Tuesday, April 07, 2009

implicit right turns and non-fat milk, or lack thereof

Evidently, I have been making some right turns that are not strictly legal. I haven't been turning on red lights or not yielding to traffic. I had a green light to go straight, so I assumed it was perfectly fine to also turn right. No, not true. There was no sign or marker that indicated a right turn was illegal. Apparently, the standard is that you can only turn right at an intersection with a stop light when you have a green signal light that points to the right. There are no implicit right turns allowed.

I have been slowly figuring out where everything is kept in the Tesco I shop at for my needed food stuffs. One thing I have not found is non-fat milk. Of course, the standard in the States is 2%, 1% and 0% and you can find all three in most grocery stores and even some convenience stores. Here, it seems to be a choice between 1.5%, 2.8% and the very enticing 3.5%. As someone who grew up drinking 0% and finds 1% to be distinctly creamy tasting, it is a little strange. I will keep looking for 0% but I do not expect to find any.

They also sell this milk that is good for six months and is not refrigerated. Now, I'm not sure if it needs to be refirgerated after you open it or it will still keep for six months after you open it, but the date on the carton is six months from now. Why someone needs milk like this and why it is the dominant form of milk sold is not clear to me. Perhaps milk drinking is less common here or refrigerators are just really small. I haven't gone into random peoples' homes to find out.

2 comments:

buickguy said...

According to this website (www.holidayhungary.com/tourist/transport/road.htm) you cannot turn only on red lights. Nothing about green lights.

And when was the last time you saw your local grocer carrying whole cream? Not half 'n half, but 100% cream?

You'll get used to 1.5% and then I fear you will never be able to go back to the dark side -- no, no, I meant 0%.

Anonymous said...

Did you get caught doing the right turns that are not strictly legal? Any fine?

Regarding the milk, you just have to get whatever they have to offer. Just drink less and exercise more to burn up that extra % of fats.

Most people in that part of the world do not own a big refrigerator, let alone 2 plus a large freezer in the garage! Many of them don't even own a refrigerator. They go to the market everyday for perishable foods. Remember Mrs. Bookay, she is supposed to be the British upper crust, her refrigerator is so small, may be a little bigger than the one you had in the dorm. How she could host a candle light suppers you never know.

The non-refrigerated milk is packaged in aseptic tetrapaks and unopened will keep at room temperature up to seven months or until the date code. The milk is pasteurized using UHT or ultra-high temperature process which is similar to UP or ultra-pasteurization, in which the milk is heated to >280° F for 2-3 seconds, but packaged in a sterile environment thus extending its shelf life.

They (aseptic tetrapaks) are very common in Asia and Europe. Lots of food are packed that way.