A Useful Piece of Information

There are lots of useful websites out there providing all sorts of information. Someone told me about this site today and I thought I would pass it on:

http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php

Although not much use for me at the moment as I am out in the States, I’m sure anyone in the UK would find it useful. This site provides alternative phone numbers to those 0870 numbers typically used for help lines etc. If you get stuck on hold for a long time this should save you money.

Subway

At first glance it would appear to be a simple task. Pop out of the office at lunchtime and buy a sandwich. Easy I hear you say, I do it all the time.
Now picture yourself in a foreign country, picture yourself in the USA. Easy I hear you say, they speak English. Had I not visited America I would have to agree however it's not quite that simple.
My typical sandwich shop of choice at lunchtime is Subway. It's close to the office and its one of the more healthy options. Popping to a local barbque vendor, although very tasty can result in an afternoon of sleep due to over eating or a heart attack. So Subway it is. Enter the shop, quick glance at the board, deep breath and away we go:
"Good afternoon Sir, what kinda sandwich can I git ya today?"
"Hi. I would like a 6 inch tuna on the Italian Herb and Cheese please".
"OK so that's a 6 inch what now?"
"Tuna please"

I get a blank look. Now I have done this many times and I am a bit of a glutton for punishment but I believe my crazy English accent should be enough to get me by in America. Fair enough if I am in Thailand or something but not the USA. I know the lady wants to hear the word "Toooona" but I think she could make a guess. The choices are fairly limited, chicken perhaps or meat ball so my "Tuna" should do the trick. Sadly no. I switch over to my dodgy America accent.

"Toooona please"
"Oh Toooona, I wondered what you were ordering for a minute there."

Now I would hope if the situation was reversed and a Texan strolled into an English Subway his order of: "Howdy partner, git me one of those foot long tooonas on the erb and cheese, toast it with some of the pepper jack" would do the trick.

Anyway back to the sandwich. Having successfully selected bread and filling I slide down to the salad bar and say hello to the salad lady. Should I chance it or stick with the fake America accent?

"Hi. What would you like on your toooona sir?"
"Hi. I would like some lettuce, tomato, green peppers, cucumber and halapinos please".

On goes the lettuce and then nothing.

"Sorry sir what was the second item?"

A little smile to myself.

"Tomato please"

I get that look again, the look that says: "Great, another weirdo holding up the lunchtime rush. As if making sandwiches wasn't bad enough I have to deal with this."

"Sorry, Tom-ay-toe."

Sure enough on goes the tomatoes and the sandwich is complete. Now I know it's a classic, "You say Tomayto and I say Tomato" but it really is true. The lady is faced with a very limited number of choices and my request of "Tomato" should do the trick but alas it always fails but I always try. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't annoy me or cause me any stress. I actually find these little difference between our two countries interesting. I might as well be speaking Thai with my "Tuna" and my "Tomato".

Borat -The first 4 minutes of his Movie


I saw this clip today. Looks like this is going to be a top quality film. Looking forward to seeing it already.

Nike + Update

I have been using the Nike+ system with my iPod Nano for a few weeks now. I was initially very impressed with the system. I found the logging of information motivated me to run further and more often. Now I have explored the package I am even more impressed.
When you fire up your iPod and connect the Nike+ receiver you then have a few exercise options. You can select a 'basic' workout which will simply monitor your progress; time (obvious); calories (set the no. of calories you want to burn) or you can use the distance option. This allows you to select a distance and once you start running you get automatic updates on your progress telling you when you have completed each mile, the time taken so far and your current pace. I have never run more than 4 miles or so but the other day I selected the pre programmed 10km run and was able to complete it.

I would have been happy with that in terms of motivation but I have now found a few more treats to help you pound out the miles. Once you log onto the website you can review your progress and also set 'goals'. Depending on the difficulty of the goal you set yourself you are awarded different medals. You might challenge yourself to run 25 miles in 4 weeks or burn 5000 in 3. Again it's a simple process but I found it quite affective. I have already collected a few medals and have now set myself even tougher goals.

