AMERICAN LIVING

This Englishman abroad has fallen in love not with the way of life, although given time perhaps i might adapt, but with one of it`s citizens. Fallen in love? Tell me more, i hear you say, patience read the blog through, no scrolling down................I said no scrolling.

Back home before i left the biggest talking point seemed to be fuel prices so let`s have a look at what

could be if our wonderful government didn`t  take the cut, currently circa 80p, they do in tax from a litre of road fuel. As can be seen in the picture above, remember these are gallons, we`ll take the diesel fuel as we are boaters and round it up to $3.80. At an exchange rate of £1 = $1.52 that American gallon is £2.50. In the UK my rough calculation shows a gallon to be £6.18 (£1.34lit) and also it seems a US gallon is greater than a UK one.

So just to sum up £2.50 against £6.18. Anyone with time on their hands and a mathematical brain can do the figures accurately and i will post it on the next blog.

The sheer size of this country means views from the passenger seat below are the norm in Washington State. This is State Highway 195 running from Lewiston to Spokane a distance of 106miles. What you

see is what you get with just the town of Colfax to pass through the route passes a few farms in a landscape of Wheat, Lentils and Chick Peas. The trees in the picture were a treat just to remind me of home, the right hand side of the picture is the norm here stretching as far as the eye can see.

A typical rest area on State highways some provide free coffee

What do we Brits miss most when abroad? Well one thing might be a bacon sarnie or at least the bacon, yes they do have bread here, that is the making of a good sandwich. Now as i am in the care of

my lovely Jaqueline i do not have to put up with what the Americans call bacon (left in picture) because she has sourced some British bacon (right in picture) from the food Co-Op in nearby (9 miles) Moscow. Here in Pullman i am in Washington State but just the short distance to Moscow takes you into Idaho State. Why i mention this is that in the UK we have a 20% vat to pay on most things nationwide but here sales tax as it`s called varies between states.

Nearby or at least adjoining states differ;

Idaho 6%    Utah 4.7% (food 2.75%)   Washington 6.5%   Montana 0%. Check out this from Washington States tax laws.

Since Jan. 1, 2004, purchases of certain foods and food ingredients have been exempt from sales tax. However, prepared foods, dietary supplements and soft drinks remain taxable. And when doughnuts are sold with eating utensils, the food product is taxable. Eating utensils include plates, forks, napkins, etc., but do not include containers or packaging used to transport the item.

Now as most of you are aware this trip is not as a tourist but to stay with Jaqueline and sort out our future together so the pictures and text are an Englishman living an American life. Now our Asda is under the American arm of Walmart so a trip around the aisles was of interest.

In the picture above is what looks like our check out in the UK, you load the goods on and a belt takes it towards the cashier. So far like for like but this is where it changes. Notice the plastic bags at the end, these are on a revolving stand and as the goods are scanned the cashier packs the goods instead of firing them down to you in an attempt to pile them up quicker than you can pack them, i`m sure some of our cashiers do it to relieve the boredom. The store itself was pretty much as we are used to

with a few different products but the Gun section was a shock. Jaqueline said IF she wanted a gun all that was needed was to produce some ID and fill out a form; wait 5 days for checks to be made and collect the gun.

This property on the South Hill in Spokane is on the market for $350,000 (£234,000). The sales details i picked up from the display box outside states 4 Bedrooms and 1.75 Bathrooms. Before you

ask, one of the bathrooms is not in-complete; what they mean is the .75 is in fact what we call a downstairs loo or to be American, a powder room.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is a similar service to our Royal Mail, the little truck pictured

would be used around the City to transport the post and delivery man from  section to section and parked up while he walked his route. The big difference here is outside City limits the post will be delivered by a sub contractor using his/her car with Orange flashing lights on the roof. Forget letterboxes UK style, here each property has a mail/post box usually on the edge of the property. In the picture below i have pictured the boxes at the end of Jaqueline`s drive and the Red flags have a role to play. Now back in the UK we would have a local post box to send our letters but here if you have a letter to send you put the Red flag up and the post man will collect it, and even if he is not delivering a stop will be made and he will put the flag down afterwards.

Ok the bit you`ve been waiting for: scroll down now.

Yes Jaqueline accepted my proposal of Marriage and we decided not on Mega Bucks posh Diamond rings but  their symbolic value. Much planning to be done to not only satisfy Immigration but more important our families both sides of the Pond. The main thing is we will be on board NB Valerie together in the very near future.

