h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The old thread was taking too long to load
and the sites really SLOOOOOOOOW tonight so I thought I'd start a new one.

No I didn't say you were paranoid, you can't be they really are following you.

I assume that what you call a "ball buster" we would call a kick in the nuts

GB and Marv had better watch out if you are on the war path it sounds painful

Have you seen the new game at http://www.h2g2.com/A328475

If you want to know how to hide around here Abi's the expert, she's giving everyone the run around at the moment.

Oooooh, Bloke. You are so TECHNICAL! You started a new thread ... just for ME?!?!?

You didn't say I was paranoid, GB or Marv did. I forget which, but it was one of them. By the way, BOTH of those guys are one game away from losing our bet! My Stars are leading the series, 3 games to 2. I admit their team is playing better and deserves to win, but somehow my team lucked out. I hope they can pull it off. It would serve those guys right! Yes, GB and Marv had better watch out because I can be a real pain with my teasing.

A "ball buster" is someone who harasses you or teases you a bit too long. It's like picking on someone until they either get mad or sad. That's what YOU were doing by harassing me about my reading assignment!!!

Yes, GB and Marv had better watch out because I can be a real pain with my teasing.

I'll go look at your game now ...

No I started a new thread for *me*
I'm at the wrong end of a slow modem link, between that and the site being overloaded with newbies, it was taking ages to load the last thread.

So its one more win for the stars and they pay the forfit (best of seven? am I right?).
So best of luck.

I haven't been on much the last couple of nights, I had a couple of social engagements to keep me busy

I've been amazed to find I seem to have gained part credit for an entry Handy Household Tips http://www.h2g2.com/A309665, all I did was to stick a couple of comments in the forum.

I must get round to writing up some bits on my local area to stick in an entry. ( I keep telling myself this but haven't done it yet)

Damnit. I spoke too soon. The series is tied at 3 games each and game 7 will be tomorrow (Saturday) night. Yes, if my Stars had won game 6, there would be no game 7. But the other side has forced a game 7 by winning last night. This is the Western Conference finals. The East has their game 7 tonight. That one is Philadelphia v. New Jersey. This is the first time in 36 years that both conferences needed 7 games to decide a champion. Game 7's are typically GREAT, since it's for all the marbles.

So which household tip did you contribute? The one on VOMIT? I couldn't tell who wrote what.

And I can tell you are not the "typical male" already, Bloke. Most guys would have SAID that they did xyz for me even when it really WAS for them!! Not that I am bitter or anything ....

I have a DSL line at home ... and it's the best thing since sliced bread!

Glad you are out having fun. This is a holiday weekend for us, Memorial Day is Monday. That may have an effect on the activity level 'round here.

OOPS there I go thinking things are going your way and its all back in the melting pot.

On the household tips thing NO it wasn't vomit!!

Oh for a DSL line, its not available in my area yet although they are saying it will be in August, until then its still going to be a long drag on the modem.
I must stop being so honest about my motives for switching threads

We get a bank holiday as well this weekend but we just call it the spring bank holiday (it used to be whitsun) the trouble is after this we only have the one at the end of August and then nothing until Christmass

So what household tip(s) did you contribute? I NEED tips! I have to clean up tonight to prepare for guest tomorrow. I HATE cleaning. I am one of those who only cleans when I have company over.

We have Memorial day this Monday, the 4th of July, of course, Labor Day on the 1st Monday in September, Thanksgiving at the end of November (and I get both Thursday AND Friday off), and you know about Christmas and New Years. Not bad, huh?! Canada has a Victoria Day holiday in May, do you have that too?

On the household tips front.
The only thing I contributed was my quick way of cleaning the freezer (not reccomended if you don't live on the ground floor)

As for cleaning up, you are definatly asking the wrong person, I've got to do the same before I have friends round on Monday, I hope I have enough rubbish sacks
Have you noticed that however many cuboards you have, there always seems to be more stuff than space.
Its strange when I have stuff all over the place I can normally find what I want after I tidy up and put it all away, I spend weeks looking for things.
So I'm a great beliver in leaving things out, after all when its on the floor it can't fall any further.
I really "hate" one of my friends she is just naturally tidy her place is always neat even when you call round unexpectedly!
Everyone else I know , male & female, is like me (and you ) having a mad rush to clean up before people come round and feeling embarrassed when unexpected visitors turn up

There are 8 official public holidays in England they are
New years day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day (first Monday in May) Whitsun [Spring bank holiday] (last monday in May) Summer (last Monday in August), Christmass day and Boxing Day (26th December).
When New years day Christmas day or boxing day fall on a weekend the holiday gets moved to the nearest working day.

