We bought this second hand car this weekend : 2000 W FORD FOCUS 1.6 Zetec 3 Door Hatchback. They accept our horrid old Rover as a part-exchange. I am very happy I will not have to see that damned Rover again. I hated it since the first time I saw it! At last I'm getting rid of it! It had bad vibes, I tell you.


Compramos este coche de segunda mano este fin de semana: 2000 W FORD FOCUS 1.6 Zetec 3 puertas con maletero. Aceptan el viejo y horrible Rover como parte del pago. Y que alegria me da el pensar que no volvere a ver el maldito Rover. Lo odie desde el primer instante en que lo vi! Por fin ahora me libro de el! Estaba gafado, de verdad. Tenia malas vibraciones.


The weather today:
Cloudy
7C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the West Northwest at 14 mph
Dew Point: 4C
Humidity: 80%
Visibility: 9 miles
Barometer: 1,032.2 mb

Dorothy Parker wrote the following little poem, which made me laugh a lot today:
"Oh life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea.
And love is a thing that can never go wrong
And I am Marie, of Rumania"


Esta frase famosa de Dorothy Parker me ha hecho reir hoy (mejor en ingles arriba, porque mi traduccion no rima!):
"Oh, la vida es un glorioso ciclo de cancion,
un medley extemporaneo.
Y el amor nunca puede fallar
Y yo soy Maria de Rumania".

The weather today:
Terrible!!!

The best thing about Washington DC (apart from the abondance of monuments to Presidents, soldiers and heroes) is the Smithsonian museums. All of them for free. We visited the American History Museum, The Hirshhorn Museum, The Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum . The last one was our favourite. All the planes, rockets and missiles that made History (with capital H!) were there. I really felt close to the stars! For instance, the Wright Flyer -the first successful plane to fly in 1903- the Columbia command module from Apollo XI – carried Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to the Moon in what became the first lunar landing- , the Spirit of St Louis –Lindberg’s plane in the first solo transatlantic flight- and so many more, even a bit of lunar rock which visitors can touch!

It is a great museum and after visiting we felt even more motivated to go to Kitty Hawk (where the Wright brothers flew their flyer in 17 December 1903) and the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. And after so many launch pods, turbines, huge engines, lunar jeeps, computers used at historical launches and all the memorabilia and history of space flight…I loved the 4G gravity simulators! (pictured above) My head spinned for a while after leaving the capsule. We were told 4G is ‘nothing’ for astronauts nowadays. That simulator was obsolete! Jeez if that was ‘obsolete’ I wonder how I would feel in the simulators they use nowadays! By the way..do you know I've always wanted to be an astronaut when I grow up?



Lo mejor de Washington DC (a parte de la abundancia de monumentos a presidentes, soldados y heroes) son los museos Smithsonian. Y todos son gratis. Visitamos el Museo de Historia Americana, el Museo de Historia Natural, El Museo Hirshhorn y el Museo de la Aviacion y el Espacio . De todos ellos, el ultimo es nuestro favorito. Aqui se encuentran todos los aviones, misiles y cohetes que hicieron Historia (con mayusculas!). Un@ se siente tan cerca de las estrellas en este museo!
Por ejemplo, exhiben el original Wright flyer –el primer avion que volo con exito en 1903-, el modulo de commando Columbia de la nave Apollo XI –que llevo a Armstrong, Aldrin y Collins a la Luna y de vuelta, en lo que fue el primer aterrizaje en nuestro satellite -, el Spirit of St Louis –el avion de Lindberg en el primer vuelo trasatlantico en solitario-, y muchos otros mas que el blog se me quedaria pequenio si los listara todos. Incluso una piedra de la Luna que los visitantes pueden tocar!

Es un museo estupendo y despues de visitarlo aun nos sentimos mas motivados para ir hasta Kitty Hawk, en Carolina del Norte (donde los hermanos Wright realizaron el 1er vuelo de la Historia el 17 de Diciembre 1903) y el Kennedy Space Center en Cabo Canaveral. En este ultimo vimos de todo, las plataformas de lanzamiento, turbinas y motores gigantescos, trajes espaciales, los ordenadores usados en lanzamientos historicos… y acabamos subiendo a un simulador de 4G de gravedad! (foto de arriba) Fantastico! La cabeza me siguio dando vueltas un rato despues de salir de la capsula. Y nos dijeron que 4G no es “nada”, el simulador es obsoleto para los astronautas de hoy en dia!. Caray, si eso es ‘obsoleto’, a saber como me sentiria si probara el simulador moderno! Por cierto...sabiais que yo siempre he querido ser astronauta?


The weather today:
Mostly Cloudy
4C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the North at 12 mph
Dew Point: 2C
Humidity: 82%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1,024.7 mb

We like motels in US, Australia and New Zealand. In the US one can find motels everywhere. Especially in the outskirts of cities and every motorway exit. No reservations required, there always will be a room and free parking for the tired traveller. How different from Europe, where reservations are expected. Where hotels are usually located in the city centres and make one pay for parking in their premises (if they have any). True, you can spent the whole day driving in an unknown city center, pay for your car park and then enter an hotel and ask for a room. If there is a room, you will get it, of course. But there is always the odd look in the receptionist eyes. "No reservation, Sir/Madam?" - And that arching of the eyebrows as if one were a wicked child...- 'We advise our customers to book in advance, of course, I will look in case there is any room available"... Gosh, as if they were making YOU a favour. How rigid. How unflexible. Maybe that is why we don't travel much in Europe anymore. We've found freedom elsewhere, thank you very much.


Nos gustan los moteles de Estados Unidos, Australia y Nueva Zelanda. Por ejemplo, en Estados Unidos se encuentran moteles en todas partes. Especialmente en las afueras de las ciudades y en cada salida de la autopista. Sin reservas. Siempre habra una habitacion disponible y parking gratis para el cansado viajero. Que diferente es en Europa, donde las reservas se hacen casi imprescindibles. Donde los hoteles estan situados normalmente en las ciudades y aun peor, en el centro de las ciudades y donde pagas por el parking (suponiendo que el hotel tenga parking, claro). Te puedes pasar el dia conduciendo en el centro de la ciudad desconocida, pagando por el parking y entrando a todos los hoteles preguntado si tienen habitaciones libres. Si las hay, te la daran (pagando, claro!). Pero siempre te encuentras con esa mirada extrania que te lanza el/la recepcionista. "El/la senior/a no ha realizado reserva?" - y ese levantamiento de cejas, reprensivo, como si tu fueras un chiquillo/a malo/a... "Aconsejamos a nuestros clientes que reserven con antelacion pero por supuesto, comprobare si queda alguna habitacion libre"... Caray, como si te hicieran un favor. Que rigiod. Que inflexible. Quiza esa es la razon por la que nos hemos cansado de viajar por Europa. Porque hemos encontrado libertad y flexibilidad en otros continentes, y bien que nos sienta!


The weather today:

Mostly Cloudy
5C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the North at 13 mph
Dew Point: -3C
Humidity: 57%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1,029.1 mb

I read in The Sunday Times : "T. S. ELIOT clearly got it hopelessly wrong. April is not the cruellest month. January is. And of all the 31 cheerless dawns in this grisly, grey, morning-after-the-night-before sort of month, the 24th is likely to be the most miserable of all. Which, I must gently inform you (in case you are too chronically dejected even to check the date), is today.

That, at least, is the assertion of Dr Cliff Arnall, of Cardiff University — one of those hip'n'happenin' academics who delight in applying their finely honed scientific minds to the vagaries and vicissitudes of everyday life. He has published a formula which apparently proves (at least to his own satisfaction) that, even if it didn't fall on a Monday this year, January 24 is the day on which you really ought to stay in bed.

