Miscellaneous

Here are a few random thoughts.

Politics:  What I glean from watching the news here is that the problems are very similar to what we are experiencing in the States.  We've heard reports about rising unemployment in England. Currently the rate of increase is very high although I do not know actual numbers.  There is a threatened strike later this year by government employees about pensions (sound familiar?)  Transportation services among others could be shut down.  That could definitely hurt since trains and buses are an integral part of life.

Housing:  A report on TV said there is a housing shortage here and that new homes in London are very small.  My sense is that there are some protected land areas and some are saying the government has gone overboard in refusing to let homes be built there.  Okay, this is not like the US at all.

Library:   We are heavy library users so it wasn't long before Tom found out where the local lending library is.  It's located in a downtown mall--very convenient!--and no trouble at all to get cards even though we could not produce an envelope with our current address on it.  There's a cafe in part of the library, just like in our bookstores, and it appears that part of the library is a service for the unemployed. The downside is that our Columbus collection (and I'm sure Dayton's too) trumps Cambridge's hands down.  The selection of books, books on CD, and movies isn't as large and checking out CDs and movies entails a charge of 2.50-2.75 GBP.  Hooray for our public libraries!!!

Friendliness:  I have yet to meet a grumpy service person!  Grocery clerks, library employees, post office workers, bus drivers have all been unfailingly courteous and friendly.  Perhaps it is because there are so many visitors to Cambridge that they know we're all learning how to live here.  Most of all I notice it at the local Sainsbury's (grocery store) since I go there day after day.  The check-out clerks show no sense of impatience as they wait for customers to bag their groceries before going on to the next person in line.  Lovely!!!