We Were on a Break

American TV. As I’ve no doubt said before, it’s several hundred channels that really do embody the meaning of Quantity over Quality. Once you’ve managed to navigate your way around you will find a few gems, hidden well though they may be. Mainly I’m still watching the same big shows that I used to watch in the UK, only here we have the bonus of seeing them a month or more earlier. (And it can only be a matter of time before Duck Dynasty gets picked up by Dave, or Channel 5, surely – the UK needs Uncle Si).

Anyway, I digress. What I really wanted to whinge about is the annoying and totally unreasonable habit that American broadcasters have of suddenly, and without warning, taking a “season break”. What this means is, you’ve been happily enjoying the latest season of Elementary or what-have-you, and then out of the blue you tune in one week to find that they are randomly showing an episode that you saw three weeks earlier. Sometimes this will happen for a week, sometimes three, then without warning normal service is resumed. So you relax, then suddenly it happens again a week or two later. Talk about keeping you on your toes. There seems to be no pattern or wisdom to it at all. I can understand having a week off for Thanksgiving or something like that (if you insist), and possibly even the times when they feel they must show the basketball instead (although I might be more amenable to this if it were only shown on one channel rather than six – why? WHY??) but it’s those really random weeks when they just re-broadcast an old episode that really get up my nose. ARRGH! At this rate, despite starting a season a month or two ahead of the UK, we’ll be lucky to reach the season finale before Blighty does.

Meanwhile, Duck Dynasty chooses to broadcast in almost completely the opposite manner. Not only do we get a new episode every week but it’s always sandwiched between repeats of several previous episodes so there’s excuse for missing an episode. Now THAT’S how to keep me happy 🙂 . Except it’s their season finale next week, dammit!

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Staying out for the Summer

Summer officially started on Sunday. It’s been warmish, on and off, for a week or so. Two weeks ago it was still trying to snow. However, I went to my first BBQ of 2013 on Sunday so the season has definitely now kicked off. It was a slightly shaky start, more like a day in the height of British Summer, as the sun swiftly went in within about half an hour of us all sitting down in the back garden – so of course we manfully stayed outside wearing fleeces over our Tshirts and shorts for as long as we could stand it (about another half an hour).

On Monday, however, things moved up a notch as I spent the entire day in a floaty dress and flip flops. I even had to put on sunscreen, and of course the smell of it immediately took me back to last summer when we arrived in the USA. It has felt like a totally different place since the end of October when last summer finished, but suddenly it feels like a holiday destination again.

Today I went for a stroll along the oceanfront. This is the perfect time of year; lovely and sunny but the kids are all still at school and the tourists are still a month or two away from arriving in their hordes so we get all the benefits with none of the annoyances – like not being able to park anywhere. (I know the city largely relies on tourism for its economy, but I don’t so Harrumph and Harroo to that). This afternoon I sat on our balcony for a while but quite honestly it was far too hot and I had to slink back inside after barely an hour.

In celebration of the summer’s arrival I have had to begin Operation Hobbit Hooves. I’ve painted my toenails in an attempt to prettify the HHs. Black, of course, my traditional summer colour.

Expecting thunderstorms on Friday, ahead of a higher than average hurricane season which kicks off in June. Best enjoy the sunshine while I can then!