Tueday Jan 17th- day 11

Frustrating day at the office- the CD-ROMS I brought over don't want to work in these PCs, and the netstore of files I made back in Sheffield (which should be accessible from here) gives me documents which open as 800- pages of little boxes. I have to go and ask the "Techs". Thrillingly, the guy who helps me is like a carbon copy of one of the techs in Sheffield. It is possible that someone is cloning these people- Bill Gates perhaps- to keep thge computers of the world going. Although in this case, US Geek is not much help! He passes me on to lady US Geek who is a bit more helpful but can't solve the problme cos it's down to software, blah blah blah zip blah blah unzip blah covert blah blah unreadable...

I am getting into my book, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay". It's about two young men in 1930s New York who are riding the wave of the interest in comic books. They design their own super hero, the Escapist. It's a good read so far. I also bought some books at the Uni bookostore- the People's Act of Love" by James Meek, which has beenr aved about by both Irvine Welsh and Alan Warner (so it's well worth a punt) and a book on Heidegger, which may be too clever for me, but I'll give it a crack. "Sorry lads, can't come out for a beer to watch the footy, gotta stay in and bone up on Dasein".

I feel properly settled in now, although of course there is much that is still new. I am getting used to not being allowed to walk across an empty street (they call it "jaywalking" and it can get you thrown into jail... well, a ticket at least). You also have to wait a long time at PED X-INGs as the pick-ups and SUVs rumble by. But by and large, it is easy being here. The service culture means that people are inordinately polite and helpful- several times, I have ignored a shout of "HOW ARE YOU TODAY?!?!?" in a shop as I thought the assistant must have been greeting a long lost relative. But no, when you walk in to a "store", you will be asked up front whether you need any help. Once you are used to it, it is quite nice, and I guess England will seem surly by comparison when I return.



Something else which is becoming clearer is that America really is a land of plenty. There is so much to do and see, and any way you want to do that will be catered for. What this means, however, is that without money, you are completely lost. I guess it accounts for some of the crime- the gap between the haves and the have nots is wide, and whilst the American dream promises opportunity for all, there are only so many slices of the apple pie to go round. America has never really gone for the kind of socialism which Europe has supported- it's all about asserting your own rights here, even if they are at the cost of your neighbour's. The right to bear arms is more important than the right not to have loads of guns inthe community.

Back at home, I make a dish with my new recipe book involving fennel (a much underrated vegetable, I think) and "great Northern beans"! Ann comes in late from a kind of parents' evening at her school, so I give her the other half of what I have made. She lists all the nationalities at her school- I don't think she has a single white kid in her class. She currently teaches maths to 5th grade pupils (aged 9-10?) and I am sure she's really good with them. She seems very kind. After my food, I confess that I watch "American Idol", the US version of "Pop Idol". Simon Cowell is on it and he seems to be particularly unkind to some of the hopefuls, although of course they show us a selection of the very worst, those people fresh out of the trailer park who have managed to convince themselves that they can sing, and deserve a crack at the big time. I guess shows like this make us feel better about ourselves somehow- as well as seeing some really talented people getting a chance to become stars, you get reminders of the other extreme.