All 2 entries tagged Indianapolis

The sun is shining

Today in Indy it is a crisp spring morning, the temperature is around the freezing point, but the sun is bright and high in the sky. In the UK its the kind of day where you’d either go for a walk along the Surrey Hills or you might take a trip out into Derbyshire for a nice drive followed by a walk along a river. It’s just a nice day to be outside and enjoy the scenery, the only trouble is that Indiana is Flat. It’s as though when America was being formed a massive force flattened the entire eastern side of the country then got bored when it reached the Rockies. I honestly can’t think of a single thing to do within 30 miles of Indy. There are no rolling hills to go walking in, no Yorkshire dales or variety, just a patchwork of farmland as far as the eye can see, and trust me when the world is this flat you can see a fair way.

Having driven round this part of the USA a fair amount now I’m left with the feeling that you could be anywhere, each little place is more or less the same as every other little place. Villages are so spread out that there is not much sense of community and what was there is dominated by huge chains of stores offering fast food or out of town shopping centres offering the same options as the last. I’m sure the west coast of America where you have Yellowstone and some of the more forested areas would be stunning, as would being in someplace more connected to the big cities like Washington DC, Chicago or New York, but here in Indianapolis there is little to see.

In a sense this is a shame because undoubtedly I’m doing a disservice and I just don’t know where to look but at the same time its pretty hard to find things to do, even a quick google doesn’t pull up much outside unless you like golf… there is a lot of golf here.

Christopher Hinds : 23 Mar 2008 14:43 |  Tags: Indiana Indianapolis Uk Weather |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Indianapolis, Day 1

So here I am at the end of the first full day in Indy. I’ve been here for just under 24 hours now. Well I landed here 24 hours ago but I’ve only been in this apartment for about 22 hours. Now would seem to be a good time to share some initial thoughts on America and things in general. I have to admit I’ve been feeling somewhat nervous about it all though the confidence should grow once I start work (6.30 tomorrow, or 11.30 for those in the UK!)

On… the apartment. Here’s some shots of my apartment which is on the 24th floor of Riley Towers. It’s not a bad little place really, though there are some things that are rather random… like there’s a dishwasher, but no washing machine. To me that makes little sense. It does mean however I need to find the Laundry.
The lounge is pretty nice, and the view out (east) is pretty good too.
I have a balcony so to speak which gives a bit of a view around the city, though the main centre is kinda through the building and out the other side, directly west of me.

On… Navigation. I find the whole system of roads only being straight and navigating by East, West, North and South to be very alien, it makes you much more aware of your bearings than normal. These are then confused by the road I live on (North Street), which you’d expect to run North-South actually runs East-West. Also when a road is referred to as East North Street, it’s still North Street, it’s just that it happens to be East of the datum road, which is a more trunk road that others. This caused Chris confusion when he arrived and was trying to drive to his place of residence from the airport.

On… Scale. America does not do small. I bought some “small” cartons of juice today… they are nearly 3 litres each. Apple juice comes in 1/2 and 1 gallon containers. Distances are also very relative. I went to the nearest Walmart today, a snip at only 17 miles away. I also drove to work and back to make sure I know where it is. That was a 7 mile drive, but it takes a while because you’re checking all the street boards on the way to make sure you’re on the right road. Everything is bigger than you expect coming from the UK and that means I now feel rather slimmer than I do in the UK. Not slim enough to skip exercise but then I get the impression I’ll be viewed as rather active anyway given that I’ve been advised to take a drive across a parking lot (1/2 mile max). I’m still going to go to the gym but I want to get an assessment on how much my work day is going to drive me mad first.

On… Driving. Driving on the wrong side of the road feels totally alien to me. You might ask if I’ve had any incidents. Well fortunately at the weekend the traffic isn’t too heavy, but I will be leaving extra time tomorrow to get to work until I can judge the traffic levels. I’ve twice tried to pull over onto the left side of the road only to remind myself and haul back to the “correct” side. I also find turning right on red to be quite unusual. Americans seem to be more relaxed at the traffic lights round here… you can wait a good five seconds before moving off usually. There is however good reason why America is set out in straight lines… their cars. I’m driving a Dodge Charger, a 2.7l V6 car roughly the same size as an Audi A6 or BMW 5 Series at a guess.

That engine apparently makes 190Hp. Unfortunately 189 of those are quite unwell, as it is an incredibly sluggish car. That’s ok though because it suits the US relaxed progress fine. What is slightly more worrying is the handling, which is shocking. Corners are not something this car was designed for. Junctions that say 15mph max, believe me it really is as 20mph would have you in chronic understeer. It seems to be ok ish though completely lacking in feel it’s not as badly built as I expected.

Well I need to make some sandwiches for tomorrow, though they will be without margerine as I couldn’t find it. Nor can I find curry sauces etc in Walmart. I might need to ask around a bit I guess.

Christopher Hinds : 01 Oct 2007 01:18 |  Tags: America Indianapolis Living Work |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem