Driving in the USA: I can feel my neurons re-wiring.

I’m definitely getting more used to driving the US. The only things I seem to have trouble with now is car parks (not parking so much, more being on the right side of the road).

The other one that seems to trip me out is the double take I have to do when coming off a four lane split highway onto local roads. Takes me a second or two to realise that I am not about to smack head on into another car.

I am sure that there are some lessons for neuroscience in how easily a human can adapt. Makes me wonder how visual pattern recognition works in the brain. Is it components, and if so - how are those components broken up.

The Crucible

When I was going through high school I read a book called The Crucible (it might have been a play - but we read it like a book, unless I actually read an adaptation). I assume that we were encouraged to read it not because of its literary value, but more for its value around understanding McCarthyism which would have been topical for people in the education sector - especially in the U.S.

What made me think about it? Well the book was set in Salem around the time of The Witch trials and was really a commentary on the witch hunt like behaviour of the House Un-American Activities Committee.

It is interesting the things you remember though because every time that I smell anything that even looks like a witch hunt I always think of Salem - of course its not the Salem in Oregon, its the Salem in Massachusetts, but the word association still works.

Sheriff and Police

One thing that we don’t see quite so much in Australia is the word Sheriff used. In the US, especially as I was driving through the smaller towns I occasionally saw a Sheriff’s car, and once a Sheriff talking to someone on the street. It made me wonder what the difference between a Police Officer and a Sheriff was since we really only deal with Police day to day in Australia (OK, well not day to day, unless you’ve done something really wrong).

This post on Yahoo! Answers provided some insight. The impression I get is that a Sheriff is assigned to a county to perform policing duties in towns which are too small to have their own dedicated police officers. This is in contrast to Australia where police officers are a resource managed at a state level. From what I read, a Sheriff is also an elected official.

Australia also has Sheriff’s but it seems that they are mostly related to the execution of warrants, especially in relation to evictions etc. Years ago I actually had a warrant issued against me because of a dispute with CityLink (oh joy). Can’t quite remember the detail now, but I think it was about a fine that I thought was cleared, but ended up not being cleared and then progressed to the warrant stage.

I’m really looking forward to Iron Man.

Andrew Sayer just tweeted a link to this Iron Man sneak peak. I think its the gadgets that interest me. I’ve always wanted a suit that allow me to fly. Kinda reminds me about this guy - although I don’t think the French guy is quite as dangerous

UPDATE: He might be swiss.

My log cabin fantasy.

No - its not that kind of fantasy. Ever since I got deeply entrenched in the technology business I’ve had a hermit like desire to hide myself away in a log cabin somewhere in Northern America. The idea is that it would snow all year round, I would have broadband Internet in the log cabin so I could do my work. When I wanted company I would ride my Snowmobile down into town to sink a few ales with the locals.

One of the things that I wanted to do on this trip which I am not going to have time to do is head up to Alaska. I wonder if I will get a chance to do that in the future - and if so I wonder if I could build a log cabin. Hey - its my fantasy - don’t rain on my parade!

Hrmmm. I wonder if it is possible to own land in the USA without being a citizen - would make for a good get-away spot.

Credit card debt reduction service advertisements.

Depending on which radio station I am tuned into I am hearing a large number of advertisement broadcasts for people who are struggling with credit card debt. I don’t hear nearly as many in Australia so I wonder what the economic drivers for it are. Is credit card debt worse in the USA than it is in Australia?

I don’t know how accurate these figures are but according to CNN there was a 315% increase in credit card debt between 1989 and 2006. I wonder if that is adjusted for inflation in wages. And this article on Ask Yahoo! suggested that in 2002 that approximately half of all credit card holders pay only their minimum monthly requirements.

To be honest, I think that Dave Ramsey has a point when he says there is no such thing as responsible credit card use. I have a (low rate no frills) credit card and am lucky enough to be able to pay it off to zero each month. That means that I seldom pay any interest on the card (so in that respect I am a bad customer), but because I tend to conduct a few international transactions - slugged anywhere between a few cents to a couple of dollars each time - all the time when I am touring in the USA.

Unfortunately, it seems like we are destined have to pay for the privilege of spending our own money at the same rate as we pay for spending someone else’s money - even if I have a debit card because my pain is actually the international fees not the interest.

I do wonder about debt reduction services though, they obviously aren’t doing it out of the kindness of their own hearts. They seem to negotiate payment of debt at a certain number of cents in the dollar which sounds a lot like declaring bankruptcy to me - do you ever really want to take that option? It seems like that would be an option of last resort.

Parking in San Francisco

When I went to Sandbox Suites in San Francisco I parked about a hundred meters down the road at one of those leave your keys joints. Once I explained that I didn’t know how long I was going to be I left the car there and walked down the road.

On my way back I picked up the car and the attendant noted my English accent. I pointed out that it wasn’t English, but rather Australian.

“Same difference” he said, at which point I became very self conscious and realised that unless you have a very nasal voice you are going to end up sounding English if you are an Australian in the US.

It reminded me of an incident the first time that I went to Seattle where myself a few friends from around the globe were sitting in a restaurant. When asked what I would like to drink I responded with “Merlot” (pronounced Mer low). A few minutes later the waitress brought back our drinks and plonked down glass of beer of front of me. I said, “I’m sorry, I was getting the Merlot” to which she replied yes, there you go, there is a “Miller”.

Realising my mistake I explained that I meant Merlot - the red wine. Still not getting through one of my English counter-parts stepped in and explained - at which point the subtle accent difference was enough to get common understanding.

I’m still amused by that little experience today and it taught me that its not the written word that binds us, but rather the spoken word (when it comes to face to face communication).

Radio coverage.

I’ve never understood the need for things like satellite radio but after spending a week travelling up the West Coast and having to change radio stations every fifteen minutes or so I can start to understand why it might appeal.

I might be wrong, but it seems the vast majority are locally operated affairs which means you fall in and out of range a fair bit. In Melbourne where I live I can tune into a station in the city and get it pretty much all the way out to Pakenham and even then I only lose it because of hills.

The other curiosity is that the names of the stations all seem to start with a K. I assume this is part of the licensing standard in the US?