Winter - How it affects normal life

Storm - 19 December, 2012

Well we finally got snow and it came in the form of a pretty decent storm, called Winter Storm Draco. It started with rain, then turned to sleet (horizontal at that) and then turn to snow. Combine all that with the high winds 25-35mph the roads were awful.

Thursday was when I first heard the storm was coming and I admit I didn't really think much of it. I didn't realise the impact it would have. I didn't really want to drive in it, but wasn't too worried at the same time either because, I thought, I'd just pull over, or drive slow. I totally forgot that my truck needs weight in the bed (goodbye traction without it!) and the size of my tyres make for good aquaplaning.

Storm Draco Begins 20 Dec, 2012

It was first supposed to hit at 6am (around the time I get up to get ready for work) but as it turns out it didn't hit till 11am and it continued through the day and I couldn't tell you when the wind really died down. I can tell you I left work at 3-3.30pm and didn't get home till 5.30pm-ish. It took 2-2 1/2 hours to drive 30 miles (which normally takes me 45-60 minutes).

I knew what was going to happen, but that doesn't help when it's actually happening. A few times I lost traction enough to fish-tail my truck. Once up onto a median strip (narrowly missing the pole because I jerked the wheel in time.. which incidentally is usually a big no-no in this weather... smooth fluid movements, nothing sudden.. no sudden acceleration or braking or turning), another time into the opposite lane of traffic (where thankfully the guy was at a stop sign and just laughed at me as I said "SORRY!!!"), and the final time I "ditched my truck". I lost it on the interstate and was headed for a ditch. It wasn't a small one either so I was forced to alter my trajectory as best I could and fling my steering wheel the opposite way. I still got stuck, but this time sideways and not a nose-plant into a big ditch. Thankfully a good samaritan (Ryan) drove past, saw I was still in my truck, and turned around (risking his own safety I will mention) and asked if I was okay. He called my husband for me (my phone battery was dead), and then asked me if I had anything like a chain and he'd pull me out. Luckily I still had some ratchet straps and though it ended up sacrificing itself, he got me out and I drove the rest of the way, very gingerly home. When I got home my husband and our neighbour were digging out our driveway. My back and neck were sore (from sitting so tensely) but I was oh so glad to be home, thankful I didn't roll my truck, thankful Ryan stopped to help and that his truck was strong enough to pull mine out, thankful I didn't ditch on the way home (and it was BAD... I couldn't see the roads at times but you can't pull over or you'll never get out so I just followed the tail lights ahead of me), thankful I've driven that path enough that I could guesstimate where the road was, and thankful it wasn't bad enough to incapacitate my truck.

ANYWAY before all this happened, I was talking a friend one morning (around midnight Aussie time but more like 7am central time in the US) and I had to run outside to start my truck. While out there (and still on the phone) I noticed my windscreen had iced over as well so I had to scrape it (it hadn't snowed yet but we'd still get ice on the windscreen). While telling my friend this (and a few other winter issues) I realised I hadn't addressed this on here yet and it might be interesting to some of you to read what winter can sometimes mean for daily life (outside of freezing our bits off!).

Winter in my area of the US means snow. I'd never really seen snow before I moved to Iowa, once for about 5 minutes as I drove through some random snow fall on the way to Melbourne, but that's about it. I thought in places where snow was common, it snowed daily/regularly during winter and I had no concept of what it really meant to have a white winter!

I thought (in my innocence) that when it snowed it pretty much snowed constantly. A few breaks here and there but mostly constant, how else does it stay on the ground? Well, that's because it's FREEZING! You might see on the weather report it's 35F but then it'll say "feels like 20F" because with the windchill it feels much colder. It can be sunny out with the nice hot sun feeling great when you're inside, but as soon as you step out the windchill.. brrr!

It doesn't snow all the time. It's like rain, only instead of rain it's snow. So think of how much it rains and imagine that being snow instead. That's what it is.
There's a few things to address so I'll do them in numerical point form to make life easier (hopefully) in case anyone wants to specify a particular number to ask questions or comment:

1. Getting Up Earlier -You're never quite sure if you're up "early enough" or "too early" but if you have somewhere to be, you better make sure you give yourself at least an extra 1/2 hour (depending how bad the weather was the day before) both to be able to leave the driveway, and also to get to work/wherever you're going on time. The next few points will explain why...


2. Start Your Vehicle Early - You will need to start your vehicle early to give it time to warm up. Not just inside the vehicle but also the engine itself. Driving on a cold engine isn't good at the best of times, but worse if it's frozen... but lets be honest, mostly it's about making sure that heater is working before you head out!


3. Digging Your Vehicle Out - You need to make a path out of your driveway so that you don't run over too much snow, compacting it into a slick surface (makes getting out harder and sometimes dangerous and almost impossible to shovel later). Just about everyone owns a snow shovel, but some really lucky people have snow blowers (makes it SO much quicker to dig out!). You will need to dig around your vehicle, as well as making sure your license plates and lights are visible (don't forget the brake lights including the "top one" if you have one).


4. Scraping Your Windscreen - Whether it's snowed a lot or not, almost every day you will have to scrape your windscreen, whether you're going somewhere or not. The reason for this is if it gets to the point where it melts then refreezes you could end up with a hard shell on your windows etc that you can't scrap off easily and you CANNOT use water (no matter the temperature) because cold will freeze, and too warm may crack (it's that cold) so scraping is your only option (eventually salt may work too...)


5. Wiper Fluid - It's funny how used to using wipers you get without realising it. You cannot use them in winter unless you have a special fluid in them that doesn't freeze otherwise, you guessed it, it could freeze on your windscreen and make a huge mess. You can buy special fluid (make sure you check what temp it freezes at, it'll usually say on the bottle) that will only freeze at really low temps (we just got some that'll be fine to -27F) and can even sometimes help melt the snow.


6. Digging Out Paths - Some towns will have rules about whether you MUST dig out your footpath/sidewalk or not. Failure to do so in those areas can result in a fine. However I know that some towns while this might be a "suggestion" there is also a law where if you've dug out and someone slips and hurts themselves it's your fault whereas leaving it alone it's "natures" fault. so you need to make sure you know so you don't end up regretting it! 





#7 Roads Being Plowed

7. Snow Plows - Governments, and even some people, have snow plows. The city workers will plow the main roads after a snow fall (sometimes during depends on how long it's been going on) to keep the roads clear and safe. The regularity of plowing depends and the time as well, so some mornings you might be "snowed in" because you can't drive your vehicle on the roads until they're plowed, and sometimes even the plow can cover your vehicle making it hard to get out, so be careful where you park! Some people own attachments for their trucks as well either to earn money by digging out people's driveways for them, or for personal use because they live on a road that doesn't get plowed by city workers.


8. Salt - Something totally new to me... salt melts snow! There are different kinds of salt too. Some are gentler than others (for example I was warned to avoid walking my dogs because some salt is so harsh it can burn the pads of their feet... so snow shoes for pets seems to have a practical purpose as well as being cute!). Just today I saw some coloured salt on the ground (not entirely sure why it's coloured.. maybe so you know it's there?). There are also big tanker type trucks that carry a salt water solution to salt down the freeways and highways. It doesn't work too well when the road has iced over and while it helps with the roads.. it leads to the next point...