I just had a look in my diary and according to that the US has 12 holidays in addition to the ones you listed it shows holidays on 17th Jan, 10th / 21st Feb, 9th Oct, 10th Nov what are these are they actually Public Holidays or is my diary wrong (not the first time)

I was looking because I was wondering which would be the best country in the world to live in (based on public Holiday count)
The Highest listed was Israel (35) but some of those are plainly whole weeks for religious reasons.
The best I could come up with in Europe is Malta with 14 although Austria with 13 runs it close.

The worst seem to be Austrailia and Canada with 7 each.




.

Yeah. Really neat and organized people piss me off! I am like you, my "space" may look cluttered to others, but I can usually find what I need.

The official US goverment holidays are: New Year's Day (Jan 1), Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday (3rd Monday in January), President's Day (3rd Monday in February), Memorial Day (last Monday in May), Independence Day (4th of July or nearest Monday or Friday to that day), Labor Day (1st Monday in September), Thanksgiving (last Thursday in November), and Christmas Day (December 25th). Banks and the stock market typically follow the government's holidays. However, private industry can do whatever they want to. For example, I have NEVER gotten a day off for the contraversial Martin Luther King's Birthday. Banks and government offices are closed, but I have never worked for a company who closes on that day. I do, however, get Good Friday and the Friday after Thanksgiving off. Even the government stays open on those days.

What about those extra days you listed? January 17 is Martin Luther King's Birthday. Banks and government offices will be closed, but most private companies (like my employers) will be open. February 10th? Don't really know. Feb 12th is Abraham Lincoln's birthday, but Lincoln's birthday is combined with George Washington's birthday to make President's Day. President's Day falls around the 3rd Monday in February. This is a bank and government holiday, but again, most private industries will be open. October 9th is Columbus Day and Yom Kippur. Columbus Day is another government and bank holday, but most private companies remain open. November 10th to celebrate is Veteran's Day which is actually November 11th which falls on a Saturday this year. You guessed it. Veteran's day is only a day off if you work for the US goverment or a bank. Very few real companies close for veterans day. You mentioned Israel having a lot of holidays. In the fall, there are a lot of Jewish holidays ... Yom Kippur on October 9, for example. Places with a large Jewish population, like New York City, will have more companies closed than other areas. But Yom Kippur is NOT an official governnent holiday. It just so happens that this year, Yom Kippur falls on Columbus Day so government workers will get the day off anyways.

If you want to be assured of a the maximum days off, go work for the US government or a US bank!!! My employer has 10 paid holidays per year, plus a floating holiday brings the total to 11, and that's considered to be pretty good. The floating holiday is a holiday that I can take whenever I choose (with manager approval of course), as opposed to the fixed holidays that are itemized above. The floating holiday is really to appease the various special interests ... those who want Martin Luther King Day off can use their floating holiday on that day. Jewish people can use it on one of their Jewish holidays. This way, the company doesn't have to actually close on those holidays with limited appeal. But most of my friends do NOT get 11 paid holidays per year ... that is considered good. The people who work for banks and the government get the MOST days off.

I am surprised to see Canada on your list of least paid days off. I know they have the same Boxing Day that y'all have, and also Easter Monday. They have Christmas & New Year's, July 1st, Thanksgiving (in October), Victoria Day, and some sort of Labor Day in early September.

Oh, and P.S., my Dallas Stars won last night. They are now the Western Conference Champions for the 2nd year in a row. On Tuesday night, they begin a best of 7 series with the New Jersey Devils for The Stanley Cup. That's all the marbles, in other words. So far, I have not heard a peep from those who were so willing to bet me. GargleBlaster, Marv the Grate, and Gw7en, all ACES, have been very quiet. The deal was that they had to get banners up within a day of the victory. I wonder if they will weasel out of the bargain?

I suspect that no matter where you are its always the Government & Bank employees who do best out of public holidays.
While many people over here do work on public holidays most get extra pay and / or time off in leiu, I dont think an employer would stand much of a chance if they if they tried to ignore a public holiday because us Brits like our time off.
All the staff would probably throw a massed sickie and fail to turn up.

