Oh stop it! I know what you’re thinking. I don’t mean that kind of ‘HAD’. Wheesht. I mean at one time, all at once, there were 10 Houston Fire Department First Responders in my house.
But more of that later… Continue reading I’ve had 10 Firemen in my house!
And other extra-ordinary encounters in the USA. Well, not ordinary if you are from Aberdeen, Scotland, that is.
Some of the daily happenings and encounters are odd, to say the least. However, I don’t think the average Texan, or any American for that matter, find any of this unusual.
I do.
Here are some of the oddities, happenings, and general observations that have puzzled and amused me recently.
We have been reunited with our possessions!
Our main shipment arrived on Friday, finally, after a long wait. Scheduled for 9.30, it arrived at 2pm – all 84 boxes.
84 boxes is apparently not that much – these guys have seen 500 or even 1000 boxes before and spent days unpacking! 84 seemed like a lot to me.
Now many of you know that the packing up process was very stressful. Especially for Maurice. The packing up guys went on ‘auto-pack’ towards the end and it was anyone’s guess what was going to finally arrive in Houston.
There was a leather jacket that was a particular mystery. And the contents of the garage.
So we were pleasantly surprised that the unpacking process was a lot less stressful. Partly because of the unpacking team who were stupendous.
Here I have to mention that Texas still has remnants of southern race issues very much in evidence. One of the most notable manifestations of this is in the racial stereotypes you encounter in everyday life. Certain occupational groups are made up, in the main, of entirely one race. This is quite jarring coming from a relatively tolerant society, and of course the stereotypes in Scotland are slightly different anyway.
The entire unpacking team were African American. I guess I should not be surprised by this but it was a little disconcerting to be referred to all day as Miss Katherine (or Miss Caroline later on when my name had been muddled up with another). I guess I’ll get used to it. It is just a southern ‘thing’ I was told by my adviser on all things Texan, Debbie, my driving instructor. I did feel like a character from Gone With the Wind or Driving Miss Daisy.
Unlike the Aberdeen team – who were also very good but a bit random – this team intuitively knew where to put your possessions to make it very easy for you to put away somewhere sensible. And they were very quick – I think it took around 2 hours to take 84 boxes into the house and unpack almost every box.
We have a few random items:
Less randomly we have the scorpion saw for our Texas Chainsaw Massacre moments, and, thank goodness, the leather jacket made a much appreciated appearance. This will be for the 3 days a year that it is cold enough and this coincides with a suitable opportunity to wear said leather jacket…
We have also bought a few more items, having realised that we left behind some things we should have taken. Take note anyone going overseas to live – take your ironing board, step ladder and a few decent tools for when you first get there and need to hang up mundane things like curtains. It soon adds up when you have to buy all of this stuff again.
I am missing UK tv. I do watch Eastenders and Corrie when I can via a tunnel I have dug to the UK t’internet….secretly. Which means that the Beeb and STV think I am in the UK and let me watch. Otherwise iPlayer and STV player restrict out of country viewers. Interestingly Channel 4 has no such moral high ground and I managed to watch the last episode of Homeland eventually.
But I can see Downtown Abbey and episodes that are not that old, on public broadcast tv over here – if I really want to. But much more entertaining – though on at a rather late hour – is the fan programme that comes on after Downtown Abbey. It is hilarious. Manor of Speaking is like the Strictly Take 2 for Downtown with all sorts of ‘behind the scenes’ observations on the plot and the cast and absolutely anything remotely associated. The experts include someone British whose main claim to any expertise would appear to be a posh voice and being British. Hysterical!
I am not watching tv much though. I don’t have time with all the other things that have to be done and fitting in 9 hours work. However, earlier in the year when the weather was not so good, I would have a tv splurge now and again. And I have started watching Game of Thrones and House of Cards on Netflix.
Game of Thrones is available on ‘on demand’ tv here – but our on demand tv is not working. Having reported on the wonders of Xfinity (=Sky) – I can get the ‘on demand’ on any other device including my phone, but not on the tv itself which is a pain. First world problems.