9. Rusting Vehicles - The salt they put on the road, like when you live in a town near the sea, ends up rusting your vehicle. So while rust is a bad thing of course, I don't know of anyone that wouldn't buy a vehicle for everyday use simply because it has some rust (of course the amount matters), because it's going to keep rusting. My husband has a vehicle, a camaro, that he doesn't drive in winter for this very reason.


10. Warm Clothes - Something that perplexed me was, what do you do with all the winter clothes you're wearing to get from A to B and entering a warm building, like say, Walmart? Your tolerance may vary but I wear snow boots, gloves, a beanie, scarf (or facemask), and a big heavy coat... when you enter a building with heating that gets HOT and while the snow boots can stay on, what about the rest? I thought I'd see people carrying backpacks so they could stuff their winter gear into it... I haven't yet though 'cause most people just shove the gloves into the pockets of the coat or hold the gloves and beanie in one hand with the coat slung over their arm and the scarf loosened.


11. Cheaper Winter Clothes - One bonus of it being winter here 3 months out of the year, winter clothes are MUCH cheaper here than in Australia. I bought a coat that I can wear 4 different ways (there's a reversible inner coat that I can wear by itself or with the outer coat). It was only $60 when something comparable in Australia would be hundreds of dollars!


12. Shoe Spikes - I fell only once last year but one of the dangers of snow is black ice. Sometimes just a surface that doesn't look slippery but is. You can buy they spikes for your shoes that you slip over the sole of your shoe to make walking less dangerous. I don't personally use them because often there's not enough snow and you'd need to keep taking them on and off to walk on spots where there's no snow. Also out of interest, nearly fell on my butt the other day because i didn't see the submerged cement corner :S


13. Emergency Pack - The morning after the storm hit, I put my dolphin torch in my truck (http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=12292 - I love it!). I already had an emergency blanket (you know the silver ones) and also an airplane blanket I appropriated from my last United flight. It's also best to make sure you carry food and water but of course water freezes in the cold so you need to take it out and put it back in again. You should also put a chain or tow rope in just in case and, unlike me, make sure your phone is charged or have an emergency phone that can at least dial 911 or 112.





#14 Going Into a Ditch

14. Going into a ditch/Getting Stuck - There are government vehicles that drive around during storms (or after) checking vehicles for people. This is usually on the more main roads so try and drive on the main roads unless you're comfortable with the idea of waiting hours before someone drives past to rescue you.


15. Filling Your Vehicle With Fuel - This is probably the weirdest part... you don't shut your vehicle off when filling up. I remember all the signs at the petrol stations in Aus with their "do not use a mobile", "make sure your vehicle is completely off" signs and here there is no such thing. You leave it on to keep it warm.


16. Parking - There are some places where you're not allowed to park when it's snowing, and some places you shouldn't because vehicles can get plowed in (i.e. when plowing the roads the snow covers your vehicle and good luck getting it out!


17. Snow mobiles - Just like some people have four-wheelers, some people have snow mobiles at well. The interesting part is there are actually specific snow mobile routes and signs for them. I think it sounds like fun but it's also dangerous because you can't see what's under the snow, that's the main reason for the routes, so you can be more sure it's not dangerous.

Out of interest, snow isn't always "pretty" either. The salt from the road causes the snow to go from pretty white to grey/brown sludge.

Social Security Numbers & Credit Score

Click here to get the SSN explained

You've probably heard in movies people talking about their "social", or "SSN", or "so-sh" or "social security number" and wondered what exactly that is. Well, it's similar to a Tax File Number in that you need it to file taxes, but there's so much more to it! 

The Social Security number, also known as an SSN, is one of the most valuable numbers to have in America. It consists of 9 numbers and is usually written as 123-45-6789 and outside of the first time when disclose your full "social" to a company, you will normally identify yourself with your "last 4", being the last four digits. Your social is used to file taxes, to work, to identify "you" as well as tracking your credit score and credit history. The Social Security Administration (SSA) issues SSN’s depending on your legal status in the United States, so not everyone has one (students for example who have no need to be working or anything like that).

When I first arrived in the US I arrived on a K1 fiancee visa. People on K1 visas are eligible to get SSN's, but only if you get it within the first 76 days of being in the U.S. I'm wasn't allowed to work so when I got my SSN it said "valid only with DHS authorization" (which means a work permit or greencard) on it. Only when I got my greencard was that wording removed.

The SSN is linked to credit history and credit score, and companies report to the credit bureaus (four major ones) that you have applied for a loan or card (approved or not), that you’ve defaulted (or not), how many credit cards and accounts you have and many other things. If you have a low credit score it can really start to negatively affect your life here in the US.

The credit score ranges from 300 – 850

• Between 300 and 499 – Bad credit score.
• Between 500 and 579 – Poor credit score.
• Between 580 and 619 – Low credit score.
• Between 620 and 679 – Average or OK score.
• Between 680 and 699 – Good credit score.
• Between 700 and 850 – Very good or excellent credit score.

As a new immigrant to the US, when I first arrived I had no credit score and no credit history, and there was no way to bring my history from Australia. It was important to start building my credit score and credit history as soon as possible and the most popular ways to do that are:

• Have an American spouse or parent put you on their credit card (referred to as “piggy-backing”) bearing in mind you get their good AND their bad;
• Get a secured credit card (Capital One has a good one); and
• Get a store card (some stores are really strict so this may take some time)

Credit score determines things like getting a car or home loan with a lower interest rate, being eligible for store cards and credit cards, whether you need to pay a larger security deposit (bond) for an apartment, how much your car insurance premium will be, even as far as whether the electricity company will let you get connected without a deposit first. It has been reported that some employers will even checking your credit history to see what sort of person you are and determine whether they want to hire you.

There are companies out there who claim they can monitor your credit score however many often erroneously report to the credit bureaus that you are a victim of identity theft and put a “fraud alert” on your account which in itself can damage your history. In fact, being a victim of identity theft, even after you clean all the stuff up to show that it wasn't you, you will still have a lower score because of your failure to properly protect your number.

Links:
Checking your score: www.creditkarma.com (free)
Checking history: https://www.annualcreditreport.com (free once a year)

So getting a SSN was actually a pretty big event for me. Suddenly I was "on the map", and now, over the years, I've started building my score to get into the excellent range :) The only bad thing about this is the junk mail asking you to get this or that credit card starts pouring in... but I admit I was pleased the first time I got some... but only the first time :P

Hindsight... A visit home

An epiphany!

There are a few question I get asked pretty often (by family/friends and yes even strangers)... Whether in Australia or the US I'm asked if "Do you like living here/in America?" and  "Do you miss Australia?". They're questions that don't have a simple yes/no answer and often I'm worried of offending one party or the other (from experience this happens :S).

When back in Australia in September 2012 I was asked "Is the US home now or is Australia?" and I couldn't bring myself to say the US was home and neither could I say "Australia is still home"... to be honest, I felt like I was betraying either country no matter what answer I gave.

