Monday 27 March 2017

Houston, we have a problem...

...the Davieses are coming to live in you!  Yes, our North American odyssey continues with Hannah landing a job in the world capital of all things oil: Texas.  I'm not entirely sure what the job is, but if a Chevron pipeline goes wrong anywhere in North America then Hannah's the person who has to go and apologise.  Which, after twenty years of marriage, I'm looking forward to hearing.

When big oil says "jump" you say "to which major conurbation?" which is why we now find ourselves in Houston for a few days, during which time we need to buy a house and find a school for Pete.  We've been to Texas once before, and it was an eye-opener (chicken fried steak!  Steak they fry as if it's a chicken!!) but I have to say that the neighbourhood we're staying in is rather like Berkeley!  If everyone in Berkeley voted Republican and owned a gun, but nevertheless...

Slightly less enticing is the weather, a balmy 85F (29.5C) with humidity hovering somewhere over 100%.  Houston's latitude is south of Cairo's, so this is actually a little chilly for March.  I'm trying to entice my parents - who considered Vancouver a bit on the warm side - to visit in June.  We'll see about that.  At least by then we'll have air conditioning, which the apartment I rented doesn't seem to possess.  But hey, it was cheap!  And meals will be cheap too, as I'm currently eating a lot of humble pie in the presence of a not-too-impressed wife and son.


It's pre-flight breakfast time!



Ah yes, this must be Houston airport.  Thankfully all my firearms are licensed.


And this must be Texas.


Our local shopping mall will be the one with the gigantic ice rink in the middle.  Did I mention they like things big down here?


The beautiful Discovery Green right in the heart of downtown.  If it's ever cool enough to be out of doors...