Our other first world problems include a dishwasher that leaked all over the floor and has to be replaced, a burglar alarm system that kept beeping at inconvenient moments and getting lost while trying to get to the dealership for our Texas number plates.
We are settling into a routine now with Maurice working, or away, and me at home working or dealing with all the officialdom, domestic tasks and various services that we have to set up.
I am still taking driving lessons each week with the lovely Debbie and will continue to take full advantage until I am ready for my test. We really just go ‘cruising’ around the neighbourhood or wherever else I want to go and chew the fat about life in general.
Debbie was widowed young, as was I, and has remarried so we have that in common. Her first husband was from somewhere Latin American and his family wanted his funeral to be there in his home country. Apparently it would have cost an enormous amount, $14,000 I think, to transport his ashes back to the US.
So Debbie smuggled him home in a protein supplement container. Half of him at any rate as I think half was left back home. Some of him has now been sprinkled in places of meaning to the family here, including on the floor of the Natural History Museum in New York.
With Debbie’s patience, (I had a couple of near misses on the freeway this week – eek!), hopefully I’ll pass my test and get my licence soon. I would like to get a car of my own so that I can get out and about a bit more. Perhaps a truck.
We are open for visitors and have a few lined up already. Plenty room in Staffordshire Crescent and lovely warm weather – we’d love to see y’all!
It’s been a week of firsts.
Maurice went to work in the Chevron office in Houston and I was left at home alone for the first time since we arrived.
It was strange being left behind in the apartment all by myself. I pottered around for while and then set off to walk to the nearby TJ Max which is basically TK Max – with a J instead of a K – strangely.
While shopping, Maurice called to arrange for us to meet up with Matt, our realtor guy, again. He came to the apartment mid afternoon to collect me and we met Maurice at another property to view.
The property was very nice, a spacious modern house in a lovely street, but in a gated complex which provided very little outside space and a cramped feel at the sides and front of the house. We did not rule it out – the area was certainly a good one. This was the ‘Medical Center’ as it is so close to all the hospitals in Houston. I imagine many of the residents around here will work in these hospitals, although I think the consultants will be living in the mansions we saw when we were practising driving the other day. Outrageous palatial homes with huge grounds and ornate features which line the desirable boulevards of Memorial Drive and River Oaks.
We checked out another property in West University. It was ok, had a spacious feel, plenty room for us, although the kitchen was pretty tiny, but the garden was flooded and plumbing problems were in the process of being fixed. We didn’t think this was for us.
Then we went back to Buffalo Speedway, also in West U, and re-visited a lovely house with a pool. We decided to go ahead and apply to become tenants with some modifications to the original proposal. Just had to wait and see if we would be accepted.
The next day I visited the gym in the apartment complex for the first time. Not a bad wee facility, all the machines you need and tvs to watch too – with rather macho ‘Dave’ style tv channels chosen. I was the only one there.
After my gentle work out, I had a go on one of the massage chairs available. This felt rather like being in a car wash for humans, without the water. I was poked, squeezed and vibrated from all sides in an unpredictable sequence of electrically controlled undulations that successfully removed any stiffness from my muscles. Very strange.
Later that day we heard that we had successfully secured the house on Buffalo Speedway! So just the paper work and money to sort out now.
Wednesday passed pretty much like the other two days home alone, this time I walked to the Galleria and rummaged around in a few of the huge choice of stores, really just to get out and get some exercise.
When Maurice came home, we set off to see a car that he had spotted for sale online – a 2011 Nissan Sentra. A tad more sensible than the Corvette. And before we knew it, he’d bought it. Spurred on by a young sales guy who said another customer was interested and coming along ‘any time now’ to buy, and a reduction of $500, Maurice said yes – and initialled what can only be described as a scrap of paper with a handwritten note on it saying – ‘I will buy this car if you reduce it by $500’. I thought it was all a made up wee story about the other customer – but then he arrived and even said to us – ‘you beat me to it’! So he wasn’t fictitious he was a real person.