It wasn't until I returned to the US and went back to work (the very next day) that I had my epiphany (or mood swing.. who knows :P). It was a gorgeous sunny day. I went and got lunch at my "local" food haunt. I  was walking back to work and I realised that I felt comfortable. I like my job, I like where I live (most of the time), I like our house and of course my husband and our furry children (2 dogs).

Other immigrants will understand how welcome that feeling is. A lot of the time immigrants (I'm generalising here but I read this a lot on my immigration site) feel out of place about the strangest things. Someone once said she walked out of her house one day and realised she had no idea how to send a letter... and that's so true! You don't know where anything is, you don't know the processes. It's bizarre!

So that's where my ephiphany comes in, I realised that where I am is home. It's not the US, it's not Australia... it's where I am that's home. I finally feel comfortable enough here that I can say "I'm home"... but I still call Australia my "home country". Technicalities I suppose but where I am is my niche in life, not a country, and right now where I am is in small town Iowa, USA. This isn't meant as an insult to Australia, I simply mean, I'm finally at a place in my adjustment here where I'm comfortable enough to feel home and not like the alien I am :P

On a funnier note, being back in Australia was definitely weird, after two years (almost to the day actually) being back there was very different and I definitely noticed some things I hadn't noticed before.

On the observation front though (bear in mind I live in small town Iowa, and in Australia I lived in the Grampians so a lot of these things are related to where I'm from and where I am now):

1. Driving down the highway in Iowa (not the backroads, the highways) the trees are off in the fields and farther from the road. Driving down the Western Highway in Aus I was lucky to see the fields BEHIND the trees. Lots and lots of trees, and eucalpyts to boot, right up almost butting up to the road;
2. Hills versus flat lands. You can't see for a very long distance in my area of Aus because of the hills, but in Iowa it's just land and corn and soy beans as far as the eye can see;
3. Speaking of corn and soy beans, we grow canola in my area of Aus;
4. I saw NO shingled roofs... which is all there is here (that I've noticed). In Aus there was either tiled or tin;
5. Houses in Aus are made of brick or wood, but in the US they also have aluminum siding, which is what our house is;
6. Out shopping there was a sale on the Creamy Soda I love (Kirks), 4 for $10. In the US this can mean that they're $2.50 each so you can get 6 or 2 or 1 or whatever and you get the saving (usually). In Aus however you must buy the amount listed to get the saving, otherwise it's the original price;
7. Cable TV... oh how I love thee! I know that in Aus you can get pay-TV but it's so insanely expensive when here in the US everyone has cable or satellite. There are different sized cable/satellite plans, the more you pay the more channels you have, but going back to Aus most TV's only have 6 channels on regular TV;
8. When mum was here visiting she noticed that the toilets here tend to fill up more before then flushing down. She had a minor panic the first couple of times worrying the toilet was going to overflow;
9. When I first landed in Aus it was really glarey out. I was shocked to see so few people wearing sunnies... here in the states almost everyone wears them... could be because they're so cheap here;
10. While shopping in a more major town than my mum lives in, I saw a restaurant called "chequers"... yep that's right Americans, the restaurant "Checkers" spelt with a Q. I thought it was weird because it's a shop name so why change it? I likened it to calling "Subway", "Train Station" :-P; and
11. One thing that I noticed as soon as I was back on US soil is that I love my phone (and US cellular plans). I love having unlimited data, a good signal most of the time, unlimited texting, a smart phone and enough minutes that I never have to worry about over-paying (unless I call Aus that is). I think Australia is getting better at this but when I was last living there (2009) these smart phones weren't as prevalent (iPhone or blackberry were your choices), data plans sucked and calls cost a small fortune. I use my phone (an HTC Incredible 2) pretty much all the time now and love it (well not recently.. I'm having battery problems :P)!

And finally, I tried to check out this theory on the coreolis effect... but I only thought about it right as I was leaving so sorry, nothing to report :P

Thanksgiving 2012 (inc Black Friday & Cyber Monday)

TURKEY DAY! Well... not "Turkey Day" for us because neither my husband nor myself are big fans of turkey... I don't mind eating it covered in gravy and ketchup, but I hate cooking it... smells SO bad raw! So Thanksgiving this year was Ham for us. Specifically brown sugar double-glazed spiral ham :) If it's not ham, it's chicken, and this year my husband picked ham.

The sides each family has depends... it can change family to family and area to area, but in my experience it tends to be:

• green bean casserole (made with mushroom soup, milk, green beans and dry fried onions)
• candied sweet potato (made with sweet potato topped with marshmallows and baked in the oven)
• cranberry sauce (most eat the kind that comes from a can)
• dinner rolls (sweeter than we have in Aus)
• pumpkin pie (dessert)

That isn't to say that's what WE have :P I don't like green bean casserole, and the candied sweet potato is WAY too sweet. The cranberry sauce isn't a favourite and the dinner rolls taste like American bread.. not good... So we have roasted vegies (potato, sweet potato and carrots with rosemary) and sometimes peas and corn and gravy. My husband, the American, likes the green bean casserole so I make that for him, and he likes stuffing so I make that separately too. We were too full to eat pumpkin pie this year but we did have chocolate pudding (mousse). Yum! We're still eating left-overs and it's still good!

Cornucopia

I'm sure most of us, all over the world, have seen or read stories about the meaning behind Thanksgiving, the pilgrims sitting down to dinner with the Natives (I have to admit my knowledge comes from the Addams Family movie with Wednesday at camp :P)... but here's a Wiki article for those that want to read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is also celebrated in Canada, though in October instead of November and has different roots, despite being called the same thing. The image on the left, the cornucopia, is a common image you'll find connected to Thanksgiving. It is supposed to symbolize the harvest bounty.

My favourite part of Thanksgiving is the idea of sitting around the table and letting everyone know what you're thankful for, or even taking the time to think about it yourself. This year I saw people changing their Facebook status each day with something they're thankful for. I thought that was pretty neat. I actually learnt some new things about people that I didn't know and that's rarely bad :D

Another cool thing about Thanksgiving is the shopping!! Like Boxing Day sales for Australia (though that's after Christmas), here in the US you have Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) and Cyber Monday (Monday following Thanksgiving). This year a lot of the sales actually happened all weekend, not waiting for Monday and the Black Friday sales actually started Thursday night.

Here's the Wiki page on Black Friday -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping) but you should probably do some searches for news articles about Black Friday as well... look at some photos... some people can be CRAZY! Here's the wiki for Cyber Monday -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Monday

The catalogues and adverts come out a week or two before the actual time for the sales, and the deals that are the best are called "doorbuster deals". These are the deals that they think will have people "busting in the doors"... and the sales tend to start around 4am, or 6am, and this year some started at midnight. People will line up outside DAYS before the sales start. This year in my area people started lining up outside Best Buy (electronics store) on SUNDAY... that's right, almost 5 days before the sale. It got to about 0C the night before the sales too... sorry, I couldn't do that! Apparently there were tents this year too!

I have never actually attended to stand in line early, I admit I'm probably a little scared. People have actually been killed, trampled to death when the doors open. This year someone pulled a gun on a line-jumper in Texas.

