Oh, that was lovely Melanie, and you didn’t sound surprising to me at all, but which I mean, your voice came across as if I’ve been hearing it forever, which must mean you write like you talk. (And that I had a Midwestern friend once so the accent didn’t surprise me.)
Your 6 hours 30 mins drive is close to our 7 hours drive to Melbourne where our kids live. Bill is shocked that we take two days to do it! As you say, that’s just driving time. When you add stops it becomes a long day. We are retired and we don’t have to rush so we have little breaks, stay somewhere overnight, and generally enjoy the drive. You can’t do that length of drive for a weekend. I used to go home to Sydney for weekends when I first moved (and I did move here) to Canberra, but that was 4 hours. A big difference. I’d drive down after work on Friday evening, and come back on Sunday afternoon.
I love that you are not so ethnocentric as to not recognise that some of your followers don’t use inches (FYI 13 inches is about 33 centimetres.)
And I loved – hmm, perhaps not quite the right word – your discussion of the optional red lights!
Good luck with your interpreting. It’s sure to be lonely at times, but time really does fly and there are some public holidays. Maybe you could meet in the middle?
As we were driving here, I kept thinking how Bill would likely scoff at such a short distance! Whenever he reports how far he’s driven, it blows my mind. Then again, that’s his job, so he’s being paid to do the driving. I’m hoping the landscape he drives through is more interesting than the grey skies of Indiana in the area where there was nothing, not even gas stations or trees. A very weird part of the state, indeed. I’ve observed some interpreters here who think I’m from Indiana as in just across the border, but I have to explain Indiana is very long for a state (though it has nothing on California), and how I’m not even FROM Indiana. I’m glad you acknowledge that such a drive cannot be done in one day because I was starting to feel like I was making excuses.
I’m sure Nick and I will meet in the middle, though even that is over three hours one way, so each of us would drive over 6 hours to get back to home/HQ.
I don’t think I could be ethnocentric at this point, and I’m sure I’ve borrowed lots of words my blog friends use. Chuffed is a favorite.
You will never get criticism from me for not wanting to drive long distances. I would only drive three hours to meet halfway if I could stay overnight! The longest I have driven for a same day meeting halfway is two hours. I do this sometimes with an old friend from Sydney. Mostly we meet and stay one or two nights but if that’s not possible we have driven 2 hours for lunch and a wander before driving home.
I love the word chuffed too. I think it’s British originally but Aussies do use it. Mr Gums did a Masters degree in England before I met him, and introduced me to many English words and expressions.
Oh sorry Melanie …. So long ago now that they have become part of my lexicon … I only remembered “chuffed” because you mentioned the word. But another one I love – I think more from British police shows than from Mr Gums – is “scarpered” meaning to run off or escape. I think it’s a great word.
Ok, I’m not quite done because I had to wake the kids up for school but this was fun to watch! As I pressed play, I really did think, I bet she has a midwestern accent. And you do! But I also think the midwestern and Canadian accents are not all that different.
Your place looks cozy and I hope your weeks in Missouri are good and productive!
I’m from Central Michigan, so not that far off from Canada. I think your country sort of adopted us Michiganders, and I’m positive the Yoopers (people from the Upper Peninsula) were dropped off by Canadian space aliens.
I’ve never been to Michigan but so many of the stereotypes I hear do sound very Canadian! And here on the west coast, it often seems like we have more in common with people in Washington and Oregon than we might with Canadians further east. (Though we still very much do not want to be Americans!)
Hahaha, I’ll accept that! As I mentioned in my reply to Karissa, Michiganders are close cousins of Canadians anyway, so I’m not surprised. Oddly, I sound different from people in Indiana. Many of them sound more Chicago.
So much to unpack here!!!! Yes like Karissa, I think you do have a Midwestern accent, not quite Canadian, but close-ish? I really enjoyed hearing and seeing you speak!
Very odd that the red lights don’t seem to be followed, that would make me nervous. Maybe ask a local about that, is there some sort of pattern to it? After 9pm, that sort of thing? The plowing doesn’t surprise me. Here in Calgary the main roads are done asap, but the rest of the not as busy roads can take awhile to get to, sometime they simply aren’t done.
