American politics from across the pond

Wife and I recently returned from about 12 days in the U.K. We have been fortunate enough to travel a fair amount during our marriage, something we both enjoy, and we have traveled overseas together about a half-dozen times. 

Nashville now has a direct flight to London, which, as the kids these days say, is a game changer! The thought of going to the airport, boarding a plane and ending up "across the pond" in about 7.5 hours, with no connecting flight, was very attractive as we started discussing foreign travel for this fall. The thought of getting back on the plane, flying back across said pond and being home when that plane lands (again, with no connecting flight), was even more enticing. 

I'll post more about the trip later here and on my Substack, but for this post I wanted to share about the conversations I had with British folks about politics in the U.S, particularly one Donald Trump. 

Uber and taxi drivers. Tour guides. A gas station attendant. Folks sitting next to us at dinner. Upon learning we were Americans, all of the aforementioned asked the question: "What do you think of Trump?"

I did not want to get into protracted political discussions, so my response was something along the lines of, "I am not a fan." 

To a person, the ones I spoke with were not, either. They are especially concerned about the Iran war and how it has affected their gas prices. They see Trump as an embarrassment. 

I took mild offense at something one person said: 

"You have this supposedly great document called your constitution and now it really does not mean anything."

I told him, with all respect, that he was incorrect about that. I told him the U.S. Constitution is still very much in place, as is our system of democracy. While there might be those who don't seem to regard it as highly as others, I told him, it still stands as an ingenious piece of work that continues to stand the test of time. 

The United Kingdom has what is called a "constitutional monarchy" under which a Sovereign serves as non-partisan head of state, with real political, legislative and executive power being with the elected Parliament and the Prime Minister. And although it's a constitutional monarchy, there is no single written constitution as we have. 

These conversations took place before the recent mid-term elections which, to put it mildly, indicates a shift, as well as a message of dissatisfaction with this administration's actions and policies. While I am not a Democrat, and I have no desire for the proverbial pendulum to swing to the far left, I think this correction was needed. 

So far, President Trump seems to be accepting the election results. Typically, he has made remarks indicating that if he had been on the ballot, things would have been different. But given his history, I appreciate that he's not trying to overturn any results. 

I suppose my British friends are looking on as we are, wondering what the next two years will look like. 

Unseasonably warm; travel notes

We did not have an extraordinarily hot summer around here. It was hot and humid as usual for these parts, and there were plenty of days in the 90s, but I don't remember getting over 100 degrees. 

We had a lot of rain until about mid-August, when it stopped abruptly and we had draught-like conditions until a couple of weeks ago. 

And while our summer was not unbearably hot, the summer temperatures hung around throughout September, and we have even had some 90-degree days this past week. The mornings are pleasant but by mid-day it has felt like summer. 

We have friends who spend part of the winter in Florida, fleeing winter temperatures (even though winters here are hardly brutal). I would sooner spend part of summers in the mountains, preferably in Colorado, to get away from the heat and humidity. (But I'll be staying around here.) 

And speaking of, it was only for a few days, but Wife and I spent some time in Colorado in August. We were invited to a wedding in Fort Collins. After attending the wedding, we spent a couple of days in Estes Park, at the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, one of my happy places, and where I spent the summers of 1980 and 1981. 

Trail Ridge Road is the vehicular passageway through Rocky Mountain National Park and is open late May through mid-October. The rest of the time, it is largely covered with snow. The highest passable road in North America, it has spectacular views. Some drivers (and passengers), however, find it more than they can take.

During the summer of '81, however, most days I drove a 15-passenger van up Trail Ridge from the town of Grand Lake at the west entrance of the national park, where we lived, to Trail Ridge Store (at the top of Trail Ridge Road) where we worked. During this trip Wife and I spent a day driving over Trail Ridge, over to Grand Lake and back to Estes Park, and I immediately felt comfortable with the drive, even as Wife turned her head inward a few times. I loved retracing my steps and reliving times from those summers, and Wife graciously indulged me as I told her stories she had already heard. 

