REFLECTIONS ON THE EMPIRE

The wedding is over.  The motorcycle trip is over.  Time to take stock of the past month and reflect upon events.

The oddometer on the Blue Monster reads 760 miles, and it is on its 5th revolution since I set off to the Elk River Touring Center on the 15th September.  So 4,760 miles have been covered.  And on Saturday, 15th October its a flight home to Newcastle upon Tyne UK.

Yesterday's final leg took me down Highway 611 beside the Delaware River, another pleasant scenic road, before delivering me into the hands of the Interstate system for the dash back to Rockville, Maryland.  The last hour into Rockville, which is just outside Washington, was pretty unpleasant as the heavens opened and I was glad to make it in one piece. And the Blue Monster is off to pastures new where I hope her next owner has half as much pleasure from her as I have.

Another example of the uncomfortable nature of American society occurred at the end of 611.  I reached an Interstate junction but was unsure whether this was the one I needed.  Usually in these cases I stop, open the pannier, and get out the map to work out where I am and where I want to go, but on this occasion I spotted a police officer booking (I assume) a motorist just by the junction.  So I parked on the cusp of the junction and walked up to him. He was busy talking to the female motorist and did not notice my approach.  As he seemed to have finished his conversation I coughed and politely asked for directions.  He jumped and ordered me to retreat immediately.  'Get back behind the car now sir'.  I obliged, he relaxed, and all was well; but he was clearly rattled.  Its a degree of instinctive fear that simply doesn't exist in Britain.

Talking of fear you may remember that irate man in the Berkshires who objected to my photographing his beautiful trees.  Well I just had a message from 'Lemming', via blogspot, apologising for the irate man's behaviour and telling me that not everyone in the Berkshires would have shot me for that.  Glad to hear it.  The slightly weird and wonderful aspect of this is that he found the blog via the BBC website, where I had commented on an article by their USA correspondent, Mark Mardell.  I'd agreed with Mark that my experiences over the past month reinforced his comments that the average American was finding life more difficult since the so called 'recovery' rather than the reverse; and I'd put the address of my blog for peoples further information.  Within minutes of posting this comment came an email of a censored notice from the BBC:


"We reserve the right to fail comments which...

Contain links to other websites which break our Editorial Guidelines."

OK I thought.  But then I checked online and they hadn't removed it.  Hence 'Lemming'was able to access it.  So what the BBC think they have done is beyond me. Maybe it was a precaution and they subsequently decided it didn't break their guidelines?   Who knows.

At least this solves the mystery of where all my lovely new dear readers came from; the sudden surge in hits coincides with the BBC posting.  Thanks for the free publicity BBC.  Its just such a shame that the Government in Britain, a conservative one who hate them for actually being objective and impartial instead of corporate lackeys like Fox, are currently inflicting massive cutbacks which can only devastate its services.  To call it a decimation would be to understate the situation as it is losing much more than one tenth of its budget.  The BBC is an organisation that used to make you proud you were British, by and large, though a friend recently pointed out how pro-Zionist they were.  Oh come on I said,  then the next day, blow me down, but they reported an incident in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories (Source: 2 UN Security Council Resolutions) and then qualified it by saying that Israel disputed that they were occupied.  Robert Mugabe disputes there are any problems in Zimbabwe but they don't quote that on every report!  

It is always important to understand there is no neutral position on information; every source is biased.  I do find the BBC and Al Jazeera are a good balance for one another; and if you want to triangulate, try Press TV, the Iranian English language outlet.  You could try Fox of course to get another view, but who wants to know what the official news of the Corporates is?  

When the British writer Dennis Potter was dying of cancer he named his tumour 'Rupert'; in honour of Mr Murdoch, whose minions might be tapping a phone or an email service near you, right now.

DRIVING

Lane discipline is a pretty much unknown concept here, drivers just weave in and out of lanes as they choose.  In a few places desoultry signs make an effort to suggest slower drivers occupy right hand lanes but to no great effect.  It appears the default speed, for most drivers, is 10mph above the limit; unless a cop appears.  Much the same as motorways in Britain, although not the same as non-motorways where we Brits tend to stick closer to the limit.  The actual limit can be quite baffling as it can change at arbitrary points to arbitrary levels, sometimes 25 in a town, sometimes 35.  Sometimes 40 out of town, sometimes 50, sometimes 55.  Interstates or motorways as we call them, can vary from 50 to 70 and the logic of the differences can be hard to fathom. 

Most confusing is that the direction signs largely omit where a road goes to.  It just gives the number, but some roads have two numbers, where they coincide and run together.  So 611 South suddenly appears to be 443 West for a mile or two.  Usually just long enough to get worried, stop, then realise you are on the right route after all.

The most unnerving moment: being undertaken by a Chevrolet pick-up truck travelling at approximately 90 mph being driven by a woman apparently more engaged in texting than driving.

Worst moment: a very tight turn onto an Interstate slip-on lane which I missed and went down the slip-off; but not for very long!  Tied with three occasions where the signage was so poor I went the wrong way.

Best moments: (yes,plural) The several winding roads through beautiful country, taken at varying speeds I do confess, all of which made a motorcycle experience special.

FOOD

American food was 'bigged up' but I am afraid I've found it all a touch disappointing.  One meal was positively disgusting and I encountered a problem ordering rare steaks; they were invariably lukewarm.  I will complement the salads mind you.  They were typically a good size and always came before the main meal; just as I like it.  

As promised by my son, Patrick, the highlight by a long chalk was the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner on the eve  of the event itself.  Lobster, Clams, Steak Tips, Barbequed Chicken, and, of course, salad.  The wedding meal was nice enough but it is almost impossible to cook really good food for that many people.  The numbers the night before were just right for quality.  

And my host here in Rockville, Stu, is a pretty handy cook too.  Right now though we are under Tornado watch.  Not something I have ever experienced.  So time to publish; and tomorrow a look at the politics.