Don’t fret about the carrot posts, you know I love them, but I also understand how busy you are! Schoolwork is always hard to balance with blogging, so I totally get it 🙂
Enjoy bunking off in St. Louis, the time will fly! I’m thinking of it more as a sabbatical than anything…although you aren’t taking a break, you’re working LOL
Thanks for the mention. Six hours is a fair drive (from my place to Milly’s is five), but snow! – Count me out. Anyway, my 12 hours driving per day days are just about over.
I can’t tell one American accent from another, but you surprised me, I guess in my head you sound more mid-Atlantic
Okay, now I’m just imagining that you thought I sounded like Joan Fontaine, known for her mid-Atlantic pronunciation, which her mother forced her and her sister to learn. SO FANCY.
I enjoyed your video and hearing your voice. I’m so sorry about the snow not being cleared! It’s surprising because my tiny town has regular trucks with plows fixed onto the front and so our roads are plowed soon after it stops snowing. (We got four inches last weekend, which is a sizable amount for us.) of course four inches stops everything here for a couple of days at least because of all the hills and mountains and lack of plows generally.
Anyway, best of luck with your Missouri adventure! I’m sure it will be challenging but also hopefully rewarding.
I think they just don’t really get snow here, so everyone was surprised. The last time they got snow like this was 2012, I think it’s what Nick read to me from the news.
Finally got a chance to watch your wonderful video. Has all the snow melted? James and I love the IT Crowd! Your HQ is adorable and your shower curtain hack from Goodwill is brilliant! I hope you are getting settled in and finding time to explore and have fun as well as work.
The snow melted when it was 50 degrees one day, but now the Arctic blast has refrozen everything! I’m settled in; the one thing concerning me is that the first week felt about 84 years long. I think it was just a lot of driving and getting used to things.
Grab the Lapels 
Hi Mellie! You sound lovely to me! Yours ~B.
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Are you just saying that because we sound the same? 🤔😂
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Idk that. 😳
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Uh huh! Remember back in the 90s when one of us would answer the phone, and people could not tell who was who?
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Haha! Yes!!!
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We both sound lovely! 💙💙💙
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Oh, that was lovely Melanie, and you didn’t sound surprising to me at all, but which I mean, your voice came across as if I’ve been hearing it forever, which must mean you write like you talk. (And that I had a Midwestern friend once so the accent didn’t surprise me.)
Your 6 hours 30 mins drive is close to our 7 hours drive to Melbourne where our kids live. Bill is shocked that we take two days to do it! As you say, that’s just driving time. When you add stops it becomes a long day. We are retired and we don’t have to rush so we have little breaks, stay somewhere overnight, and generally enjoy the drive. You can’t do that length of drive for a weekend. I used to go home to Sydney for weekends when I first moved (and I did move here) to Canberra, but that was 4 hours. A big difference. I’d drive down after work on Friday evening, and come back on Sunday afternoon.
I love that you are not so ethnocentric as to not recognise that some of your followers don’t use inches (FYI 13 inches is about 33 centimetres.)
And I loved – hmm, perhaps not quite the right word – your discussion of the optional red lights!
Good luck with your interpreting. It’s sure to be lonely at times, but time really does fly and there are some public holidays. Maybe you could meet in the middle?
LikeLike
As we were driving here, I kept thinking how Bill would likely scoff at such a short distance! Whenever he reports how far he’s driven, it blows my mind. Then again, that’s his job, so he’s being paid to do the driving. I’m hoping the landscape he drives through is more interesting than the grey skies of Indiana in the area where there was nothing, not even gas stations or trees. A very weird part of the state, indeed. I’ve observed some interpreters here who think I’m from Indiana as in just across the border, but I have to explain Indiana is very long for a state (though it has nothing on California), and how I’m not even FROM Indiana. I’m glad you acknowledge that such a drive cannot be done in one day because I was starting to feel like I was making excuses.
I’m sure Nick and I will meet in the middle, though even that is over three hours one way, so each of us would drive over 6 hours to get back to home/HQ.
I don’t think I could be ethnocentric at this point, and I’m sure I’ve borrowed lots of words my blog friends use. Chuffed is a favorite.