I returned to south Arkansas for my 50-year class reunion a couple of weeks ago, which I wrote about on my Substack. It exceeded expectations. A bunch of classmates made their way back to our old stomping grounds and even though the big event Saturday night pushed me outside my comfort zone with the large crowd, I knew there would be people there I would enjoy seeing. The room was plenty spacious, so I took a deep breath and lingered on the edges, then would work my way into the larger group when I would see someone I wanted to visit with. It was more enjoyable than I expected it would be. 

Even more enjoyable was a much smaller event Saturday afternoon with about 15 of us, all old friends, which was a comfortable, relaxed setting at someone's home. It was great to talk and laugh and act like we were 18 again. 

Wife and I will hit the road again soon, and I'll report back when the latest jaunt is complete. 

Rover gets reported

I am very much enjoying my part-time job of which I wrote in my last post. Each Monday afternoon around 1 p.m. I go pick up my deliveries and I am on my way. 

The company uses a routing app called "My Route Online" that syncs with my GPS maps app. The addresses of the homes I will visit are prepopulated into the routing app each week. Once I have loaded my deliveries and I am ready to go, I activate the app and it routes me from house to house. 

I make the dropoff, either (a) on the front porch; (b) in a cooler left in a designated location, which is usually but not always the front porch; or (c) into a garage refrigerator to which I am given access. I take a picture of the order and transmit it with a text to the customer, confirming delivery has been made. 

As I wrote previously, I came up with some shortcuts to help me, e.g. printing the list of addresses, putting them on a clipboard and marking them off as I go along (this is probably my age showing, but it helps me double-check myself), and entering into my contacts the names and numbers of any new customers that week so I can send the confirmation text as quickly as possible. 

Everything has gone smoothly. I have met a handful of customers who have greeted me at the door, and they have all been very kind. Yesterday, a guy came out and shook hands with me and told me how much his family enjoys the food. 

This is the exception, however, and most of the folks I do not see. It has become clear they are not inclined to tip. My confirmation text includes my Venmo address with a message that "tips are appreciated but never expected." As I wrote last time, I feel sure they are of the opinion they are already paying handsomely and delivery is covered, which is true as I am paid to make the deliveries. I get it, and I didn't get into this for the money. 

The only problem I have had has been with Rover, the dog I wrote about. (This is the name I have given him; I don't know his real name.) He is a yellow lab, a big guy, and as sweet as he can be. His owners obviously have an electric fence as he roams freely around the yard. 

I like dogs and I am happy to greet Rover and play with him. I am not the least bit frightened of him. 

However, this particular customer has standing instructions to leave their order in a cooler on their back porch. This requires parking in front of the house, walking around to the back, walking up a flight of stairs to said back porch, then back down again and to my car. Rover is with me the entire time. 

He sees me pulling up and runs to my car door. When I open it, he tries to jump in. He licks my face. When I manage to get out, he jumps on me, and yesterday he knocked my phone out of my hand. 

I don't think he knows basic commands like "sit" or "stay." (I have tried.) To be sure, he does not bite or scratch and not once have I been afraid of him. I pet him and love on him for a few minutes as soon as I get there. Again, he stays with me the entire time, going up the stairs to the porch and back down again. He usually finds something in the yard for me to fetch to him before I leave.  

But I have a job to do. Rover's owners' home is, obviously, not my only stop. And yesterday, he was too aggressive. There are a couple of Mondays in October when I'll be out of town, and a driver who is smaller than me might have a problem. He could knock someone down. 

So, I contacted the support person for drivers yesterday afternoon when I was done, and very reluctantly reported Rover. She thanked me for letting her know and said she would notify the customer that he would have to be contained during delivery times. I told her as long as I am the driver for this address, it's fine, but she said it had to be addressed immediately. I have a feeling this has happened before. 

I have never met Rover's owners, but I would love to be able to tell them I really like Rover, and my reporting him was a precaution. He is a sweet dog. 

I am probably overthinking it.