iScotland

Airport Security

2008-07-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

Unless you have never been to airport, you probably have seen a sign like the one above. If you are a regular traveller you don't really think much of it anymore, you just know that if you want a drink you will by it after security and it's for every ones safety/ security that some things are not allowed to be carried on a plane.

The amount of products in 'travel size' (i.e. under 100ml) is amazing and the profit margin must be through the roof as they dont cost much less than the full size versions. I don't have problem with the 100ml rule if it makes air travel safer as you need larger volumes of liquid to make a bomb or whatever was the plan with the liquids/ gels over 100ml.

But what really started the whole need for this rant is some of the other things they sell past security in airports - like razor blades! Correct me if I am wrong, but a razor blade is a razor blade whether its before or after security (I highly doubt it was dulled down for security reasons).

Where did everything go wrong?

Europe Trip '08

2008-07-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

I know I technically live in the EU, but Jess and I just got back from our trip to the 'continent' as the Brits say. All said and done we had a great time visiting Spain, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. You can read all about our time and places visited on Jess's blog and see all the pictures we have posted on smugmug, but I just wanted give you a few of my thoughts while I look back over the trip.

First off, when traveling around Europe in the summer, air conditioning is a non-negotiable for wherever you are staying (hotel, hostel, car....). Jess and I stayed in 2 'budget' hotels (excluding the car) when we were traveling. Both had pro's and con's as you would expect, but the lack of air conditioning was the worst part. When its hot outside, but hotter in your hotel room try getting a good night sleep - its not going to happen! I say this as a person who does not have air conditioning at home (in Scotland) , but if its hot inside I open the windows and the problem is solved. All of the old building around Europe are great, but central AC would make them amazing. Next time I stay at a budget hotel I am going to make sure it has AC, even if its just a small window unit.

Secondly, continuing on the topic of accommodation, there is no need to always stay in a hotel or hostel - try renting/ sleeping in a car! I don't know exactly how Jess and I came up with this idea, maybe the idea of an adventure and saving money, but it achieved both! Driving around Germany trying to figure out where we were going to sleep that night was hilarious. Even though we stayed at camp sites (more like mobile home parks than big sur), we could have just as easily stayed at a rest stop along the autobahn as most are super clean, open 24 hours a day with showers, Internet, food, etc. I actually would recommend the rest stops over the camp sites because it doesn't matter when you come and go and they have everything you could want - I guess this is something to look forward to next time we are there.

Third and final point for today, pack light (and in a backpack)! The main to reasons I can think of for this is related to money and general ease of getting around. In regards to money, airlines are getting more strict on weight, especially the budget carriers in Europe - some of which even weigh your hand baggage (if the total weight of your checked and carry-on luggage is over then expect a massive charge). Even though a backpack may not sound appealing, it really makes things easy as you don't have to worry about many things you encounter travelling in Europe like flights of stairs or crowds of people which can be difficult with a suitcase.

All said and done, I can't wait until our next trip whether that's around Scotland, back to Europe, or somewhere new!

Highland Adventure

2008-04-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

I am sure many of you were wondering why I hadn't posted anything in a while... well I was on a 6 month sabbatical from blogging. Those first three months were tough, so I needed some time off to ponder everything that is life in Scotland. Now that we are heading out of winter, the sun is up for more than 5 hours a day and it hasn't been raining everyday. Jess and I pretty much just hang out in Edinburgh, but we decided we needed to explore Scotland more. Before yesterday, the only places I had really been in Scotland (outside of Edinburgh) were Glasgow, lived there for 2 weeks, and Aberdeen, which I have taken a few trip to due to work. All travel between these cities has been via rail.

Yesterday (4 Apr 08), Jess and I went on a day trip to the highlands with one of the local tour bus companies (Rabbie's Loch Ness, Glencoe, and the Highlands tour). Although there were some slow points, which is expected when driving 350 miles in one day, it was great fun. All the pictures have been posted on smugmug, but I thought I would share my experience with 'Hamish the highland cow'

I was enjoying an apple near Hamish and he started to get very excited and kept reaching his head out toward me. Then Jess remembered hearing someone say he liked apples, so I thought I would share mine (Jess was going to but she was scared she might lose her hand - I think she just didn't want to share her apple!).

