To be surprised at how advanced the US were to us?

[Hownoobrooncoo]

was watching an old movie earlier set in The 50's and a character mentioned her glass of champagne her 85 calories - would anyone in the UK even have known what a calorie was back then?

The first microwave ovens appeared in the home in the 50's in the US as well, same as TV remote controls - Jesus, we were lagging behind.

Midgies don't really tend to come into the house in my experience. Anyway, they're weeny weeny so they'd prob get through a screen if they really wanted to.

I'm English, haven't been to the U.S. so can't comment on them...

My Dad is good at DIY & fitted a shower up in the bath in the mid 80s so as children we ALWAYS showered each morning. Before he fitted the shower we still had a daily (shared) bath (& hair wash using a jug).

I always complained because the water pressure was low, so the shower was quite weak & i would get cold even under warm water.

Plus if Dad considered that we were 'taking too long' then he would kindly turn the hot tap on in the kitchen so the water in the shower would instantly turn freezing cold!!

I regret complaining now - as one of my best friends (now age 36) had a Dad who was clueless about DIY & preferred to spend money on his hobbies than on a) central heating (even just storage heaters or plug in electric heaters!) & b) putting up a basic shower - he didn't even bother to buy the type of shower with tubes that you have to fit onto each tap every time you use it.
I remember sitting in her bedroom in my coat, shivering, when i visited. The only heat in that house was (& still is) an electric fire in one room.

She remembers that when she moved out of home to a place with a shower in the bathroom - people commented on her 'shiny' hair - she realised with a shock that her hair was suddenly shinier basically because it was properly clean for the first time.
At home she'd washed daily, often twice a day, but the water was too cold to spend more than seconds rinsing her hair.

She also stopped suffering from the chest infections that she'd got every winter.
Her husband grew up in a similar home - to this day neither sets of parents have heating or showers. Yet they take holidays abroad....

I think bug screens on windows are a life saver. Last night we had massive June bugs bashing against the windows being drawn to the lights they were about an inch long en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllophaga_%28genus%29 I would seriously have lost my mind if I hadn't had screens all these years I'm a big baby when it comes to the insects here. (well that and snakes. shudder!)
Our local schools don't allow anyone to take showers after PE. I pity the poor teachers who stuck with a class full of teens on a sunny afternoon after PE.
Once we move back I will miss.
Long hot showers.
Bug screens
Wide roads
and more.

And why they (Americans) can't adopt the roundabout is beyond reason.

In some places, they are - BBC: Is the British roundabout conquering the US?

I'd LOVE to live somewhere with no roundabouts!

Roundabouts are so much better than 4-way stops or lights every hundred yards. The trouble with the few I encountered in the US was that we were the only ones who understood how they should work!

I remember explaining to an Irish friend how four way stops work -- she was astonished that people would just follow the rules when there is very little chance of being caught or killed if they chose not to.

We have a roundabout about 5 miles from our house (they're called circles). The NJ driver manual states that there are no laws for driving on circles and that drivers should use their common sense. Hahahahahahah - the words common sense and driving do not go together here. Some people just drive on to them without looking, others stop on the roundabout to let cars on, others cross lanes with no regard to any other drivers and then the uptight Brits stop and give way to traffic on their left (and usually get honked at by the local drivers as we're holding them up!).

I love how whenever there's an example of a child being sexualized, as in Toddlers and Tiaras or that little Vogue model (who was French) the gut reaction is "Oh she's from the US, they put eyeshadow and hot pants on them in the womb there" and then before we've turned around it's "oh they're soooo uptight about nudity, etc..." Pick one and stick to it, would you.

The new Wal-Mart in the biggest town close to us has roundabouts and has lost a ridiculous amount of business due to them...everyone hates them.

California DH and I were just talking about getting screens due to the junebugs we find bumbling around every morning. They are friendly though, if you just scoop them up and toss them out. They look terrible though. Oh and mosquitoes of course...

Gin where do you live in NJ? I've got some family there. :)

I thought mozzies were your state bird, Cheerful.

My dad has a T-shirt saying that, Voles. He's classy. :o

4 way stops are ok for some quiet junctions, I remember one somewhere round Memphis that was a four way stop on 3 lanes of traffic not so easy to work out who got there first

All traffic light intersections turn into 4 way stops if there's a power cut, and while it ain't pretty, people generally muddle through.

I'm in Union county Cheerful, 30miles west of Newark.

I think it's one and the same Cheerfulyank. If you sexualize children a la 'toddlers and tiaras' then nudity can no longer be innocent and appropriate and is considered almost the same as adult nudity.

A lot of parents here put cycling shorts under the skirts and dresses of little girls - even toddlers - so that they don't show their knickers when in the playground. I think that's insane!

I know, Elaine, I was kidding. :) As far as the cycling shorts thing goes, a lot of little girls I know don't want to show their underwear (though they probably shouldn't be thinking about it) and are much more apt to play and run around if they are wearing cycling shorts. If I ever have daughters I'll just put them in dungarees and circumvent the whole mess. :)

Gin my relatives are in Teaneck, which is maybe near-ish to you? By our standards anyway!

Wave back to you fridahio.

The only place I've ever heard a roundabout called a circle was in Dundee when I once asked for directions and was told to go to the third circle. Needless to say I had to ask for directions twice again to different people.

Currently got about 20 blue bottles in my house, I'm in London.

You need to look around for the dead body then!!!

I have one of those tennis bat type zappers from the pound shop, fab exercise trying to electrocute anything that flys in other than bees or moths.

squeaky, I was seriously starting to think there was a body or something mouldy in the house, but there's not...nothing smells...I don't think.

It's very weird, I dunno where they've come from.

California - Tesco sell small packs of their fragrance free own brand baby wipes - good for quick discreet cleaning of sweaty areas in a toilet cubicle when showers aren't available (eg after PE at school). (Not flushable so a spare plastic bag is good to put them in the bin).

Baby wipes plus a travel size antiperspirant deodorant spray & change of pants will definitely help your kids to avoid post-PE BO.

No need to miss long hot showers on return to Britain - i invested in a power shower for my home & an electrician installed it above the bath.
I'm on a water meter so ok, i'm quite quick, but it's hot & no issues with low water pressure.
(disclaimer - i cut back on other things, but the extra electricity costs for the power shower are worth it!)

Re: mosquitoes - i live near a river in SW England & the garden is full of them - they don't cause malaria here obv but i'm allergic to the bites & have had cellulitis from an insect bite.
You may not need bug screens but def get good insect repellent sprays!!

At an airport bookstall yesterday, behind two charming but rather large American ladies. They had spent three months in the UK and had immediately registered with Weightwatchers.

Apparently they had done extremely well at Weightwatchers and had lost two stones. The only problem was they didn't know what a stone was. Could the man on the till perhaps tell them what a stone was?

Without missing a beat, he told them that imperial measurements had been decimalised in the 70s and a stone was now 10 lbs.

It was worth getting the airport misery just to hear this conversation.

They were absolutely delighted to have lost 20 lbs though :)

Decimalised stone. You just could not make that up could you?