Cyber Monday is exactly how it sounds, sales that are online only. I haven't had a look at many of the sales this year but I did buy 2 new games (Bop It and Yahtzee). One of these days maybe I'll be a pro, know where to go and when, know what really is a good deal, but I admit Thanksgiving kinda snuck up on me this year :P Maybe next time :) At least it reminds me Christmas isn't too far away either!!

I hope those of you that celebrated Thanksgiving had a good one, and those of you who didn't, I hope you understand "our" cooky traditions a bit more :)

Halloween!

October 31st is "All Hallows Eve"

This is not my first Halloween but I'm finally starting to get into these "American holidays" - plus it's my first one since the blog so I should probably write about it :P Halloween is one of the holidays that Australian's typically don't (as a country) celebrate. Australia didn't (when I was last there) provide candy/lollies in bulk Halloween style, they don't offer the same range of costumes, decorations etc etc. It's considered by many Australian's as an "American holiday".

Well, funnily enough Halloween is NOT "just an American holiday". Halloween is celebrated in many countries, including the U.K and Canada. In fact, Halloween has quite the history, dating back to the 16th century. Here's a wikipedia article for those interested in the history in a bit more detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween  The name "Halloween" is actually a shortened version of it's actual name "All Hallows Eve" and for my first time since being here, I was told that the 1st and 2nd November, the days following "All Hallow's Eve" are actually referred to by many as the "Day of the Dead", a Mexican holiday. See here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead

Halloween this year on my FB home page showed a whole gamut of emotions and opinions. There were of course the American's getting totally into it (talking about decorations, haunted houses, what candy to give out), some Aussie's getting into it (parties, dress-up and trick or treating) and some Aussie's venting about other Aussie's getting into it. I had people talking about how they had trick-or-treaters and how some actually slammed doors in kids faces, would tell them "We're not Yanks" or "This is an American holiday and we're not in America". Some got into the spirit though and would hand out candy/lollies to kids that came by. There are also some people who get very upset at people in Australia NOT celebrating it. Calling those people "party poopers" and those people use the excuse of celebrating it (without knowing it's actual meaning) because it "gets people out into the community". I should also mention there were some Aussie (now) friends of mine who experienced their first Halloween this year having immigrated to the U.S! One comment from such friend was "Halloween was super fun and cute! loved it!" :)

I think some of the problems stem from the misconception that this is an American only celebration (which is also all I knew it as growing up), but also that from what I could see, due to Australia not typically celebrating it, a lot of Aussie's seemed to not be aware of Halloween etiquette that if your porch light is on, you're "open for business", otherwise you're not... and people don't just go around whenever knocking on people's doors, there's a community/neighbourhood set time for trick-or-treaters. This is sometimes the night of, the night before, the weekend before etc. Different areas have different times. In my little Iowa town it was 6-8pm on the night of Halloween (Oct 31st). This gives people the "choice" to be involved or not. That choice makes a huge difference to how people would feel about it I think.

I've had a few people ask questions about what it's really like to celebrate "proper" Halloween so lets hope I cover some of your questions with some of my facts/observations below :)

1. Prior to Halloween you can find pumpkin farms that will be open for business for families to pop by and search for the perfect pumpkin to turn into a jack-o-lantern. You can also buy pumpkins at the supermarket (the big orange ones.. and decent prices too) but the farms have hay-bale rides, and hay-bale mazes and stuff like that. Great for the kiddies :)

Jack-O-Lanterns

2. Candy is sold in bulk in many places in preparation for Halloween. Your favourite candies can come in smaller sizes (smaller than fun size) but in big bags. Your personal opinion can differ but most people recommend you buy candy that is individually wrapped, and don't hand out or accept hand-made candy due to the dangers that can pose (though some people will wrap stuff to look individually wrapped so you still need to be careful).

Trick or Treaters

3. Some parents inspect the kids candy before they'll let them eat it. This is because some people do think it's funny to hand out gag candy, or sometimes people will hand out bad things like candy with razor blades etc. This year there was a story where someone handed out little baggies of heroin. Luckily the parents caught it in time!

4. Some people hand out things other than candy. I had a kid come by with an apple that someone had given him. Some people hand out pencils and other office/school supplies. Most kids (understandably) hate that people hand out something other than candy on "candy day" but I'm sure some parents appreciate it!

5. People decorate their houses (inside and out) and front yards with all sorts of things. Tombstones, spider webs, ghosts, motion activated scary things, inflatable things as well! We're still only "new" at decorating so we just one or two little things. We have bags of leaves in the orange trash/garbage bags with faces on them for outside, and a few little things inside. Here's a picture of an inflatable yard decoration I saw around town :)

Yard Decoration

6. Businesses sometimes decorate too, or don't mind if you decorate your desk/cubicle. Usually it's just a few little things like toy witches, goblins, jack-o-laterns (usually the electric ones) or other such things... I'm not sure if your boss would let you come in zombie makeup the day of Halloween.. I should ask if mine would for next year :P Some business also release special Halloween/holiday themed candy/chocolate/beverages. Here are some examples:

Russell Stover Chocolate

Panera Bread Sugar Cookies

7. Haunted houses! I still haven't been to one because I'm a big wimp but there are a LOT of haunted houses around prior to (and just following) Halloween. Most charge an admittance fee and the kids love getting scared! An acquaintance of mine works at a hauted house during the season. His make-up is usually amazing (and gross) and his aim each night is to make people throw up. Sad to say, he often succeeds!

So there you go. A little bit about Halloween :) If you have any questions please post in the comments section :)

Politics & The Presidential Election

USA Election 2012

So it's been 3 years since I moved here, and now it's 4 years since the last President was elected... this of course means politics FEVER.

I'll be honest, I'm not big on politics. Never have been. But I do sometimes like to have a political discussion/debate about about why I think someone is a moron, or why someone's policies don't make sense and such things like that (just recently such a discussion became heated... which is odd because I don't really care THAT much). But I honestly can't remember a political race being so... everywhere. Debates, yard signs, adverts (and LOTS of them), newspaper articles, and conversations about policies and all that. It's quite a sight to behold. In fact I listen to an internet radio station called Pandora and every now and then it has an ad (helps fun the free music listening) and there's political ads there. And YouTube, sometimes they had ads at the start of videos there, all Obama ads so far.. getting old quick.

This is what the yard signs are like

The thing about Australian voting (for those that don't know) is that it is mandatory once you hit 18 years of age. You need to keep your address up-to-date (and when moving like Uni students do you'll often receive something in the mail telling you to register with this new address... which I ignored a couple of times... foolishly). If you don't vote you will receive a fine. This is for state and federal elections as well.

When I turned 18 it was a voting year and I believe voting was the following month, if not a few weeks following my birthday. I'd never been interested in voting before so I had NO idea about the process, who to vote for, their policies and all that stuff. Luckily I was still in High School and mum explained it to me (except that I could do a dummy vote.. which would probably have been better for me than what I DID do :P)

Barack Obama v. Mitt Romney

Voting in American elections is not mandatory (huzzah!) but I couldn't vote this year if I wanted to anyway. One of the limitations of being a Legal Permanent Resident as opposed to a Citizen is that I can't vote, or be on jury's for that matter.

