My year in pictures – well, just my selfies actually…..
Continue reading My Self (ie) – My Year
Tag Archives: ex-pat
Thanksgiving – a foreign perspective
If you are in the UK, generally speaking, you will not be too aware of Thanksgiving – it just passes you by. If you are in the US, you would have to be dead not to be aware of it. It signals the official start to the countdown to Christmas. Houses are bedecked, festive lights are popping up all over the city and the TV schedules have been taken over with Thanksgiving Day parades.
10 sure signs that you’ve had visitors…
We’ve had visitors! Rather a lot of them of late.
Here are the tell-tale signs that we have enjoyed the presence of family and friends in the past month.
No more rats….
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.
Missing Maurice….
No Maurice is not missing, but I am missing him.
A few days on your own is fine – very good actually – and I rather enjoy the luxury of having my own space and doing my own thing.
But nearly two weeks is more tedious. I end up speaking to myself a lot, and doing things I would perhaps not normally do.
Here is my guide to 16 things to do when home alone in Houston….
Rushed off our feet
We’ve been here nearly six months now. Six whole months. I can hardly believe it.
Our ducklings have grown. Well, technically they are not ‘our’ ducklings but we’ve adopted them as we have no other pets.
More of them later.
Yes, we’ve been busy of late. It started when friends Steve and Catherine came over for a Rush fest in May. Rush (for those who don’t know) are a Canadian prog-rock band much beloved of Mr P and so it was inevitable that on their last (hmm) US tour ever, which took in Houston, that we would have to go and see them.
Steve is a professional musician and plays with a Rush tribute band so he and his wife came over to join us at the gig in Houston. Catherine and I were Rush ‘virgins’ but soon got swept along with the true fans, wearing our t-shirts with pride and accompanying our excited husbands to the Toyota Center.
The gig did not disappoint. I am not sure I’m a complete convert – but I thoroughly enjoyed myself and loved the light show and animations that accompanied the music too.
Rush fans are a breed apart – following their idols on the tour, many seemed to have been to practically all the events. I marvelled at a) how they managed to travel so many locations and b) how they could afford this both in time off work and hard cash!
In a very, very small world moment I met someone after the gig in the hotel bar, where we all gathered afterwards, who turned out to be my sister-in-law’s nephew. Although I had spent some time talking to him and discovering acquaintances in common, we didn’t discover the main connection until he posted on my niece’s Facebook timeline to wish her Happy Birthday a few days later and I recognised the name. It really is a small world and a wonder that in a city of 2.4 million in the metro area and some 6 million including the outlying counties that I should meet an extended family member by chance, visiting for the Rush gig.
The next day we set off for New Orleans or NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) with Steve and Catherine. Why? To see Rush on Friday of course! And this time the boys would go alone leaving Catherine and I to shop and explore on our own. The journey down was a bit hairy as we had torrential rain en route. But by the time we got there the roads were dry and a gorgeous weekend followed with no rain at all.
Excitement was at fever pitch as Steve had won a ‘meet and greet’ with two of the three band members and so after a day of sight seeing they set off for the Smoothie King stadium like a couple of small children on their first trip to meet Santa. It nearly didn’t happen as Steve had taken special gifts for the band which were packed in a back pack. Back packs were banned. Much too-ing and fro-ing and pleading ensued and they got in eventually, meeting their heroes in a whirlwind of handshakes and photos, and then it was over. Gifts had been dispatched to an assistant – t-shirts from Steve’s charity event Rushfest in Scotland as well as other significant and personal items. They enjoyed the gig yet again, Catherine and I enjoyed our night out too, finishing with a couple of amarettos in a very nice bar.
We continued the weekend in New Orleans with a paddle steamer cruise the next day and of course a walk along Bourbon Street, although I think I will give that a miss next time! Too many stags and hens in evidence and complete drunken mayhem. I preferred perusing the Lafayette Cemetery, and exploring the mansions in the Garden District.
Our trip back to Houston was much drier than the outward journey and we arrived back in good time, tired but having had a great weekend. After a day in Galveston on the Monday, Steve and Catherine were set to leave on the Tuesday. But first we endured HHF – Houston’s Historic Flood.
Now, last post I mentioned the rain, which had been pretty bad up to a point. Well, on the Monday night our visitors were very impressed with the light show we put on for them – thunder and lightning which just did not stop. At all. For eight hours. And it rained torrentially for that entire time.
