forafewmoments: Day Seven

Stuff I like about this place

Banks - cheques clear the day or the day after they are deposited, instead or 3/4 days! yay!
The parks - they are really great, tidy, new, interesting things for the children to play on, clean toilets, water fountains AND some have water feature things for the children to play in on hot days. People use the parks more too, with bbq grills and concrete picnic benches, organisations using the area for sports lessons (kids soccer). Obv the weather helps, but there isnt a feeling it belongs to just one group of people but the whole community. I saw a group of small children having an musical instrument activity - turns out they were Russian - class!
Facebook groups- when I suggested using these to a few people at home the response was 'oh noooo, what about our privacy' . *shrugs* ok, then keep your meetings and fundraisers private then.....
Shutterfly.com share groups - schools, clubs, societies use these to share information, pass on messages and notices, and share photos. It is very civilised, promotes communication and helps avoid misunderstandings.
Trader Joes - they wear Hawaiian shirts and hide stuffed animals for children to find!
shopping with coupons
Craigslist
Baseball - Go Giants!
Being able to email the dr
Being able to use Shutterfly for classes, clubs and organisations

Banks - you can transfer money from your account to someone else's account on line, you have to write a cheque!!! How 20th century! Also, you can not do direct debits or online transfers, I have to write people cheques!!!! WTF!
Sausages - yeurk. I no longer buy sausages, they are not the same, even the ones that say 'English stylew', they are not. :-(
The bacon - VERY fatty. Yuck, or else made out of turkey. WTF!
Cinnamon - when I first arrived here, I was excited by the taste and smell of it, but then after a while I realised EVERYTHING tasted and smelt of it. The novelty wore off...... But it will always remind me of my early days here!
High Fructose Corn syrup - its in everything, even the familiar things cant be trusted (cornflakes!!!!)
Limited choice of premade pastry - no puff pastry to be found anywhere! Any any short crust has that slight sweet taste too it - not great for a quiche..
Lack use of vehicle indicators - people here seem to think they are an optional extra...