Delaware

Today the job started properly. We had a five hour flight over half of the state of Delaware. Well, I say a five hour flight - it was actually two flights, with a stop for fuel, coffee and fresh brownies about half way through.

It may not sound like much - but it is tough. The difficulty comes in maintaining absolute complete focus on the task in hand for two and a bit hours at a time. It's relentless, and the weather today was difficult - patchy clouds, which make good exposure difficult. Nothing like starting at the deep end I suppose!

I have some fantastic footage of Delaware on the other laptop - but I still don't have the software I need on this laptop to make getting stills quick and painless. Hopefully that will be sorted out over the next few days, and I'll add in some nice shots of Delaware in all it's glory.

So what is Delaware like?

Well the north is very flat, and has lots of people in it.

And the south is very flat, and has fewer people in it.

It has an impressive bridge.

The people are friendly (but that's hardly a differentiating factor - I've yet to meet a state of unfriendly americans, in fact they are SO overly friendly I was actually relieved when someone scowled at me when I said "morning" to them the other day). The food is american. The cars are overly big. Walking is looked up in the way we look upon the nutters in Oxford Circus exclaiming that the world is coming to and end - it's just not really the done thing.

American TV is awesome, for all the wrong reasons. EVERYTHING they say is loaded with gravitas and drama. And it's all so full of cuts, jumps, mad graphics and other editing conventions to try and keep people interested that it reminds me of a movie trailer. American TV is simply that: one big film trailer, interrupted with countless commercial breaks. Odd.

Today has been a decidedly British day. I flew around all day in a helicopter surrounded by a bunch of brits. We flew over the county of Kent, filmed New Castle, and landed in County Sussex.

After such a day, and feeling decidedly patriotic, this evening I decided to treat myself to a cup of proper British Tea. So off I trotted to Walmart and bought myself a box of Twinnings English Breakfast. Ok - the box is the wrong shape, colour and size - but no matter - within I was expecting the genesis of a decent brew. On the way back through the hotel reception I swiped a couple of "half-and-half" milk portions from the coffee counter (not that I have any idea what half-and-half is - I'm assuming one half is milk, perhaps I don't want to know about the other half...), and with my ingredients in my hands set-off back to my room. To be met with complete failure. My machine is equipped with a coffee machine, microwave and fridge - but no kettle. I was tempted to microwave it - but I only have plastic cups and I just KNOW they'll melt. I couldn't quite bring myself to make tea with the coffee maker. Perhaps in a week I'll do it - but I'm not that desperate yet!

Tomorrow I shall bring tea with me to breakfast, and see what happens.

Simple things....


Ben