We didn’t realise the full extent of the flood till the next day when we switched on the TV. Maurice had received an email in the early hours, intimating that the office was closed so we knew things must be bad. But boy were we in for a shock. The Brays Bayou was higher than we’d ever seen, and many others had ever seen, in 30 years.
The journey to the airport with our visitors was hurried along, although their flight home was not until after 4pm we were taking no chances with what we may encounter on the roads. Thankfully we got there quickly and with little delay but not without seeing first hand the bizarre scene of cars floating along what to all intents and purposes was a river, but was in actual fact the freeway. The 288 had turned into a fast flowing deluge overnight.
What was most surprising was the rate at which things retuned to normal. The roads drained remarkably fast and the Bayou was down to reasonable levels in a matter of days. My photographs which illustrate before and after probably tell the tale better than I can in words.
There are still some tell-tale signs along the Bayou of the flood that dramatically came and went. Debris on the roof of the underpass we walk through regularly, indicating the level of flash flooding which took place well above. And a stranded fish on the bike and hike path, now decomposing and covered in flies.
Our ‘boys’, the ducklings, survived the flooding. probably pretty well really. A poor heron got stranded in our street and looked very lost on the night of the storm and there were a lot of abandoned or orphaned baby squirrels apparently.
The other night when I went to check on the ducks – twenty-one have become six since hatching – I was at the side of the pond where we usually see them when out of the bushes from the other side they emerged. Following their mother in an orderly fashion I swear they made a bee-line, or should I say duckling-line, for me. When I walked on to the small jetty to get up close, they followed me again, no doubt thinking I was going to feed them, but then just hanging out with me, dozing off and just floating along beside me. When I decided to leave, they swam off too.
Is it possible that they recognise the odd couple of duckling spotters that visit them regularly?
On JFK – you’ll need to wait until the next post for that…
Raindrops keep falling on my head…..
It’s been raining in Houston.
Not that bad by Houston standards but some areas have had torrential downpours and flash flooding. The Bayou has been up over the paths we usually walk, but it recedes as quickly as it rises.
However, to newbies like us it is a tad disconcerting to have tv programmes interrupted by horrible high pitched alert noises, followed by a screechy voice proclaiming doom to all. In a shouty male American accent of the Anchorman variety, the alert we got went thus:
“PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND NOW. ACT QUICKLY TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE!”
Now this would have been rather difficult since there is no ‘higher ground’ near us, so far as I know. Everything is dead flat. Well apart from the Bayou and that is lower than us so we just sat tight and resumed watching tv once the screechy voice had finished.
I looked out of the window and although there was a considerable downpour – you could tell from the drops of rain in the puddles – the water was not accumulating outside our house and so no need to climb the stairs just yet. But there may come a day when we’ll be grateful to be interrupted and thankful for the warnings – which we will heed to be sure.
Of course, we knew it would start raining very heavily day upon day – because we’ve just gone and bought bikes!
Maurice managed to get a rather nifty and fast one second hand for the same price I got a brand new one at Target. Here’s hoping mine does not fall to bits after a few miles – but so far so good.
Just before the inclement weather, we went exploring along the Bayou past the Hermann Park walk we normally take, along a bike trail which I believe goes all the way into the downtown area. We passed the most amazing residential area where the houses are ginormous and you are left wondering just how many people living in Houston can afford such palaces. And they must be a nightmare to maintain. You would need an army of workers – hmm I wonder if the occupants do indeed secure a variety of services (legal and illegal perhaps).
Back in the day – this was the deep south and the owners of the palaces of the time did rely on an army of workers to keep them in the lap of luxury. These workers were not paid, however, except with a roof over their heads and they were traded like livestock until Lincoln managed to win the war and win hearts and minds to his cause.
Still, it’s fun to cycle past and peer into other lives and occasionally glimpse a resident putting out the rubbish, or should I say, trash. Everyone is always so friendly “Hello, how are you?” invariably comes, and you are left with the feeble reply of “fine thanks, you?” uttered in two seconds, if you don’t, they have already turned and walked away or walked past. “Fit like” is so much more economic of one’s time and “nae bad” as much as you really want to offer.
Speaking of friendly greetings, Maurice recently had his hair cut at a Sports Cuts. This is a franchise that pops up in various shopping areas in Houston. This was Maurice’s first experience of Sports Cuts and as a new customer he was treated to a neck and shoulder massage in a special room, a hot towel facial massage and free shampoo and conditioner. As well as his haircut. And all for just $17 which is about £11. He also gets a free sideburn and neck trim on his next visit. Bargain. Although not as cheap as Mikes.
