Living in America 2015

[rootypig]

New thread. In honour of:

1. allegedly Irish bangers discovered I saw in Trader Joe's today, which made me think of you lot and especially you Want2b, you pork fanatic - I will report back; and

2. taxes bloody argh! do I have to do this? NOW??? My green card was granted in August last year and I didn't earn a bloody penny. What am I supposed to put on a tax return

How else is everyone's American odyssey going?

yours chaotically, as ever,

rooty

How was everyone's Memorial weekend?

We flew to Florida for a friend's wedding. It was so nice to get away from the non-stop storms and flooding for a few days! I can highly recommend St Petersburg for a beach vacation with little ones. Sadly yesterday we landed straight back in to it and had to drive up from Dallas (where our flight came in) to OKC in torrential rain, listening to the radio for tornado alerts.

I did see an article on the weather channel website (because living here has turned me in to such a weather nerd) about how El Ninio (which has been causing all this chaos) will also bring a cooler-than-usual summer to the central states. I really hope this is true! I love the idea of a summer spent outdoors after being robbed of most of our spring by these crazy storms.

MrsF glad Florida was good! I would love to check out Florida - people in NJ love it (I have plenty of friends with parents who retire to FL!). But the weather - omg! Looks awful and have been thinking of the Tx and OKC mumsnetters.

Want2 hope you had a good trip!

Hi flip. Trip was busy. Flying in and out of brum was so much easier. I'm keeping that option open.

The weather here is horrible. Luckily no flooding on my street but the back end of town was flooded out, as it always is with heavy rain.

No rain here since Friday. I really, really hope we're done for now! On the bright side, for the first time since 2010 there is no drought...

Want2be which airline did you fly out of Brum with? ILs are coming out in October and they live in the West Midlands.

I flew with American Airlines. Go on google flights to get the cheapest days. Just to warn you, the plane is very very old. No screens on the back of the seats and the staff are very no frills. I don't mind this at all and loved that they were so 'efficient'.

Want, glad you had a good trip and also glad you don't get flooding in your bit of Hoboken. AA is the one airline I've vowed not to ever fly with again after a terrible experience with a cancelled flight out of dublin two years ago (terrible customer service, awful staff, plane was ancient, they were no help with rebooking us - thank God for Expedia!). We're going with Jet Blue to Boston and then Aer Lingus to Shannon when we go back in July.

It's been quite chilly here in NJ lately and I've quite liked it (am so rubbish with heat and humidity!).

We usually fly United instead of AA because I can't stand that weird bloody pizza thing that they serve on every single transatlantic flight!

I'm getting rather annoyed with United though, because they always seem to have the brand new planes with the swanky entertainment systems on the shorter US to UK flights (where we always fly overnight anyway so the kids sleep and don't need entertaining) then use the ancient planes for UK to US, which are always longer daytime flights where we could really use more than one kid's film playing on a loop.... And I swear the time we flew with them the plane was so old it was not air-worthy! Bits were falling off my seat and when I looked underneath it to retrieve a dropped toy I saw exposed wires poking out of the floor. I may need to reconsider my feelings on wretched AA pizzas.

There was no pizza on the AA flight to Birmingham. Best flight overall has been delta followed by Jet Airways (Indian airline going through Brussels).

How is aer lingus? We called them agh fungus after a couple of terrible flights. Thinking to try them via Dublin and fly into Liverpool so we avoid Manchester airport.

Also, United is very hit or miss. The old continental crew here at Newark are amazing. They have complained to DH about a few things, one of them being the huge focus on China to the detriment of routes to Europe. It's why those flying to Europe who end up with the really old planes and many more delays.

Want2 how interesting about the focus on the Chinese routes! Makes economic sense I guess...I don't have high hopes about Aer Lingus tbh. Haven't flown them transatlantically in years (and last time was pre kids and the plane was ancient then!) but Shannon makes sense for us as we'll be at a family reunion right near it before we return plus we can do immigration there, saving some (crucial) time on arrival back to the US. Since we decided to avoid flying via London (or other connecting Euro city) until the kids are older we're just going to suck it up for a while (but still avoid AA!).

Interesting about United and AA's revised menu (we visited the U.S. fairly frequently between 2002 and moving here in 2013, always flew AA and were always served that bloody pizza!).

Sadly we don't have as much choice of airlines as y'all on the east coast as we need to do an internal flight first to get out of Oklahoma (no international airport [eye roll]) and it makes more sense to use the same airline for both flights.

Our next UK visit will be at the end of next month, so we need to get planning I guess.

MrsF I could not do Oklahoma! Having to deal with tornadoes is one thing but the airport situation would drive me over the edge.

It amuses me that OKC's main airport has the nerve to call itself "Will Rogers WORLD Airport", on the basis of the occasional flight to Mexico. It also amuses me (darkly) that the people OKC's two airports are named after - Will Rogers and Wiley Post - both died in a plane crash.

The saving grace is that direct flights from London to OKC would be loooonnng! In some ways it suits us better to fly for a few hours up to Chicago or DC, let the children have a run around while waiting for our connection, then tackle the 6-7 hour long haul rather than expect them to sit still for 9-10 hours straight. Plus, being domestic, Will Rogers is a nice homely little airport with friendly staff and very cheap parking. The feeling of arriving "home" will never be tainted by the horror of queuing to get through US Immigration...

Two years in Oklahoma has turned me into Pollyanna I think!

That is hillarious! The only redeeming aspect of flying with SAS or other non Us based airlines is that we normally whizz through immigration on arrival at Newark. Apart from the time SAS didn't put DD on the flight list! It also helps that DH is known at Newark airport by the TSA agents and when the line was long they have ushered us to the special entry section normally used for famous people or those flying in on private planes.