If what I have been told is correct the biggest difference between the UK and the US is the amount of paid holiday workers are entitled to, over here there is now a legal minimum of three weeks ( I do a lot better with 5 weeks) a year.
I was told that the norm in the US was 2 weeks is that true?
If it is, all I can say is US employers are a bunch of meanies!

It sound to me like the best bet would be to get a job as a UK government employee based in the US so I could get the best of both worlds

Congrats to you and your Dallas stars

I think you may have to ferret around and remind them of the bet, but somehow I dont think they are going to get away without putting up the banners.
I suspect you have the neccessary powers of persuasion to make sure they do

Wow! You guys have it pretty good over there as far as getting paid for being OFF!! There is no "minimum" time off, employers don't have to give anything that they don't want to, it's merely competition that drives stuff like that. Standard is 2 weeks of vacation, and most employers have you wait at year to get that much. I have 3 weeks of vacation, but that's because I was with my prior employer for almost 11 years and I had earned the 3 weeks. When I changed jobs, we negotiated the extra week of vacation as part of my compensation package. Normally, I would have been back down to 2 weeks. Standard is to get 3 weeks after 5 years with one company, and then 4 weeks after 10 or sometimes years with them. It really varies. 5 weeks is unusual, but it can happen if you stick to one company. Job hoppers (people who change jobs frequently) typically don't do well in paid time off or other benefits like pension and 401K vesting because you need to hang around for a few years to get vested. Standard for that is 5 years. Again, there are no "entitlements" here, it's what each company offers. If vacation means a lot to you, and you were here, you'd have to find a company with a liberal holiday schedule or negotiate yourself a deal on the way in. But yes, normally full time workers have 2 weeks of vacation if they have been employed for a year at the same place. So what do you DO with your 5 weeks, Bloke??!?!? As I said, I get 3 weeks. I am planning on going scuba diving either in Cozymel or in Bonaire soon. I LOVE diving, and I wish I had taken up the sport sooner. I love anything to do with nature and the outdoors, actually. I am the type who will go to everything from an amusement park to a museum; from a metal concert to a Shakespeare play; from a comedy club to a movie; from playing sports to being a spectator. I need more than 3 weeks!!

I remember a friend telling me that in Europe, y'all work harder while in school and then you goof off afterwards when you get real jobs. Your kids are in school for longer days and for more days per year than the kids here, and it does sound like you have a LOT of free time there Bloke!! I guess my friend was right!

Umm, where can I go to complain about the behavior of the ACES? I mean, if they weasel out of bets .... they need to have their badges revoked!

well just an idea

How about a LARGE banner on your page declaring them to be weasels and a major pestering exercise in the forums

I thought blonds were good at pestering

Some how I think you'l give them the message.

I think theres a different attitude to life between the two sides of the pond
We (in europe) tend to trade off earnings against things like time off and other benifits, so whilst we may not get as much cash as we might the "Total Package value" is roughly equivilant in tems of standard of living.
The tax and benifit systems are vastly different between Europe and the US, with Europe tending towards a high rates of tax and higher benifits than North America.
As a result of this it can be benificial to take a part of a pay rise as a "benifit in kind" rather than as straight money especially if you are liable for tax in the higher bands as the tax valuation of it might be lower than its worth to you, but this depends a lot on your personal circumstances.
The result of the high tax / improved benifits systems in Europe is that there is a smaller difference between the richest and poorest people, which I regard as being a good thing although it hurts when filling out my tax return

Also we have a more organised workforce over here, who stick together to get what they want, despite the wishes of a couple of right wing Conservative governments.

On the annual holiday front over here its normal for a new starter to get 1 day per month during their first year (12 days) they move to the three wekks once they have finished their "probationary period" as with you the amount of holiday rises with time.
The reason I have so much leave is that I've spent twenty four years on the railway which used to be a nationalised industry (owned by the government) and what used to happen was the government would restrict pay rises in the public sector (trying to influence rises in the private sector) and as a result there were a lot of trade offs on conditions including leave, when the government sold the railways off ( a disaster but I'm not going into that now) the new companies inherited us with our existing terms and conditions.

In my case I actually traded a weeks holiday when I changed contract terms a couple of years ago.
I used to have 6 weeks!!! but even I rarely got round to using it all up and ended up having a week off in February /March just to finish it off before the leave year ran out.