Hamish happily took the apple slice, but left me a little something as well (see hand below, which is also proof that I didn't lose it in Hamish's mouth);

After this we saw other people feeding him apples, but they just gave him the whole apple, which I am sure he appreciated more, but they weren't left with the parting gift that I was!

Christmas in October!

2007-10-24T03:14:00.000-07:00

After almost 3 months our stuff we shipped from Pasadena has finally arrived! I have to say that I was a little worried given what the stuff was picked up in (see pics below), for all I know that van could have been heading straight to Mexico with our stuff, but then again everything was insured so I didn't really care!

It is funny to think about branding, 'Beverly Hills Transfer and Storage' was the local agent that boxed and shipped our stuff out of Los Angeles and all I have to say is that if anyone in Beverly Hills saw that van pull up at their mansion they would not have let them in the gate. If anything didnt survive the trip, don't worry, you'll be the first to know.

Hot or Cold

2007-10-20T03:40:00.000-07:00

This is the sink in our bathroom in our flat. It looks like a normal facet, even by American standards, but looks can be very deceiving. Here in the UK, plumbing standards as a whole are not quite what we have come to enjoy in the states (this might be because the cities and water systems are so old). For example, showers have an electronic pumping system to maintain water flow (are the systems not already pressurized in the delivery?) and sinks normally have hot and cold water in completely different facets (no mixing like in the states). I think the reason for the separate hot and cold is because it was normal UK culture to just plug a sink and use the water that has/ is accumulating in the basin (like a bath tub). This procedure is fine if you want to soak dishes or hand wash clothing, but wastes water and takes too much time for simple hand washing so most people do not do this anymore. So my question is this, if culture has changed and plumbing fixtures have been updated (to American standards), why does my modern (~5 years old) sink not mix hot and cold water!

Carbon Neutral

2007-10-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest things that you begin to notice when living in the UK, is that they actually care about the environment and making a difference. There are some good projects/ initiatives in the US, but it is not as pervasive to all aspects of life.

For example, some grocery stores charge for plastic bags and since most people walk to and from stores, even if they don’t charge, it’s common for people to bring their own bags with them to the stores (Jess and I always bring an large Ikea shopping bag and try to reuse a few normal plastic bags).

Also, most people either walk or take the bus to get around. This is encouraged since gas, parking, and in general operating a car is not only more expensive here. You would expect gas and parking to carry natural taxes to improve road conditions, etc but they also impose taxes on individual cars based on the emissions. It’s hard to explain, but basically you are taxed higher if you have a higher polluting car (I think only electric cars, like smart cards, could be tax free in this regard).

Lastly, as I work for a big corporation, the first thing I noticed was that my work just became 'carbon neutral,' which is a big deal. One way or another it takes a lot of time, effort, and money to do so. Basically the concept is that your net impact on the environment is zero. Obviously just by conducting business you have an impact on fossil fuels, trees, etc. so they start by using 100% recycled paper, encouraging people to travel on trains (vs. flying as flights impact on the environment by approximately 0.2 tonnes of CO2 per 1,000 miles). Then at the end of the day, they have to buy offsets (normally through environmental projects, such as planting trees) to become carbon neutral.

Food for thought.

A/V Connections

2007-09-29T05:17:00.001-07:00

In connection with getting the TV up and going, I was checking out the connections. We have a standard TV in our flat, a dvd player, and a Sky digital satellite box. All these devices are hooked up through SCART cables (see picture). Its a huge old school looking cable (picture the old printer connections that were used before USB became the standard) that has been around since the 70's and is the standard in Europe. They have upgraded it over the years to get better picture and sound quality out of it, but I think its days are numbered. Currently, it video quality is the same as analog RGB cables or S-video, but it is destroyed by new technology such as component video or HD technology.

I can see why it has been around so long, because it does make A/V connections very simple as it is bi-directional, but it's time for this beast to retire.

Customer Service

2007-09-27T00:18:00.000-07:00

Simply put - IT DOESN'T EXIST!!! Brits (including Scots) like to moan about things that they can't control, so I thought I should do the same!