So I had to share this from my morning breakfast with a friend who had serious fertility issues which included 2 stillborn babies.... I mentioned to her in conversation over brunch that we are probably going to go for #3 soon and as DH wants 4 DC it would awesome if I could have twins so I wouldn't need to do a 4th pregnancy as I'm terrible at gestating. She thought I was being serious and proceeded to tell me how to get chlomid online and named 4 other mothers I know in town who have twins who did the same plus text me a website for it. I have wondered about those mothers because it was their 2nd or 3rd pregnancy when they had twins. I just assumed they had some help under doctors care due to fertility issues!

I've never felt more British in my life. Who in their right mind goes behind their DHs back to conceive multiples because you don't want to have multiple pregnancies!?! I have lived here for 10 years and I walked away with that 'Only in America' thought that last ran through my head about 5 years ago. These people are bloody crackers. I did check out the website my friend gave me out of shear fascination in a train crash way and my goodness there are people from the UK at it too! How do we have these crazies in the UK now? My mind is blown at the creep of American stupidity into British life.

I love Aer Lingus to Dublin. Never had a bad experience, and have flown with babies, toddlers, etc. from both Chicago and JFK, though I hate JFK with a passion. If you fly back with Aer Lingus you can go through immigration in Dublin and skip the lines when you disembark in the US.

I wouldn't worry too much about the creep of american stupidity into UK life Want2BSupermum. Just read the Daily Mail occasionally. loads of UK stupidity around -no need to import.

I live extremely close to Canada. the other day I drove past a field with a long strip of Tarmac diagonally across it, and a shed in one corner. Yep, that would be an international airport around here.

Tbh, you could have an international stone throwing contest if you wanted.

Well I don't read the daily mail! I read it once for an English assignment at school and told the teacher I felt like the paper stole some of my brain cells so I wasn't reading it again.

I'm going to try Aer Lingus for our next trip. Doong immigration in Ireland sounds wonderful.

Want2

Just booked two nights glamping in yurts in ireland with an old friend and her kids - roll on late July when we head over! Really looking forward to a few weeks at home (with a weekend in London thrown in!). I'm expecting Aer lingus to have rubbish old planes but the immigration bonus (and helpful staff) will make it easier.

Hi, can I join please? Just moved to the states (Ohio) about 2 weeks ago, from the UK.

We have an 8 month old DD so I need to buy a few baby related things for baby proofing the house, she is so close to crawling! (didn't bring UK equivalent with us because the plugs/voltage etc would be wrong)....

We need a baby monitor (video ideally).....what brands are trustworthy? In the UK I would go for something like BT I guess, any recommendations for US products?

Also, are plug socket protectors recommended here? I think they are not in the UK now but unsure about US because they only have the 2 prong system....

Lastly, who do you generally speak to for baby/health related advice....since they don't seem to have a HV service here. We've registered our DD with a paediatrician but don't have our initial appointment until next week and Ive not found myself a GP yet...... On that note, I have a few Gynae issues, will I need to register with an OBGYN or does your ?GP have to refer you? (We have the fullest coverage insurance you can get if that changes things??? Don't really understand how it all works tbh!!)

Thanks :)

Hi, I'm in Michigan so practically your neighbor. Your insurance will determine how you get referred. I used to spend hours on the phone going through details and checking that I was covered. Each and every doctor will have different arrangements with insurance, so even if you see a doctor in the same building as another, check with insurance that they cover that doctor. Doctor's receptionists are also pretty good and often check things for you.

I have no idea about baby proofing stuff, but I don't think you can do plug sockets as the power is on all the time anyway. Also never seen baby gates much. If you have a room that can be turned into a play room people might put up a gate, but here we have semi open plan and it's free range for babies.

Whereaboutsin OH are you?

Motorola have good ones. The model I am familiar with is easy to set up and has both video and audio plus microphone so you can freak your baby out by talking to him from the kitchen

YYY please put socket guards into your sockets. DS once put a staple he found on the floor into an outlet when he was in his bedroom one morning. I only realised he had done this hours later when I noticed a black mark on his thumb and up his little chubby arm while washing hands before lunch, then by chance noticed a black smudge on the wall near the outlet that was sort of behind his bed but still reachable, with a staple hanging out of it. I had to phone the doctor and they had me take him in to check his heartrate. They were very stern with me about not having an outlet guard.

If you have some gynae issues, then check your health insurance for doctors in your area who accept your particular plan and make an appointment yourself. It doesn't matter how much you are covered for -- what matters is that you go to a doctor who accepts your particular insurance. If you go to a doctor who doesn't accept your insurance then you will be left with a bill on top of your annual deductible or family deductible and out of pocket threshold. You can look for recommendations on yelp or rate my doctor type of sites. You do not have to be referred to a specialist in the US unless you are in an HMO afaik.

There are no HVs so you basically wing it. Maybe buy a few baby books. Your pediatrician should give you a schedule of vaccinations and remind you to make an appointment for your visits well ahead of time. Since this is summer there will be legions of children getting well child visits and shots in time for school in most pediatrician offices, so please make sure to arrange your next appointment if your doctor wants to see your baby before the end of August.

Welcome Abso. We used Amazon reviews to figure out what was good or not. Most of our baby stuff that we bought new came from target. Not sure if you have buy buy baby in Ohio but if you do use them and see if you can use the 20% off coupon (they also honour bed bath & beyond coupons).

If you want to buy second hand craigslist is awesome and look on FB for local buy/sell/swap pages.