TV licence

Another increase is in store come April 1st. The cost of a colour TV licence will rise by £3 to £142.50 per year and a black and white only licence will rise by £1 to £48. (Who still has black and white TVs these days?) Anyway, for Americans, a TV licence is something completely foreign. Here in the UK, every household that has a TV must pay for a TV licence. These licence fees basically fund the BBC's radio, TV and Internet services. But believe me - this is money well spent for the luxury of having commercial-free TV and radio. Not to mention a news website (http://news.bbc.co.uk) that isn't flooded with advertisements. Another plus of living in England, in my opinion!

Prescription charges going up April 1st

The National Health Service (NHS) is raising prescription costs in England from £7.10 to £7.20 from April 1. God forbid. At least cancer patients will no longer have to pay for their drugs. As it stands, pensioners (retirees), children, pregnant women, people on income-related benefits, and patients with certain other conditions are already exempt from prescription charges. And yet the English complain that ALL prescriptions are not free, as they are in Wales and will be in Northern Ireland by next year and in Scotland by 2011.

Dental fees will also be rising on April 1. The charge for basic check-ups will rise 30p to £16.50, while the charge for fillings will rise by a whopping £1 to £45. The maximum charge for 'complex' dental procedures such as crowns and dentures will remain the same at £198.

I'm sorry, but coming from America where I couldn't get my teeth cleaned for less than $100 and where I last paid around $800 for a crown, not to mention around $100 on average per prescription (when I was without prescription insurance), I will gladly pay these fees any day. The Brits just don't know how well off they have it, do they?

Argos

I needed to find a new small (and cheap) suitcase for my upcoming business trip next week, seeing as all our luggage bags are way too big. It was a no-brainer where I needed to go find one - at Argos!

Argos is like a cross between Walmart and Service Merchandise. Like Walmart because it's the largest general goods retailer in the UK and has the low prices to go with it. Like Service Merchandise because it's a catalog retailer. You can either browse through their 1800+ page catalog or their website, select items to purchase, and collect them at the store or have them delivered. But Argos is much more sophisticated than Service Merchandise ever was.

For starters, you can use 'Quick Pay' kiosks in the store. You simply use a touchscreen terminal, enter the catalog numbers of the items you want, pay by credit or debit card, get issued a receipt and go wait for collection. You don't even have to use a cashier.

Or you can use their 'Check & Reserve' service which allows you to reserve your item online or via phone, or have your item delivered to your store of choice. They will hold it for you until the end of the next working day. You simply take your reservation number with you, pay the cashier or the Quick Pay terminal, collect your item and off you go.

Best of all is that you can check actual stock availability online or at the store kiosks, so you never have to waste a trip only to find out they're out of stock of something.

I searched the Argos website to find the suitcase I wanted, reserved it online, walked into my local Argos to pick it up, and was literally out of there in less than 5 minutes. Now that's the way I like to shop! Plus it cost me less than £12 for a rolling luggage piece!

Mothering Sunday

Today is Mothering Sunday (better known as Mother's Day) in the UK and Ireland. It's celebrated on a different day than in America, mainly because it originated back in the 16th century as a Christian celebration and falls on the 4th Sunday of Lent (or exactly 3 Sundays before Easter), whereas in America (and for most of the world, in fact) it falls on the 2nd Sunday in May. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the 1st Mother's Day in the US in 1914 as a day for Americans to fly their flags in honor of mothers who had lost sons in war. It has since become one of the most commercially successful US occasions- with more flowers being sold and more people eating out in restaurants than any other day of the year.

In any case, living in the UK poses a slight problem for me in that I need to be sure to buy my Mother's Day cards now while they're available so I'll have something to send my own mother (back in the US) in May. Otherwise I'd never find one to buy! An even bigger problem is that most cards sold here refer to 'Mum' and not 'Mother' and certainly never 'Mom'. So it's a real challenge to find something that fits. Hopefully my mom will understand if she gets a card that says 'I love you Mum' on it. Oh well. It's the thought that counts.