Each of the three hairdressers in the salon gave a simultaneous greeting when someone entered: “Hello and welcome to Sports Cuts!”. This was uttered each and every time a customer came through the door. However, sometimes one of them missed the cue: “Hello and welcome to Sports Cuts”, “..Sports Cuts !” came the echoing greeting, not quite in unison. Maurice chuckled.
Customer service US style never fails to amuse me. Take a recent visit to Whole Foods where a young man was oh so eager to please us while he scanned our groceries then asked for the cash. As Maurice presented his card “Credit or Debit sir?” “Debit” came Maurice’s reply. “Awesome!” said the lad. One of many instances where a word was used that really did not fully recognise the circumstances of its context. Anything less “awesome” than presenting one’s card to pay for groceries – albeit a Debit card – I have yet to find.
On the way back from our cycle run and we see the other side of Houston. Less than a mile from the mansions of MacGregor Drive and we see homeless people living under the bridges over the Bayou. A small pile of possessions heaped beside or under them as they lie slumped for shelter, settling in for the night. The bridges over the Bayou won’t provide much shelter tonight I don’t think.
Short and sweet – on consumerism in the USA
Very little time to do the blog this week so you’ll be pleased to know it is short!
I have been struck by how those that sell us ‘stuff’ over here can package and market so effectively – the stores are just full of those-things-we never-thought-we-needed-and-now-want.
The latest of these was a little package I picked up and showed to Maurice when we were shopping in our local Randall’s – very like Waitrose and actually Safeway.
The little package contained 4 gorgeously tiny little plastic containers with different coloured lids. So handy. So cute. But the look on Maurice’s face said it all – what on earth do you need those for?
He didn’t get it did he? It’s not about what you need over here – it’s about what you want.
I wanted those cute little plastic containers that would really not be used – too tiny for leftovers, and too unnecessary for knick knacks – which otherwise come in the containers they were actually sold in.
Maurice would rather wash out an old coffee tin for his guitar gadgets – ‘this will be handy’ he says.
Said tin is accumulating rust and still in the kitchen, nowhere near guitars.
Anyone who has ever flown courtesy of a US airline will be familiar with Sky Mall. The glossy brochure you get in your seat pocket is packed full of highly unnecessary but nevertheless desirable gizmos, gadgets and bonkers accessories – many for your pets. Obviously there is cat clothing, but also folding stairs for your dog to use to get up on the sofa or your bed. And also any number of variations on the garden gnome theme as well as glow-in-the-dark toilet seats.
This is clearly a society with too much wealth to spend on absolute rubbish. But you get addicted to wanting this garbage. It pulls you in until before you know it, you really, really NEED this stuff.
The masters of spin are the ad men. I have spoken before about the advertisements on TV here – interrupting your viewing enjoyment at every turn. Sometimes you do actually enjoy the ad – well, only if Matthew McConaughey is in it. And now I want a Lincoln.
Oh, before I forget, did I mention I passed my Texas Driving test?
This road ‘test’ is all of 10 minutes long. I wondered if I was actually going to do a left turn – and I think I only did 2. It is therefore much more understandable why the general standard of driving over here is so dire. You can drive on a probationer licence without any ‘L’ plates denoting your apprentice status. You can phone, text, drink, eat your dinner (many do) and generally move around lanes in whatever haphazard way takes your fancy. You honk your horn at will when someone takes more than a nano second at a junction. You don’t ever ever bother to let someone in to the line of traffic in front of you if you can help it. And don’t look at anyone lest they take a road rage hairy canary and reach for their gun.
Anyway, back to consumerism.
We need to ‘buy’ medical services and have done a search for doctors and Maurice recently also visited the dentist.
The dentist appointment here is a very different affair from at home. The dentist himself appears to be ‘working on’ a number of patients at once in conveyor belt fashion, so you may get left for long periods in your chair, in a slightly downward tilted position with implements and instruments hanging out of your mouth while you endeavour to keep your mouth open.
Maurice’s experience was not pleasant and has not ended. Oh and it’s not cheap. $2900 apparently for his root canal treatment – all paid by the insurance company.
Mad Men started its final run here last night. It gives a great insight into the rise and rise of the consumer society and is wonderfully evocative of the early 70s, when I was last living in the US…
Ok that’s all folks. The ducklings are in Hermann Park and I have to go and visit them.
Won’t have much time for TV and musings in the next 3 weeks – visits from family and then a trip to Europe and home beckon so I’ll ‘see’ you in May when I imagine the weather will be ramping up a few degrees.
