Under-promise and over-deliver

On this blog, dear reader, we love to under-promise and over-deliver. Thus, despite trailing an interregnum last week, our contributors have battled through rain and high winds to bring you the very latest from our outpost in Palo Alto, California. Or, alternatively, I’m sat in a coffee shop in Winchester, Hampshire with not much else to do. Whichever works for you!

This week, after 103 days in the US, we jumped back on a plane and headed for the UK. This was sure to feel strange; normally returning to the UK means going back to my permanent home and losing the jet lag, whereas this time it‘s just a visit and the jet lag is appropriately brutal.

We started from our place in Palo Alto, getting into a Lyft. Lyft is the slightly more morally acceptable form of Uber. Our driver, Steve, turned up in his tiny red car, in flip flops, and somehow we managed to stuff in all our luggage and ourselves. Steve treated us to a playlist of bluesy-jazz standards as we wound our way through the rush hour traffic.

Getting a Lyft is generally a pretty good experience. Most Americans, particularly in service industries, are friendly types and want to do well by their customers. Steve probably thought he was doing that. However, when we got on to US 101 (our local big motorway, which heads up from San Jose to Sam Francisco, and is the main artery through the heart of Silicon Valley), it was obvious Steve didn’t want to do more than 50 mph, probably because of the vibration in the car. It was one of those awkward moments: should I say something about this? Are we even going to make it to the airport? Steve seems fine with this, it must be OK!

As I’ve mentioned before, there is no equivalent of the MOT in California, so roadworthiness is an aspiration rather than a necessity. Cars either tend to be brand new or totally knackered. Let’s just say that Steve’s car wasn’t new.

We made it to the airport, checked in, and soon it was time to board the flight. Helen kept reminding me that I shouldn’t plan to sleep too well on the plane, so I’d sleep well the following night. I kept telling her, you don’t need to plan not to sleep well on the plane: you’re in a noisy metal tube with 200 strangers and you can’t get comfortable. You will not sleep well, I promise you!

As it turns out, I slept a lot better than I normally do on planes, and Helen didn’t sleep much at all. Must have been all the planning she did. Anyway, once at Heathrow and through baggage bingo, we had the surreal experience of being at Woking station, which as we all know, is pretty much the centre of the universe. We’re in the middle of enjoying a weekend staying in Winchester, visiting friends and family before I have some work stuff to do in London next week.

So what are our impressions of the UK as visitors? Well, first up, it’s cold! (#itsabitnippy) But actually, it’s not the cold you notice. The big difference, coming from California, is the damp. Everything here is wet and dewy; where the leaves in Palo Alto are crisp and papery on the pavements, here they are mulched into a slippery brown goo. Leaves on the line indeed.

The other thing you notice is how well kept and tidy everything is here. Compared to California, the roads are well-maintained, the streets are clean, and the railway stations are looked after. You don’t realise it while you are here, but this country is actually pretty well presented. It’s wonderful to appreciate that contrast.

So, today I am off to London and it’s a week in my former office and out at a show we’re doing. We fly back on Friday, ready for the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of the month. For added excitement, Helen will go straight from the airport to her first choir concert in the US! (#fingerscrossedthisworks)