TO AMERICA

My flight was to be 6.30 am from H`row Terminal 4 and knowing the extra time required for security checks i`d booked a cab for 3.30 am. This would give me 2 1/2hrs to check in, have breakfast and chill out watching the world walk by. Sounds like a plan but all good plans can go wrong.

The cab arrived bang on time which was more or less a certainty because my daughter in law Bev had booked it with her cab company owning friend & neighbour and no cab driver would risk turning up opposite the boss`s house late.

Terminal 4 picture from the web, posted to compare with the arrival airport at the end of the blog.

Entering the terminal and upon locating the check in desks all i could see were hundreds of people not queuing but milling around the deserted desks. My usual method is to  check in at the computer terminals and hand in my suitcase at one of the usually quiet desks, normally a 10mins task. All this changed with the desks not opening till 5am and although i had checked in and had my boarding cards for the 3 plane trip i still had to join the hundreds of others to hand in my case. So now it`s 5.30am and just time for a coffee & Croissant and a quick call to Jaqueline before boarding.

The first stage of my journey is by KLM to Amsterdam and then a 10hr flight to Seattle followed by a local plane to Pullman in East Washington State.

The arrival in Amsterdam was without incident. With an hour to spare before boarding an Airbus A333 similar to the one pictured below i decided to use one of the airline computer terminals to change my allocated aisle seat to one 

next to the window. Two minutes later i have my seat changed and am strolling around feeling well pleased at how easy it had been. On board the plane in my window seat still feeling smug, the pilot announces the plane will be pulled off the stand in 2 mins time. It then dawns on me the reason why my fantastic re-arranging of Delta`s seating plan had been easy. In the picture below, taken as the doors shut, you can see how empty this flight was. 

Altogether across the 3 class sections there were 130 empty seats. People ended up stretched out across rows of seats to sleep. I was quite happy with 2 seats to use for a doze.

So just a matter of relaxing with a book, in flight movie, sleep or the flight information screen for the next 10hrs. My choice omitted the movie.

The route was back towards the UK across the top of Scotland over the 

Orkney Islands

southern tip of Greenland, over Hudson Bay, across Canada and south into Seattle on the Pacific Northwest coast of the U.S.

Satellite view of the route into Seattle

Now i know they say everything is big stateside but my next

plane was a tad on the small size with no jet engines, i just hope the loo is inside! Just a 50min flight with 70 seat capacity this little bird would drop me just 4 miles from my love`s home.

High desert landscape of Eastern Washington State.

Now you remember the first picture of Terminal 4, well below is the main only building of the Moscow Pullman Regional

Airport. Now i`m not saying this is the norm but i was met by a female cab driver who not only greeted me with un-limited hugs and kisses but insisted i spend my stay in her home. 

Jaqueline and i are having a wonderful time making plans etc. etc. etc.

Goodnight all.
Follow Jaqueline's blog here.

FROZEN CANAL AGAIN? I`ve made my move.

After a couple of relaxing days in the countryside a glance at the 5  day forecast showed below freezing temperatures and with my U S trip coming up i decided to move into Braunston  to avoid any frantic last minute ice breaking. Friday evening saw ice forming on the canal so first thing Saturday i decided to move even closer to

my booked marina place for the trip. Above is pictured the ice in Braunston as i left and as luck would have it another boat was ahead of me cutting me a channel so all in all a good bit of decision making. a very cold trip i felt warm inside at the thought of what might have happened had i stayed out in the suburbs.

The well known Gongoozlers cafe boat is having a make over and should be back at it`s mooring and open for business next weekend. The kitchen area at the rear has been revamped and the dining tables will be amongst a pine panelled interior. A re-paint of the exterior completes the work.

So from the bow of NB Valerie settled in her mooring on Sunday the ice from Saturday is still hanging about. My thoughts while i`m away will be of fellow boaters being iced in so soon after the last freeze that lasted weeks.

I hereby claim the first Lamb picture of 2011, i bet someone has blogged one already, and i give my word it was taken on the 30th Jan 2011. I`m off Monday morning and will blog from the States while away. Good luck with the weather everyone and although the weather will be just the same for me i won`t be on board a boat.