For those that don't know (who obviously live under a rock... can I move in please?) there are 2 political "teams", Republican (Romney) and Democrat (Obama) which are also broken up into colours too, Red for Republican, and Blue for Democratic. If you read an article about different politicians you'll sometimes see the first letter of their political party in brackets after their name (I was confused at first :P)

BUT it's not just the Presidential Elections either, it's the General Election at the moment too. I drive for about 45 mins to get to work and have seen yard signs for all sorts of elected official positions; such as County Recorder, County Circuit clerk, Judges (Supreme, Circuit etc), County board, Sheriff... I don't really see any ads for those... could be because I don't get the local paper (have been thinking about it.. requires me to sign up = effort to find the place to do it) but I know they're around because I keep seeing yard signs. Haven't heard of half the people going up for the election so just like in Australia, I'd be pretty dang useless if I COULD vote anyway :P


**Note: Thank you for being so patient for my latest blog. With my mum being in town in August I didn't have time and then I returned to Australia for 2 weeks in September due to the tragic loss of my father.

Driving on the "right" side of the road

Driving on the "right" side

Getting a US licence was a big deal to me, and I finally did it in December 2010. I finally felt like I was "normal". After driving for about 10 years in Australia, suddenly being unable to take myself anywhere got a bit old pretty quick. I was able to drive on my Aussie licence for a certain period because in many US states you're permitted to drive on your foreign licence for a certain period of time (there are some countries that aren't, there's a list online somewhere). Some states permit 30 days, some 90 but California (CA) specifies 10 days of "residing" in CA before you need a California licence. The CA licence rule has been an issue for a few people because if you don't have a visa permitting a licence, or GC you're not eligible for a CA licence, but the police will have an issue with you driving without one if you "reside" in CA.. so if asked you're VISITING CA, not living there... until you're able to get a CA licence... just out of interest!. For people from other states make sure you check the laws of the state you're in/visiting to make sure you're able to drive around in your friend or family members car AND have that friend or family member check with their insurance that they cover foreign licences (some don't).. if you're renting a car, of course you're fine :)

Just from the above I'm sure you can see that different states have different rules when it comes to a lot of things. This includes the switching over of a foreign licence to a US licence. If you're Canadian some states will just let you swap them over (this means handing over your foreign licence), but for most countries you actually need to go through the testing and everything like any other "new driver" would.

As you'd expect, there's also a fair few differences to driving in the US as opposed to Australia, they use miles instead of kilometres for one, but one of the biggest is of course driving on the "other" (right) side of the road, while sitting on the other (left hand) side of the car! Luckily the accelerator and brake are still the same otherwise I think I might have had a bit of trouble! As it was, changing gear with my right hand instead of my left meant I would occasionally slam my left hand into the truck (ute) door in my attempt to change gear!!

Road Markings

Like in Australia rules can sometimes vary from state to state so please bear in mind these are Iowa (and some Illinois) laws/quirks :)

My Saviour - The "Yellow Line"

One handy-dandy thing is that there is a yellow line separating you from oncoming traffic. This make my life easier because I do still have moments where I panic a little making sure the road I'm turning into isn't one-way, or making sure I'm turning into the correct lane so I look for my yellow line! As you can see from the pic on the left, the yellow lines are on the left most side of the road for each direction of traffic.

So a multi-lane highway will be separated by white lines for each of the lanes heading in the same direction, and then separated from oncoming traffic by a yellow line. 

Right Turn on Red

Right Turn on Red

Another favourite! As we drive on the right side of the road here in the US, when you're wanting to turn right you're actually turning into the closest most lane (like turning left in Australia). In many cases (unless there's a sign saying "No Turn on Red") you would treat the right turn at a red stop light as a stop sign. You come to a complete stop, check to see if there's traffic (traffic who have the green obviously have right of way) and if it's clear, you turn. Saves a LOT of time. 

Stop Signs

There is not always a fat white line telling you where to stop (this goes for stop signs and traffic lights), and the stop sign sits a little further back from where you're actually supposed to stop. This can be hard on road where the stop sign is hidden until the last minute (dang trees needing to be cut). It feels almost like someone is playing a trick on you and put a sign there just to mess with you...

I miss the fat white line for the stops and the dashed line for give way (called a "yield") here. This lack of line is also sometimes a problem with traffic lights too.

Traffic Lights

Aussie Traffic Lights (NSW)

Illinois Traffic Lights

You don't really notice things are there until you notice something is missing. In Australia (Vic at least) we have 2 sets of lights for each direction; one on the side of the road you stop at, and another on the other side of the road (that sounds confusing so I added a pic). Not here. They're ONLY on the opposite side of the road (pic also added). With the fat white line missing (mentioned above) I did, once, almost cross the road on a red to sit at that light. I realised there was something wrong (why would I sit in traffic?) but I still did have that momentary urge to "pull up to the light" like I normally would.

The lights don't necessarily have to be on a pole either, sometimes they're suspended ABOVE the road (still on the other side) by a wire tied between two poles. These lights can either be vertical, or horizontal. They're usually pretty tight so even a strong breeze will just make them sway just a little. Nothing too scary.

Indicators / Blinkers

This was one mum was thrown by as well when she visited. Just a small thing but blinkers/indicators here in the US are not ALWAYS a dedicated orange light, instead in many cases (including our vehicles) the indicator is actually one of the brake lights flashing. When mum was here I was driving behind a vehicle that had only ONE brake light working, so I was never sure what the person was doing... and just the other day I was next to someone who tapped their brakes all the time. I kept worrying they were about to dart out in front of me to turn :S

Crossing the Street

I have nearly been hit by cars, twice... yes probably because I'm an idiot, but also because back home when you step out into the road (okay maybe I'm the only one) you look towards oncoming traffic first and then step out and look to the other side while walking... well.. here because they drive on the "right" side of the road, oncoming traffic will come on your left side, instead of your right side like back home. This means that I've stepped out before looking and cars have nearly plowed into me. Scary stuff

When mum was visiting she did the same thing and I told her she had to STOP and check BOTH sides of the road before stepping out. She wasn't allowed to get injured on holiday! Now it's so natural to me I just know I'm in trouble when I'm next back in Australia.

Clover leaf

Clover Leaf

Clover leaf explanation

Here's a wiki article on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverleaf_interchange

The weird thing about these is that when coming off the actual "leaf" part, the part where you turn, you do NOT stop and while you sometimes slow down a little, you do not slow down much because it's dangerous when traffic is going so fast (typically at least 55mph). You merge with oncoming traffic, AND if you look at the diagram above, you are entering oncoming traffic as others are trying to exit so there's a zigzag crossing situation that is sometimes a little scary when there's a lot of traffic.

Helmets for Motorcycles

This is just a small one but shocks me without fail. There is no helmet law here in Iowa. This means that people are running around on motorcycles without helmets... ALL the time. It just blows my mind :S

0.08 BAC

The alcohol level that you have to be under is 0.08. On doing a quick read on the internet its different in different states but in Montana I see that if you drive a "commercial vehicle" (so a bus or something) you need to be under 0.04 and if you're under 21 you're not supposed to have any "measureable amount" but what's interest is that's not 0.00, it's 0.02.. weird.

