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 :)

A Quest for A Brand to Love...

Growing up in another country where you've picked products and brands you like over time, suddenly you're struck with the realisation you need new socks and undies... The risks of bad socks means bunching in your shoes, easily worn out, the seam rubbing your toes, things like that... but undies... undies you risk a wedgie or buying a pair that end up bunched up and saggy leading to some embarrassing attempts at adjustment... and lets be honest.. how many people actually try on either of these things in the supermarket (ew!)?!

Everyone has different requirements and preferences so while a friends opinion is somewhat helpful, you won't know till you have a go! And therein lies the dilemma. These things aren't cheap (well they can be but there's a risk there too!) and while you probably COULD return them to the store (you gotta admit it's kinda gross to think about the next thing you buy being returned by someone so why would you do it?) you probably won't so you need to be prepared to "waste" some money (maybe you could cut them up and take up quilting :P).

With socks I'm a big fan of ankle socks with the tight band around the arch of my foot. I've purchased some new socks here and while they do the job (sometimes), it makes me so pleased anytime I find a pair of my "regular Aussie" socks in the drawer to put on.. even if they're a surviving mismatched pair (their matching pair long since thrown out - there's only so much darning I'm okay with!). The US socks I found are perfectly fine, thinner though and don't have that band on the arch... In a bind they do well... or even as house socks. I know it'll take some time but I'm positive I'll find "the" brand again... hopefully soon.

One brand I'm thinking of is Hanes (well to be honest it's the main one I've heard about so I'll look at more don't worry :D). I heard its good but I need to do some more research first and of course, take the plunge and buy some...

It's just one of those things that you never really think about. Brands you've come to recognise immediately, brands you like, brands you avoid. You know what particular things smell like and taste like, you know what something looks like on... so now you have this whole new adventure... and trauma (not knowing something you considered so basic at home can be pretty overwhelming and distressing).

I'm not saying its always a bad thing, its just something you don't think about. I will admit though when it came to food brands that did stress me out but now I see TV shows and recognise what they're eating, or walk through Walmart and recall a brand from an ad, friends house or previous experience and I feel pretty darn proud of how far I've come :)

It's a small milestone but its one of those things that makes you feel more and more normal.