OUT IN the COUNTRY

I am now moored amongst open fields somewhere, and i haven`t even checked the map so who knows, just enjoying the solitude of not being able to see a building of any description. The towpath is so quiet that i have had all the curtains open without being disturbed by countless people walking by staring in. In fact in the last few days only one walker about my age ambled by and as i was having a coffee break  from  fixing the floor trims back we had a long chat and ended up me showing him the inside of NB Valerie.

We all get the phishing scam e mails and as much as possible i try and forward them on to the company`s they purport to be from, ie Lloyds bank, Inland Revenue, Paypal etc although i feel it`s fighting a losing battle. Anyway a new one cropped up recently telling me i`d won a prize after being selected by my e mail address. Wonderful i thought and all they want is half my life or more specifically my bank details.  This one was allegedly from Nestle` and it even had a genuine link to their Web home page so i forwarded it on to Nestle` as usual but what was un-usual was they actually replied thanking me and confirming it was a scam. Nice to be acknowledged.

I must  have to much time on my hands as the other day i e mailed a travel company with a complaint, no i didn`t sign it `disgusted of Tunbridge Wells` Or `disturbed of Towpath moorings`. The thing that peeved me was i needed to get some US $, did i mention i was in love with an American lady.....i did! ok i`ll shut up. I have a cash card that can be loaded with the currency of  your choice and used as a debit card anywhere in your chosen destination. Now what i decided to do was top up on-line from my current account when the dollar hit an acceptable rate. When i checked the rate to top up i noticed that the rate for ordering currency with free delivery was 3cents higher than i would get on my card. Say you changed £500, and most people would change more, the difference would be $15 to my dis-advantage. What i wanted to know was why if both transactions are on-line and my card method required NO secure delivery to a home address was it going to cost me $15. As you can imagine with all these faceless big company`s their e mail answer was just a load of gibberish or to be exact bullshit and didn`t even address my question. Now the solution surprised me as it will you, i visited one of their high st. branches and got a better rate than both on-line methods. So on-line is not always cheapest.

Just before i moved to the peaceful & remote countryside Ian & Alison arrived on Gosty Hill so i topped up the

diesel tank and took on some coal. I say topped up as when i returned from the Christmas break and found the ice age had passed i cruised to Rose boats at Brinklow and filled up at the astonishing rate of 86p domestic and so the Gosty rate of 78p was very welcome. Gosty only sells at the lower domestic rate so no declaration worries. Boaters declaration is to me a personal thing so i won`t go into it  in public.                                                                                  
                                           

The floor is all but done with just a small area stern end in front of the washing machine to do plus a few of the trims to be put in place. Boys & their toys meant a new place to store my junk bits and bobs and as the space below the galley units was less than generous i hit on the idea of some seed trays from the garden centre and a

few old butter pots and food trays provided storage. The colour of the floor in the top picture is not correct, maybe the camera flash caused the lighter colour,  as the lower picture is an accurate likeness. his was the bit going around the angle of the bathroom and the trims have since been fixed back in place. I did manage to slice a fair chunk off the top of my thumb during this DIY project but don`t start e mailing in everything is fine now and not one drop of Blood touched the floor so no need to worry.

                                     

HANGING AROUND & LOOKING BACK

Well as the blog title suggests i`m not moving much of late and have been spending a lot of time laying the floor. My trip to the US is fast approaching and having been iced in for so long my intention has been to stay in the area of the marina, or at least not to far away, NB Valerie will live in while i`m away.

So not much cruising means not to much to blog about as i`m sure you don`t want to know the mundane daily aspects of living aboard.........you do?

Doing the floor is messy so after every session out comes the broom for a good clean up. The other day i travelled into town and purchased 10 satsumas for a pound. I relaxed in the evening and watched the Arsenal/Leeds match and during that night spent 3 hrs on the phone to Jaqueline in the states. Had a nice lie in till 11am had a shower and went for a walk. I`m bored writing this.

Started looking back through my picure discs and realised just looking at the places and events i had blogged what a good decision i made 5 yrs ago. Giving up living existing on the land with the daily ritual of  donating X amount of hours per day working only to see so many others living off my sweat, politicians, faceless councilors, the fat cat power company`s that squeeze more money from me to feed their shareholders greed, the list is long. Now i decide what i spend my money on and i dictate my pace of life. My freedom is measured by the way NB Valerie`s bow cuts through the waters that flow through my vast country estate. If i show the thousandsof miles of  my water road respect it will honour my right to a long and healthy lifestyle. 