As for what I do with all this leave
I normally take three weeks off at the end of July / beginning of August, two weeks of which I spend helping with a childrens camp because my involvement with that runs from midweek to midweek I fill in the weeks at either end just doing my own thing.
Then I tend to have a week off at the end of September when I try to get away to Spain or Greece which is what I really count as holiday and I normally fill in the week between Christmas and the New Year as long as we don't have any major engineering work over that period.
The rest I take as odd days now and then either working on the flat or taking Friday and Monday off to make a long weekend away somewhere in the UK, walking generally ( have tent will travel). or occasionaly over to the Continent for a short break.

I must admit I have never been diving properly, I did a bit of snorkalling some years ago in the Med but the sea around Britain is generally too cold for my liking except during the best of summers.

Whats 401K vesting? I don't think we have an equivilent of that over here

I find it hard to believe that American Kids do less school than over here!
Most senior schools here do three twelve week terms a year and the normal day is about 9 - 4 and some people are serious about extending it to try and improve exam results, (some how I don't see that being popular with the teachers or the kids!)

Yes, I am aware of the "socialist" system of high taxes which fund nationalized health care and the like. I got into a bit of a debate with BlueBottle about that, before one of the hockey guys followed me over there too, and then THEY got into a HEATED (curse words and all) arguement over (alleged) British atrosities during the Revolutionary War! Yeeesh! Life is too short to argue about what happened or didn't happen 220 years ago. Besides, I didn't really know which side to take since American history books AND British history books are probably BOTH biased for "their" side! Anyway, as I had BEGUN to say to BlueBottle, we here in the US walk a strange tightrope between making everyone pay for the healthcare that they need, but not being totally callus and mandating (by law) that no one be denied medical care in a hospital. What happens is that the poor and/or uninsured cannot afford to go to a doctor's office for care, but then they clog up hospital emergency rooms with routine stuff like colds or sinus infections! That's stupid for a lot of reasons. First, REAL emergency cases have to wait. Second, it's a lot more expensive for the taxpayers to foot the bill for an ER visit than it would be for a Dr.'s office visit. I feel tax money should reimburse the Dr.'s offive visit rather than ER visits! Hillary Clinton (Pres. Bill's wife) tried to revamp the health care system, but she was promptly shot down. I don't know if her idea were "right" or not, but I do know that something needs to be done. I will say that if I were to get sick or injured, there is no place I'd prefer that to happen than in a big US city. I happened to have sudden major medical problems last February, and I am glad that Dallas has outstanding medical care, and I am fortunate to have good insurance. I don't mind making sure that every US citizen gets access to our health care, in fact, that's moraly what SHOULD happen. But the political battles between the right and the left have left us with this dumb situation of the uninsured using the ER as their doctor's office.

What is your tax rate, as a percent to your income? I'll have to peek at my last tax return to see what mine is. Off hand, I think that mine was about 25%, but I am not sure.

Here, labor unions are only in the so called "blue collar" jobs, and there are fewer and fewer of those around. And the government can bust up a strike for reasons of national security. The airline pilots and air traffic controlers fell under that. it was deemed to be a threat to commerce if they were allowed to disrupt US air travel, so the President could order the strikers back to work. 20 years ago, President Reaqan fired the striking air traffic controllers. More recently, President Clinton threatened to end the American Airlines pilot strike if they didn't reach an agreement quickly.

So you spend 2 weeks a year helping at a children's camp? Are you a volunteer or something? I didn't mention it, but I volunteer at a local animal shelter. I LOVE cats and dogs. I am the sort of person who will get out of my car on a highway in traffic to try to rescue a stray dog. One night, after I was coming home from my scuba class of all things, I saw this black cocker spaniel wandering aimlessly back and forth on a street with 3 lanes of traffic going in each direction. Luckily there wasn't much traffic at night, but there were cars behind me. I stopped and prayed that dog would stay in my lane (in front of my stopped car) so that it would not get hit. It didn't and 2 cars almost hit it, but luckily they screeched to a stop just in time. I got out of my car, wearing nothing but a bathing suit under a towel, with my hair still wet (I didn't want to get dressed after my scuba class) and I called to the dog. Luckly he responded to my voice so I kept calling him until he followed me on to the sidewalk. It turns out that dog was BLIND and had escaped from his yard. That's why he was meandering around, he was lost and could nto see to find his way home. I almost didn't give him back to his owner who had come out searching for him by this time. The dog smelled bad and I didn't think they were very good owners to allow a blind dog out, especially when she said that it had happened before. Anyways, the point is that I am an ANIMAL LOVER!!! Ironicaly, I am allergic to cats and dogs, but I still own a cat. I don't have a dog because I am not home enough and I don't want to leave it outside in the heat.