Sex & drugs & rock ‘n roll!
Right – got your attention with my unashamed ‘click-bait’ headline!!!
So I lied.
Well – a little bit. There was Rock ‘n Roll – and the drugs – if you count my boring regular prescription for very minor health complaint.
But sadly, no sex – what do you take me for? My husband was away…
So this week I went to see Fleetwood Mac for the second time in less than 2 years. The first time was in Glasgow shortly after the Hydro opened and it was amazing. We had seats in the fourth row and could almost touch Lindsay Buckingham – and a lot of women would very much like to touch him – even at 65 (there’s the sex!) The day we saw them in Glasgow was Lindsay’s 64th birthday. He still plays like he absolutely loves it and his passion and skill are apparent for all to revel in.
This time I was accompanied by Erna in place of Maurice and we had seats relatively near the back of the Toyota Centre ‘floor’. So not such great seats but Christine McVie has returned and I was determined I would see the entire team in action. It lived up to expectation. They all really seem like they are having a great time – well, apart from John McVie who is the ‘quiet one’. This was their 60th gig of this tour. It was wonderful to hear some of the old classics they had to skip before because Chris McVie was not there to add her unique rendition. I last saw Christine McVie when she was with Chicken Shack…umpty tum years ago. We had sneaked into the gig in the Music Hall using old tickets from one of my mother’s coffee mornings! In the days when tickets were only printed bright green and in one shape and size, I have to assume. She is an amazing 71 years old!! Good grief.
I feel very fortunate to have lived in this era when fantastic rock music has developed and been played. I happened to watch Led Zeppelin in the O2 on TV this week – that’s one gig I really really wish I’d been to but alas did not have that opportunity. Will they play again? Many oldies but goodies are coming to Houston in the coming months including the Who and Bob Dylan. Got tickets for the Who but not Dylan – yet…
We do like our live music and this month have a fair few gigs lined up. It is Rodeo time in Houston! And there are excellent, mainly country, acts playing at the venue. We also go to see Joshua Radin next Friday evening so I’ll report back on that.
Being as I was out on the town on Tuesday night, I decided I needed some hair treatment prior so managed to get an appointment with a salon nearby.
My first hair-doo in Houston.
And hairdressers are most definitely the same the world over. Non-stop chit chat. My ‘Texas approved cosmetician’ was Tina, originally from Vietnam. Very slim and pretty with immaculately coiffured long hair with a touch of colour and curls, she was of indeterminate age – but probably somewhere in the 50s though really looked in her 40s. She’s been here for many years – however still has a very strong Vietnamese accent. Now, a Vietnamese accent speaking in a sort of Texan drawl is very tricky for a born and bred Aberdonian to comprehend. I found myself nodding and smiling appreciatively in a random fashion, hoping that the reaction was the correct response to the previous paraphrase. I did learn an awful lot about Tina in a very short period of time. She had been married to a Vietnamese gentleman who sadly died. Or perhaps not so sadly as she proclaimed Vietnamese men to be ‘bad men’ ‘ not nice at all’. Apparently ‘they are ok at first but after 2 years they are horrible’. So sweeping aside her sweeping generalisations – I enquired if she had married again? Oh yes. She replied that she had married ‘ah choo’. I was a bit puzzled till I realised she meant she had married ‘a jew’. Oh ok, I thought. A jew – and also kind of wondered what his jewishness had to do with it – but I imagine for a Vietnamese middle-aged hairdresser this was worth mentioning to me. He had been a customer for 10 years and then they got together and have been married for 2 years. There was a great deal more to the tale than this – but I could not accurately reflect the intimate detail in this space.
My hair was cut ‘n coloured for a very reasonable price by US standards and looks fine so I imagine I’ll see more of Tina and hear more rich stories of her life in the US and her scattered family in Hong Kong, Paris and Houston.
The rest of my home alone activity has been pretty normal. The only other thing to note is I have booked my driving test for 31 March. We (Debbie, my instructor and I) went out to the DPS – Department of Public Safety (which seemed like it was many miles away) to register and it was a painless enough. The only shock to the system was leaving the house at 7.30 and navigating rush hour traffic. Debbie drove there, thankfully. However, she did have her mobile phone in hand the entire journey and sent numerous texts pertaining to the appointment at the DPS as well as other texts to her husband while driving. And I mean while driving, not when we were stopped in traffic. It is just endemic here – everyone has their phone to hand while driving – it is truly horrific.
