Moving back to the US after living abroad
So I was surprised to read that it is actually owned by German supermarket kingpins.
Even though it’s a chain, Trader Joe’s comes across as a quirky neighborhood shop, thanks to the Hawaiin shirts the employees wear, and the unique items on offer (pumpkin pancakes and low-fat chocolate yogurt come to mind).
I am now eager to take a trip to Germany to visit some other shops owned by the Albrecht family. I can only hope that free lollipops are the international norm.
I’m quite sure that getting legal clearance to work abroad didn’t used to be such a lengthy process. When I moved to the UK in mid-2001, I waited about two months for a work permit to come through.
I wonder if Piers would have better luck if he married an American, and scored a green card…
As someone with a bad case of voter guilt, I will head to the polls (again!). I almost envy people who blow off election days, without giving it a second thought. My parents were always hard-core voters, so I would really struggle to sleep at night if I missed one.
I can only hope that enough people turn out on Tuesday, so we don’t have another run-off. Three elections in three months would just be too much, even for hard-core voters like me.
Here in Atlanta, where we’ve been living for a year and a half, we discovered that Starbucks employees have not heard of the free cup of frothed milk for kids. They would gladly pour and froth milk for us, but it would come at a price.
But now, thanks to a friend who is also a mom, and a frequent Starbucks visitor, we have discovered a new drink: water, with a splash of passion fruit tea. The lovely pink color will delight Starbucks fans with daughters.
And sometimes, like the babyccino, it’s free.
A massive limb fell across our front yard this morning, entrapping our car, which was fortunately empty at the time.
But what was eerie about the collapse wasn’t just the sheer size of the limb. It was the fact that it had looked so sturdy. It snapped out of nowhere on a sunny, windless morning. I thought that tree limbs fell because of storms, or strong winds.
It doesn’t seem to be all that uncommon an occurrence in tree-filled Atlanta. Several neighbors who walked by to observe the carnage said that the same thing had happened to them. They nodded sagely and said that Bradford Pear Trees were usually to blame.
I was impressed by how quickly the City of Atlanta came to saw up and take away the fallen tree. We called them at 8:30 AM, right when they opened for the day, and they arrived within the hour.
After assessing the damage, the foreman of the cutting crew said: “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to take down the entire tree.” His tone implied that I would be dismayed by this diagnosis.
After watching the carnage caused by a tree that did not appear to be damaged, or hit by any lightning or other force of nature, I couldn’t wait to see the tree come down. In fact, I wanted to suggest that they take a few others down too, while they were at it, but they seemed ready to move on.
They suggested that I call an “arborist” from the city to check the health and safety of the other trees. I never thought I would use a word like arborist in a sentence, but I guess that’s what living in a tree-filled city for a year will do to you.
The question is — which airline?
Call me a road rule nerd, but I welcome the new law. When I see drivers looking at their phones, rather than the road in front of them, I wonder just how long it will take them to cause a crash. Because really, how can you drive without looking where you’re going?
But maybe that’s because I’ve only lived in places, like London and New York, where driving while texting is illegal. I’ve already overheard conversations between people here lamenting the new law, and wondering if there are ways around it.
Am I the only one who hopes we’ll all be better off because of it?
A few bars here attract crowds on weekends, I have heard. But the masses of diehard hard fans who would go to pubs in London to watch the World Cup during the week, even at unsociable hours, don’t seem to be present here in Atlanta.
Maybe people are recording the matches, and watching them later in the comfort of their own homes. Or maybe they’re content to get live scores from their handheld devices.
But I feel for the bars who decided to open early, and offer breakfast specials to entice the legions of World Cup fans who don’t seem to be here.
I suppose he wanted a break from getting battered on Capitol Hill, and supervising the cleanup of another coast. But surely, someone must have considered the anger that would arise at his admiring a boat race on pristine English waters while Gulf of Mexico tourists will most likely be stuck watching races between tar balls, rather than luxury yachts, for years to come.