I feel i must be doing something right as i look back at the memories because a lot of what has been seen and experienced can`t be seen through the eyes of a car traveller and best of all the rest of my life has been blessed by my meeting Jaqueline. 

So let me take you back and share a few memories.

Warwick Castle and Warwick itself are just a few minutes bus ride from the canal. Like many other places visited my home is close by so no long journeys to endure with the chance to have a second visit the following day to see and enjoy everything at a casual pace. 

Moored in York, the bridge is the City centre just 2 mins walk. The journey up the R. Trent was my first experience of tidal water cruising albeit scary at first the scale of the river against the canals made the trip

enjoyable. I remember climbing the 275 steps to the top of York Minster Cathedral and the views, walking the many narrow streets each with an historic past. Above The Shambles with buildings giving an impression of reaching out to each other as the rise above the narrow street. Shambles was the city`s butcher`s market and is mentioned in the Doomsday book.

The Bingley Five-Rise staircase locks in west Yorkshire built in 1774 lift the canal 60 feet. The whole trip across the Leeds & Liverpool canal brought stunning views of  countryside, canal buildings, and old Mills of the 19th Century standing silent their secrets hidden in the dusty interiors.

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Litchfield Cathedral easily accessed from both the Coventry or Trent  Mersey canals or even the northern sections of the BCN. Nice market in Lichfield and i remember buying a pair of steel toecapped boots for use on the boat for £10 that are as good as new today.

Cannock Chase seen from the Trent &  Mersey canal consists of 26 sq miles and is a designated area of outstanding beauty in other words it`s a great place to walk. Henry Vlll used it for hunting.

Pink Floyd playing live canalside? Ok so it`s Twycross Zoo near Atherstone on the Coventry canal. I remember finding it by a chance glance over the map and visited on a lovely sunny day. From the bus station i discovered a bus service that offered a bargain combined bus and zoo ticket. The 16 seater mini-bus turned up and went through villages and hamlets on the 40 min journey twice the direct route but hey i`m a boater so time is on my side and i sat back and enjoyed the countryside. 

Skipton is a lovely town in Yorkshire with a 900yr old castle and short canal arm that is a highly recommended walk. Also Skipton has an annual canal festival and the famous market stretches all up both sides of the main road past numerous alleyways or `Ginnels` as they call em up north. 

Now up here in Yorkshire things water side are big and this lift bridge, glad it didn`t need a windlass to get it up, is  the New Jct canal our route from the Aire & Calder to Keadby and a tidal cruise south on the R. Trent.

Still talking Yorkshire `Big` this is what you share water with on the Aire & Calder.

Gongoozlers are everywhere you go on the waterways. Just hear mum saying " now just watch but don`t think about chasing them"

The Bridgewater canal was a pleasure to cruise and an overnight stop at Dunham Massey led to witnessing a St,. Georges Day motor bike blessing by the local biker vicar. Hundreds of bikes both 2 & 3 wheeled took part and then attended a rock concert set up on a lorry trailer. Soft drinks were order of the day and the event ended at about 6pm with the police in attendance only having to control local traffic.Another spin off from this cruise break was easy access from Altrincham to Manchester by tram plus the National Trust Dunham Massey Hall and deer park.

Some unusual lock gear on the Rochdale in Manchester.

Friends passing by is a regular all over the system, here is Andrew Denny on Granny Buttons another blogger.

We all have our favourite mooring places and this one is on the Trent & Mersey past Anderton. It`s very quiet and looks down across green fields to the R. Weaver in the Acton Bridge area. Anyone new or experienced who hasn`t  used the free boat lift from Anderton to the Weaver is missing a really wonderful experience.

Llangollen Basin journeys end on the Llangollen Canal a trip i`ve made every one of my 5yrs afloat and i never tire of it. A slight downside is the £5/6 charge for a mooring with leccy hookup as the max 2 nights allowed is not enough to enjoy this lovely Welsh town and surrounding attractions. Saying that though you can moor up just outside the town and bus or walk in. The climb up to Castle Dinas Bran (hope that`s right my Welsh friends) is well worth the huffing & puffing for the incredible views. A walk to Horseshoe falls or a ride on the preserved steam railway, the old Cistercian Abbey are just some of the attractions here.

Unusual sights a boat appears to be lost on the road bridge but i think the lorry driver knows where it will all end.

Another nice mooring on the Shroppie just a short distance from the bottom lock of the Audlem flight.

Hitchhikers guide to the waterways.

