YES MICHIGAN!

As anyone that has spent time outside of work with Bruce will know, he is particularly fond of t-shirts with US references on - from cities to sports teams. Understandably, wearing these while on vacation in the US sparks a lot of interesting conversations...

Here are three incidents from our most recent trip:

1. The "Say Yes to Michigan" shirt

Guy in his late 20s stops Bruce and asks if he minds if he takes a photo of him. Because his girlfriend is from Michigan and she'd love his t-shirt. He apologised for being weird. I said that was not as weird as the fact that Bruce has never even been to Michigan.

Wearing this shirt usually prompts people to shout YES at Bruce as well.

2. The Packers shirt

Middle aged guy with son says "I hear [insert football player's name here} got beat up pretty bad last night" to Bruce. Bruce responds by saying he didn't actually see the game and then reveals to me that he's never even heard of the player.

I can only assume that the guy was also pretty surprised by Bruce's accent!

Wearing this shirt usually prompts people to shout GO PACKERS at Bruce. Of course, the next day he'll probably be wearing a Buffalo Bills shirt. No favourites here!

3. The NYC shirt

The first class lounge at JFK is pretty nice. It was basically full of businessmen off on trips to Europe for the week ahead - i.e. looking pretty smart. I was the only female in there for about two hours. We looked a state and I think it would be fair to say that I'm probably the first person ever to sit in that lounge catching up on TOWIE for 3 hours straight.

But Bruce was wearing his NYC t-shirt... so looked very much the tourist!

Hurricane living

6 months ago....

Bruce: I mean, they do get hurricanes but not that often. We'd be unlucky to be there when one hits.... the last bad one was Fabian...

6 months later...

We got two in the space of a week


Hurricane living

• Is not remotely fun - when it actually hits it's really scary (I was convinced our windows were going to blow in), and being stuck inside while hurricane force winds hit for 24 hours is horrid.
• You might need to board your windows up... the whole of the front our house was boarded up so it was very dark indeed.  
• The emergency radio station is amazing - I was expecting a lot of classic hits, but it was an interesting mix, including some rap!
• People do stupid things in a storm - emergency services had to go out in the middle of Gonzalo because someone was using a gas BBQ indoors... big mistake!
• Eating by candlelight post-hurricane is sort of fun for one evening.... but after that not so much!
• You might end up having to shower at your husband's workplace.
• You'll probably get a day off work - which sounds great, but not when you have no power at home and wanted to use the showers at work!
• It's very possible to be without power (or lights as Bermudians would say!) for three weeks
• Pretty much everyone loves Belco.  
• It's an excellent way to bond with your coworkers - mine now know my name, what I do, what my "boyfriend" does and that I only work part time.
• It's also about the only time Bermuda makes the UK news.... although somehow it was in the Caribbean... the facts about the storm were wrong and they misspelled Bermudian. Pretty shocking given that Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory.
• The UK have a warship that basically moves around the Caribbean/Bermuda to help out in hurricane season. When interviewed on the emergency radio station, the interviewer was more interested in the massive drugs haul they had picked up on their previous stop. And they got a nice bottle of dark to thank them for their assistance with the clear up!
• The island looks so different to how it did a month ago - much browner where it used to be ever so green!
• Some cats are braver than others. Bert really hurt his nose in Gonzalo (trying to hide from the storm)... it's still not back to normal.

Hurricane cuisine

• In a hurricane, pretty much anything constitutes a decent meal - I don't think Bruce would normally let me buy spaghetti hoops!
• Tinned fruit and custard or rice pudding is AMAZING when eaten in the eye of the storm in a small bathroom with your cats.
• Red wine is an essential.