401K is a savings plan offered by most employers. You can elect to have part of each paycheck put directly into that account TAX FREE provided that the money is used for retirement. Frequently employers match some of the money that you deposit as an added benefit. Vesting typically begins 2 years after employemnt and increases incrementally with each year until you are fully (100%) vested at 5 years. Simply put, if you are 0% vested when you leave a company, you get 0% of the 401k match that they contributed on your behalf. If you stay 5 years and become 100%, that means you are entitled to all of the money in the account including the money they contributed. But you must not touch the money until after retirement or you'd pay a heavy tax penalty. It's a way of getting us to save money!!! This is NOT the same as a pension, by the way. That is a separate deal. My company happens to offer both a 401K and a pension plan, IF you hang around long enough to get vested. I guess vested really refers to the % of the benefit you are entitled to. I am at 0% because I have been with my current employer less than 2 years.

I think kids should be in school year round !!!! The reason they got summers off in the first place was to help out on the farms when we were an agriculture based society. That's not the case anymore, and with more mothers working outside the home, the kids may as well stay in school doing something useful rather than just playing in a day care!

Blondes good at pestering?!?!? Bloke, who have you been talking to?

I LOVED your ideas .... If they try to wriggle out of our little wager, I'll do more than pester, I'll harass!!! Marv has already said that he's "too busy" to put a banner on his page today. Humph! Sure! Had his team one I bet he'd have the time to bug me all day today!

Don't worry Bloke. Win or lose, the season is over in 2 weeks at the most. Just hold on for 2 weeks, and you'll be okay!

At the risk of restarting a Gargle Blaster and Blue Bottle rant over here
I think they both enjoy an argument and are quite happy winding each other up

I don't think you can describe any real country as either pure Socialist or pure Capitalist, all countries are a mix of both in varying proportions.
The pure forms of each cannot exist in reality.
Pure socialism cannot be sustained by real people, it demands too much and as such must remain a utopian dream.
Pure capitalism ends up like a game of monopoly with one winner having it all and would disentigrate into revolution or civil war before it ever got that far.
(Bill Gates watch out! here come the peasants )

I belive that a country cannot be socialist unless it is democraticly run and equally that a country which is democraticly run will be socialist to a large extent.
When I read US constitution it was very similar to early socialist manifesto's around the world, all about the rights of the people and putting limits on the actions of the government .
The above may come as a shock to any right wingers about, who like to belive the US isn't Socialist in any way

On the health care front, what I read of Hilary Clintons proposals seemed to be very sensible, I couldn't understand the thinking of those who shot it down.

The big problems in UK health care are in part caused by its very success and I suspect the same problems affect US health care as well.
The difference is we will end up paying for it in higher taxes while you will get hit for higher health care premiums, which may mean more people are unable to afford insurance or are considered too high a risk by the insurance companies and are unable to get cover these people will end up filling the hospital waiting rooms
People are living longer, which means there is more need for long term care of cronic conditions and there are now a lot better treatments for diseases which were previously untreatable but which now require long term medication.
Both of these are very expensive areas of medicine and the money has to come from somewhere.

The UK tax system is so labyrinthine I haven't got time to go through it now, I suspect it was devised to keep lawyers in business.
I might try and write something on it another time (or I might not )

On the strike front, it always seems to me that the most bitter and costly strikes occur as a result of government intervention, The miners strikes and steel disputes in the UK during the 1980's being a classic example. commercial organisations and their staff both know the businesses financial situation and tend to come to an ageement early on normally without strike action.

I don't know whether to describe myself as a volunteer or as having been Volunteered
The camp is run by the Buckinghamshire St John Ambulance Brigade as a training camp for their cadets (aged 9-16).
I don't know if it exists in the US, but it is a first aid organisation similar to the Red Cross and provides first aid facilities and volunteer staff at public events.
My mother is quite heavily involved in the St John Ambulance. I used to be a member when I was younger but once I had moved away and was working shifts I dropped out.
One of the membership requirements is that you keep up a minimum number of training hours a year so when I first moved away from home and was still a member the easiest way to keep up my training hours was to help at the cadet camp in the summer.
Even though I'm no longer an active member I still get invited to attend, mostly to deal with the water, sewerage, gas and electrical needs of the camp!