Ok, now to the 10 things I have done in Houston that I have not done before:
- Driven on a US highway and also on a toll road: completely terrifying at first but slowly gaining confidence. I even drove to and from the aforementioned Fleetwood Mac gig on the highway with the encouragement of Erna who is very confident at driving over here.
- Had my hair cut by a Vietnamese Texas approved cosmetician – as already described.
- Built a ‘breakfast nook’ for the kitchen: that was a whole Saturday activity for Maurice and I. Flat pack furniture is ‘such fun’.
- Hung pictures with ‘invisible strips’: am trying not to make too many holes in the walls of the rented house so these velcro type strips are really useful though not sure I fully trust them. Time will tell.
- Set a burglar alarm every time I leave the house: not sure we are really in a vulnerable place being as we are ‘gated’ but better safe than sorry. That and our insurance demands it.
- Gone on ‘date nights’ on a Thursday: awww I hear you say. This is only when Maurice is off on the Friday.
- Signed up for Netflix in my own right instead of pirating Becky’s account: and so I can watch House of Cards and other great TV and films. There is a difference here with what’s on offer – it depends where you access from what you can see.
- Watched Game of Thrones: still watching through my fingers as my stomach can’t take all the gore.
- Registered for a US social security number: and also applied for authorisation to work legally here.
- Sunbathed, at home, in January….
However with regard to number 10 – the weather is so unpredictable as reported before. We are once again colder than Aberdeen but sunny.
Here’s hoping it brightens up for the girls’ visit next week.
Yee Ha for now and I’ll keep y’all posted on the Rodeo!
Our neighbourhood – or should that be neighborhood….
Here are some images of the area near where we live – just a few words this time (skip the words and scroll to the gallery if you must…)
The weather is very Spring like just now – beautiful clear blue skies – and not hot at all.
We are lucky to have Hermann Park on our doorstep and hike and bike trails and a lovely walking area nearby.
The only downside about living in the Medical Center area is that we hear emergency vehicles pretty regularly, including the odd helicopter. Mind you, we lived under the helicopter flight path in Bridge of Don so no worse than that. There are very few sirens at night – no need, I guess, as the area is pretty quiet. We have witnessed a sort of strange Medical Center rush hour at 6.30pm – not sure if it’s due to shift changes or visiting time but apart from that – pretty quiet. Much like Cornhill Road only the hospital acreage is a tad larger by a factor of 10 – Foresterhill occupies 125 acres and the TMC (Texas Medical Center) over 1300. The largest in the world, apparently, and I can believe it!
Those so inclined can find out more about the TMC:
To navigate the images, click on the first one and then use the scrolling bar – or swipe or whatever your device lets you do!
We live in the Medical Center…
Looking across the golf course in Hermann Park
Houston Zoo
Houston Zoo
Houston Zoo
Medical Center skyline at dusk
Strange pink poo like sculpture
Keep Houston beautiful
Keep Houston green
Feeding the birds
Hermann Park
Hermann Park
Keep Hermann Park clean – and it is!
McGovern Lake
Ducks and others
A family of ducks
Tea time for the family
Tea time for the family
Duck
Ducks and something furry….
Getting all my ducks in a row
Not ducks but grackles (I think) with something furry
Duck
Duck
Pretty little ducks
More ducks
Nutrias – otherwise known as Coypu – at Hermann Park
Coypu
Coypu
More coypu
Coypu or Nutria depending
Coypu
Oi get off my food
Is it safe for me to get out?
A flag over the zoo at dusk
Golf course at dusk
Entrance to the park at dusk
MD Anderson Cancer Center
At least 3 of these buildings are the MD Anderson Cancer Center
Near the park at dusk
Number of seconds left to cross after the walking man shows and I walk – just make it!
Only just
Better timing this time!
The Bayou near the house – the people at the water edge are watching the fish
Scotsmen get into odd places
Christopher Columbus – Is this India??
Old and new together
Pretty little fountain
Leafy streets in Montrose – that’s Montrose Houston not Montrose Angus!
Lovely houses in Montrose
Spot the squirrel
Leafy avenue near Rice University
The ‘Fem bots’ of the Medical Center from Rice
Rice uni alumni…
Our bridge
Bridge named after
Ok not in our neighbourhood – this monument depicts Stephen F. Austin, the “Father of Texas” as he crosses the Brazos River on horseback. This is in Sugar Land.
Lovely pedestrian bridge over the Bayou near to our house
Bridge
Bridge
Maurice on bridge
Lovely pedestrian bridge over the Bayou near to our house
Whole Other Country 
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