Metro turns 10

The Metro newspaper (www.metro.co.uk) turns 10 today! I remember when this free newspaper was first published just before Paul and I left London to live in Florida back in '99. At the time no one thought it would survive amidst all the other hundreds of daily newspapers on offer. Now it has one of Britain's highest readerships and understandably so when practically everyone picks them up at all underground and train stations to read on their daily commutes. The paper is actually designed to be read in less than 20 minutes, so you're really only getting news snippets, but that's the whole point. Gordon Brown has even made it required reading for his staff so they're well-informed of what the population are reading. (But that's a subject for another day). There are now another 3 daily free newspapers on offer in London, but none have succeeded as much as the Metro.

Red Nose Day (March 13)

Today is Red Nose Day here in the UK. It's basically the biggest fundraising event held by the Comic Relief charity.

Comic Relief was launched live on BBC TV on Christmas Day 1985 in response to the famine in Ethiopia. The idea was to raise money while making people laugh. Red Nose Day was created two years later as a special one-day event to help raise even more money for the charity. It's held just once every 2 years in the spring time. Over £600 million has been raised since Comic Relief started and best of all is that all funds go towards charitable projects.

As the name implies, Red Nose Day involves people wearing red noses (like clowns) - which are available in shops everywhere in exchange for a donation. Every Red Nose Day has a different theme and slightly different nose. This year's theme is "Do Something Funny for Money." All sorts of special fundraising events are held, culminating in a telethon night of nonstop comedy (along with moving documentary films) on BBC TV.

America's version of Comic Relief was actually inspired by the British version and founded a year later in 1986. It is most notable for running periodic fundraising events on HBO, hosted by comedians Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, to raise money for the homeless and others in need.

You can read more about Red Nose Day at www.rednoseday.com

PS (Mar 14): Well, a record £57 million was raised yesterday, beating the previous Red Nose Day (2007) by 41%! And they expect another £20 million to come flooding in after last night's telethon. And this is all despite the current economic crunch. Just goes to show that anything is possible.

British Pie Week (2-8 March 2009)

Three weeks ago we had National Chip Week. Now we have British Pie Week. As with fish and chips, the Brits are crazy about their pies, especially savory meat pies. Steak and kidney pies, pork pies (served cold), and Cornish pasties are some of the more popular ones. For dinner last night we tucked into a local-made pie I bought at a Hertford stall over Christmas called a Fidget Pie, made with ham, potatoes and apples. It was just okay. I much prefer British pies that are topped with mashed potatoes instead, such as cottage pie (made with beef), shepherd's pie (lamb) or fish pie.

You also have a huge variety of sweet pies over here, apple pie probably being one of the more popular ones. And let's not forget the mince pie, made with spiced chopped fruit, same as you get in America. Mince pies are very big here at Christmas time. Historically they were actually made with real minced meats. And even today in the UK, hamburger meat or ground beef is called minced meat (or "mince" for short). You can even buy it already cooked in a can. Yuk.

Anyway, we've got the other half of the Fidget Pie to look forward to for tonight's dinner. Then I think I'll forgo that one again in favor of Paul's cottage pie, the best in the world (and I think my mom would agree).

Coffee anyone?

What in the hell did we all do before coffee houses sprung up everywhere? I know they've been around a long time, but ever since Starbucks decided to do a McDonald's and open up worldwide, coffee shops have become a way of life for most people. In the UK we have Starbucks, Coffee Republic, Costa Coffee and Caffe Nero, to name a few. I can understand their attraction as a place to meet friends, enjoy a book or newspaper, or connect to Wi-Fi while having a hot drink. But what blows me away is how everyone seems to live their lives now with a coffee in hand. On a typical morning commute into London, I bet half the people I pass are either carrying a hot drink or stopping to buy one. No wonder obesity is such a problem. Have you ever noticed how many calories are in these cappuccinos, lattes, mochas and Frapuccinos? They are loaded. And people don’t just have one or two a day. They have several.

Thank God I took a liking to Earl Grey tea. At least it has no calories. Neither does black coffee, but I can’t find black coffee like I’m used to in America. The closest thing to it in the coffee shops here is an Americano, which is really nothing but hot water added to an espresso. It’s way too strong for me.

Anyway, Paul and I are now making weekly trips to our local Starbucks in Hertford (which seems to be mostly a place for young mothers to gather and gossip while their kids run around the place screaming and crying) to chill out and enjoy a nice hot skinny cappuccino (64 calories each) while catching up on our Sudoku games.