Archive Page 3
Georgia Texting While Driving Ban
Published July 1, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: Texting while driving ban
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?
What World Cup?
Published June 22, 2010 Uncategorized 3 CommentsTags: Atlanta, bars showing the World Cup, World Cup
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.
BP CEO’s Yachting Weekend
Published June 20, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: tar ball, Tony Hayward, yacht race
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.
BP’s CEO on Capitol Hill
Published June 17, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: BP CEO, Capitol Hill, Gulf of Mexico, Tony Hayward
After all, oil is still gushing into the Gulf. Shouldn’t the CEO of the company behind the disaster be directing the effort to stop the flow, rather than deflecting tough questions from lawmakers?
As candid and cruel as some of those questions were, I would rather have been in the Capitol Hill hot seat, rather than on board a boat, trying to figure out how to stem the tide of the ecological disaster, if I were BP’s CEO.
At the very least, he did say he was sorry…
If our car’s dashboard thermometer is accurate, temperatures hit 100 degrees fahrenheit today here in Atlanta. It certainly felt like it. And it’s only mid-June.
What’s alarming is that summer hasn’t officially begun yet. From the unofficial poll I have taken, Atlantans seem to be divided over whether this weather is normal for this time of year: some say it is, and others say that this June is hotter than they can remember.
They all seem to agree that as hot as it is now, August will be even worse.
Why the World Cup Tie?
Published June 13, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: England, US, World Cup
I felt for her, because she was obviously new to non-American football, and the startling prevalence of draws — especially in this World Cup so far.
I have grown accustomed to tie games, after six years of marriage to an Englishman whose team doesn’t always do what its supporters hope. A draw, after all, is better than a loss — even if the scoreboard reads: “0-0.”
As an American with a British passport, I wasn’t heartbroken with the result — at least nobody lost.
World Cup Fever Hits the US
Published June 10, 2010 Uncategorized 1 CommentTags: 2002 World Cup, 2006 World Cup, Atlanta, US World Cup Team
I am impressed by the level of excitement here in Atlanta ahead of the World Cup. There are signs in front of bars, coaxing fans to watch the tournament while drinking at their establishments; daily articles in the press (even LOCAL papers!); and conversations between people I never knew followed soccer/football, talking about where they play to watch, and who think they will win.
During the ’02 and ’06 World Cups, I was living in London, where you couldn’t avoid getting drawn into the hoopla: there were fans decked out in their country’s kit, screaming newspaper headlines, and constant World Cup chatter everywhere you looked.
Here, I expected football fever to pass the country by. But instead, people seem to suddenly be soccer fans, holding viewing parties, complete with barbecues, to watch the US play England on Saturday.
I hope that the excitement lasts, even if the US team doesn’t.
Taking Responsibility: BP’s Oil Spill
Published June 7, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: BP, Gulf of Mexico, oil spill
While I appreciate BP’s CEO admitting that the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is his company’s fault, I couldn’t help feeling that I share some of the blame.
I buy gas (not from BP stations since the April 20th explosion, but still…) and, as it turns out, I am a BP shareholder.
When I looked today at a breakdown of my kids’ savings accounts in the UK, I noticed that BP is the top held share in both funds.
I didn’t pick the shares — the Child Trust Fund administrator did — but I didn’t protest when I saw the statement. My kids are too young to ask probing questions about why we support big polluters with their college funds, but that day might come soon.
Maybe it is time for us to switch to alternative fuels, and to diversify the kids’ savings into ethically sound companies.
In the meantime, if we make it to a Gulf of Mexico beach this summer, we will be sure to bring the tar remover.
At least it’s a step in the right direction…
Reverse Culture Shock 