Still not getting some things

I have been doing lots of walking of late and have noticed several things. In the UK houses are usually built of breeze block and bricks. In Australia Timber frame construction is very common, with the frame built out of timber and then bricks on the outside. Here I have noticed that many houses are entirely constructed of wood. The frame is timber and then the outside panels are also wood but are covered with the alloominum (aluminum to the rest of us) siding, or a vinyl siding. I must admit that this explains something that has always puzzled me. When you see disaster areas after a tornado (or Twister as they call them here), with debris everywhere, especially in places where there used to be houses, it looks like a lot of match wood. I have always wondered where the bricks went, now I know!

Another thing I have become conscious of is the sound of cars. In Australia it was not uncommon to get that deep throaty sound from cars with large engines (very unusual in the UK), here it is very common, particularly with pickup trucks. I have also been astounded by the Ford Mustang. It was a car you did not see very often in Australia or the UK, but here, it is so common it is unbelievable. They obviously went though a large number of models over the years and some look, well, not very good is the polite way of putting it (like crap is probably a realistic description). There are some however that have that real cool macho look, but the cars overall are as common as muck. Definitely has put me off ever getting one, unless it is the top of the line model. This does not have the famous Mustang symbol on the front, it has a Cobra instead. I suppose it is a bit like the HSV versions in Aus. The one I saw looked very cool.

On the point of cars, Minis are very popular, despite their size. I also saw the first Holden Commodore/Pontiac recently (it’s an Aussie icon that has been converted to be sold in the US for any Brits reading this). Must admit it looked really hot.

Another thing I have seen lots of, especially at this time of year, are squirrels. I had forgotten about squirrels as you don’t get them in Aus, but here they are very common and are busy storing up food to hibernate, again something that does not tend to happen down under.

I was also walking along one road that cut through a deep set of woods (not really a forest but close). There was nothing but the narrow tarmac road and trees. Oh, and of course telegraph poles with numerous fiber optic cables on them. Seemed incongruous looking up at the trees and seeing very thick cables winding along next to the road. Guess the cable TV must get through! On that note, cable TV here means hundreds of channels….

I have also noticed something very strange about house numbers. In this area, I have noticed a gap in the numbers. This was really brought home where the post boxes for houses are all in one side and I noticed three together, the first was something like 1752, the next one was 1758, and next 1764. I just thought it might be because the plots were large (although they did not seem that big to me). On another walk through a different neighbourhood, more of a suburb really where there were houses both sides of the road, I noticed that the house numbers went in tens. The house and the plots did not look bigger in fact they looked smaller. Then, on the next street, the house numbers went up by single digits, but the houses seemed to be the same. Another street, the house numbers went up in fours. I am obviously missing something as I am sure there is a system but I am blowed if I can work out what it is!

I am off to the UK for a visit and so might post some things I see there as well.