So far so good. If that still isn't enough they have taken it to the next level. Rather than challenging yourself you have the ability to challenge any of the other 16 million+ runners out there. This week Nike opened up their forums allowing runners from all over the world to get together and race. Using the challenge system you could propose something like, "Who can run the furthest in November". You would then invite runners to take up the challenge and go for it. You can log in each day and see everyone’s progress in the form of a league table. If taking on the whole world doesn't motivate people then I don't know what would!! Here is the first challenge I signed up to. Should be interesting.



Hopefully this has help explain the Nike+ system to people that haven't come across it yet. If you are looking for a way to get motivated and do some exercise you could do a lot worse than this simple system. There is something satisfying about seeing your runs stack up.



That's enough from me today. I'm going to watch the baseball 'World Series' now. World series is a bit of a joke since it's basically all American teams. It's interesting to watch though since we don't get it in the UK very often. I'm supporting the St. Louis Cardinals since they are sort of local.

I have been working here in Kansas City on and off for over two years now. I have travelled here with a number of different colleagues from the UK office and everyone has a different view on this place. Sometimes you visit a place and everyone loves it, sometimes everyone hates it. KC is a place that splits people. It has much more extreme weather compared to the UK in all seasons, it’s mid-west America, most things are bigger etc etc. Some people like it, some not. One thing you can say about KC, it’s not boring.

Perhaps to locals it is boring as the goings on here are normal but to my British mind quite a lot of the things here are totally bizarre. Not so long ago I came upon a bizarre scene......

Driving home for a spot of lunch I approached the Plaza and there was a traffic jam where normally the traffic flows freely. (traffic jams are a rarity here as the roads are massive). As I looked into the distance expecting to see flashing lights and smashed up vehicles I made out what appeared to be a massive chicken walking around. I thought back to my morning at work and didn’t remember taking any mind-altering drugs, in fact all I had consumed was a hot chocolate and a bottle of water. It wasn’t my mind slipping into a dream state it really was a six-foot tall chicken walking on the pavement (side-walk).

As the traffic moved closer the scene became even more bizarre. I knew it would be interesting as the traffic coming towards me was slowing right down next to the chicken and drivers were flashing their lights and beeping their horns. The lorry (truck) drivers were getting very excited. It was at this point I suspected there were women involved.
My suspicions were confirmed as I edged close enough to see the full scene. I am going to do my best to describe it but I feel my non-drug altered mind won’t do it justice. OK, picture the scene,

There were two coffins on the corner of Broadway and 47th Street, right in front of the most impressive water fountain on the Plaza. It’s a busy spot for both tourists and people enjoying their lunch. The sun was shining and there are people everywhere.
The coffins had their lids removed and they had been angled up so you can see inside. Each coffin contained a naked lady, one blonde and one a brunette. (They clearly had a marketing mind on the team and were trying to appeal to as many people as possible). The ladies modesty was protected by a small bunch of flowers and a message board they were holding across their chests. A strong gust of wind and everything would have been on show. Their message read:


Bird Flu has arrived
The animals are fighting back
GO VEGITARIAN

Both of the young ladies were smiling and waving at the passers by as they waved back, beeped their horns and flashed their lights. Some people even stopped their cars, leaned out of the window and took pictures with their camera phones. I didn’t blame them who would believe you when you said “I just saw to naked ladies in coffins with a six foot chicken dancing around them at lunchtime”. Totally bizarre. One young chap ran over with a camera and started snapping away. He must have thought all his Christmas and Birthdays had come at once.

I have had a look on the Internet to try to find a news station that has covered the story as I’m sure reading this you want to see the pictures. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find one. Perhaps a Google search on something like “Two naked women and a six foot chicken” will do the trick.

One thing you can say about KC, you never know what’s going to happen next.

