SultanOfSwing

For clarity, my office is right by the front door at work. Every time someone comes in they just have to make a 'witty' comment about the weather.

It grinds my gears somewhat.

Mrs Danvers

Did you see any bears? I lived in Colorado for ten years and never saw any bears. And then boom. Now I seem to see one a year. And I'm not fond of bears.

petitefrancaise

No, I didn't see any at all! There were signs everywhere about food etc. I was pretty scared the first few nights in a tent. Every chipmunk turned into a bear about to rip into the tent and hurt my kids...

We went to Big Bend National Park at Thanksgiving and saw 3 baby bears in different places which made me slightly anxious yet again at night in the tent.

lizzyq

Better snow in PA than in Lancashire. Deeper & fluffier.

SultanOfSwing

Isn't that kind of like saying the dog turds smell nicer, or the murderers kill you quicker?

Mrs Danvers

I don't sleep in tents at all. Like Stephen Colbert, I think Americas number one threat is bears.

Giantaxe

Bears - except for grizzlies - are generally fine as long as you don't get between mother and cub. Last year one came at night into our campground in the Sierra Nevada and left its mark:- it took a dump in the middle of the camp.

Mrs Danvers

I know, it's sort of the same irrational fear some people have about harmless spiders. I've never seen a grizzly. We have black bears here.

WEBlue

And as long as you don't have food in the tent with you. Very bad idea. Lock all food--as well as the clothes you wore to eat your food--inside your closed-up car.

This is advice we've been given at all campgrounds. (I just posted it on the 'RV Life' thread. Fear of bears seems to loom large on the USA boards....)

petitefrancaise

At the campground in Colorado, they had a photo of a car door ripped off so the bear could get at the food....just to remind us to put all our food in the bear-proof lockers.

Giantaxe

Absolutely. Bear-proof canisters are a must if you're camping in bear country... unless you want to go hungry. I bet they even eat Hershey's.

lizzyq

Honeymoon period

Back in the UK our front door opened straight onto the pavement, so it was always a case of stepping straight out into the slush (and you couldn't always see the dog gifts.....). Here at least we can walk to the car through clean snow.

Of course, having just cleared the sidewalk, it is now snowing again. More work for the teenagers

WEBlue

Wow, I've never heard of bear-proof lockers at campgrounds in New England... but that's a good idea!

Poor things!

SultanOfSwing

Ah, I see. I'm sure it'll wear off. I've never liked snow. It's aesthetic value expires on Jan 1, nobody knows how to drive in it and it's a pain in the arse having to clear it. It's just white misery, IMO.

That being said, I have the benefit of a garage, and honestly I can only remember three times where we had meaningful amounts of snow that stuck around for more than a day when I lived in the UK. Twice in the mid-80s and once in 2000.

jenninedinburgh

This reminds me of what happened to me on the NHS - only a bit different from your friend. I went to the GP due to a very high fever (over 40 degrees), unable to walk properly and could not see straight. GP sent me home with paracetemol and antibiotics due to a 'bladder infection'. After passing out in a bathtub for 2 hours due to being cold (I know now that it was due to my high fever making me feel this way), my parents repeatedly called me from the USA urging me to go to the hospital. I finally listened when my stepfather yelled at me at 3am their time cussing me saying to get the f**k up and go to the hospital. I was glad I did as 2 hours later, I went into cardiac arrest due to a kidney infection and the initial stages of sepsis. Had I not gone to A&E I would have died as I was alone in my flat.

To the point of your story - I was released from the hospital over a week later. No one told me what to expect or how long it would take me to feel back to me. For MONTHS, I kept going to my GP (another one) complaining of pain in my chest area. It was only when I went to the USA for Christmas 4 months later and went and saw a GP there that I was told that I had fractured ribs and sternum due to the procedure used to bring me back when I had the heart attack - apparently this is standard and it's rare when ribs are not broken/fractured etc. I however had no idea as no one explained this to me - and they had several opportunities!!

The NHS was great at saving my life - but they also had a hand in putting it in grave danger by not sending me to the hospital in the first place with such a high fever and the other symptoms. They also had horrific follow up care after I was in the hospital.

Both places, the US and UK, have serious issues - and as consumers, it's all about individual and personal advocacy (for example, I should have listened to my parents hours earlier when they told me to go to the hospital and not listen to the GP - I however trusted the GP when I should have trusted my own instincts - which admittedly I was quite delirious anyway so I guess that is some sort of excuse).