We moved into out flat at the beginning of Sept. As soon as we moved I called BT (British Telecom) and Sky in order to get phone, TV and Internet up and running.

After 12 days, my phone line was activated by BT. Why did this take almost 2 weeks when the last tenant had BT as well? I don't know (I have heard this can take up to 2 months so I will count myself lucky). Getting the phone line active was key because sky will not do anything (even install satellite TV) until your phone line is active.

Now that the phone line is active, the Sky contractor comes out to install Satellite TV (he doesn't do anything with Internet, that is a separate department that I need to deal with).

When the sky contractor comes out to do the box installation (which is completely unnecessary in my case since all I really need is the box (satellite already installed and wired), which I should have been able to pick up from a store), he hooks the box up to the phone line. There are 3 reasons for this;
1. From the consumer point of view, this is how you can order additional programming, etc (because the box calls sky through the phone).
2. From the contractor point of view, this is how they get paid, i.e. they notify sky through the phone line that they have done the installation.
3. For the first year of service, sky does randomly checking to ensure your box is matched to your local phone number to ensure you are in the UK (I guess you are no supposed to have sky outside of the UK), but after you have been a customer for a year I guess you could take the box anywhere (I might have to try this when we come back to the states).

So, after 3 weeks, I finally have TV, but no Internet. I called Sky to figure out what I needed to do to get Internet up and running, but there was a problem, somehow the phone number I was given, still has broadband attached to it from the previous user, and sky has to call BT to remove the broadband from the line, before they will do anything for me. So, maybe after 4 weeks in our place we will have Internet!

Petrol

2007-09-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

So, next time you look at the price of gas at the pump and think you are getting ripped off (especially if you live in california), you should consider yourself lucky compared to people in the UK paying ~£1/ litre.

A gallon is 3.78 litres. So, at the current exchange rate around $2/ GBP, that equates to $7.56/ gallon!!!!! Now you will start to understand why we do not have a car (and why a Edinburgh bus pass at £37/month is a great deal)

'arry Potter

2007-09-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't read the new book yet (I have been waiting for Jess to finish reading it b/c I felt as though it would be stupid to own 2 of the books), but I thought it was funny when I came across this in the 'Scottish dictionary' that I picked up (it came with one of the local papers during the month of August). I thought the grades JK Rowling had throughout the Harry Potter series were completely made up, but apparently that is how they do things in the UK!

Cones on Statues

2007-08-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

So, in Glasgow in front of the Gallery of Modern Art, there is a statue of the Duke of Wellington... and he always has a traffic cone on his head.

Don't really know what to say about this one, but I thought it was a joke (probably a n.e.d., Google it, which is how it started), here is a clip from wikipedia;

Outside the Gallery stands an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington which permanently has a traffic cone on its head. For many years the authorities regularly removed cones, only for them to be replaced (often the following night) by someone climbing the nearly 20 foot statue. The jauntily placed cone has come to represent, particularly in tourist guidebooks, the city's light-hearted attitude to authority, and the city authorities no longer remove Wellington's cone hat. One exception was on the occasion of Glasgow hosting the 2002 UEFA Champions League final, when the cone was replaced by a football-patterned hat bearing the logo of one of the tournament sponsors, Amstel.

Stupid Jocks

2007-08-30T00:13:00.000-07:00

In the states, a 'jock' refers to someone who plays sports. It is usually derogatory, insinuating the person is not very smart, similar to 'meat head.'

In Scotland, 'jock' is slang for a Scot, but as the caption from this Scotish dictionary points out, it is offensive.

Who Knew (thanks for the heads up Simon)!

The Trouser Press

2007-08-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

The first hotel I have stayed at since I got to Scotland was a place called the Patio hotel in Aberdeen. It was an alright place, I was only there one night and it got the job done. In the room, it had a trouser press hanging on the wall, but at that time I had no idea what it was (I actually pulled it off the wall when I was investigating) and there were no directions (as the one in the pictures do), so I left it alone. Then I had to go down to London for a day and this trouser press was in my closet. I doubt every household has one of these, but it seems like a great idea. I picked up a brochure for one at marks and spencers, basically they work like an iron (heat to get out the wrinkles), but somehow they also have a stretching mechanism in them to help get out the wrinkles (vs. potentially just making them worse). Next time I am in a hotel I will have to give it a try!