I don't have any pets myself, I work shifts and have to stay away some of the time so I wouldn't be able to look after them.
Although I do get visiting Squirrels and Foxes in the garden (and YES I do live in London), together with one of my neibours cats (I dont know who's) which sometimes decides it likes my flat if I leave the window open.

With regard to Kids my two weeks at camp each year cures me of ever wanting any of my own

So, do you know GargleBlaster and/or BlueBottle? GargleBlaster is the lone holdout of the 3 ACES who bet against me and my team. He has not updated his page, the other 2 have.

I largely agree with your comments about socialism and capitalism being on a continuium rather than pure. Although we are pretty close to a monopoly game without rules here in the US!!! Lots of trading of properties under the board.

Our tax code is pretty complicated as well. I would vote for a candidate who supports a flat tax of some sort. Let's cut the crap that keeps lawywers and accountants busy and everyone just pay an % based on income, with NO DEDUCTIONS, and with NO BULLSH*T! Do you get the feelin' that I am a direct person, Bloke?

If you deal with the water, sewerage, gas and electrical needs of the camp, you sould be commended! I sometimes scoop out the cat boxes at the animal shelter, but mostly I walk the doggies in the woods behind the place!!! Are you telling me that you have wild foxes running around in the middle of London? COOL! I hope they don't get hit by cars or something.

I need to clean up my house a bit (recall our conversation about only cleaning when FORCED to do so) because I have a termite inspector coming. Tonight I want to watch the game, but if it gets boring, and tomorrow night for sure, I HAVE TO clean. Do you have termites over there? My neighbor had them, and our houses are 6 feet apart, so I have better be checked!!! Just what I need, another BIG expense this year!

I have met bluebottle, he was at the Hyde Park Meet up, I haven't met Gargle Blaster (he's your side of the pond) but he is well known around here!
The reason I said I was risking a rant was because of something he posted in the forums for an article on socialism http://www.h2g2.com/forumframe.cgi?thread=44290&forum=35317 (I think)

Also for his work on the FFFF http://www.h2g2.com/a254314

Both of which he has strong views about

The under the board dealings, undermine democracy both in the US and here in the UK, it seems that no one can get elected without big financial backers, and as the saying goes "he who pays the piper calls the tune".
The main problem is ordinary people are getting pissed off with the political system and not turning out to vote.
The trouble is this just lets the existing parties get away with it.

The only way to get change is if everyone turns out and if they dont like the candidates on offer scrawl a suitable comment on the ballot paper ("b******s" being a British favorite for such circumstances) after all what politician wants to win an election where they were out voted by spoiled papers?
I say this despite being a fully paid up member of a political party..

I must say NO to flat tax schemes, whilst they are simple to administer, they disadvantage the poor and benifit the better off.
Any fair income tax system must be be related (if some what vaugely) to a persons disposable income ie after deducting essenial spending (basic food and accomodation)and as such that means it must be progessive.
ie a lower limit below which you do not pay tax and then tax rates which start low and rise as your disposible income increases to an upper rate.
I agree with you that there are far too many tax deductions in existance, most of which are only of use to people who can afford accountants to deal with their tax affairs, anyone else would not be able to "interpret" the tax laws or have the capital to set up such schemes.

I am a believer in the saying " From each according to their means, To each according to their need"


Urban foxes are a definate part of British life these days, I am told that 40 years ago there were virtually none living in towns, but being the wiley creatures they are, they know where the living is easy and the average dustbin is easier than hunting
My next door neighbour has two alsations (German Shepherds), the foxes sit on the roof of their garage, knowing they are out of reach, while the dogs go mad.
As for road sense I have seen them stop look and listen before crossing, they are better behaved than most people

Luckly we don't have termites over here, well at least not as voracious as in the US.
Besides they might have a problem with most of our houses as we traditionally use brick and concrete (that should blunt their teeth ) although a lot of new houses are now being built with timber and just faced with brick, I have my doubts about how long they will last in the damp british cimate, I suspect Mould & Rot 1 - Builders 0.