TRPardoe

You can leave US bacon in the fridge for a week. You can leave it in the fridge for weeks and weeks after you have opened the pack. Just put it into a 1 gallon ziploc bag, roll it up to get the air out and then seal the zip.

If you have a problem with that, split the pack into portions and freeze the ones you want to save. It freezes no problem too.

Goodness knows why it stays good so long, brit/danish bacon doesn't.

Elvira

I'll give you a hint: chemicals...

US food can be :scared: :scared: :scared:

ladyofthelake

I dunno about that. I see everything on Yorkie's list right here too.

snowbunny

Strip malls are cheap to build and more prevalent in newer parts of the country. But some communities have banned them through neighbourhood planning where you really can walk to stores and there's decent public transport. Granted, this isn't the norm in the US, but it's there in certain places. If you live near the university here in Austin, you are more likely to find more of this -- if you can take the cold (which I realise many came to escape!) the college twin cities of Urbana-Champaign, Illinois offer a small-town feel with excellent educational opportunities for all ages.

That said, the things mentioned are why *I* want to get the hell outta Dodge and over to the UK!

ms_bhon

This same thread from an 'merican expat in the UK's perspective - thought you might find it interesting...

snowbunny

Yep, good ol' UK-Y.... I have several friends that have emigrated. I can't -- not until my youngest is more than twelve years older, or my ex-husband mysteriously disappears. I sometimes dip into UK-Y to catch up with friends, but I can't stay long or else I just want to cry.



I never realised that marrying the wrong person could screw you over for years even post-divorce. Because my ex spent big bucks on the divorce (USD $100,000) he got far more in the way of custody than he deserves, and he uses it to screw up the kids, so that when I get them back, I have to undo the damage. Repeat. Unless he were to treat them so badly that they would be removed from his custody due to neglect or abuse, I can't do anything about it. He can spoil them, give them a crap diet, let them have unlimited TV/video games, and even refuse to take them to the doctor. Only if their lives are endangered could I raise the medical question -- so what if they have painful ear infections? so long as it doesn't progress to the brain, too bad.

I can't get a job here..... and I'd have a hard time elsewhere cos I'm not "current" but I don't have the money to go back to uni for years. I honestly don't know what to do, and speaking with mental health professionals, the custody system, former work colleagues.... no one else has any ideas either.

Sorry, I'm at my wit's end and I've exhausted every resource I know about.

ms_bhon

Bunny- sorry, you've lost me- I don't know your story. Don't know why you can't work or anything...

I've been lurking on this thread to try to gain some insight into why a few people are happy to be here and some of you are miserable.

There's also another thread on UK-Y that I saw that what would the 'merican expats miss about the UK if they moved back to the US... mostly all good stuff and not much in the way of whinging. Still, 's funny how the sentiments and posts are really so similar. An expat is an expat, I suppose.

Lookit- I know there's plenty about the US that sucks, but there's plenty that rocks, too. Can be true about just about any country, really...

My husband seems pretty darn happy here, as does a friend of his from back in the day who also coincidentally lives on this side of the pond.

For the short time that I was living in the UK, I really liked it, felt quite at home, had a number of friends and feel I could just as easily make my home there if need be.

I think a lot of one's own happiness has to do with having a good support network of friends and interests. There are certain areas of the US that I, being from the mid-Atlantic, would not necessarily be happy living in- just as if we moved back to the UK, I'd much prefer a mid-sized city to London. Just as in finding a mate- it's a good thing to know what you're looking for- it's also true in finding a place to live.

I honestly hope that the posters that are miserable here find either something to like or a way to get "home".

One of the worst things in the world is being unhappy.

KarnalEcho

I feel for you girl, you and I married the same man :scared:

PMed U and here if U need me.......I'm sure we could bitch for dayz

Celtic_Angel

Well I wouldn't stictly agree with you on this..yorkies complaints like
lack of public transpo
huge medical bill
having to get into your car to go anywhere etc

are pretty much gripes you'd have with a majority of the States, actually compared to other smaller cities and towns Houston has a rocking public transpo system!!

ms_bhon

Huge medical bill is sadly something that can't be helped over here without good insurance. Lack of a National Health Program is certainly one of my main complaints about life in the states.

However, lack of good public transpo and having to get into a car to go anywhere can be avoided in any number of cities- most of the northeast cities like Boston, New York, DC and west coast cities like Portland have good public transportation and residential areas where restaurants, supermarkets and shopping are either within walking distance or easily accessable by public transport. Hell, even the neighborhood I used to live in here in Baltimore has that, and our public transportation here pretty much sucks. I did without a car until I was 24 or 25.