'Push to Exit'

2007-08-25T16:53:00.001-07:00

There are so many things in the UK that you would never expect to be any different than the US, take doors as an example. Any security door that is locked from the outside, has these 'push to exit' buttons on the inside. In the states, you would just expect a bar halfway up the door that you would push while opening the door (requiring little, to no thought). In the UK, the problem is you have to look for these buttons (as most are not labeled like the one I have pictured above) as they come in many shapes in sizes and could easily be mistaken for light switches or doorbells. Inevitably you will not see a button or two and run into a locked door and then start looking around for the stupid button.

Laundry

2007-08-19T05:29:00.001-07:00

As I have been in Scotland over a week, inevitably it was time to do laundry. I was worried about doing such (for good reason), as the washer/ dryer combo unit is not common in the states. Well, I read through the directions manual (as the controls on the unit are only letters, and do not indicate meaning), I gave it a shot. After 2 hours, I was wondering what the status of my clothes were, so I stopped the dryer to check - they were still wet. It took at least another hour before they were reasonably dry. The problem was, everything was wrinkled! Most things didn't matter, and I could get the wrinkles out, but my dress shirts were a different story. As you can see in the picture, they looked like they were in a tight ball and left like that do dry. These wrinkles were so bad, that I could not iron them out, so I had to start the process over again for a few shirts. The shirts are now ironed and in the closet, but this was a 6+ hour process and they still are not sharp as I would like.

My second load of laundry ended with a better result (mainly because I didn't fill the drum as full), but overall these washers/ dryers are ridiculous. There are two basic problems; 1. The drum size (too small) 2. Drying Technology (the heat does not vent, so air flow and heat are minimal).

Bottom Line - Now I understand why you see many people around the UK hanging up there clothes (inside or outside) to dry.

'Left of Way'

2007-08-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

Most people know that in the UK, people drive on the left side of the road (vs. in the states where we drive on the right), but it doesn't stop there! Everyone patterns their walking on the left (as seen in the picture) and escalators also follow suit.

When I started thinking about this, I thought about the expression 'right of way' (i.e. at a 4-way stop sign, you are supposed to yield to the car on your right) and how it shouldn't apply - but I couldn't remember ever hearing a 'left of way' saying. So I began to visualize a intersection over here (usually a roundabout), a driver would actually be yielding to the 'right of way' as they circle clockwise. So the expression is universal

As everything is online, I found some good stuff on wikipedia (including the roundabout pic) if you want to read more, here is the link;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic

Electricity

2007-08-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

In the States, when you want electricity, it's there (unless you didnt pay your bill or there is a rolling blackout...). In Scotland, anything that requires electricity also has a switch. Dont get me wrong, you get used to it, but at first you do things like plug your phone or laptop in, thinking its charging, when its not. The stranger aspect of this whole situation is how it applies to appliances. In the picture, the switch on the left is for the stove top 'cooker' in my kitchen.

From what I can gather, these switches save electricity as trace amounts of electricity are lost when things are plugged in (and maybe even when nothing is plugged in).

Pounds Sterling

2007-08-12T05:13:00.001-07:00

So, in the US, the treasury (controlled by the gov't) is the only entity allowed to print dollars - this is a good thing! In the UK, individual banks print money, normally one wouldn't think about something like this, but I have been warned that some places in England will not accept cash from a Scottish bank! This is the same feeling when you go to pay anywhere with a travelers check, you never know if they will accept it or not.

Picture: 3 10 pound notes, printed by the following; 1. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) 2. Bank of England 3. Cydesdale Bank

Goodbye (United States) Hello (Scotland)

2007-08-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it safely to Scotland. As most of you know, I am temporarily staying in Glasgow even though I will be working in Edinburgh b/c of the festival. Many pics and interesting thinks about the UK will follow (hopefully)