The dealers make it very tempting and easy to commit to buy, then hit you with the usual array of paper work. It’s not a whole lot different to buying in the UK but different enough to feel quite alien, when you don’t know all the legalities. A very lovely lady called Becky guided us through the finance and then that was that. We couldn’t drive it away, but everything had been put in place.
Maurice works a 9 day fortnight and this first Friday was the planned ‘TDO’ or tenth day off so, a four day week for him to start the year nice and gently. Thursday was his last work day this week. I went to the gym again and braved some more ambitious settings of the massage chair – the ‘relax’ setting I found to be far from that – and watched some more bloke tv about trains braving the elements in Alaska through all weathers. The train hitting a dog on the track was a low point.
We had a ‘date night’ at a local Galleria hostelry in the evening to mark the start of the weekend.
Then Friday was a very busy day!
We had all the finances to sort out for the car and the house and were panicking slightly about how to get much needed funds over from the UK accounts to the US in the most economic way. I happen-chanced upon a recommendation on the Martin Lewis Money Expert website which proved very fortuitous and we managed to navigate our way to a reasonably smooth money transfer. After an initial delay when I thought we had signed over all our worldly goods to a total stranger, a confirmation popped through and we could breathe again. Phew.
A morning of emailing, phoning, transferring and confirming passed in a flash. Later than intended we set off for Maurice to get a hair cut and to buy a satnav for our new car.
The barber was ‘Mike’s’ although precisely who Mike was remains a mystery as the establishment was entirely staffed by Latino women who spoke in Spanish, very fast, and in a screechingly high pitch and volume up at max. Only one apparently occupied to actually cut hair, although there were half a dozen barber’s chairs lined up in this pretty basic shop, each with a plaque above, hanging at various jaunty angles and proclaiming that the named individual was a ‘certified cosmetician in the state of Texas’. A tv in the corner was showing a Spanish game show of some kind and one of the ‘cosmeticians’ was riveted to it. It appeared to be quite an amusing programme as the regular, deafening squeals of laughter testified.
The hair was cut – looks ok and only cost $6 plus tip. Can’t complain about that. But don’t think Mike’s will be for me, certified or not.
Best Buy is a bit like Comet (RIP) but of course bigger, like all things Texan. We selected a cheap satnav and spotted some good bargains for future reference in the fridge and tv sections too. Here’s hoping Best Buy doesn’t suffer the same fate as Comet, or at least, not until after we have bagged some bargains.
World Market was next door. Liked the selection of furniture and accessories in here and not too pricey either. Another place to keep in mind when we need to start getting ‘stuff’.
After lunch at a Thai cafe we headed back to the apartment before going out to collect our new car. By this time it was nearly rush hour and I was not confident about driving alone so we took a cab to the dealership, got the keys and drove our first owned US car back home. It is a lovely roomy car – very comfy and of course, automatic. You get a lot more car for your buck over here, that’s for sure. This one will be Maurice’s work ‘mule’ and will do very nicely.
It was Friday night so we popped around the corner to an Argentinian restaurant and lounge for a beer and a wine or two. There was a guy playing flamenco guitar there which was lovely and the place had a great atmosphere. We didn’t eat here but the menu looked good – a possible for another night.
Saturday was baltic. Absolutely freezing – well nearly. And at one point, colder than Aberdeen.
We had elected to complete a 6 hour Driver’s Ed programme to help us pass the theory test which was set at the end of the day. We were a collection of nationalities, a group of around 15 mainly Chevron employees, it appeared. We went through the driving manual section by section and heard some colourful driving tales from our teacher Mrs Bo-something (she didn’t give us her first name – strangely). Her husband was there too – but in an unknown capacity other than being called upon to answer a question relating to school buses, and her mother was the secretary for the day, her father having passed away some 9 months prior. Quite the family affair.
I was left feeling, I never wanted to ever, ever risk driving in Texas ever, ever, ever.
