The Upgrade
During my time here I get a hire car which is all paid for. I hadn’t booked in advance, so I made a reservation with Hertz just a few hours before I wanted to pick up. When I turned up at the Rochester Hertz office, there was only one car outside – and it certainly wasn’t a “compact” (I can’t rent a better car, that’s the rules!). I thought perhaps it was “out back” so I went into the office and was told that the car I had ordered was not yet available…so they had upgraded me. So for the next 4 weeks I will be driving round in a 3.2 litre, 224bhp, 220lb/ft beast. But lets not get too excited here, this is an American car and so it weighs approximately 10 tonnes…but there is a bit of life when you floor it and the 4 speed automatic box springs to life and drops a cog. It’s a Saturn Aura….like a bigger, posher version of the Mondeo/Vectra. However, this is not the place to drive fast, so I don’t yet know if it has bellows where the suspension should be – so watch this space. It’s very comfortable though, and when you turn it on, the dials do a little dance. Like an Aston…just not as pretty. The car is registered in Texas…so it’s called Texas! I am now the envy of my peers – the other two guys have a Focus (Wisconsin) and a Honda (Minnesota).We’re considering defacing eachothers cars and doing a tour of the southern States, just like in Top Gear. However, it’s perhaps a little too far to go, even if the “gas” is just around £1.50 a GALLON (that’s 4.5 litres to you and I). Not used to automatics yet…so I keep slamming on the brakes with my left foot. American roads seem fairly easy to drive. Some odd traffic rules mind, such as being able to turn right on a red light. And then there is the 4 way crossroads – not a roundabout, no traffic lights – just stop signs. You approach the crossroads, stop completely, and whoever is there first has priority. Not so bad when there are just a few cars but it could get hairy when it’s busy – which doesn’t really happen here so it’s all good.
Anyway, after I got my car we headed to Wal Mart. But this was a pretty small one, only around the size of a Tesco Extra. Got a pretty full fridge for about $45 dollars and we accidentally bought some almost alcohol free beer. Oops. In my defense, I didn’t choose it…but I did agree to go half and half with my Coors, and an Englishman doesn’t go back on his word, even for non-alcoholic beer. So now I am well stocked on beer, shandy, mountain dew, pasta, bread and meat (I won’t be eating out every night…which means I have more money to spend on beer, with the added bonus of not coming home obese). Had a look around a few other shops..including a hallowe’en shop. As you probably know, Americans make a big deal of it! Everybody smiles at you. I wish I was Hugh Grant at times like that.
Was back at the hotel pretty early, just watched a bit of TV. Theres lots of adverts for stuff like Viagra, which after explaining the benefits, goes on at great length detailing all the potential side effects and how it could damage your health. Then in between the Viagra adverts, there are Presidential Candidate adverts, which so far just seem to be from John McCain’s campaign – I’ve seen many adverts for him, but I know nothing about him, because his adverts
only focus on slating Obama and his campaign.
Today I spent alot of time in our windowless office, which is getting pretty hot due to all the computer kit sitting in the corner. Interesting day, been busy. Had some chat about American stuff. I knew Walmart sold bullets, thanks to Micheal Moore, but apparently the one we were at also sells guns! So we will be going back for a look. The guy we were chatting to “only” owns a pump action 12 guage shotgun and apparently it’s quite common for a 12 year old to own a shotgun, because they go hunting alot.
I’ll close with an interesting fact about the State of Minnesota relating to what I was saying yesterday about the sign saying guns were banned on the premises. This is because, in Minnesota, it’s perfectly legal to carry a (licensed) concealed weapon, and that includes inside buildings that do not display these signs!
Anyway, I’m off out now to sample Rochesters finest bars.
