crash, bang, wallop, what a blog post

i'm just going to skip any apologies about it being forever since i've posted on this or my pub blog. 


things you might be interested in. or perhaps not:


we've moved. we're no longer living in the sticks--way out in Guildford. commuting is a breeze, for me. i started out being really good at walking every day, it's about 3.2 miles one way, but realised i just sweat too much. i spend the rest of the day incredibly self-conscious about it. so then i tried to keep up with walking home every day, but just got lazy. i've learned (due to my apparent keen sense of smell) that a lot of other people in the office jog/ walk to work and--holy crap--they smell. there is a shower in the basement, but it's pretty well-used, and the water pressure i'm told is non-existent. so i keep making excuses for not exercising every day, but i'm hoping to guilt myself into it soon. 


i'm working out my notice at the jay-oh-be. i had to give 2 months, which is crazy. feels like the longest detention, that i'm in solely for taking the jay-oh-be in the first place. i just fancy a change. realise it's not the best time to hunt for work, and i could be much more diligent in the process, but i really am just done where i'm at. not sure where i'll be heading next in that regard, but i have a solid 5 weeks to find something promising.  


i still don't have my UK driving license, but i'm working on it. i took some lessons last year, which went well. we went to a music fest, ATP (i can still drive on the US one, but eventually, i want a car. and to learn to drive manual...), where we rented a car and drove across the country. i decided to practice my manual driving skills. it was a 4 hour trip one way, complete with a now-friend-but-at-the-time-total-stranger in the backseat--but he was good at not crying or freaking out every time i stalled and had random people swearing and honking at me. which was frequently. i haven't been in the manual since--only because the holidays then happened (rented automatic when mom came over, didn't want to deal with two backseat drivers telling me about the biting point whilst stuck in a crowded round-a-bout), and i just got out of the habit. 


we're heading back to the States in Sept! can't wait to see the fam, pinch the nephew cheeks... eat delicious food. see you?


i'll try and be better about all this posting. no promises.


some explanation on the title if you're not in the alan partridge know

same language, or so i'm told

it's easy to find references for the grammatical differences between american english and british english. but none of these are helpful at all on a day-to-day existence. idioms are one thing; but, even though i've lived here before, and learned a lot of the seemingly small variations in the seemingly inoffensive phrase, 'are you alright?', i CANNOT get used to the husband asking me this question!

if you're asked this question by an american, or in the states, it usually means, 'holy god, you're bleeding profusely from the head, are you alright? do you need medical care?' or 'you seem like you're having a mental breakdown, are you alright? do you need a bottle of whiskey?' you know, something like that. just used when someone seems in need of actual care or attention--blood, sweat, tears kind of querie...

the british usage--from what i can gather, closely resembles the tried and true phrase, 'hi, how are you?' or sometimes, 'hey, you look low on tea, would you like another cup?' but being american, when someone asks me 'are you alright?' it instigates a small tinge of panic.

i usually try and find a mirror to make sure my appearance isn't that out of the norm--hair relatively calm, no blood dripping from my nose i didn't know about, etc. when that seems fine, i reply with, 'yeah, everything is fine, why?' to which the british person just kind of makes a confused face, shrugs, walks away. i've learned to just reply, 'yeah.' but god forbid anyone saying, 'no, i'm not alright.' that response is met with equal confusion/disdain/ambivalence. in that case, the brit isn't asking how you are, or if you want tea--they're really just trying to make a pleasantry, much like an american would say, 'hello!'

this might not seem like that big a deal, but this phrase is asked of you wherever you go, by strangers, shop assistants, flatmates, husbands, friends, over and over and over and over! i can get used to it in public, get used to friends, but the husband--every time, it makes me uneasy and defensive. i guess it's just one of those things.