Black Friday

So, just one more Thanksgiving blog before I take off, really as I only found out yesterday, after 12 years of living in Silicon Valley, what Black Friday is and I wanted to let you non-natives out there share in my new-found knowledge.  In fact, I don’t even know if I’d heard the term before, but if I had, I probably thought it was something to do with remembering someone important who’d died on that day.

No, bloggers, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, apparently called this because it’s the day of the year when retailers can whoop for joy at getting into the black at last thanks to all you happy consumers out there who can’t wait for the best deal of the year!  You won’t find me near a store on Black Friday, but good luck to all of you who venture out into the crowds.  Let me know the best deal you found!

Linens ‘n Things = Bed, Bath and Beyond

So I guess this will be my second and last Thanksgiving blog as I am leaving town later for 5 days and won’t be near a computer (aargghhh, will I survive???) Then again, I could also write a few post-Thanksgiving blogs when I get back to make up for my absence. We’ll see how the inspiration takes…

Anyway, I just wanted to let you shoppers out there buying your table settings for Thanksgiving (what are you waiting for – get out there!) about another money-saving tip. Having read on Silicon Valley Moms Blog about buying the perfect dinner service at Linens n’ Things, you need to know that the 20% coupons you get in the mail for Bed, Bath and Beyond are interchangeable between the stores. ALSO, if you take 5 of said coupons to BBAB, you can get 20% of each of the 5 items you buy (and only up to 5). Don’t think they let you use more than one at LnT (anyone else know?). But here’s their downloadable coupon.

OK, so I was excited about this…

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Bunco Story

So I was at my monthly Bunco meeting the other night when 3 of us started having an animated conversation in the kitchen.  Our voices became so excited that the other ladies lost interest in their chatter and craned their necks to find out what the topic of conversation was which was getting us in a tizzy – was it friends, politics, money, sex, husbands?  None of the above – the topic getting us hot under the collar was….kettles!

A little background – most of this Bunco group is British – we all relocated from the UK to Silicon Valley over the past 12 years – and we meet, not because Bunco is so much fun and interesting to play – but because it gets 12 of us out of our homes every month to catch up, socialise, eat and drink – a message reaffirmed by my good friend Dot, every time we start to complain about the game!

And maybe I should talk a little about the electric tea kettle for my American friends here.  I am talking about an electric appliance which is so common in the UK that you will hardly ever walk into a British kitchen and not find it sitting on the countertop plugged into the wall, waiting to boil water for the next cup of tea, if it isn’t already doing so.

So back to the kitchen.  Jane, Helen and I were comparing kettle stories and the main one was “The Return of the Kettle” -  to Target, Macy’s, Bed Bath etc, because they ended up not working properly! (BIG TIP – always keep your kettle box – you WILL need it to exchange your kettle!)  The other story we got very excited about was the “Why can’t Americans design something for functionality?”  We had all experienced the kettle which, when poured, left a huge puddle of water on the countertop instead of in the teapot, and which also would continually lose its little thingy (for want of a better word) at the base of the pourer, which was supposed to stop the heat coming out and allow the water to boil and switch off the kettle automatically (if that sentence is too technical for you, don’t worry – read on).

If you’re going to design and manufacture something to switch off automatically when the water has boiled and something which is used for pouring, MAKE SURE IT DOES BOTH THOSE THINGS BEFORE YOU MASS MANUFACTURE IT AND PUT IT ON THE MARKET!!!  That just is common sense!  So we swapped stories and basically decided that US manufacturers of kettles should call up their UK counterparts and have a discussion on how the UK guys have figured it out long ago!

The story does have a happy ending – Jane is very satisfied with her current kettle, an Aroma fromTarget!

So if you’re one of the many Brits out here frustrated with your kettle, hope this is of help in getting your perfect cup of tea ready!

 

Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas?

Forgive me if I’m stunned, but as an English person who’s moved to Silicon Valley, I am constantly amazed by the obnoxious commercialism surrounding these events.  No sooner is summer showing just small signs of coming to an end, ie the temperatures are now in the 80’s, not 90’s, then Halloween is ushered into the supermarkets in glorious technicolor displays and I have to stop myself and ask “What month are we in?”

