I had the best fish and chips of my life in Reykjavík. But I haven't been to England yet, so there may be better out there. Hard to imagine, though.

I had fish and chips from a vendor with a cart right outside the Tower of London. They weren't the best I've ever had, but they were the most perfectly appropriate London Tourist Experience Food.

Thanks Cindy and flea!

Yep, tahini. Conveniently for me, also tahini in Greek.

In Malaysia, the coffee came in baggies like that also, but as it was a little warm, there would be a plastic clamp with a loop around the top of the bag, so you could hold that. Or hang it on something nearby. Like a chain-link fence, while you waited for the bus. I only got it once, as they put butter in the coffee, which I really didn't like (the corn syrup and condensed milk were good, though).

Judith Miller already took the fall for Rove. They'll either claim he didn't know she was covert (the Reagan "I didn't know about my job" defense) or say that he saw the article before it was printed, but after Miller et al had leaked it.

The "drive it like you stole it" administration.

I gave up trying to figure out the price of gas in Canada YEARS ago. It goes on my credit card, and I assume I can afford it.

That's probably best. Gas is expensive here. I think it is roughly $3.20 per gallon in your money and your measurement, which is not as stark a difference as it used to be, before your refinery capacity problems and uh, Karl Rove.

(I'm leaving for Hilton Beach in exactly 10 days, so bear with me if I'm all Canada-likes-carrots until then. Hilton is, not to be too melodramatic about it, where my soul lives, and I want to be there so badly I can taste it.)

Not to worry, Canada is very pro-carrots. Some of us may not be all that carrotty, per se, but we're carrot-friendly, if you know what I mean.

about a quarter of a quart

OK, I really like that.

I am an American Mom, and I pledge to not be appalled by milk in a bag.

So, how soon will you be able to come to Israel?

Um, that's pretty much what I'm trying to find out, I guess. Food is the real cultural gap, once again.

I think the only answer here is people are a little crazy sometimes.

Yup. Which is why usually kids drink them in the morning, when they're leaving their house, and not later during the day.

Okay, I have no idea.

I only got it once, as they put butter in the coffee

Ewwwwwwwwww!

Was the imperial gallon equal to 5 quarts, American?

Yes.

I vaguely recall conversation by my folks, when buying gasoline during trips to Nova Scotia and PEI (which has long had the litre of milk in a plastic bag that you put in a pitcher doohickey). First, they'd calculate the Ca-US $ exchange rate, then the size difference of Imperial vs. American gallon. It was very mathy.

Yeah, I remember my dad going through that. We used to have a camper for our '70 Ford pickup truck - the truck had been modified with an extra 20 gallon tank. So my dad would top off both tanks before entering Canada, which minimised the number of expensive imperial gallons he had to buy. At one point a Canadian border guard complained about this....

I think the only answer here is people are a little crazy sometimes.

Oh, but that's the answer to so many things! Well, I guess I'll have to settle with that. I will also like to attribute to that the fact that I needed a few seconds to even imagine that there are people who never heard of the concept that is so familiar and commonplace here.

Thanks for all your efforts, you guys. Google is a thing of wonder, but Buffistas are doing the very same thing, with an addition of suggestions, options, solutions and opinions, all topped by snark. No program can ever do that.

[Edit: 86=43*2. There are plenty of programs which can do that, and you'll just have to take my word for not being one. Of course, no program will ever be this obssessed with Israeli chocolate-milk baggies which are fun to drink from (being, for example, unable to drink), so that may be a proof in and of itself.]

The other day I went to this fancy candy store and asked for half a pound of Gumi Bears. The clerk asked me if I was German. Then she told me that unlike almost eveyone, I pronounced "Gumi" the correct German way (as the Germans prefected Gumi technology first).

The supposedly correct way to pronounce it is "GOO-me." Most people pronounce it "gummy."