His formula? It's (W+(D-d))xTQ MxNA, if you must know — where W stands for the weather at this time of year (ghastly); D-d for the gap between your Christmas shopping spree credit-card debts (astronomical) and your next pay cheque (pathetically inadequate); T for the time that has elapsed since those carefree, feel-good nights of yuletide boozing and carousing (so long ago that you can't remember them); Q for the time that has passed since you spinelessly broke your new year resolutions to quit smoking and eating burgers; M for your motivation level as you staggered out of bed this morning (zero), and NA for that nagging, desperate feeling that you "need to take action" of some sort to cheer yourself up — if only you could stop being depressed for long enough to work out what that action might be".

Ah well, it is not that depressing, today! To start with, it's cold yes, but sunny. That makes things better. We just came back from holidays a week ago, Xmas doesn't seem to be that far away in the past. Then our credit card bill has already been checked online, so we know how much we will have to pay. And you know, it is not as bad as it could have been. Hotels, gas and food in the US are very cheap when converted to British pounds. So our vacation has not been that expensive. I don't know of any broken New Year's resolutions. I didn't have any resolutions!...

:Leo en El Periodico : "Hay un dia nacional de la depresion ciudadana? Existe una fecha en la que la moral del pais toca fondo? En el Reino Unido, la de hoy, lunes 24 de enero, es, segun el psicologo Cliff Arnalls, la jornada más lugubre del año.
El inhospito cielo gris, los numeros rojos de la cuenta corriente y el abandono de los buenos propositos para el 2005, con el consiguiente bajon de la autoestima, hacen de la cuesta de este gelido fin de mes, la madre de todas las cuestas.
El doctor Arnalls, tutor de la Universidad de Cardiff, en Gales, cree haber dado con una formula matematica que determina el momento exacto en el que el llamado blues de enero pega mas duro. A la hora de establecer sus calculos, el experto ha tenido en cuenta el mal clima (W) las deudas (D), a las que hay que restar el dinero de la proxima paga (d), el tiempo transcurrido desde Navidad (T), los fallidos intentos de abandonar algun mal hábito (Q), los niveles de motivacion (M) y la necesidad de hacer planes de futuro (NA). El resultado se traduce en la formula 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8TQ MxNd, que viene a confirmar lo que muchos ya sabian: terminar el mes de enero es una de las experiencias mas penosas del anio".

Ah, pero no hoy no es tan deprimente! Para empezar, hace frio, si. Pero tambien brilla el sol! Hace una semana que volvimos de vacaciones, las Navidades no quedan tan lejos, como veis. Hemos echado una ojeada a nuestros gastos con targeta de credito y no es para tanto. La gasolina, los hoteles y la comida en Estados Unidos no son nada caros cuando lo conviertes a Libras ESterlinas. Asi que nuestras vacaciones no han sido un derroche. En cuanto a los buenos propositos/resoluciones de Anio Nuevo que no he cumplido... que resoluciones? NO tenia ninguna!...

The weather today:
Partly Cloudy
4C
UV Index:1 Low
Wind:From the North at 15 gusting to 28 mph
Dew Point:-1C
Humidity:70%
Visibility:6 miles
Barometer:1,030.1 mb

I thought having a digital camera would mean taking less photos. Well, keeping less photos. I thought we would just take lots of photos and then delete them if they were not good. We have deleted many photos during our trip to the US. But most of the times it was because the photo was bad, we immediately saw it..and took a new photo, which was good and we kept. We've ended up with around 250 photos taken during 3 weeks. I can't believe it!


Pensaba que una camara digital tendria como resultado tener menos fotos. Quiero decir, que guardariamos menos fotos. Mi idea era que tomariamos muchas fotos y que despues las borrariamos si no eran de buena calidad. Y si hemos borrado muchas fotos. Pero era porque tomabamos la foto y al momento nos dabamos cuenta de que era mala.Asi que la borrabamos y tomabamos otra! Hemos acabado con unas 250 fotos tomadas durante un periodo de 3 semanas. No lo puedo creer!


The weather today:
Crap! As usual in this country!!

We don't like country music. But there is one time when country music is needed. When country music is the perfect background music, the only one which makes sense : when driving long distances in the US. And believe me, there is always going to be at least one country music radio station, no matter where you are. In the middle of the Mojave Desert, under the sun in Death Valley, in the Louisiana swamps or in the Floridian Everglades. I assure you there will always be a radio station playing country music. No matter what. Probably it will be the ONLY radio station! So you'd better enjoy the moment. Or the day. Or the weeks! Just as we have enjoyed this winter's hits. The very hilarious 'I wanna talk about me' by Toby Keith. When finally the cowbody tells his girlfriend he is fed up of talking about her. This time, he wants to talk about him! Hilarious. Truly hilarious. Or the bland nostalgic Tim McGraw with his 'Back when'. Man, what a song. It became our pet hate during the trip. The lyrics are unforgettable. The cowboy misses the 'good old things'from the past. Take this: 'I miss back when when a screw was a screw, the wind all that blew and when cracks were what you'd doing when you were cracking jokes...'. Gosh. Every time I hear it I just kind of get into hysterical laughter. Those lyrics. I wouldn't be suprised if he became Number 1 this month!!! Just in case you want to hear these songs and many more that we listened to while in the US, you can at Total country 103.com . Oh and don't miss that song by Lee Ann Womack, 'I may hate myself in the morning'. Or Alan Jackson's 'Monday morning church'. Keep a kleenex nearby. You'll laugh till you die, I promise.


No nos gusta la musica country. Pero hay un tiempo en la vida cuando realmente necesitamos musica country. Cuando la musica country es la banda sonora perfecta de nuestras vidas, la unica que tiene sentido : cuando conducimos largas distancias en Estados Unidos. Y creedme, siempre tendreis con vosotros una emisora de radio especializada en country music, no importa donde esteis. En medio del desierto del Mojave, bajo el sol en Death Valley, en los humedos pantanos de Louisiana o en los Everglades de Florida. Os juro que siempre habra una emisora de radio con musica country. Pase lo que pase. Y probablemente...sera la UNICA emisora de radio! Asi que mejor os relajais y disfrutais del momento. O de las horas. O dias. Igual que nosotros hemos disfrutado los hits de este invierno. La hilarante 'I wanna talk about me' (Quiero hablar de mi) de Toby Keith. Cuando por fin el cowboy nos revela que esta harto de oir a su novia hablar de ella. Que ahora le toca a el, y que quiere hablar de si mismo. Hilarante. Totalmente hilarante. O el pasteloso nostalgico Tim McGraw con su 'Back When' (Cuando en el pasado). Senior que cancion. Se convirtio en el chiste de nuestro viaje. La letra es impagable. El cowboy echa de menos las 'buenas cosas del pasado'-que ni siquiera vivio por si mismo!!. Y dice : 'I miss back when when a screw was a screw, the wind all that blew and when cracks were what you'd doing when you were cracking jokes...'. (basicamente, que echa de menos cuando las palabras tenian un solo sentido. Screw es tornillo pero tambien es joder/follar. Cracks eran chistes pero ahora son el crack, la droga, etc. )Pero Tim, amigo, las palabras siempre han tenido doble sentido. Screw seria tornillo, pero 'jazz' significaba sexo, por ejemplo. Asi que cada vez que sonaba la cancion, nos entraba la risa imparable. Pero que letra! No me sorprenderia si llegara a Numero 1 este mes. Suponiendo que os apetezca escuchar estas canciones y muchas mas que escuchamos durante nuestro viaje en los US, conectad a Total country 103.com . Oh y no os perdais a Lee Ann Womack, con su cancion 'I may hate myself in the morning'. O a Alan Jackson's 'Monday morning church'. Preparad la caja de kleenex. Llorareis de risa, os lo prometo.


The weather today:
Partly Cloudy and Windy
7C
UV Index 0 Low
Wind From the West at 30 mph
Dew Point 3C
Humidity 79%
Visibility 7 miles
Barometer 1,000.3 mb