22 May, 2006 (Monday) An hour short of St. Louis, Missouri
Bugs, bugs, bugs
In the last week everytime we stop for fuel one of us has to spend 5 minutes scraping squashed bug carcasses from the front windscreen.
They form a splattered layer across the front. It's like middle-American bugs are madly kamikaze-ing in a bid to prevent Sean and I from reaching the East side of the continent.
Actually, I've noticed that the last few states we've passed through have been bug infested; little flying gnats, funny looking beetles and flies. When we were hiking the other day I found myself breathing through my nose as we walked through little bug clouds. I wonder how many I swallowed? (Picture: Demolished Tim-Tams - thanks Jae & Merv)
Working in Miles and Gallons
I'm semi-getting used to working in Miles and Gallons and Farenheit. Well kind of. Miles are probably the easiest - 1.6km to a mile. The others are trickier, conversion to Farenheit always leaves a sheen of sweat on my brow.
Hey - maybe somebody can explain to me why the US continues to stick to the Imperial method of measurement - inches, feet, miles, gallons etc etc? It doesn't seem all that logical. No wonder so many kids turn out warped. For one, I thought they'd want to be free of any residual vestige of their English ties. The very word 'Imperial' is a few eras back (late note: noticed that New York numberplates byline is "The Empire State". Kept on getting Star Wars flashbacks). I guess being grateful to the French for their assistance in the war for independence only goes so far? Then what about ease of use and standardisation? It might take changing a few text books and road signs, but it'd make things a hell of a lot easier... for us visiting Aussies anyway.
Today we passed through St. Louis and Indianapolis.
In the last week everytime we stop for fuel one of us has to spend 5 minutes scraping squashed bug carcasses from the front windscreen.
They form a splattered layer across the front. It's like middle-American bugs are madly kamikaze-ing in a bid to prevent Sean and I from reaching the East side of the continent.Actually, I've noticed that the last few states we've passed through have been bug infested; little flying gnats, funny looking beetles and flies. When we were hiking the other day I found myself breathing through my nose as we walked through little bug clouds. I wonder how many I swallowed? (Picture: Demolished Tim-Tams - thanks Jae & Merv)
Working in Miles and Gallons
I'm semi-getting used to working in Miles and Gallons and Farenheit. Well kind of. Miles are probably the easiest - 1.6km to a mile. The others are trickier, conversion to Farenheit always leaves a sheen of sweat on my brow.
Hey - maybe somebody can explain to me why the US continues to stick to the Imperial method of measurement - inches, feet, miles, gallons etc etc? It doesn't seem all that logical. No wonder so many kids turn out warped. For one, I thought they'd want to be free of any residual vestige of their English ties. The very word 'Imperial' is a few eras back (late note: noticed that New York numberplates byline is "The Empire State". Kept on getting Star Wars flashbacks). I guess being grateful to the French for their assistance in the war for independence only goes so far? Then what about ease of use and standardisation? It might take changing a few text books and road signs, but it'd make things a hell of a lot easier... for us visiting Aussies anyway.
Today we passed through St. Louis and Indianapolis.
posted by the wastrel @ 8:25 AM
3 Comments:
At June 01, 2006 8:39 AM,
Anonymous said…
Well my daughters ( 26 and 24) are doing the exact opposite. They are Canadians and have set off for Australia for their quarter century crisis. they too began in San Francisco..and ended up in Sydney. Actually eldest is goign to university there and the next in line is having the travel fun..currently in Whitsundays, and she was able to work the Commonwealth games in Melbourne...
At June 01, 2006 10:20 PM,
the wastrel said…
Apparently the need to travel is a common affliction for my generation.
While I was in Canada some of my friends sent me an article from the Sydney Morning Herald which suggested it was a world-wide phenomena. Apparently all us twenty-somethings are wandering the globe, looking for something more in life. Is it a bad thing? I'm not too sure.
Where is your eldest studying? Thinking back, I wish I studied overseas. I think I spent too much time in air-conditioned offices... but that seemed to be the right thing to do at the time.
At June 08, 2006 4:07 PM,
Anonymous said…
Studying at University of New South Wales in Sydney- PHD in Engineering. We hope to make the trek to Australia in 2009 for graduation.
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