Many of my American friends harbour a dark secret: they keep stuff in storage units, pretty much permanently. Largely, they are sensible souls, yet they pay the equivalent of a car instalment or more every month to store...
Read MoreDespite my bad back, I did a fingertip search for the pill I dropped on the floor. I eventually found and swallowed it – having first blown off the dust. After all, medicine is money here. One friend looked forward excitedly to...
Read MoreI nearly missed seeing the Statue of Liberty from the deck of the QE2 while cruising into New York harbour years ago. I’d risen before 5am to see her and was excitedly waiting when cries of “Liberté ici!, Liberté ici!” from a...
Read MoreWhen Starbucks announced it would sell wine and craft beers during the evening at some US branches, you would have thought it was opening brothels, not bottles. One critic said the company was ‘normalising the drinking of...
Read MoreMy friend Edgar saw a UFO while sipping wine and enjoying the cool night air on his porch in Bellflower, California, in 1968. He waved. Recently, over a glass of malty Negra Modelo beer, he told me how the square craft had...
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