                                A blurry hurriedly taken picture of a mink passing me in the shallows.

         And at the end the sun sets on another day of freedom but it all starts again 1st light                                     





Well i hope you enjoyed looking back with me and for sure i now have some ideas for cruising when i get back from the states. So here`s to safe journey`s to all boaters and those just living land side and dreaming all i can say is don`t give up the dream nothing is impossible if you determined.



THE FLOOR

As i mentioned on a previous blog the floor was found to be the coldest place on the boat and as soon as temperatures went down to freezing point my feet became very cold and as the temp dropped further the coldness crept above my ankles.  Having decided against carpet on the grounds that the original wood floor was so easy to sweep and mop over another wood floor was to be laid on top. This time i would be using an underlay of  10mm felt squares to stop the cold coming up through the floor and freezing my tootsies.

In the first picture i have removed the TV unit and the steps as i wanted to cover as much of the floor as possible. The door of the coal hole beneath the stove is removed to be shortened to pass over the new higher floor.

As most of you know and the rest can imagine working on a narrowboat is not easy space wise,  in picture 2 i have laid the floor far enough across to be able to refit the TV & steps. This now means the space they occupied can now have the floor laid onto it. 

The 3rd picture shows another use for the dinette with the chair not taking up working space and providing a safe resting place for the TV and stereo speakers. The walkway down the side of the dinette has now had the new floor laid and the next stage is behind the dinette and through the galley.

Thoughts of the small bathroom with it`s many odd shapes now haunt me but surely if the loo went in it must come out to allow the floor to go down. The bath panel comes out so that just leaves an angled wall, i feel a headache coming on.

So the front end of the boat is complete with just the edging strips to be laid. The last 2 days have been so hard on my body and it complained so much through my back and knees i decided today was a rest day so it can go back into retirement.  Oh well i think the worse part is over as the rest is narrow all the way to the stern and no dismantling........the loo! It`ll be fine....trust me i`m a boater.

YOUR BLOG = YOUR PERSONALITY

Mr Tal Yarkoni, does that name ring any bells. Has he commented on your blog,maybe not but for sure he might just have been silently reading our witterings not because he has any interest in boating but in the words we use.
It seems that the words we use or at least the frequency of them go a long way to showing our personalities.

Extroverts will use the words `mouth`, `bar`, `drinks` and `dancing` a lot.
If you have an Open personality the words `folk`, `poetry`or `poet`, `humans` will feature in your writings.
Agreeables are most likely to say  `wonderful`,`morning`, `spring` and `together`.
Conscientious personalities like `completed`,`adventure`, `stupid` and `boring`.
Are you Neurotic? check your blog for the words `awful`, `though` ,`lazy`, `worse` or `depressing`.

Mr Yarkoni is a lead researcher at the University of Colorado and has made a study of 700 blogs so you might have unwittingly been a research subject.

Just think about what personality you are if;  the words from your mouth to folk at the bar with drinks after dancing till morning spring together like poetry though not completed sound boring and stupid even depressing to humans out for an adventure.

If this had not been an American based research i might have looked at it with more interest but i sense it might have been financed by a Psychiatry association  aimed at convincing folk they need a shrink.
I have just read back my post and apart from the quoted words from the article i have  myself used the word `folk` so according to Mr Yarkoni  i have an open personality. I won`t be seeking a shrink as i have my own personal physician Dr. Jaq.  s.w.m.b.o  who will guide me gently through life and blogging.
Mr Yarkoni sums up;
`If you complain a lot when you`re around your offline friends, you may very well complain about similar things on your Blog. Our personalities don`t dramatically change just because we`ve turned on our computers`.
I don`t suppose you will comment on this post as you`ll be far to busy checking your blog postings but if you do establish a pattern in your writings be brave and tell us but also ask your partner if the your writing is a reflection of yourself.
 As for my checking back posts i have a saying;
I am what i am and if you don`t like it .......off. What you see/read is me.

So what`s new on the water road post ice age. Well the diesel tank is full as is the water tank and the stove has plenty of food. The captain of this good vessel is counting the days to take off to the states (18 days) and will not be travelling to far away as the worry of another freeze and not being able to reach my booked marina is at the front of my mind.
What i intend to do is lay another well insulated floor in the boat to stop my feet getting cold something that only happens when temps. go down to freezing but that for me is not good enough as i want to be comfortable in my home. I`ll keep you posted as to how it goes.