I just realised I've never seen a booze bus here either... :S

School Buses

Stopping for School Bus

This one has always thrown me. The image to the left explain it. Unless there is a median strip separating traffic, it doesn't matter what direction you're driving in, or what side of the road you're on, you must stop for a stopped school bus with it's red lights and stop sign out. The penalties for not doing this vary from state to state but were recently changed in Iowa to carry a 250-650 fine (plus court costs and a surcharge fee) and loss of licence (30 or more days depending on whether its the first or more offence). Needless to say, this is a BIG rule to remember.. and leads me to...



Every Fine is a Court Record

Let's be honest, just about all of us have driven a little faster than we should have at some stage, but what I wasn't aware of was that instead of it just being on your driving record, here in the US they actually make a court record of it. All fines (speeding, rolling through a stop sign... whatever) are lodged with the court and you have a court date. Some fines do not require you to actually GO to court (you can pay the fine before your court date) but all actually HAVE a court date and therefore a court record online (and court records are a matter of public record which in some areas, like mine, means it may also be in the paper). Some require you to go to court, no matter what, and failure to do so will lead to a warrant being out for your arrest.

It's rather interesting in my opinion. At home a court record means you've done something really bad. Here, it's "not a big deal" (as I've been told) to have a court record for something like a speeding fine etc, it's "just a ticket"...

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Well that was pretty long but I hope you found it interesting :)

Mum's Here Visiting

For those who are wondering where my latest update is, mum is visiting (first time ever) and will be leaving on the 28th August. I may get another blog done while she is here with HER opinions and experiences but we'll see.

Thank you for being so understanding :)

Who You Rooting For?

The XXX Olympiad

USA v. Australia

I have to admit I laughed while writing that title because it's not something I say too often because... well... American's usually don't know what I mean and it sounds a little suss, let's be honest :P

At the time of writing this blog, Australia was 11th with 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze and US was 2nd with 6 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze. China is in the lead with 10 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze (http://www.london2012.com/medals/medal-count/). We're only a couple of days in though (a week I just found out) and the Olympics goes for 2 1/2 weeks so nothing is set in stone yet.

I have to admit that I've never really considered myself super patriotic, especially when you see how patriotic a normal every day American is. Certainly makes me feel like I don't appreciate my country enough but I'm sure I'm not the only one to feel this way sometimes.

Since immigrating I've found myself feeling more patriotic. People immediately hear my accent, there is no hiding (though I must admit I personally enjoy my attempts at a "southerner" accent I don't think southerners would :P) and when you so often get asked whether you're happy to finally be in the US (like Australia is a horrid place to live) you start to get a little defensive and of course identify as a true-blue Aussie!

So now it's the Olympics, country against country. Bragging rights for an entire country for 4 years. A friend commented on my Facebook (FB) that I'm "American now" (not really, I'm just an LPR) so I should be supporting the US so it got me thinking, where do my sporting loyalties lie?

Well, here is my crazy girl over-analysis. If it was US v Australia I would barrack for Australia, hands down. If Australia wasn't in the running then I'd go for the US but I admit that I would prefer the US to NOT win if it means that Australia would be higher in the medal count. Crazy I know, but I just don't have the sporting loyalty built for the US yet. I'm doing my best though to watch the Olympics when other shows aren't more interesting and when my favourite sports are on because, like in Australia, the US tends to show sports they are competing in or have done well in at least. I figure this will help me build my sporting loyalty a bit. It's my first Olympics living in the US, of course I'm used to rooting for Australia (teeheehee).

So, what sports do you like to watch? (Here's the schedule and results: http://www.london2012.com/schedule-and-results/) Personally my faves are the gymnastics stuff (talk about high tension!), weightlifting (not sure why, maybe 'cause it's quick?), diving and swimming. The others are interesting just these are my faves :)

I have to admit I haven't seen too much hubbub about the Olympics here. Maybe I don't watch enough news or read enough papers but I've seen some sporting stuff in Walmart (Team USA stuff) but that's about it really. No-one at work talked about it. I don't hear people down the street talking about it... I personally didn't know when it started until my husband said something a month ago like "Olympics starts soon doesn't it?" and I realised that I had no idea. That said, those that ARE interested in it are 100% interested and going nuts with the support (which is how it should be).

Qns for readers ---
What are your favourites to watch?
If you're a fellow expat (no matter which countries are involved), who are you supporting?

GO AUSSIES!! :D

Water Towers

Gaffney, N.C

One of the very first things you can't help but notice in the US (at least in small town US without the presence of sky-scrapers) are the water towers.

Every town I have been to has a water tower but if it's a big town, one with suburbs, each suburb can have it's own water tower and sometimes the same town can have two simply because of how the town is or was laid out (see Eldridge pics below). In fact, even some of the really tall buildings can have their own towers and pumps (such as the Empire State Building in New York) because they are too tall to get the full pressure and need to create their own!

Typically the name of the town is written on the side so it's useful if you ever forget where you are :) Sometimes they get into school spirit and are decorated with the local school team, or if they're famous for something. Honolulu Hawaii for example has a pineapple shaped one but there are also strawberries, corn, peaches (like the one from Gaffney North Carolina to the left)... Just type "water tower" into a google search and you'll get lots of images (some are really quite clever).

They can also vary in size and shape. I saw one the other day that I'm convinced was the cause of all the spaceship photos... it was large, silver and rose out from a thicket of trees.

Unlike in most places in Australia, the US uses water towers instead of reservoirs. In fact any time I've mentioned to anyone about the lack of water towers they've asked me in astonishment "how do you get your water then?". I admit I don't know much about how reservoirs work but I know I get water! but this lack of knowledge can also be said for many American's and their water towers. Luckily we have the internet to answer our questions :)

How Stuff Works - Water Towers

The image to my left is from this site: http://www.howstuffworks.com/water.htm which explains (in length) how water towers work. But, in short, water towers are tall to create water pressure. They also hold a large amount of water without taking up a lot of ground space (like a reservoir does). In fact a typical water tower can hold 1.5million gallons (over 5.68 million litres) of water. There's a lot more to it than that so please read the link above if you're interested :)

Here are some pictures of some of the variations of towers available... bearing in mind there are other different ones as well :D

Eldridge, Iowa Water Tower #1

Eldridge, Iowa Water Tower # 2

Newton, Iowa

Snyer, Texas

Tick... Ick!

American Dog Tick - female (dead)

You'd think after so long here (3 years in September) that I would run out of firsts but I had another first the other day (July 7) ... my first tick. Gross! You can go your whole life without a tick so I'm told (without KNOWING you had one maybe) but I have to tell you, finding one creeped me the bleep out for the rest of that day. If a single hair moved I was checking to make sure I didn't have another one... well I should have kept checking I suppose because the following day while putting my hair up I found another one, in my hair attached to my head like the first one! My husband came and got it out for me (he got the first out as well) and it wasn't swollen from feeding so I must have got it recently. My husband did note that this one was in deeper than the first but nothing too drastic... except in the pics (to the left) you can see she (female American dog tick) is holding a piece of my scalp in her teeth :S I tell you what though, I now have a "tic" in the sense that I can't help but check my hair, especially before bed or if I feel a tingle, or a hair move... **shudder**

So I decided that rather than make you all Google and wiki everything that I would write a short (ha!) little guide on ticks to cover info on the questions that I get asked most about it (by family I told about being bitten) and the things I wonder about most.