Alas, we traded in the train car like rowhouse/terraced house within walking distance of lots of things for something more suburban with more room, a driveway and a yard. Thankfully, I can still walk down the road and get a New York Times and a pint of milk, though. It all depends on what kind of style of living you're after.

snowbunny

Sorry to unload with little background, bad me, bad me....

"Home" for me is the UK (though I am American) but in order to move there, I would have to leave my children behind. That's a no-win situation. This is what happens when you are forced to share custody.

Staying where I am is hard because jobs have vanished, in large part to "offshoring." I've looked hard in vain for a job for three years, and part of the reason I can't get a job is that my experience is not "current" -- that is, I have not worked steadily in six years. I quit my job to care for a premature baby. My ex-husband is fine -- he did not quit. But there is no alimony in Texas, and my ex-husband spent away ALL our joint savings intentionally. So.... because I did the right thing for our daughter, I now cannot find a job; and there is no mechanism for him to compensate me for the fact that I made the sacrifice. Despite the fact that I stayed home, he also got nearly 50% physical custody and the right to prevent me from moving to take another job. Trust me, there is no justice in the Texas divorce courts. If the man is willing to spend the money, he can pretty much ruin his ex-wife's life. In my case my ex is 11.5 years older so he has significant amounts of "separate property" to fall back on. I married at 24 so the only savings I had was made during the marriage and is now gone.

There is a bit of relevance here -- my friends in the UK cannot believe that the system works this way, and that there is no long-term dole and no universal health care. It sounds like a third world country to them.

If an expat is here and loses a job, there is the option of going back to the UK, which I know would not be easy, but would provide a measure of safety net. If a citizen loses a job.... well, there's nowhere to go "home."

Franklin

Can you ditch the computer field and do another degree ... in nursing maybe; there is a growing demand for nurses. But the hours can be tough and require cooperation with your ex, for him to have your child when you shifts don't cut it. How about a teacher-training course? Hours would be better, but I hear there are lots of new graduate teachers looking for teaching positions. Any chance of remarrying someone located in your geographical area? Somebody with children perhaps, a synergistic relationship made in heaven? Life is very tough sometimes, and you are certainly on the sharp end of it with no easy end in sight. Hope it soon works out better for you.

Yorkieabroad

That is so true - we'd obviously visited Houston a lot before we moved here, and I knew what I was letting myself in for, but I kind of thought it would grow on me - 2.5 years on and it hasn't! We have a sister in law in Austin and visit quite a bit - I love it (it has everything Houston hasn't!), but moving away from where the main bulk of the family are defeats the object a bit - if we were to do that, I think we'd probably go back to the UK!!

Every time I go to a different US city I find I'm comparing it to Houston - and most of them come way up above. A couple of weeks ago I finally found one that makes Houston look good - Memphis! We had a good weekend doing the Elvis stuff, the museums and bars, but as a city - what a dump!! (With due apologies to any Memphis fans out there....only my opinion!)

snowbunny

The men in my area are for the most part heavily Republican and pretty chauvinistic. That's a broad generalisation, I know, but having tried the Internet dating thing, even eHarmony matches me with men from the "blue" states, all of which are 1,000+ miles away. In fact, every dating site does. I have one or two casual friends here; the rest of my friends live out-of-state or in the UK. With children involved I have to be even more careful of marriage. It takes time to develop a proper relationship, time I don't have.

As to nursing or teaching -- I'm not that much a people person -- I'm outgoing enough, but there's a reason I do well with computers. I also can't be on my feet for hours at a time because I get stress fractures in my feet.

There are plenty of jobs I would love, but they all require at least two years of uni, or else I can't make it on my own. I'd love to work in a garden nursery, or at a book or record store, or as a librarian, but the only way to make enough supporting yourself as a librarian is to get a Master's and claw your way up since there are loads of librarians in a college town.

In this country the move to monopolies has meant that mom-n-pop stores are disappearing -- it's next to impossible to be a retail entrepreneur in any market that is served by Wal-Mart, Home Depot, amazon.com..... and that means that the jobs that would normally be held there are gone.

Anyway.... not being able to move is a major problem.

rincewind

I haven't read enough about you to know so I'm not sure what area of computers you are in. Wanna start a business together?? I've been looking unsuccessfully with the only positive position looking like mopping the floors at the local University (seriously....I'm not kidding).

No bugger will hire me, so why not go it alone?? If you want to give it a go, PM me.