We both passed the test – a two part test of regulations knowledge and traffic sign identification. So we can now progress to the practical test once we have been resident in Texas for 30 days. I will book some lessons to get my confidence up, that is definite. Once I am behind the wheel I’m not too bad, but moving between lanes is still a bit scary and certainly driving on the Freeway is not my idea of fun. I guess I will get used to it.
So, a new car, a new house, a first haircut in the US, a load of new experiences from ‘driver’s ed’ to massage chair.
First impressions from our first 2 weeks: it may just be because we are ‘aliens’ but imho this is a bureaucratic country (or maybe it’s this state), soooo much paper work. And the form designs will never win any plain English awards – legal terms of obscure origin appear preferable to the everyday alternatives. But everyone we have met has been really helpful and friendly. It is just a tad concerning when the driver’s ed teacher tells you she owns a gun ‘there are some crazy people out there’ and keeps it handy ‘especially for over this holiday period…’
At least there is some familiar cold and miserable weather. Beginning to feel at home.
Driving the wrong way and heading towards a train which has dazzling headlights on and is sounding its horn, in a thunderstorm is not to be recommended…more of that later.
We awoke pretty early on New Year’s Day and had a leisurely start to 2015. The weather was not great – again – so we decided to go for a drive and take an external look at the houses we have selected to view tomorrow.
First we ventured to a couple slightly to the north of where we are currently in an area called Rice Military. These were relatively new build houses, looked smart, but had very little land space to speak of and were in an area that looked a bit random – lovely one minute, shabby the next. We drove around and felt that perhaps one had potential.
We then headed south and drove to an older property that looked drab and shabby from the outside – very brown. However, on the plus side the neighbourhood was wonderful. Maurice had a squint through the windows and confirmed that the inside looked pretty run down. Shame really.
We drove past another couple in this area which were more promising and took note of these for our visits the next day.
Then we drove to the Lexus car dealership which was open on New Year’s Day.
Well, it’s all very tempting. Firstly the dealership was amazing. Not a bit like Arnold Clark! It had it’s own little cafeteria with free eats as well as coffee and tea. The salesman, Ken, was extremely helpful and not a bit pushy. I don’t know if there is a subtle shift in sales technique over here of if it is just how it has always been but the emphasis is on making the customer relaxed and happy. Very low key, very effective. We checked out a couple of options but didn’t get to the test drive stage – hopefully that will follow. I was impressed though.
We were going to go to CarMax but saved that delight for another day, heading back to Sage for some lunch across the road at a Mexican restaurant. This was an interesting place – the experience was not unlike visiting Los Pollos Hermanos – maybe slightly more upmarket to this. And I would not have been surprised if the top man there was called Gustavo.
The rest of New Year’s Day passed…
On the Friday we were up to meet Matt our realtor. I hope he doesn’t mind that I think he looks identical to Phil Dunphy – only a good deal younger. He is a lovely helpful guy.
We had researched a few more promising places to visit and set off with Matt in his Jeep. The first we visited was the very drab brown house. It was equally drab and run down inside. A great place to buy and make over, but not to rent. But the area was fantastic. We checked out 2 more in this area, one with a pool which we were both taken with. It was a bit old fashioned and the pool was both a plus and a minus as the cost reflected it, but it quickly became our preferred choice.
Then there was another very brown house. On the inside this time. All on one floor, very dingy and very brown. Again, such a shame as a bit of TLC would have this place very desirable.
We were getting a feel for the area and what you could – or indeed couldn’t – get for your money. This is your AB15 equivalent in Houston. Your West End of Glasgow or your Morningside of Edinburgh. Lovely but pricey.
We discussed with Matt the pros and cons of this area as opposed to the lovely larger houses elsewhere and both of us feel that location has it over house size. There are only the 2 of us so provided our house has enough space for the odd visitor then we can be more practical.