WHAT?

Some types of ticks to show size

Ticks are a part of the arachnid family (yep spider family) although you'd be forgiven for thinking they're an insect until you close enough to count their legs. They kinda of look like cockroaches in their body shape. They are external parasites and live on the blood of mammals, birds and occasionally reptiles and amphibians.

There are 3 different families (family in the scientific sense) of ticks, one family being found solely in Africa (so nothing for me to worry about at this point), and the other 2 families being hard body (Ixodidae) and soft body (Argasidae) ticks. The hard and soft body ticks are the ones to worry about because of the diseases and illnesses they cause.

• Hard ticks (Ioxdidae - which in my area consists of american dog tick, brown dog tick, black legged tick and lone star tick to name a few)  have a tough back plate or scutum that defines their appearance. The hard ticks tend to attach and feed for hours to days. Disease transmission usually occurs near the end of a meal, as the tick becomes full of blood. 
• Soft ticks (Argasidae - castor bean tick, relapsing fever tick and fowl tick) have more rounded bodies and do not have the hard scutum found in hard ticks. These ticks usually feed for less than one hour. Disease transmission from these ticks can occur in less than a minute. The bite of some of these ticks produces intensely painful reactions. 

WHERE ARE THEY FOUND? 

LifeCycle (humans are alternate hosts)

Tick species are widely distributed around the world. However, they tend to flourish more in countries with warm, humid climates, because they require a certain amount of moisture in the air in order to undergo metamorphosis, and because low temperatures inhibit their development from egg to larvae. Ticks can be found in wooded areas, brushy fields, and around your home most often from April to July. This of course means if you're someone with a pet you need to regularly check your pets for ticks, especially so if you have outside pets.

Due to their role in transmitting Lyme disease, ixodid ticks (hard ticks) have been studied using geographic information systems (GIS), in order to develop predictive models for ideal tick habitats. According to these studies, it was determined that certain features of a given micro-climate – such as sandy soil, hardwood trees, rivers, and the presence of deer – are good predictors of dense tick populations.

WHERE DO THEY BITE/ATTACH?
Ticks most often attach in the neck and scalp region however they can also be found just about anywhere else, especially crevices. For that reason you need to check your "private parts" to make sure you haven't had anything attach. Ticks can only crawl they cannot jump.

In pets they tend to be in the ears, around the eyes, or anywhere "squishy".

PREVENTION
Unfortunately there's no sure-fire way to make "sure" you won't get a tick but there are a few things you can do to lower the chances:

•  Avoid tick season completely by staying away from outdoor areas where ticks thrive, usually during the months of April through September in the U.S. (not as easy as it sounds!)
• Apply insect repellant, specifically the brands designed to repel ticks.
• Mow your lawn and weed your gardens to make it less "tick friendly"
• Buy specific tick and flea chemicals to put on your lawn/garden area to repel them

REMOVAL
There are a lot of tales out there about how to remove a tick and a lot of what I've heard is SO wrong so I'll disspell two of the main ones first:

DO NOT:
- Light a match and blow it out and put the end on it's bum. This does NOT make it "pull it's head out" like people say, in fact it's liable to try and go FORWARD which means into you!
- Grab it by it's back/butt and pull it out. This makes them excrete more toxins into you.
- Cover it in vaseline or clear nailpolish to "smother" it because as it's struggling to breath it regurgitates all the bad stuff

Proper removal

In general, the best way to remove adult tick is by using fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and applying a steady upward force without crushing, jerking or twisting, to avoid leaving behind mouthparts or provoking regurgitation of infective fluids into the wound. You can by special tick removal tools which to be honest I'm considering because if my husband wasn't here removing them myself would have been hard... especially for a first timer.

It is important to disinfect the bite area thoroughly after removal of the tick. You should store the tick in case you get symptoms of illness, to show to a doctor for identification purposes together with details of where and when the bite occurred. If the tick's head and mouthparts are not attached to the body after removal, it may be necessary for the doctor to remove any parts remaining under the skin.

SIDE EFFECTS
Most tick bites are probably harmless and may cause no problems (never felt myself get bitten, the area of the bite didn't hurt after they were removed either). Ticks that have never fed, if handled properly, will not cause any harm. The earlier a tick is removed, the less the likelihood that the tick transmitted any disease. If there is any immediate reaction to a tick bite and if the tick is removed quickly, most individuals recover almost immediately.

Ticks are carriers of a number of diseases, including:

• Lyme disease --  Black-legged ticks and deer ticks (hard ticks)
• Babesiosis -- Ixodes species (hard ticks)
• Ehrlichiosis -- Lone Star Tick (hard ticks)
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever -- American Dog Tick and Rocky Mountain wood tick (hard ticka) are the primary vectors and occasionally the Brown Dog Tick; Cayenne Tick (hard tick) is the vector in countries south of the United States
• Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) -- Lone Star Tick (hard tick)
• Tick-borne relapsing fever -- African tick (soft tick)
• Tularemia -- American dog tick and lone star tick (hard tick)
• Anaplasmosis (human granulocytic anaplasmosis or HGA) -- Ixodes species (hard tick)
• Colorado tick fever -- Rocky Mountain wood tick (hard tick)
• Powassan encephalitis -- Ixodes species and Rocky Mountain wood tick (both hard ticks)
• Q fever -- Brown Dog Tick, Rocky Mountain wood tick, and lone star ticks (all three are hard ticks) 

Because ticks can harbor more than one disease-causing agent, patients can be infected with more than one pathogen at the same time, compounding the difficulty in diagnosis and treatment.

After a tick bite, individuals may develop any of these symptoms that may be due to the organism that the tick transmits during its bite:

• Flu-like symptoms
• Fever
• Numbness
• Rash (these vary according to the pathogen transmitted by the tick)
• Confusion
• Weakness
• Pain and swelling in the joints
• Palpitations
• Paralysis
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea and vomiting
• Bulls eye rash - indicative of lyme disease

Tick bites are generally painless. Many people may not even notice the bite and may never find the tick if it falls off. Small ticks, like the deer tick that transmits Lyme disease, are so tiny they may be nearly undetectable. Some ticks are about as small as the period at the end of this sentence. However, there are some symptoms that may occur that can be directly related to the tick itself due to the tick bite. Occasionally, a neurotoxin (a substance that is toxic to nerves) secreted at the time of attachment to make the bite unnoticeable to humans and other hosts can cause muscle weakness or paralysis. It rarely causes paralysis that inhibits breathing. The simple task of removing the tick stops any further neurotoxin production, and the person usually recovers quickly and completely. The actual bite may cause symptoms only after the tick drops off. However, some people may notice local redness, itching, burning, and rarely, localised intense pain (soft ticks) before or after the tick drops off. The majority of tick bites result in few, if any, mmediate symptoms.

