Guess who's FINISHED!

Agent Smith

yes.... its me!



AHAHAHAHAHA!




/me goes off to get drunk

snorlax

pity that the pav is so eerily empty!

how'd your exam go AS?

Agent Smith

alright...

my head hurts

DrIndy

Hah -Hah!

In texas - never seen so many obese people in all my life! I bought a bike to get about because the town centre is 5 miles long and 5 miles wide. 5 miles of shop and car park, shop and car park. They don't just have drive thru mcdonalds, but drive through pharmacies and ATM's! Crazy!

Everyone thinks I'm a bit half witted with my bike. Everyone is nice to an idiot and an irish idiot in particular (only explanation for being on a bike after all) so they are really friendly and helpful.......

Its 35C and really sunny. But the 100% humidty kills me, thank god for the breeze.

Gonna go lie on the beach!

Ron DMC

DrIndy wrote:

Hah -Hah!

Gonna go lie on the beach!

/me is jealous

Kevin_rc_ie

didn't know there were beaches in texas

-goes to refresh USA geography-

snorlax

probably an old nuclear test place or something!

are you visiting bush's home town?

Nietzschean

personal opinion :
"Are people in texas really as stupid as they appear?"

Agent Smith

somewhere in yexas, a village have lost their idiot....

Andrew 83

snorlax wrote:

are you visiting bush's home town?

As far as I know Bush's ranch (which despite his image I think he only bought the year before going for President) which he claims is in 'Crawford' is actually in Waco but he didn't want people to think of the Waco siege and deaths when they thought of his ranch!

ApeXaviour

Wayhey! That's some handy info Andrew nice one.. I wonder who's more fanatical Bush or Koresh. NO even better I wonder who'd win in a fight..? GO David Koresh!

Pet

Kevin_rc_ie wrote:

didn't know there were beaches in texas

-goes to refresh USA geography-

I was just wondering that myself...

Yeah, Texans love to boast that "everything is bigger [there]". That's all well and good, except it extends to their waistlines and weighing scales..Indy, you should tell them that maybe THEY should do a little more cycling around, pack of fat bastards they are!

John

Kevin_rc_ie wrote:

didn't know there were beaches in texas

-goes to refresh USA geography-

Doesn't it half coast along the gulf of mexico or atlantic or something along its south east side

Chick

DrIndy wrote:

Hah -Hah!

In texas - never seen so many obese people in all my life!

Cool! Posting from americas bible belt!

Wish I was in the states....

DrIndy

Texas has a coastal stretch from louisiana to brownsville on the mexican border. I'm 5/6ths of the way down in Rockport, near Corpus Christi. Its the tropics with 27-36C and sun straight down with 90% humidtiy. Its uncomfortably hot, but am slowly heat adapting. Gonna take a dip in the pool because there is no breeze and its too hard to cycle in the sheer heat.

No rattlers or spiders yet, but my dad (and all the swedish engineers that came over to work on the oilrig) has been warned to not wear sandals as there is a poisonous snake that comes out of the sea and bites you on the foot and maybe your arse too if you're not careful.

Everything is huge over here - you can't get 500mls of water bottles, only quarts. likewise you get gallon jugs of wine alongside the nice 70cl. Got a real shock when I realised what a sprawl it was - then I got a bike and its not so bad anymore.

Got lost in walmart 5 times until I figured out how to navigate through it.

sleepingbeauty

Got lost in walmart 5 times until I figured out how to navigate through it.

walmart is one hell of a crazy place, guns and groceries all sold under the same roof...
ooh i cant wait till hols now ive been in such a summery mood lately!

Nietzschean

damn classic street fighter...i should be studying..

cuckoo

walmart! a true american cultural experience, i've never made it there, but have been in target which was an experience. something strange must be pumped into the air in these stores - some chemical that induces a desire to buy stuff that you don't need because it's sooooo cheap.

Chick

DrIndy wrote:

90% humidtiy

Jesus, Mary and the Carpenter I wouldn't last 5mins in that :eek:

Chick

Chick wrote:

Jesus, Mary and the Carpenter

Harrison Ford was a Carpenter.

John

Jesus, Mary and Han Solo

Pet

walmart! a true american cultural experience, i've never made it there, but have been in target which was an experience. something strange must be pumped into the air in these stores - some chemical that induces a desire to buy stuff that you don't need because it's sooooo cheap.

In some towns (or so I'm told by well-informed US citizens who are related to me) there are no shops, bars or restaurants; there is only Walmart, and when people are bored, they go shopping.

Walmart is scary.

snorlax

are Walmarts like a bigger version of Dundrum shopping centre/ liffey valley?

no pubs?!

Chick

Myth wrote:

Harrison Ford was a Carpenter.

Always good to know

Pet wrote:

when people are bored, they go shopping.

So that's all the time then?

Pet

are Walmarts like a bigger version of Dundrum shopping centre/ liffey valley?

Hmm, no...they're more like a giant Tesco's that sells EVERYTHING, about the same size as one of the retail parks in Blanchardstown.

Kevin_rc_ie

Spar/centra in 5 years.lol.

ApeXaviour

Not really.. spar/centra is a complete rip-off!

Walmart is just amazingly cheap.. I'd say the closest thing we have to Walmart at the mo' is lidl. Have you seem some of the freakishly low prices they have on say tents and fishing equipment, not just grocery goods. Also see the 3.79 for a bottle of 15% I can't believe it's not buckfast tonic wine? If they were allowed they'd build as big as walmart too I reckon.

Pet

Walmart is just amazingly cheap..

