Wednesday, December 10, 2008

15 Things I’ve Had to Re-Learn While Living in New England – Part 2

1. Water is more plentiful here. You don’t have to travel far to find bodies of water other than the ocean. There are plenty of streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds to swim, fish, kayak and ice skate in. Water also tastes good straight from the tap.

2. Canadian geese honk loudly. They can be seen and heard flying about New England. When I was a kid they used to migrate south for the winter, but it looks like more and more geese are sticking around permanently.

3. There are seagulls 50 miles from shore. At least there is an ocean somewhat nearby. Maybe I should start a proposition to rename them scavenger gulls or something along those lines. Californians would pass it for sure…oh wait, no, I’ll need to make it a bond issue for it to pass.


4. Freeway traffic is slower. The average speed is around 70 mph rather than 80.

5. Police travel in unmarked vehicles. I’ve seen more people pulled over for speeding by police in plain SUVs than police cars. Probably the most likely reason for #4.

6. Parking is not a problem. Shop anywhere anytime and you will be able to find a parking spot.

7. Left freeway exit ramps mess up the fast lane. Actually, there really isn’t a fast lane (see #4).

8. Roads are hazardous to tires. The weather conditions create a lot of potholes and uneven driving surfaces. I completely trashed a brand new tire within the first month of being here. FYI, Costco is a great place to buy tires. They replaced my tire for a $1 disposal fee.

9. GPS navigation is mandatory, not optional. If not for my handy GPS devise, I’d probably be living in Rhode Island or New York because I wouldn't be able to find my way home.

10. There’s a lot more road kill living in the country. I have to admit, my first night here I contributed to the statistic by hitting a kamikaze bunny. What is it with rabbits and my car?

11. NFL games start 3 hours later. The early game starts at 1pm and Sunday/Monday night football doesn’t start until 8:30 pm. I’m resolved to the fact that I’ll most likely fall asleep before the game ends and have find out who won the game by checking the scores the next day on the internet.

12. New England fans are loyal. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics or Bruins are playing, the fans will cheer for them just the same. Unfortunately, there are a few Yankee and Giants fans here too, but I won’t talk about them.

13. There aren’t as many blondes. Or at least there aren’t as many fake blondes here. Now that I think about it, I haven’t noticed as many elective plastic surgery makeovers either.

14. There aren’t as many BMW drivers in New England.

15. It’s strange to see whole forests of trees with no leaves. Come to think of it, it’s strange to see so many trees.

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