History.

Discovery disappearing into space, from the Indian River estuary

I don't really have a bucket list as such - just things that I know are on it. On Thursday I got to tick one of those off, and in the nick of time.

Shuttle Discovery was originally supposed to go up before I even arrived in the States, but was delayed until about a week after I got here. I decided that, come hell or high water, I wanted to see a shuttle launch up close before the program is tragically cancelled later this year. Started the journey to the Space Coast 4 times in November, and it was scrubbed 4 times - fortunately I was within minutes of the house - and the suffered a whopping 3 month delay.

But this week, all the stars aligned - Discovery was cleared for launch, the weather forecast was fabulous, and best of all it was scheduled for Jason's day off! So I had a good feeling.

We went to Titusville - which I prefer to call Titsville, for obvious reasons - which, at 15 miles from Kennedy Space Centre across clear water, is one of the closest public areas you can watch the launch from. So did a lot of other people. LOTS.

Anyway, we stuck out the 7-hour wait for the big moment, and waded out into the Indian River to make sure we had an unobstructed view. I was a bit tentative - the crab that crawled over my feet didn't help - but when the countdown started, the view was worth it:

...apologies for the wobbly video, I was getting a bit excited, plus I really didn't want to watch possibly the only shuttle launch I will ever witness through a viewfinder!

Even from 15 miles away, Discovery made a truly awesome sight. The plumes of smoke billowing out sideways from the launchpad that you can't see anywhere except from very close up, suddenly giving way to a ball of flame roaring skyward at 4.1 miles per second, leaving a perfect white cloud trail behind. Within 2 minutes, it was over - that ball of flame became a star shining brightly in the blue sky. 90 seconds later, Discovery was in space, leaving everyone cheering back in Florida.

The shuttle may have been going 4.1 miles per second, but 90 minutes later me and Jason were struggling to hit 4.1 miles per hour. Launch traffic is notoriously bad along the two-lane 528 back to Orlando. As the days tick down to the end of the program it is getting worse, and 4 accidents along the expressway didn't help. It took us over an hour to get 3 miles out of Titusville, and only after 3 different route attempts did we finally find a road that wasn't gridlocked - after another 5+ miles at a crawl. We got home after midnight, 5 hours after we got in the car. The trip out took 90 minutes.

However, it was still worth it. Just to view that 2 minutes of history.

All the fun of the fair

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted so I have clearly been slacking, but believe it or not I have been uber-busy.

The reason is that last Friday, while I was being poked and prodded by my new GP, I got the magic text message I have been waiting for - my work permit has been approved.

And in a spectacular change of form for USCIS, they sent it to me on Thursday and I got it yesterday! In fairness, they cost about $400 to replace, so they really should be able to cough up the $5 it costs to send it priority. It looks a bit like a credit card, but with a lot more holograms. And the obligatory government-issue horrible photograph. (Still, it's better than my travel permit photo, where I have an errant bit of hair sticking up in the air!)

The last day I worked was October 8th 2010. So needless to say, confirmation that my work permit had been approved was like the start gun at a race - job applications can now commence. Since last Friday I have applied for approximately 15 jobs, and I'm exhausted. Companies should look at the number of applications completed and just hire people on persistence alone. You battle against truly awful HR computer systems and continual repetition of the same information; constant rewriting of resumes and cover letters. All in the hope you just get an interview, which given the number of 'prescreening questionnaires' I've filled out (that essentially allow a computer to make a decision about you before a human ever reads your CV), is harder than ever. Consistently applying for jobs today shows persistence, problem-solving, an ability to work under pressure, and a positive attitude in the face of diversity. Who wouldn't want me?!

Anyway, I actually didn't want to write about that, but rather about the slice of Americana I experienced last weekend with my friend Sarah and her roommate - the Osceola County Fair.

From my experience last week, the American fair is very similar to the fairs we have at home - except quite a lot larger (standard) and run by rednecks instead of gypsies. Example:

A boat with wheels - literally - that I saw on my way to the fair. Onboard motor on the back, no roof, covered in seaweed and driven by two ladies in giant cowboy hats. Only in America.

Rather than looking for fortune tellers and romany caravans, you are on the lookout for large cowboy hats and diamanté belt buckles in the shape of the state. The mullets are the same though.

