Little things that need explanation

Greggs?!!  That's just dirty.  

(right except for their Belgian buns...  )

Agreed--Greggs tastes of nothing.  What I would give for a proper bakery, but there are so few left (and so many that tasted just like Greggs).

why when driving they have that "extra" yellow light before the green one

That's an easy one.

In the UK most people drive a manual shift not automatic. So generally you will have the handbrake on and be in neutral at the lights. The red/amber combination is a "get ready", so you engage gear and get ready to move off. A straight red to green would just catch people out - I find it strange in the US as it's more like a race start but it works because you are just sat with your foot on the brake.

That's an easy one.

In the UK most people drive a manual shift not automatic. So generally you will have the handbrake on and be in neutral at the lights. The red/amber combination is a "get ready", so you engage gear and get ready to move off. A straight red to green would just catch people out - I find it strange in the US as it's more like a race start but it works because you are just sat with your foot on the brake.

I like the extra yellow light!  Usually I'm in la la land...... 

 

I like the extra yellow light!  Usually I'm in la la land...... 

 

Ha. Me too.

Just a word on Greggs. It is not haute cuisine. I think I am drawn there as I can usually get something really bad for me for whatever change I have in my pockets.

But then again I like cafeteria food too....anything in a stainless tray under a heat lamp. Macaroni and cheese hits its stride after about 20 minutes under the lamp....with the top forming a thick curd-like protective strata....little eddies of grease. Pasta congeals wonderfully the longer it stews in the yellow warmth. I even like the 7-11 hotdog on the back rollers that has shrunken a bit, like the sad little left behind Christmas tree Linus selects in Charlie Brown's Christmas. High school lasagna. Hospital cream of broccoli soup. Crappy Leggo Land pizza....

Mainly as someone who has cooked almost every meal he has eaten for such a long time it is a pleasure to have something there I didn't have to make myself....and no dishes.

Hi don't know if anyone else has posted this but my substitute for saltines is an Italian
Cracker called doriano. It is in a with and black plastic package and I buy it at Tescos
And sainsburys pretty close to saltines !!

HHmmm....Nando's has good Chicken Wings!!

Seriously though, pretty sure the most fantastic and affordable alcohol is here!! I've become a massive wino for sure! 

That's an easy one.

In the UK most people drive a manual shift not automatic. So generally you will have the handbrake on and be in neutral at the lights. The red/amber combination is a "get ready", so you engage gear and get ready to move off.

I'd figured as much. But then, I've never driven a) here, b) a manual car...and c) am normally crammed in the back seat whenever I'm even in a car, so...usually in la la land, too!

To the OP:

If you can find one, larger Saisnburys carry ten strips of of Oscar Meyer bacon for about £2 a package. I buy four or five packs at a time and then freeze for later use.

I'm keeping silent on the Saltines issue.
Also, my local pub has fountain soft drinks and I get a pint of coke for about £2. I like the glass bottles, as thats the best way to drink coke IMO, but its much, much more dear.

To the OP, just had to say I'm impressed. We can usually spot people who's first language isn't English right away, but I had no idea this was the case for you until you said something. Where are you from originally?

True... your English seemed very good to me!

I am not an American, I am British. I've never been to America either - not because y'all have M16's, try to run the universe & repeatedly elect members of the Bush family, or any other such bigotry, but more because its a long flight and I haven't got round to it yet.

It would take me an exceptionally long time to explain how and why I have ended up on this thread, or indeed this forum, so I shall not bore you all with the story.

But, after reading several pages of argument on the subject, I am going to make it my mission in life to eat a saltine biscuit. When I find one, I will report back on whether it was a paradigm shift in biscuit. I feel some hope but little expectation!


For the OP...

Channel 5 used to show the NFL. I just about managed to work out the basic rules after several slightly drunken late night viewings. I even enjoyed it sometimes. I don't really fancy your chances of finding it in a bar outside London, or perhaps somewhere near a US air base.

If you are feeling homesick for a soda large enough to float a small dingy, I believe Pizza Huts in the UK do offer unlimited refills?

British bacon is very British, including our streaky bacon, even though a lot of it comes from Denmark In my experience, in much of continental Europe, bacon tends to be thinner, always streaky, and often sweet cured - is this similar to US bacon? An obvious explanation for this is that the continentals make fabulous stuff like Serrano and Parma ham from the back cut we turn into bacon - no idea if this *why*, but it would make some sense.

I am not an American, I am British. I've never been to America either - not because y'all have M16's, try to run the universe & repeatedly elect members of the Bush family, or any other such bigotry, but more because its a long flight and I haven't got round to it yet.

May I suggest you get educate yourself a bit further on America before you bother visiting?

Welcome to the forum, wilko373!

I suspect you are winding us up a little bit on your introductory paragraph - not that that's anything a Brit might do... 

You should definitely try a saltine sometime!  You might have an incredible taste epiphany with it - much like all of us did upon first tasting digestive biscuits, custard creams, and cream crackers (not necessarily in that order)... 

May I suggest you get educate yourself a bit further on America before you bother visiting?

I think you missed the sarcasm!

Also, my local pub has fountain soft drinks and I get a pint of coke for about £2. I like the glass bottles, as thats the best way to drink coke IMO, but its much, much more dear.

Toby Carvery inns have unlimited soft drink refills.