Weather - 22c Cloudy with the risk of meatballs in the afternoon
I'll be in Atlanta for the next post but I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some quirks that I've been reminded of since arriving.
So here is a thing that I'd totally forgotten about the USA. Whatever advertised price it says for a thing, ignore it and add 50% to reach the figure you'll actually end up paying. I paid for a hotel room today and what with city tax, taxes (other, not specified), cleaning fee, single room supplement, VAT, GST, blah blah blah, the whole thing went from attractively reasonable, to flipping expensive! The same is true of shopping for clothes, and as for eating and drinking, if you don't leave a 20% tip for pouring a pint into a glass and plonking it down on the bar, they call the cops on you (not literally I'll admit, but the pouty faces for not handing over many many extra dollars for what is essentially someone just doing what they are paid to do is infuriating.) Yes yes, I get the whole minimum wage being made up for by the generosity of patrons thing but that's for the employer to make right, not me surely? Asking me to second guess what 'fair and reasonable' looks like is a lottery I'd rather not enter. If you want me to pay $12 for a gin & tonic with strawberry halves, just say so up front, don't leave me wondering if I've been stupidly generous or disappointingly thrifty.
Now I've got todays rant out of the way, we can concentrate on more pleasant matters. Rain. It rained unexpectedly in Savannah yesterday and made me a touch homesick. Fortunately it was just a shower, not 3 months solid of windblown drizzle, so it was only reminiscent, not an exact copy of UK weather. It did give me the opportunity to seek out a nice cup of tea in what was advertised as a cafe teeming with cats 'for your enjoyment'. Sadly no cats were in evidence and the cafe's USP rather floundered as a result. They made a passible attempt at tea making to their credit though.
One final thing. American public loos have all got a bit missing on the bum seat (see pic). I won't go into the reasons why there is a bit missing, that should be rather obvious. I think I rather like it. It does however encourage lifting and replacing laziness of course, and an unsteady hand just means more clearing up post-event (assuming one has the decency to oblige). In fact, now I come to think about it, I'm not sure it's very hygienic. It's an excellent idea, but somewhat let down by the peril of inaccuracy, and at the mercy of whatever shower head setting the male user might employ at the time.
This was meant to be a shot of cute cats by the thousand. Maybe they get Sundays off? Still, I rather enjoyed the solitude to be honest.
Let's face it, most men can't hit a cows backside with a banjo, so it goes down as a worthy effort at efficiency, but ultimately, flawed.
I'll be in Atlanta for the next post but I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some quirks that I've been reminded of since arriving.
So here is a thing that I'd totally forgotten about the USA. Whatever advertised price it says for a thing, ignore it and add 50% to reach the figure you'll actually end up paying. I paid for a hotel room today and what with city tax, taxes (other, not specified), cleaning fee, single room supplement, VAT, GST, blah blah blah, the whole thing went from attractively reasonable, to flipping expensive! The same is true of shopping for clothes, and as for eating and drinking, if you don't leave a 20% tip for pouring a pint into a glass and plonking it down on the bar, they call the cops on you (not literally I'll admit, but the pouty faces for not handing over many many extra dollars for what is essentially someone just doing what they are paid to do is infuriating.) Yes yes, I get the whole minimum wage being made up for by the generosity of patrons thing but that's for the employer to make right, not me surely? Asking me to second guess what 'fair and reasonable' looks like is a lottery I'd rather not enter. If you want me to pay $12 for a gin & tonic with strawberry halves, just say so up front, don't leave me wondering if I've been stupidly generous or disappointingly thrifty.
Now I've got todays rant out of the way, we can concentrate on more pleasant matters. Rain. It rained unexpectedly in Savannah yesterday and made me a touch homesick. Fortunately it was just a shower, not 3 months solid of windblown drizzle, so it was only reminiscent, not an exact copy of UK weather. It did give me the opportunity to seek out a nice cup of tea in what was advertised as a cafe teeming with cats 'for your enjoyment'. Sadly no cats were in evidence and the cafe's USP rather floundered as a result. They made a passible attempt at tea making to their credit though.
One final thing. American public loos have all got a bit missing on the bum seat (see pic). I won't go into the reasons why there is a bit missing, that should be rather obvious. I think I rather like it. It does however encourage lifting and replacing laziness of course, and an unsteady hand just means more clearing up post-event (assuming one has the decency to oblige). In fact, now I come to think about it, I'm not sure it's very hygienic. It's an excellent idea, but somewhat let down by the peril of inaccuracy, and at the mercy of whatever shower head setting the male user might employ at the time.
This was meant to be a shot of cute cats by the thousand. Maybe they get Sundays off? Still, I rather enjoyed the solitude to be honest.
Let's face it, most men can't hit a cows backside with a banjo, so it goes down as a worthy effort at efficiency, but ultimately, flawed.
You don't often see a left handed flush handle so for your 'convenience' this must have been pretty good by anybody's standard?
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