And like at home, everyone goes to the fair for one of 3 things: the freak show, the rides, and/or the fried food. From a freak show perspective the best we got was a petting zoo where we met a fairly terrifying alpaca and a very hairy miniature cow:

Look at those teeth!!

Awwwwwwwwww

The cows and alpacas were kept company by baboons, camels, zebras and a surprising number of goats. So yes, freak show (albeit not that freaky, maybe more exotic) off the list. Rides are not my thing. I love rollercoasters, safe in the knowledge they have 30ft plus of concrete foundations. You are never going to get me on anything that can throw me 80ft upside down in the air, but then can be packed up on the back of a lorry the next day.

But now we get to the main event - the fried food. And in the land of all things fried, this was always going to be good. There was fried everything - from your standard chips, fish, sausages and nachos, to the more unusual:

These, my friends, are fried Oreos. I was brave and had a taste - it was surprisingly yummy, but one bite was enough. I think I would have been sick if I'd eaten a whole one.

But hey, I'm still alive and kicking despite my fair experience, so the food couldn't have been that bad.

Would you pay $9 million for 2 minutes on the TV?

Unless you've been living under a soundproofed rock for the past month, most people will know that Sunday was the highlight of the American Football calendar - the SuperBowl. Sporting nirvana for football fans, whilst everyone else can enjoy the fried food and movie-production-level adverts which, at $3 million for a 30 second slot, are an event all by themselves. The last 2 years I have had to endure excessive analysis by BBC Sport to fill the time all the ad breaks, so this year I thought I'd highlight some of my personal marketing highlights from "The Big Game".


The Expensive One

The eponymous ad of my title - Fox giving Chrysler a wee discount on their 2 minutes in the spotlight, charging the carmaker a measly $9 million. And that's before they paid for Eminem.


The ad was supposedly for the new Chrysler 200, a car with which the firm is hoping to make a new mark in the luxury sector. But it isn't really about the car, it's about the American automotive industry rising from the ashes. It certainly packed some punch, and the tagline "Imported from Detroit" will certainly have ignited some American patriotism.


The Simple But Effective One


This just really tickled me, but I have a weakness for Anheuser-Busch's advertising.

Such a simple premise but I was howling with laughter. Bud Light's other ad, the self-deprecating product placement ad, is also worth a look:

My Personal Favourite...

I have always been a huge fan of VW's advertising back home, because it is says a lot without really saying anything at all. Plus they are always hilarious. This one is a belter, because it does what all good VW advertising does - no need to go into every last detail about why our cars are awesome, because the brand says it already. It just stick in your memory. Plus, it's absolutely priceless.

The ads were good, but the company was better. I had a great evening of beer, wings, good friends, good football, and my lovely husband :)

News in Brief

Trying a new style today, because I feel like poo and my attention span is short:

• Went to Centra Care, an 'urgent care' walk-in down the road, because it was nearer than my GP and I thought it was the same price (wrong!). Spent $50 in a place I hate being treated like crap by the admin staff (doctor and nurses were lovely), to be told I might have viral conjunctivitis and might have a viral throat infection, but not sure. Given prescriptions for antibiotics, just in case it's bacterial.
• Made my third entirely financially-based medical decision in an hour at Wal-Mart. Whether the UK and US systems are good or bad is a different discussion, but I don't think I will ever get used to paying out of pocket for my medical care. It completely changes the way I approach my health, and not in a good way if you ask me.
• The office in Missouri which is processing my green card, work card and travel authorisation has been closed since Tuesday. Some pathetic excuse like 25" of snow, guh. Optimism that they are doing something, even when I hear nothing, is better than knowing they're doing nothing. Warmer weather please!
• My hubby weighed in at under 200lbs today and I am SO bleeding proud of him.
• Went to a job fair last week - to make some contacts. Made one good one, but was overall a scary experience. Thousands of people out there without jobs - the market is brutal.
• My British TV stream is broken. Suffering Shameless withdrawals. But the American one is still pretty bloody good.
• Yorkshire Tea is the answer to sore throats, especially when it's 4am and you are cleaning the kitchen because you can't sleep.

That's it for now. Time to put compresses back on my eyes and hope I look less like I've been punched in the morning...