Oops, sorry. I'll call a doctor.
Status report Page 5,971
Ended up sleeping from 3am to 10am, so all good. You're right, you will still be here in the morning. But my morning starts at like 3pm GMT, so by the time it's 3pm my time it's 11pm your time. It's very boring on here when you are all asleep! Can I just rebel against my timezone and live in GMT instead even though I'm still here in the US? No, that won't work. My day job wouldn't be during my 'day', and I'd be going to bed in the middle of the afternoon and waking up at local-midnight. Someday I'll find a way to sneak into your country for good. Then I won't have to deal with time-zone woes anymore. Seriously, the bane of my existence. (I know it's a ridiculous thing to complain about, but it does drive me mad...literally...I lose sleep because of it, as you've all witnessed!)
Screens on windows are the norm here, yeah. Very useful. Don't you get a lot of bugs flying in if you open your windows?
Not much in the way of air conditioning in Oregon. It's not hot enough for long enough to really justify the cost. Some people have it, but I don't know anyone personally who does. Stores have it though. It's only over 100 degrees (what's that, 37C?) for about 2 weeks a year here. Heatwaves make me want to die, or murder everyone, or jump into the sea or something. I really don't like hot weather. It's cold and rainy most of the year here, which I much prefer. At least it's usually not humid here like it is in the deep south (and I think maybe also new England, but I'm not sure).
Zooomy McZooomface! Pass the wig over here!
[Edit: Oh wait, it's a scalp not a wig! Don't pass that over here. I don't want that!]
Yeah it's a bit gross, to be honest.
Most shops have air conditioning here, I think. Not sure about offices and things though?
We do get a lot of bugs in the house! It's disgusting. Along with almost everything else about summer.
My bedroom window is covered wih mesh so I can leave it open 24/7 and this helps keep the room cool and stop it turning in to a furnace during hot weather. It's also a good alarm clock because the birdsong wakes me up and if they are doing my head in because it's too early I can close the window for silence. I'm not bothered so much about flies because they quickly get seen and dealt with and I don't feel guilty killing anything like that but it's the crawly kind that will sneak in and take up residence somewhere. I can never kill a spider because they are not pests but I don't like to share my flat with them so when I see one in the house I have to go through the rigmarole of catching and booting it out and it always seems 100 times worse at night. It's satisfying when I release them outside and watch them scuttle off to freedom. They are no different to humans and just want somewhere warm and dry to have a snooze.
Davida, what part of the UK would you like to live in? When I was at school I wished I lived in America and went to a high school and would take a date to the prom every year and I played basketball for the county and was in the marching band and was a champion track and field athlete and climbed the ranks in the DEA and had a perfect life living the American dream in the lush green suburbs.... It was watching 80s Brat Pack films like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off that made me realise how boring my school life was in comparision 
Don't forget how cool American kids bedrooms used to be. Massive, lots of the latest toys, those sports pendants and a bloody phone!
And they seemed to all be driving around from about age 15.
Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 29th May 2017, 8:20 PMDavida, what part of the UK would you like to live in? When I was at school I wished I lived in America and went to a high school and would take a date to the prom every year and I played basketball for the county and was in the marching band and was a champion track and field athlete and climbed the ranks in the DEA and had a perfect life living the American dream in the lush green suburbs.... It was watching 80s Brat Pack films like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off that made me realise how boring my school life was in comparision
I got really good at capturing spiders when I took an arachnology course in college. We had to bring in a spider we caught each week as "homework". I found a pretty rare one, a trap-building relative of tarantulas that are hard to find, but it was out of it's home off looking for a mate and I stumbled across it. It was huge! It eventually died and I sequenced its DNA to add to an ongoing legitimate science DNA database thing. That was kind of neat. I like spiders.
My high school experience was more like the show "Freaks and Geeks" (great show, and worth checking out. it came out in 1999. I generally hate child actors, and high schoolers, but it's well written and compelling and realistic and on a par with Inbetweeners (I think it's a better show than Inbetweeners, actually). I was a band geek in high school, and didn't go to prom. Got to travel to some neat places to play at Jazz Festivals though. We played on stages at Disney Land twice and got free 3-day passes there. We got to see behind the scenes of Disney Land too. The underground tunnels and whatnot. It was extremely grimy and gross "backstage". The workers looked so worn down and depressed in their disney costumes while taking smoke breaks.
