And I'm back!

PHL to Heathrow-
to Heathrow Express at Terminal 5-
to Paddington Station
to King's Cross via Underground
walk to St Pancras for East Midlands train
to Derby
to the hotel,
to work and back for five days...

And this morning, up at 5:15am Derby time to catch the 6am train back through that return round, landing at 4pm Philadelphia time where J waited for me.

I would not try to do that schedule again. Exhausting.

Got upgraded to business class for the return flight! British Airways was very strong both flights. Good food good wine. Customs both ends was under 5 minutes. Security both ends was under 10 minutes.

Signage around London Transport is perfection.

Our American credit cards are no longer guaranteed to work in European systems, because they use the chip-and-PIN system with a smart card that holds your password. I think they must use that system because it doesn't require the vendor to be online in order to process a password-protected transaction. The American "swipe" system was confusing even to the hotel's front desk personnel. (They didn't know the meaning of the term "last 4 digits", which is part of the password protection for our system.)

Next time I might just rent a car. Fuck it, I've done right-hand-drive before.

Told you :lol:
Our "password" is the PIN number we use in the cahpoint machine.
It is issued randomly with the card, although it's possible to change it for something more memorable. I always keep the random number and remember it using rhyming visualisation. We use the last three digits of the security code on the signature strip for verification when buying online or over the phone as a way of enusring the card is present. Doesn't mean it's not stolen, but the thief has to know the postcode the card is registered to as well, and if goods are being ordered they will often only ship to that postcode.

Anyway.
Pretty cool to have an upgrade on the way home!
It soulds like it came at just the right time.

Your journey was longer but probably less stressful than mine home from Leeds where once again I had to wait nearly an hour for a bus (which is ridiculous when the sides of said buses trumpet that they run every ten minutes!) Buses from Otley seem to manage it, with one leaving at least every 20 minutes :confused: I hate Leeds and will never go there again voluntarily.

And there was an altercation at the back of the bus which ended with a passenger being told to get off. No actual violence, but violent words and the threat hung in the air. Apparently he was swigging from a wine bottle, and another passenger took exception to this :eek:
Nice town.

Wull there should be an answer to this... the banks here should provide a chipped card for travelers that connects to our accounts. And then they should just leave it on, because why not.

I lost 12 pounds of weight during this trip. Walking all over the place, eating an abbreviated lunch every day, hauling luggage for miles, running on adrenaline. The sensible and delicious airline food. Even with the daily Stellas, Limey's excellent treats, and the hotel's previously-frozen hash browns for breakfast.

Wait, what?
Hash browns come in a fresh variety?!

Apparently...

It's pretty simple. Get potato. Grate potato. Brown grated potato.

Ingredients:
Potato

:potatosmilie:

To me it's 1-2cm peeled-then-cubed firm white potatoes, in a hot skillet with bacon fat (or butter if you must), salt and pepper, browned while rarely turning.

Grating the potatoes is an acceptable local variant.

The intellectually-challenged add onions. The posh add paprika. Neither is appropriate.

In these parts, we would call those cubed breakfast potatoes 'home fries.'

But I don't think y'all got the Bob Evans around there.

Yep, them's home fries. Hash browns are grated potatoes. Use McCormicks Season-All.

You are right

Not a regional?

o goddammit

Grating previously baked/jacket potatoes works very nicely and is less likely to end up soggy if you're inattentive while cooking ;)

Various finishes:

A Starbucks Coffee Venti Latte is exactly the same at Heathrow as it is at the one down the street, and no matter what you think of it, that's a pretty amazing thing.

I would happily slip right back into my South Yorks. accent as a 14-year-old if I lived there for six straight weeks. I almost had to remember to be American because that was what was expected of me.

England is fun for an American to visit because everything is just slightly different. The brands are different. The fonts are different. The birds are different. The voltage is different. The switches are different.

Most things are slightly more expensive. People tip less. Portions are smaller, except when they aren't. The cars drive on the other side. The people are slightly friendlier. The business is slightly less cutthroat. The pedestrian is liked. The dogs are trusted.

We must all drink and we insist you will drink with us and we assume completely that you will want to drink with us to the point of needing a cab and it will be funny and there is absolutely zero concern for whether you may or may not be alcoholic or have any reason to avoid alcohol in any way.

Scattered, shattered, smothered, and covered.

:yum: