Since I last wrote, I was lucky enough to go to the first JETS home game of the season. (American Football)
This was a great experience, and loads of fun. Americans know how to put on a show. We joined a tail gate party where our group had a hummer (very big) with a BBQ (very big) which attached to the tow bar and was then winched down for use, and up for transit.
The game did little to persuade me that American Footballers are anything but a bunch of pansies. Bear in mind that only 11 players are on the field at a time – each team had 54 players. Remember this is for a 60 minute game (which took over 3 hours). They each had 2 players whose only job was to kick the ball, and as this is such a hard skill to master, they specialise further, one kicks from the hand, and the other kicks from the floor like a penalty in rugby. This penalty guy had only 3 kicks to make all game, and he missed one that I think I could have made. He was actualy the replacement goal kicker. The first choice injured himself kicking in the previous game. How embarassing. All he had to do was warm up properly, and then take a kick. Imagine how little a typical replacement kicker has to do during a season. What a great job.
On the replacements bench (a big bench as there are 43 men sat on it) there are cold air blowers and even plug in air conditioned sockets that they plug into their suits so it cools them down under all their gear. WHAT. Lesson; wear less gear. It must have taken longer to put on than most of them played for.
But the cheer leaders were nice and wore alot less gear.

In the last letter I also talked about the gun laws in America, and mentioned that Texas has some of the most relaxed.
Viki has a site in Texas and she wanted it to be company policy that no weapons were allowed on the premises. To do this she had to post notices and consult with all the staff. Fortunately no one had any problems with being unarmed and at the mercy of attack whilst at work so it is now policy. However there is not much you can do if some one wants to arm themselves, ‘It’s my right you know’.
For example, some high school teachers in Texas have it written into their contracts that they will take a gun into school and into class with them. This is to protect the children no less! Amazing. As a parent I know I’d feel so much happier to know that Roberts teacher was armed, just in case. The book is mightier than the sword, but a gun………

We have some guests in our house. We have heard them skuttling and rolling acorns around in the night quite often. The other night I was driven outside to find out what they were and where they are getting in. Can you believe they are flying squirrels. They are really cute but noisy so they will have to go. They get in and out of a small hole near the gutter, and then run to the top of the roof and jump off to glide into nearby trees. It is wonderful to see, they spread their arms and legs and stretch out their skin to form the ‘wings’.

We went up to the Adirondacs (last of the Mohicans territory) for a few days not long ago. We wanted to see the fall up there and we were not disappointed. Quite amazing colours. There are loads of maple and cherry which turn to vibrant oranges and reds, plus the usual yellows, golds and green conifers which all go together to produce a real mosaic.
There are also alot of trees. It is almost constant forrest from us all the way up (250 miles) plus the same again if you continue north, and about the same east to west. We had to travel around to get the best foliage, the ‘peak condition’ only lasts around 4 days in any one place, so you just keep driving till you get to a peak area. We stayed in a cabin on the shore of Lake George, and even popped into Vermont for one of the days which we loved, it is a very beautiful area, and rightly famous in the fall.

I am now working part time as a ‘lean consultant’. It is fun. I am in new territory in that they think I am doing a better job than I think I am doing, normally it is the other way around. I like it this way. There are some amazingly wasteful practices going on, and everything we change that helps them they are very grateful for.
No one has sworn at me, no one has told me I am useless or that my idea will never work, it has all been friendly and well recieved. My friends at UYS will know how odd that all sounds!

You will all be pleased to hear that the weather has turned. I will no longer be able to annoy you all with stories of endless blue skies and hot sunny days. It is now blue skies and much colder days. Still beautifull, sorry. We had the first snow of the season last week, about an inch settled but didn’t last long. It actually rained today, the forcast shows drizzle – the first time that word has appeared all year. It is due to be murky for a whole 2 days before retuning to clear and cold.

We went to a science museum in Philly today. Very good, all hands on for the children. They had a huge walk-in heart with educational bits all the way around. They had the attached disclaimed on the wall as you entered. What do they think might happen, that people might go home and carry out open heart surgery on the basis of what they learnt in a walk-in heart. The really worrying thing is that often these disclaimers appear AFTER something has gone wrong!

Fuel prices have dropped like a stone since the credit crisis. It is now lower than it was when we arrived last year. It seems to drop daily, it is down from just over $4 a gallon to $2.12 in 6 weeks. I think it might actualy get below $2 soon.

More soon

Dave and co