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You will never get criticism from me for not wanting to drive long distances. I would only drive three hours to meet halfway if I could stay overnight! The longest I have driven for a same day meeting halfway is two hours. I do this sometimes with an old friend from Sydney. Mostly we meet and stay one or two nights but if that’s not possible we have driven 2 hours for lunch and a wander before driving home.
I love the word chuffed too. I think it’s British originally but Aussies do use it. Mr Gums did a Masters degree in England before I met him, and introduced me to many English words and expressions.
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Well now, you must share the best words Mr. Gums told you!
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Oh sorry Melanie …. So long ago now that they have become part of my lexicon … I only remembered “chuffed” because you mentioned the word. But another one I love – I think more from British police shows than from Mr Gums – is “scarpered” meaning to run off or escape. I think it’s a great word.
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Ok, I’m not quite done because I had to wake the kids up for school but this was fun to watch! As I pressed play, I really did think, I bet she has a midwestern accent. And you do! But I also think the midwestern and Canadian accents are not all that different.
Your place looks cozy and I hope your weeks in Missouri are good and productive!
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I’m from Central Michigan, so not that far off from Canada. I think your country sort of adopted us Michiganders, and I’m positive the Yoopers (people from the Upper Peninsula) were dropped off by Canadian space aliens.
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I’ve never been to Michigan but so many of the stereotypes I hear do sound very Canadian! And here on the west coast, it often seems like we have more in common with people in Washington and Oregon than we might with Canadians further east. (Though we still very much do not want to be Americans!)
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*ducking for cover* but you sound Canadian to me, then I saw Karissa’s comment and felt a bit better 😆
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Hahaha, I’ll accept that! As I mentioned in my reply to Karissa, Michiganders are close cousins of Canadians anyway, so I’m not surprised. Oddly, I sound different from people in Indiana. Many of them sound more Chicago.
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So much to unpack here!!!! Yes like Karissa, I think you do have a Midwestern accent, not quite Canadian, but close-ish? I really enjoyed hearing and seeing you speak!
Very odd that the red lights don’t seem to be followed, that would make me nervous. Maybe ask a local about that, is there some sort of pattern to it? After 9pm, that sort of thing? The plowing doesn’t surprise me. Here in Calgary the main roads are done asap, but the rest of the not as busy roads can take awhile to get to, sometime they simply aren’t done.
Don’t fret about the carrot posts, you know I love them, but I also understand how busy you are! Schoolwork is always hard to balance with blogging, so I totally get it 🙂
Enjoy bunking off in St. Louis, the time will fly! I’m thinking of it more as a sabbatical than anything…although you aren’t taking a break, you’re working LOL
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Thanks for the mention. Six hours is a fair drive (from my place to Milly’s is five), but snow! – Count me out. Anyway, my 12 hours driving per day days are just about over.
I can’t tell one American accent from another, but you surprised me, I guess in my head you sound more mid-Atlantic
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Okay, now I’m just imagining that you thought I sounded like Joan Fontaine, known for her mid-Atlantic pronunciation, which her mother forced her and her sister to learn. SO FANCY.
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I enjoyed your video and hearing your voice. I’m so sorry about the snow not being cleared! It’s surprising because my tiny town has regular trucks with plows fixed onto the front and so our roads are plowed soon after it stops snowing. (We got four inches last weekend, which is a sizable amount for us.) of course four inches stops everything here for a couple of days at least because of all the hills and mountains and lack of plows generally.
Anyway, best of luck with your Missouri adventure! I’m sure it will be challenging but also hopefully rewarding.
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I think they just don’t really get snow here, so everyone was surprised. The last time they got snow like this was 2012, I think it’s what Nick read to me from the news.
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Finally got a chance to watch your wonderful video. Has all the snow melted? James and I love the IT Crowd! Your HQ is adorable and your shower curtain hack from Goodwill is brilliant! I hope you are getting settled in and finding time to explore and have fun as well as work.
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The snow melted when it was 50 degrees one day, but now the Arctic blast has refrozen everything! I’m settled in; the one thing concerning me is that the first week felt about 84 years long. I think it was just a lot of driving and getting used to things.
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