Yeah..did you hear about the pickle débacle..they sold a GALLON jar of pickles for less than $3..http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html for more info.

Kevin_rc_ie

what a picklish débacle it was..........

John

Wal-mart, always pickling a fight with someone.

Nietzschean

John2 wrote:

Wal-mart, always pickling a fight with someone.

if ur 10x the size of ur compediators wouldn't u too? look at ms , dell i don't see how people can justify attacking one company on it, its standard corporate pratice.... Thats the capitialism the american's love so damn much

If they want a 'fair' market time to get a mixed market like a european one or just go communist...

(note not ment as any attack on what john said, just the article...)

cuckoo

Tesco, Dunnes, Superquinn and all the other supermarkets do just the same thing in Ireland - impose very strict conditions on suppliers, become their main customer and then tighten the choke hold they have on them.

Look at the tomatoes in any supermarket, they're all the same size and look nice and shiny. Tomatoes don't grow naturally in that uniform way, suppliers use a lot of chemicals to get as much of their crop to match the shops specs as possible - and then have to dump the rejected produce.

How many times have you seen someone stacking shelves with a product in a supermarket, assumed they worked there and asked them where to find something - to get the response, 'oh, i don't work here, i work for biscuit manufacturer x/bakery z/etc'. The suppliers are even putting the stock on the shelves for them.

Nietzschean

true, only reason they can't do a wallmart on it is the restrictions on floor sizes.....which will go eventually...(ikea are getting an exemption or something arn't they?)

Kevin_rc_ie

would walmart be so much bigger than b&q etc? b&q near me is really big. although, the ikea i was in was gigantic. gigantic and cool. possibly the best shop ever.

Nietzschean

Kevin_rc_ie wrote:

would walmart be so much bigger than b&q etc? b&q near me is really big. although, the ikea i was in was gigantic. gigantic and cool. possibly the best shop ever.

emm yep, that b&q could be down the end of the store....

DrIndy

Walmart sells everything except a soul!

They do offer great value though and include a pharmacy, opticians, bank, hair salon, and the mandatory rotten ronnies (mcdonalds).

Chick: You adapt to the heat - I am fairly used to it now and only break out sweating when actually doing anything physically arduous in the heat as opposed to all the time initially. Its more the sun that tips the balance rather than the humidity. The sea breeze saves my life and allows me to cycle.

Walmart does have competitors. there is a company called HEB in Texas which does a huge line of own brand goods which undercut walmart. Walmart doesn't have own brand to the best of my knowledge, just resells dirt cheap....

The funniest thing I ever saw though was going into the clothing section to buy shorts - if you are over a size 50 waist, you have to pay $2 extra to get an "extended size" - which from what I see on people, can go up to an 80" or more waist.

Its actually pretty tough to go around drinking here in pubs, remember you have to drive home afterwards and cops are strict - so pubs don't get the volume sales they normally would from irish customers. I've greatly cut down the booze here coz I get too dehydrated. Its all good though.......

The funniest tale I heard concerning this was one of the swedes over here was drinking "light beer" as he was working the next day. In scandinavia, normal beer is less than 4% and light beer is less than 2% alcohol, whereas here, normal is around the 6 mark and light is just over the 4 mark.

He ended up with some sore head the next day!

cuckoo

Indy, how are the natives?

i've found americans to be really friendly, once i've gotten past the 'no, there isn't a bridge between ireland and the states' and 'no, really, we don't use US dollars in your-up'.

DrIndy

americans are really friendly and texans particularily so. They have their own peculiarities, but don't mind the fact that I make cultural faux pas, ie, you should always address a senior as Mr. something.... which I don't do....

They're great and I'm chatty too so we get on well. I just get stuck in!

This canadian lady blew her tyre on the highway yesterday as she was passing near me, so I hopped straight off the bike and changed it for her. Had her back on the road in 10 minutes.....

Kevin_rc_ie

sorry an episode of a almost forgotton porno jumped into my head there... please continue.

Crash

"I'm here to fix the copier."

DrIndy

lads - it was in the middle of the fecking highway!

lol!

Pet

I'd imagine it was pretty hot then.

DrIndy

hot and humid. we were sweating the whole time.....

Chick

He was being a gentleman as he should be, stop twisting it!!

Kevin_rc_ie

he was shooting an improntu porno chick don't ruin it

Chick

I'm not ruining it, you're ruining my hopes!

Days of chilvalry/"gentlemanliness" are dying... must cling on to some hope

Ron DMC

/me opens the door and gestures for chick to go ahead.

who said there were no gentlemen left?

Kevin_rc_ie

don't worry we've still got chavalry

ApeXaviour

Chick wrote:

Days of chilvalry/"gentlemanliness" are dying... must cling on to some hope

Gentlemen (a.k.a. saps) are still rampant don't you worry chick. Should there be a muddy puddle infront of you theyll lie down so you can dig your heels into their backs, symbolically of course.

Chick

Thank you Ronny!

I noticed that in the library actually (main entrance) most guys will hold the door for you rather than let it slam in your face, but girls never do it for anyone.

I'd always hold it for someone and consider it really rude if the person didn't thank you. Am I old fashioned? ]

It just really annoys me when I don't get as much as a thank you!

Ron DMC

ApeXaviour wrote:

Gentlemen (a.k.a. saps) are still rampant don't you worry chick. Should there be a muddy puddle infront of you theyll lie down so you can dig your heels into their backs, symbolically of course.

Saps?

It's nice gestures that count. And the girls really seem to like it, if and when they notice. I think i maybe am chivalrous a bit too often. It's nothing out of the ordinary that way.