“You have to come downstairs, there are cows in the street.”


What else could I do? After receiving a phone call with instructions like that I left my desk and headed downstairs. My friend was right, there were indeed cows in the street along with cowboys and cowgirls!!
I wondered what people would think about this. Perhaps an American living in the mid-west would think, “So what. There are cows downtown walking between all the office buildings. What’s so special about that?”. But for my friends back home I have a feeling this would be interesting. I certainly found it interesting as it’s another ‘only in America’ moment.
It turns out there was a cattle drive. A bunch of cowboys and girls herded about 20 cows from outside my office towards the Marriott hotel. Great to watch, another surreal moment. The organisation was fantastic. All the car parks and side streets had been blocked off to avoid damage to property. The cowboys out numbered the cows and the cows chosen for the great honor of walking downtown were the most relaxed cows I have ever seen. I was hoping for a stampede but it didn’t look likely. They even had cleaning crews standing by ready to follow behind the procession cleaning up after the horses and cattle.
Unfortunately the only camera I had on me was my crappy camera phone. I knew I had to take some pictures as no-one would believe me.



It’s all part of America Royal. There’s even a website: www.americanroyal.com




















Before I go I thought I would include this link:

http://www.heroda.com/AlbumLeaf-Web-Final.mov

It a really cool video someone has made using time lapse.

Nike+
It's been a quiet few days, not much happening in Kansas City so I thought I would write a quick note about the Nike+ system I have just bought. My original plan was to buy a pair of the new nike running shoes with the Nike+ system built in (80 - 160 dollars). For those that haven't heard, the Nike+ system hooks up to an iPod nano and tracks any run or walk that you do via a sensor in your trainer. It records time distance and pace. I went to three local sports shops and none of them had my size of shoe. At one point in an act of desperation I even asked the sales assistant if they had my size in one of the most shocking paris of trainers I have ever seen. Fortunately they did not or I might have made the mistake of buying them. I have been visiting sports stores for the last few weeks trying to buy these trainers and was about to leave empty handed when I decided to buy the Nike+ sensor and iPod adaptor (30 dollars). How hard could it be to fit it myself I wondered.
I got home, found a marker pen and stanley knife then spent the next half hour hacking out a hole in the bottom of my left trainer to accommodate the sensor. I finally managed to get it to fit and was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked. In true Apple style I switched on my iPod, connected the receiver and it detected my left foot right away. It instructed my to walk for a few steps and then said all was well and I could go for a run when ever I wanted!! Easy.
I have been using the system for a few days now and its quite addictive. When you are out running you can press the center button on your iPod and a friendly female voice will let you know how you are doing telling you the distance you have run so far and how long you have been running. Once you complete a run you dock your iPod with the computer and it downloads the stats from your run. It then uploads these to the Nike+ website where you are then able to track all your history. It makes it really simple to see how much running/walking you have been doing. I started off with a walk around the local running track and today I ran the same route. At the end of the run I was greeted by the voice of Paula Radcliff telling me I had just run my furthest distance so far and she was pleased for me!! That was a little treat that isn't mentioned in the instructions. Now I want to complete a few more runs to see who else is going to be impressed with my efforts. If the winner of the London Marathon thinks Im doing well things can't be bad. To complete the system Apple have hooked up with some professional coaches to produce a number of different albums you can download. For example there is an album filled with dance tracks and a voice over from a professional coach teaching you how to improve your endurance. He talks to you throughout the 40 minute routine telling you when to sprint, run up a hill, jog and then cool down. It's an excellent idea and great for people who don't like gym classes or who want to train outside whilst the weather is still nice.
As you can tell I am impressed with the Nike+ system and hopefully it will keep me interested in keeping fit.

Other News: The story of my encounter with the local police has spread around the office and a number of people have suggested I write in to the local news paper. They seem to think the whole of Kansas City would enjoy the story. I'm tempted to write to them just to see if they print it. Will let you know what I decide.