The results of the illnesses transmitted by ticks often begin days to weeks after the tick is gone. That's why doctors or affected individuals may not suspect a tick-related illness because many people ignore or forget about barely noticeable "bites." The most important clue about any tick-related illness is to tell the physician about a tick bite. You also need to tell their physician about outdoor activity (camping, hiking, etc.) in tick-infested areas even if the person does not remember a tick bite.

Tick bites may also induce a delayed allergy to red meat characteristically present several hours after eating in subjects who have experienced a large local reaction to tick bites up to six months earlier.

The outlook (prognosis) of the diseases transmitted by tick bites can range from good to poor; once a diagnosis is made, the prognosis is best determined by the diagnosing physician and is related to the disease that was transmitted by the tick and the stage of development of the disease process in the individual at the time of diagnosis and treatment.

LINKS
More info: http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pccommonticks.htm
CDC: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ticks/article_em.htm
Symptoms of tick-borne illnesses: http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html
Illinois tick ID: http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/tickkey.htm
Common types of ticks: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/types-of-ticks.html

Baby You're a Firework (4th July)

I started this post a few days ago but for some reason I'm finding it hard to finish it... so lets hope this comes out making sense :)

The 4th July (Independence Day - no not the movie) started early this year. How so you ask? Well one super cool awesome thing about the states is you can buy fireworks! One not so cool thing (if you're not involved) is that means for days (sometimes weeks) before (and after) the 4th you have people setting off their own fireworks (and thus scaring the crap out of my dogs).

This happened on Saturday. Calmly watching a movie and a whole bunch of bangs and booms start going off. Well both my dogs (small Jack Russell mixes) flipped out. So in order to calm them down I took them outside to show them it wasn't scary. No-one is trying to break in etc etc. Well one of my girls was really scared, and the other protected us by barking at them. About 15 mins later they stopped (luckily they're expensive so people can't buy mountains and have it going for hours at a time) but that was my notice... it had begun.

Last year I happened to find a place that sold some fireworks so I have some (and lazily didn't get a chance to use them so now I will when mum visits so she can see them :D) but this year I didn't see anyone around until after all the stuff was gone (granted I didn't really LOOK for them, just if I saw them I'd get some).

One thing to note is different states have different fireworks laws. It's illegal in Iowa to buy the big booming ones but you're allowed to buy the sparklers, and the little fizzy things.. basically the "safer" stuff (I say safer 'cause of course there's still a risk with things you need to light, but you aren't likely to blow your hand off). That doesn't stop people from buying them in other states and selling them illegally, or buying them in other states to use themselves... it just means they need to be really careful abut when and where they let them off so they don't get into trouble. I personally have the little ones... I'm not rebel enough for the hard core stuff.

So this year (like last) we went to a local place to watch the fireworks. This means driving on a dirt road, paying a donation to the local volunteer fire departments (who were of course on stand by) and sitting in the back of my truck waiting for it to get dark enough for the fun to begin. We were with friends this time (last time we were loners) and that meant little kids running around with sparklers and other people setting off some of the safer stuff while they were waiting (and the sheriff driving up and down the road checking us all out).

There were some really cool fireworks like ones in the shape of smiley faces, and stars. It goes for a while too... about a 1/2 hour non-stop. There are air fireworks and ground displays. Being on the dirt road (as opposed to the field below where they're being done) means the ground displays don't really mean anything to us but they're still pretty from a distance :) Plus it was pretty awesome of the ice-cream truck to come by... even if my ice-cream barely lasted a minute before it melted too much :( Next time - popsicle!

I did have plans to go to a friends cookout but it turns out that was cancelled due to the heat (SO hot and humid) but I really hope next year to at least start our own little tradition of maybe having some friends over and having a BBQ. We went to a friends to do that last year but this year they had family plans.

I hope you all don't mind that this is about fireworks and festivities more than what the 4th July is all about (please read the Wiki link above for info if you want to) but I hope I'm right in thinking you care more about what it's like to be here to celebrate it, rather than yet another person posting what it's all about.

That's pretty much it. There's a LOT of different places doing fireworks so you can go to multiple "shows" if you want. People like to get together and BBQ and drink and have fun. LOTS of Americana around (I bought some souvenirs for mum :D) and basically just a country-wide party :)

SQUIRREL!!

"Dug" and a Black Squirrel

I can't resist yelling SQUIRREL! (like in the move "Up!") every time I see one. Sometimes out loud but mostly in my head. My dogs hate them with a passion but I think they're so adorable! Sometimes out my kitchen window I will catch one trying to bury nuts in my yard but mostly I see them running around and scurrying up trees. SO CUTE!

So as you would expect, many animals here in the US are different from home and animals that American's just think of as every day things you (well I :P) can't help but smile when you see them. From racoons, chipmunks, turkeys (yes I've seen wild turkeys!) and of course squirrels to deer, coyotes, beavers and many more! No more do you worry about a roo taking out your car, instead there's the very real (and leaping!) possibility that a deer will kill your car. I don't live in an area for it but some people also have bears and moose wandering around!

Then there's the smaller scarier critters. Rattlesnakes, water moccasins (no not a type of footwear!), brown recluse spiders, and other scary stuff. But, much like Aus, though I know this stuff is around I've not personally seen any that worry me... okay well there was this one HUGE spider (smaller than a huntsman though) crawling on the shower curtain next to the toilet one day that scared the crap out of me... but I didn't fear death.

Rainbow Lorikeet

The birds are pretty boring (sorry America!) in general... There are some pretty ones but nothing like a  rainbow lorikeet flying around. I see one in a picture and smile. Makes me think about how really random Australia is sometimes. We really DO have some weird animals (hello platypus as well)!

That brings me to importation of Aussie wildlife. You can buy some native Australian animals at some pet stores. Sugar gliders, budgies (but they're called parakeets here and I had no idea they were "native" to Australia) as well as cockatiels (those were surprisingly expensive too!) and probably a few others I haven't seen yet.

Black Teddy Bear Hamster

America has their own very awesome pets that you can't get as easily in Australia (as far as I know.. a lot can change in a couple of years!). There are hamsters, chinchillas (kinda look like a type of Aussie possum - American opossums are different), gerbils as well as different kinds of turtles (for example red eared sliders and box turtles), snakes (for example king snakes, corn snakes and ball pythons) frogs (green tree frogs, pacman frogs etc). I personally love hamsters. My husband and I used to have a pet Roborovski hamster. Totally adorable but small and VERY skittish. My husband eventually got her to crawl onto his hand to get a treat but if he moved a muscle while she was doing so she was off! So now that we have two dogs who would probably eat a hamster, we won't be getting another one since she passed on (before we got the dogs thankfully).

Sometimes it's so weird that what you're seeing now is so much like what you were seeing in movies back home and when you were little but now you're living it.. but as with everything eventually you start to stop seeing the differences and see this as a common thing.. except squirrels.. they still make me giggle :) It's only recently when I've started looking around at things imagining what my mum will see when she visits that I'm noticing what I've gotten use to. It's a good way not to take anything for granted.

Here's an interesting (well maybe for some :D) pdf that I found online that lists animals in Iowa (my state): http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN601.pdf  There are some pictures but mostly I google the names :)

Thanks for reading :)