Then we saw Plumb Street. A lovely little house in an amazing street. The house is perhaps not so little, but the kitchen is tiny, the rooms smallish by US standards and it is a curious shape and layout. Most odd is the huge room in the loft which is shelved on both sides from floor to lie in ceiling. We are very curious to learn what went on in this room with so much shelving.
Anyway, it quickly became our number 1 choice both due to location and price.
We went up to the Heights area to visit another we had identified previously, so that Matt could show us a newer house with all mod cons.
It was lovely but too big really for our needs. The ground area round about was miniscule. So we set about putting in an application for Plumb. A bit of paperwork to complete – and we are still waiting to hear…fingers crossed.
One of Maurice’s old Harley buddies, and former neighbour of ours, was in town on a lay over with his job – he works for BA. So we made contact and headed into the downtown area to meet him for a drink on the Friday night. But meantime the heavens had opened and we were treated to a major Houston thunderstorm. Rivers of water ran alongside the roads and pavements. Maurice drove – windscreen washers set at full speed couldn’t cope with the combination of torrential rain and spray from the other traffic.
We were glad to get into town in one piece. Parking proved a challenge but we eventually just parked at Paul’s hotel, met him there and crossed the road to the Flying Saucer pub which was pretty busy on a Friday evening. A couple of hours of chat and beer pleasantly followed.
I was the designated driver for going home having stuck to Perrier.
My condition had been to stay off the Freeways – I know you can do this – but even though the satnav was programmed thus, I found myself hurtling on to 59 North or whatever, and wanted off again immediately. Coming off was a mistake.
We got lost in the dark one way system of downtown which also has the added peril of the metrorail.
This is a tramway system – the rails for these pop up in unlikely places and you are left puzzling over if you are allowed to drive there or not. I figured not when I was faced down by a large tram with its headlights on heading towards me – I was apparently going the wrong direction on a one way tram line/street. A sharp turn right and I pulled in to the side of the road to both calm down and to get our bearings.
I decided to brave the freeways. I was relieved to come on to the 8 lane highway which seemed so preferable to a warren of one way dark streets. I navigated home with the help of satnav and Maurice who remained remarkably calm throughout this whole experience – must have been the Lawnmower beer.
I needed a few vinos when I got home.
The next day, Saturday, had a bit of a strange feel about it. One of those in between days when it is hard to figure out what day of the week it actually is.
Our mission today was to look at used cars at CarMax.
This is a supermarket for cars – mega, mega huge with a confusing choice of options. Maurice had seen a Mustang he was keen on (I’m not) and so we sat down with the ever-so-helpful sales person to look at the deal. One thing about CarMax – you get what you pay for and there is no negotiating involved. What you see is what you get which does make things straightforward.
We do need to buy a car before 12 January or pay for additional rental costs ourselves. Chevron pay for 2 weeks and give you that time to get sorted.
We also checked out the VW Tiguan and Maurice kept salivating over the Corvette in the showroom – a truly ridiculous car that he would love and I would hate.
Onwards from there we stopped by The Burger Palace for a lovely lunch before heading home.
After a short break we headed out to the Galleria where I had been the day before, to give Maurice an idea of how close we were and what was there.
He did think that over $2000 for a skimpy jacket in Neiman Marcus was ridiculous and I thought $500 for a really uninspiring work style skirt was completely overpriced.
We won’t be shopping there routinely.
Sunday was a lovely day. We headed to Hermann Park for a walk and a wee trip on the kiddie train.
We tested out routes from our preferred house on Plumb to the office and Maurice practiced driving to Smith St for the start of work tomorrow. I practiced driving too – with less success but still – I managed, albeit it always nearly ends in divorce or tears or both! We lunched at the quiet Thai restaurant near Randalls and then chilled for the evening so that Maurice could be rested for his big day tomorrow.
Can’t believe we have done so much in such a short space of time. We know (roughly) where we would like to live, we have options on cars – just need to choose and get Maurice to remain sensible, and we are beginning to quite like Houston.
That could now all change – we really can’t take the house on Plumb – they only want to lease for 6 months which is no use so back to the drawing board…
Whole Other Country 
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