholes for their heating systems seem to have knocked it off kilter a bit.
Richard and Anya being AMAZED
What makes this place really special for me is that inexplicably, in the next field to the geyser there are a selection of llamas, four horned sheep, and my personal favourite, Tennessee fainting goats. The latter are afflicted with an unfortunate genetic mutation that makes them stiffen up and fall over if they are alarmed in any way. They were used in Tennessee to prevent sheep from getting eaten by coyotes until they were almost extinct (funny that). In any case there were several of them in a pen. Disappointingly they were all lying down and not getting scared and falling over at all. Sadly I’ve had to rely on youtube to see them in action. It is completely hilarious though. You know you want to have a look. Go on.
Return to Napa
Posted by Anya in Activities on February 9, 2010
Last weekend we made it back to California to visit the bikes which have been languishing in storage in Oakland since we rescued them from Denver some time before Christmas. Actually we were thrilled to find that they were still there as Oakland isn’t the most salubrious place…
Arriving Friday evening we had time for a very tasty dinner before falling into bed back at the hotel – which was a very pleasant if wildly over decorated affair – with more marble clad elements in the lobby than is normally seen outside the Las Vegas strip.
After near Olympic levels of Saturday morning kerfuffling we picked up the bikes and headed North towards Napa – actually an easy enough trip of about an hour. California is one of the few states that allow motorbikes to filter in between traffic and we made good time while many cars and trucks were held up by the aftermath of an inevitable prang or two. Actually most of the drivers couldn’t have been more helpful , moving out of the way as we picked our way through the traffic.
I’ll admit that taking a motorbike to a wine region doesn’t sound like the most sensible option. You’ll be pleased to hear that we chose scenery over tasting as bikes really are the most wonderful way to experience a place using all your senses. We did wash down a rather good deli picnic lunch with a glass of cheeky red however.
Enjoying a cheeky red
Napa in January is stunning in a different way to the warmer months. The vines are dormant – with row after row of stumpy twisted trunks visible as opposed to the usual abundance of vines and grapes (they look like those mandrake root creatures in Harry Potter in fact) but the rolling scenery is breathtaking and the soft colours are no less beautiful than the usual verdant green. I particularly enjoyed our early Sunday morning ride up the Silverado Trail past mile after mile of vineyards where the morning mist was still just hugging the ground. I could have lingered for hours and would love to have stopped for pictures but time constraints and the fact that it was bloody freezing pushed us on.
Biscuits and gravy – but not as you know them
Posted by Anya in Crimes against food, Stuff that's different and weird on February 4, 2010
This doesn’t sound like the tastiest option on a breakfast menu and I can assure you that it isn’t. Also, to make matters worse it doesn’t appear to consist of either biscuits OR gravy as you might know them. The biscuit is effectively a raisin-less scone and the gravy is a beige opaque slime that I think is be based on some sort of béchamel. Sometimes it has chunks in it which may or may not be some sort of sausage meat. Separately bad and together truly awful. It doesn’t even look like something you’d want to put in your mouth.
The lost art of the handshake
Posted by Anya in Stuff that's different and weird on January 22, 2010
Every day I seem to find new examples of how very different the Brits and the yanks are. There’s one area where they are sadly very much the same – the handshake. I checked on Google. There are 2, 690,000 results on “how to: handshake” and yet both nations continue make a complete Horlicks of it. Maybe it is the confusing instructions relating to “pumping to convey sincerity” that confused matters…
Most likely you’ll be offered a limp, damp thing that is jiggled loosely next to yours. This is generally a pretty pointless experience. Then there are those who have heard that a “firm” handshake is important. They apparently interpret this as a grip strength exercise and literally squeeze your proffered extremity until the bones creak.
I wear a largish ring on my right hand – the hand that was recently subjected to the latter indignity. A sharp pain accompanied the alleged shake which left an indentation of the ring in the two neighbouring fingers. That’s not a handshake – that’s an assault. I imagine that this is some sort of Napoleon complex style over-compensation – the giver of the handshake was definitely the sort that has sand kicked in his face.
Both nations should look to the Germans who seem to have the hang of it. In the meantime I think I’ve got two options: – 1) wear a sling at all times or 2) go for the preemptive strike and crush to save my own metatarsals.
Baby, it’s cold outside
Posted by Anya in Uncategorized on January 5, 2010
We’ve recently had rather a lot of weather. Snow to be precise.
The Car
Snow isn’t usually a big deal here not least of all because they’ve got the hang of it so usually fairy diggers come to scrape the roads off before you need to go anywhere. Of course people do drive EVEN worse than usual in the snow (clue: when your wheels are spinning, ease OFF the accelerator) but you just give them a really wide berth. So the other day when woke up to all the snow, I didn’t think it would cause much of a problem. Wrong.
What I’d always thought of as a mostly flat driveway might as well have been Everest with snow on it. Particularly when that snow has been compacted by several tons of German engineering (Vorsprung durch Gewicht). The thing is, you don’t get any traction when the car’s size zero weight is distributed over massive tyres. And the rear wheel drive doesn’t make it any easier. Ok it isn’t a secret that this isn’t a winter car but I only needed to move it 10 metres onto a cleared road where it would have been fine. After much digging and even resorting to chemical heat I gave up and spent the next 2 days as a pedestrian.
During those two days I realised that what I really needed was snow chains – but that’s crazy if you only need them for your own drive …..which is when I realised the true genius of US school busses.
When you look at the back of a school bus – for instance when you are trapped behind them for ages as they crawl along, not allowing overtaking, as they drop each chubby child off at his or her own letterbox – you see all these dangling chains underneath. I always thought they were for strapping useful things to the bottom of the bus; such as tools, spare wheels, unruly children etc. It turns out that these are brilliant automatic snow chains. When they are needed they are sort of dangled in front of the wheels to provide traction and then they just hang out of the way when it isn’t needed. I think we need those on the Lotus. Metal chains would be too heavy – so maybe cute little carbon fibre ones. Am I on to something?