I've been thinking a fair bit about where I might want to live in the UK. And the short answer is, wherever I can find work. And not London, but maybe not too terribly far from London. I've been having some pretty funny email conversations in a sort of civil war between The North and The South, as far as which is a better place to live. I'm remaining neutral so far, and off to the side, so...Wales ? I think I could be happy in the north or the south, or wales, or scotland (though I don't know much about Scotland). If I lived in the north, maybe some midsized city, doesn't particular matter which one, but preferably at least near a city where comedians and bands tend to stop while touring. My favourite accent is a Middlesbrough accent, but it would be silly to move somewhere just because I like the way people speak there! If I lived in the south maybe somewhere in Somerset, or Kent, but both are probably way too expensive for me. Wales seems the most reasonable as far as cost of living. Carmarthen seems nice for some reason, but a little remote Newport maybe? Merthyr Tidfil? These probably seem like incredibly bizarre choices coming from an American...or from anyone, for that matter!
Everything is so near everything else that it almost doesn't matter to me exactly where I'd be. It's not like in America where 95% of the cities are too small or remote to be somewhere where touring acts play. Very few American acts even bother coming to Oregon, and if they do, it's a 150 mile drive for me to get to Portland where they play. It'd be really nice to be able to see live shows and have the chance to go to festivals and tapings and things. Sounds so exciting!
Quote: Davida Grimes @ 29th May 2017, 9:28 PMEverything is so near everything else that it almost doesn't matter to me exactly where I'd be. It's not like in America where 95% of the cities are too small or remote to be somewhere where touring acts play. Very few American acts even bother coming to Oregon, and if they do, it's a 150 mile drive for me to get to Portland where they play. It'd be really nice to be able to see live shows and have the chance to go to festivals and tapings and things. Sounds so exciting!
When I lived in Stroud I had to get the train to Holborn in central London a few times and it was amazing how different the two places were but it took just an hour to get there. I like the crazyness of a busy London but only because I know I can get on a train and an hour later I'm back in the countryside.
Ever since seeing Dumb & Dumber I've wanted to live in the idyllic looking Aspen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxo9wGA9qYg
Yessss.
Anywhere snowy with cute wooden cabins would do me. Canada, Alaska, Switzerland, there's probably even somewhere in Scotland like that.
Although I bet they have crappy wifi... 
Quote: zooo @ 29th May 2017, 9:25 PMAnd they seemed to all be driving around from about age 15.
The driving age for solo drivers is 16. Most kids are driving at that time.
Quote: zooo @ 29th May 2017, 10:42 PMAnywhere snowy with cute wooden cabins would do me. Canada, Alaska, Switzerland
There are places like that all over the northern half of the country - at least as far west as the Mississippi. In the Pacific Northwest, too.
My parents have rented a cabin in northern Michigan for August and September. My grandparents had a cabin on the same lake in the 40s-70s, so it's very nostalgic. We're going to scatter my brother's ashes there.
You can get your learner's permit at 15 though. Makes sense if you think about how spread out and massive this country is. . I needed to be able to drive the 20 miles to get into town for my summer jobs at age 16. No buses, and it's illegal to ride a bicycle on interstate highways. I think if I moved to the UK I wouldn't want to get a car. I really don't like driving. Canada is great, too. I wouldn't mind moving there someday if the US continues to be such a shit show politically and I can't find a way to move to the UK. I do like Oregon though. I just kind of want to try out a different part of the world. I've spent all my 27 years living in Oregon.
Zooomy McZooomface, you'd love Alaska. It's breathtakingly beautiful, and heavenly for hermits 
But yeah, internet and phone service would be a bit of a nightmare.
My life's aim is basically to live in Northern Exposure.
Quote: zooo @ 30th May 2017, 7:00 PMMy life's aim is basically to live in Northern Exposure.
You want to take all your clothes off in the snow?
Ha, no. Great show set in Alaska. Really funny. I need to rewatch that. Haven't seen it in years. Such great characters in it.
In the big smoke till tomorrow having applied for a Russian visa, eaten in Planet Hollywood (taster card took the edge off there) and seen Half a Sixpence. Dreadful show however.