Almost hypnotised into thinking we have to buy more orange and black decorations, and even more massive bags of not-nutritious candy, we are coerced into adding goodies to our cart that we never really need.   And for the first time, I think, I saw massive storage boxes in Target, ORANGE ones, so that you don’t confuse your boxes of Halloween decorations with your huge green and red storage boxes for Christmas decorations.   What color are the Thanksgiving ones?

Putting all those spooky spiders and manic monsters and whispy webs and orange and infra-red lights outside – is this necessary? Though I have to say our house is the best decorated on the street – amazing how my husband finds the time to do it all – he doesn’t read my blog anyway.  Just sad it all has to come down the next day.

And I know Macy’s has their Christmas tree and decorations all set up – not sure when that happened but who wants to think about Christmas in September?

We are in such a frenzy of buying, do we really ever have time to enjoy (or even think about why we’re doing this?

Why the small bath in Silicon Valley?

The American Bath : anyone relocating to Silicon Valley, or anywhere else in the States, I assume (but cannot guarantee) needs to know that the American bath is SMALLER than the English bath and also , I have it on good authority, the Australian bath.

Who knows why?  Anyone with an answer, please comment.  Having moved here from the UK and lived here for 12 years, my guess is that we like to take baths in England and Australia – it’s part of our daily routine and it warms us up in those colder climates – but in America we like to take showers.  Probably the heat here in the summer has influenced our cleansing habits – it is, after all, much easier to take a couple of quick showers during the day to get rid of that heat-induced sweat, than to lie languishing in a bath of tepid water.

So when you look around American homes, don’t be surprised to find the bathroom equipped with what looks like a child’s bath, and one where you know that it will not be a place of comfort when your knees are competing with your chin for space.  Get used to the shower!

House numbers in Silicon Valley

OK, so you’re looking at real estate in Silicon Valley and have a few addresses you’re checking out.  Here’s a lesson in house numbering which may help you find that elusive address :

House numbers are usually in the thousands – you will find 2359 Somerset Ave for example when there are only 20 houses in the street.  And then the house next to 2359 Somerset Ave could well be 2371 Somerset Ave. Did the builders actually think they were going to be able to squeeze in five more houses at some point in the future?  I don’t think so.   Why can’t we start at number 1 and continue in sequence (mind you, I like the odd numbers one side and the even numbers the other).  That makes sense when you’re driving down a street looking for an even numbered house.

 And one other thing that’s actually worth knowing, and quite useful – if you cross a street the numbers will jump to the next hundred, for example, 2739 will jump to 28…….  And that’s very helpful when you’re looking for a house, not sure where it is, and have someone tailgating you in total frustration!!

Lighting up Silicon Valley?

One thing I found strange, among others, when I moved to Silicon Valley from the UK, were the lights and light switches in the houses here. You will often find that there are no overhead lights in some of the rooms including the bedrooms and the main room, so make sure you are prepared with table lamps and reading lights. The curious thing about light switches is that they are usually positioned lower on the wall than you are used to – kid height as opposed to adult height – which actually makes sense unless Americans used to be very small in size? And, light switches are upside down, so that you turn the light switch up to turn the light on and down to turn the light off.

Just something to get used to….

High School Graduation

So what’s the protocol with High School Graduation over here?  Being an English native, this is the first time I’ve had to deal with this quaint American custom.

You get the card in the mail with a gorgeous picture of the graduate, announcing that they are indeed graduating from high school.  What’s the idea – just to let you know, or to ask for college funding or a gift?  Asking around, it seems to depend on how well you know the kid.  So far, one is getting a Congratulations card with a Starbucks card inside and one is getting a small gift of a picture frame and bath goodies (necessities for college apparently).

And take your pic – the card stores are all geared up to serve you the latest, greatest variety of graduation cards imaginable – the fact that many of them are money holders as well says it all.

I’m a cynic about this American tradition and quite open to admit that my thoughts on this may well change by this time next year (my eldest is a high school Junior)!