Some random thoughts

We just arrived in Seattle and settled in with Daisy and David (and have proper internet access, yay!). Some of the things that I think about or observe while we are sitting on a bus, taxi, car or planeI wish I could remember properly instead of just tidbits - in this post I will try to put a few of those together.

So some randomness I thought about since coming to the US:

Prices.
I think the way that prices are displayed here is surprisingly consumer-UNfriendly. I would have thought with a population of 360 Million (?) there would be big consumer groups that put some pressure on businesses to display prices in a manner that tells you what you're actually paying. Every price here is displayed without tax. So you go "oh cool, a t-shirt for $10" cause it says $10 on the sign. But no, that's $11.10 with tax. Of course the tax varies from state to state, just to make it more complicated. So an item with a ticket price of $10 could cost me $11.10 in one state and $11.80 in another. Not such a big deal if the prices are low and you are only after one item. But now try comparing a number of items across states (such as car rentals for example) and it gets impossibly complicated.

Just today we had a shock when we picked up our rental car. Add insurance to the cost and all of a sudden the price could be VERY different to what you see advertised. That $40/day car rental is now $70. Add to that a 40% tax because you happen to pick the car up at the airport and all of a sudden that rental is 2.5 times the price you expected!

Shopping in a supermarket is another thing. I have not seen unit pricing here, so that means on top of the prices not including tax, you also cannot easily compare brands/packet sizes because they don't show you what the stuff works out to cost per weight or volume. And of course we are still on imperial units here instead of metric.

Tipping.
The concept of giving someone money because they have done a job beyond your expectation is fine with me. For example a waiter going our of their way to explain the menu, or making sure your special orders are filled properly. Things like that. Some people may say well that's part of their job too but for this example let's just say that this is worth giving a tip.

What I have some trouble coming to grips with is that a tip is EXPECTED for certain services, yet not for others. You are expected to tip your waiter, even if he/she did the bare minimum of service. Yet someone helping you pick out clothes/shoes for 30 mins you're not expected to tip. Why? Why should I reward someone for doing their job at a bare minimum, just because the place of employment pays them a wage that is too low for them to live on? Again, it affects the price on the menu. That meal you order for $20 doesn't really cost that. The actual cost with tip and tax is more than $25.

Why am I expected to tip my taxi driver if all I do is hop in the car and hop out (no luggage)? The price isn't cheap to start with and surely your profit margin should be built into the price you charge your customers. I'm not someone who expects change out of $60 when the taxi fare was $56.32 and I will tip on top of that (the driver this morning got $20 for a $14.20 fare). But I ask myself, if the price on the meter says $50 and I pay $50, why would I get dirty looks or get yelled at?

Military.
This one is a sensitive topic and I wasn't sure if I should post it. But it's something I've thought about and given that this country has freedom of speech built into its constitution (unlike Australia...) here it goes. People in the military get a lot of special treatment and every person in a military uniform is treated like a celebrity. Words like "hero" are abused and their true meaning vanishes with the frequency in which they are applied. Let's look at this from an objective point of view: Who joins the US armed forces? According to the information I have seen/heard (and I am happily corrected), mostly this will be men and women from poor backgrounds. The job requires minimal education, you're provided with training and you're housed and fed as well as paid. The risk to their life due to deployment is ignored much like people say "it won't happen to me" when they engage in risky behaviour. I believe the number of people who would sign up, knowing they will have to go and fight overseas, would be drastically lower.

So why is someone treated as special, solely because they wear a uniform? Why are people called "heroes" when they return from a tour of duty? They did a job that they signed up for and get paid for, they followed orders (ie go to place X, do job Y). That doesn't make them heroes. Now don't get me wrong, there are true heroes amongst the armed forces of any country. People who have acted heroically whilst performing their duty. And these people are rightfully called heroes. But to call someone a hero just because they shipped out and did their job (which may have been to push a button to launch a missile from the safety of a destroyer), is taking away from the title that other people rightfully earned.

Food.
There are extremes in the country and that is apparent in the food as well. On the one side you have the health nutters and an industry geared towards them and then on the other side you have the "everything is better deep fried with an extra serving of fat" side. I have not come across a place yet where the portion sizes are ginormous, but I know they exist. Man vs Food shows these places exist all over the country. In the general advertising you see on TV, the main driver seems to be either size or extravagance, if that's the right word. Everything is made to seem better with cheese pouring out of every conceivable place. I am yet to see an ad for healthy options. All I've seen is ads for burgers, nachos, tortillas, pizza, steak, pizza, deep fried chicken, deep fried shrimp, pizza and burgers. And of course Pizza Hut has this thing called the pzolo, which is basically pizza topping inside a bread roll.

Ok ramblings over for now :)

Day 4 - Venice Beach, Santa Monica and a rant

Today we didn't have to get up super early - Simone chose to go to the gym in the morning for an 8am session and we met back at the hotel to go out. First we had brunch at our usual place (can you have a usual place after only 3 days??) - Simone had the omelette and I tried the fish tacos, which were quite tasty. I have taken a liking to the hot sauce they have there too, it's very different from Tabasco in that is isn't as aggressively spicy, but rather a more flavourful spicy.

After a long ride on the bus (1h20m) we arrived at Santa Monica pier where we had a bit of a look around. Photos are from both of us, so they may be doubling up of subjects. Speaking of photos, Simone's D5100 has packed it in with the same dreaded shutter error she had out of the box with her first model. That's pretty shocking. The camera is still under warranty but actually claiming it whilst traveling could present some challenges. We'll see how that works out.

Her immediate replacement will likely be the D3200 which has just come out and will serve her purposes the best.

 Simone had to take a photo of the Big Dean Cafe of course...

 From the pier we made our way to Venice Beach on foot, which was quite a pleasant walk. The whole beach front area is really well developed, with toilets/showers, volleyball nets, basketball courts, plenty of parking, shops etc etc. Cottesloe seems pretty pathetic in comparison. And the walk path is separate to the bike path so you stay out of each other's way. Heaps of people on bikes and rollerblades/skatboards.

Below are some photos from one of the shops there that have artists' displays in front of them. There are also heaps of medical marijuana dispensaries and hippies are everywhere. It's a show just sitting down and watching the weirdos go past. One of those preaching guys was not making friends when he stood yelling in front of people who just wanted to have catch some rays on the grass in the sun. I'm surprised he didn't have things thrown at him.

After the walk and a bit of a mission to find a shirt that Simone wanted but no shop had in her size or quality she was after, we made our way to downtown LA to have dinner and catch the movie Ted. An R rated comedy about a guy and his Teddy bear.

Spinach and Cheese dip

I had the BBQ chicken salad (shock horror!!) and no I did not eat that tower of fried onions they put on top. The salad itself was really yummy and plenty to go around.

Simone had what she thought was a single slider and sweet potato fries. Turns out she got 4 sliders. She had two, I had one and we left one.

The movie was good, but I could not believe how many very young children were in the audience. This is not a kids movie! Parents, you are idiots if you think your 4 year old child is ok to see an R rated movie that contains heavy swearing, sexual references, sex scenes and tits as well as violence. But I guess if these are the kind of parents who would say the F and the C word in front of your 4 year old, then I'm not surprised you are unfit to make an appropriate movie choice for your child. Things like that annoy me greatly and it's no wonder that kids these days grow up to be self centered assholes. Now get off my lawn!! God I feel old sometimes *sigh*.

Tomorrow is of course the 4th of July and Simone has chosen a good location to go to to catch some celebrations and the fireworks in the evening.