Story about water taps, born in 76, in 84 moved to a house & town built in the 1800's so my new home had this "massive" cast iron tub & the bathroom sinks had these 2 taps & a plug on a chain. It was interesting as an "80s kid" growing up in a house that seeming liked time forgot. Even had a glass screw-in fuse box. Most part its been modernized but it has a charm.
If he wasn't enjoying it thoroughly, he'd have left this country behind a long time ago. Foreign people who crap-talk America have, 99% of the time, never been here in their lives. They just believe the "propaganda." And I'm not just talking about Russians.
The backward slope of Adirondack chairs mean that they aggressively demand that you continue to sit in them. They will brook no denial of laziness and afternoon naps and have an armrest the perfect size for a glass of anything that appeals, and are hence one of the most glorious inventions the US has ever given to the world.
there is a version in Canada called the Muskoka chair. The backward slope is milder, letting you get out of the chair quicker. You always have to worry about bears up here.
The Adirondack chair is, without question, the most uncomfortable chair I have ever sat in. Being short my feet hang above the ground while in the said chair making it all the harder to get out of it. If a bear wander by I would have to surrender to being his lunch.
Mud rooms are more common in the Midwest and Northeast, but are a glorious architectural addition. They're very uncommon on the west coast and I have always been envious when I see them and wish I they were common where I live. The pile up of shoes and stuff to go out that doesn't fit other places still happens, but not in a special room. The mud room is also great as an "air lock" to help with containing pets, heating or cooling in the house, and snow or other debris from outside since it gives you a room that is neither in nor out. Putting laundry equipment in the mud room crowds out the ability to have a room for shoe removal and outdoor clothing/shoe storage. A proper mud room is golden.
Having laundry equipment in the mud room is fantastic for people that have dirty clothes when they come home. When I was a paramedic, I’d strip in my mud room every day I came home and throw everything directly in the wash. Never had to bring bloody / soiled clothes in the house.
I’d want a full bathroom attached to the mudroom. Time to shower off +/or wash the dog before you bring all that _____ in the house. Leave your clothes and towels in the laundry basket (while you’re there) before coming in to the rest of the house.
I’m an American living in Cornwall and I have an American friend here who makes Adirondack chairs and sells them all over the southwest of England. He frequently gets comments on how original they are.
It's funny actually, the mud room is like the American analog to Japanese entryway, where outside shoes are removed - I know a lot of American households that treat it the same way, especially in parts of the country with lots of rain and snow
They were also very popular in farm houses where you could take off your boots. You don't want to drag what is in the feed lot across the living room carpet.
Things that are more typical in the USA that I would have difficulty living without: 1) Central Air Conditioning 2)American sized fridges with ice makers 3) Tumble Dryer 4) Storage vanities in bathrooms 5) Walk-in Closets 6) American varieties of barbecue. 4) Things being open late and on Sundays.
I'm a Brit, but live in Virginia. My British sister, who is now German (thank you Brexit) came to visit with her family in July. Now she is insisting on a tumble dryer for her home in Germany.
As an American living in the UK for almost 8 years, AC is _definitely_ what I miss the most (or even just a good ceiling fan). It wasn’t too bad when I lived in Scotland for the first 2 years, but now I’m further south in England and I’m pretty warm-blooded, so I get hot so easily. In fact, for me, one of the best things about going on holiday is just enjoying a nice, air-conditioned hotel room 😂 (EDIT: just for clarification, I’m currently renting my house, so I can’t do anything like install my own ceiling fan or AC unit. I could check with my landlady about a window AC unit and all that, but the truth is that UK only gets about 4 or 5 of those “unbearably” hot days anyway, so it just doesn’t really feel like it’s worth the effort. I use standing and tabletop fans and open windows to get by.)
Wait, they haven't even started using ceiling fans?! They are so nice when there is no AC. I get that AC is terrible for the environment, but it's sooooo niccceeeee.
It’s not just about the temperature. People think that. But it’s also about having non-stagnant or stuffy air. Not only do many Europeans not have AC, they don’t have ceiling fans either. Never seen a. Ceiling fan when I was over there.
Air conditioning is energy intensive compared to not having air conditioning, but it’s actually very energy-efficient compared to heating. A home in a place with a hot summer and mild winter will on average use much less energy on HVAC than a home in a place with a mild summer and cold winter.
As a Midwesterner, my biggest joy in a house is my 3rd car slot in my garage that is never used for a car, and instead an area where I can do whatever without annoying the family. I don't watch sports or TV enough to justify a man-cave, but I can tinker with what electronic device I feel like fixing. If I want, I can play video games with friends in the corner area, or even open a door off to the side and sit in my adirondack chair for a nice cigar or tequila. Best part is that I'm more likely to run any errand for the family because "I'm close to the cars and why not?". The inside of the garage is temperature controlled, so I never worry about getting too hot or cold. Things like the household trash, recycling, lawnmower, and snowblower are towards the garage door, so all these tasks are xlose by to encourage doing them. The closer I am to a chore device, the more happily I am to do it. Cheers, from MN to you, Laurence.
I lived without A/C until I was 10 myself (then spent my adolescence coming home, turning on the A/C for an hour, then turning it back off so my parents were none the wiser). My home is now a continuous 65 degrees Fahrenheit, and my life is bliss! 🥰
Right? One of the main attributes couples should look for any each other is a compatible thermostat temperature! Sure having the same political beliefs and religious belief is great, but it can all be for nothing if you aren’t compatible temperature wise! 😂😂😂
We don't even know what 65 feels like until late fall. Oh, you mean inside the house, then for us that's during the winter only. It's always above 73, downstairs, but upstairs it can at times be a whole 10 degrees hotter. If it's 76 downstairs, it'll feel like it's 85 at least upstairs, unless you're in the small room, with no ac in the summer. It gets to 90 or higher in that room if temps outside are 100 or a bit higher.
I wish my air conditioner could get it down to 65 in the summer. It can't handle a 40 degree difference. I do keep it around there in the winter though if not cooler.
Yes, which really does not make the room, a mud room. Most absurd architectural design anyone could come up with. Typically the woman trying to clean everyone's clothing, with people (children) coming in and out with dirty shoes and boots. It's not a mud room. It's an afterthought about "where" to put the washer and dryer. Bad designers and architects do this.
What? Having the washer and dryer in the mudroom makes sense since you can throw your dirty soggy clothes in there to wash instead of dragging dirt around the house. Ours also has a double utility sink between the washer and the door leading to the outside, and a closet-sized bathroom for when you need to go but are going right back out again. In Quebec I remember most houses I've been to had either a mudroom, a sunroom (similar in many ways) or the entrance gave you direct access to the basement as well as those were more storage and tool-centric than living spaces (firewood storage, furnace room, etc.)
Being an area people come into dirty makes it the perfect place for laundry actually. I work outside a lot and when I come home I leave my boots in a lined drawer I built into mudroom counterspace, strip off dirty clothes and put them straight in the washer...
You are correct! The Brit's do have better humor than Americans. Kudos to the Brits for that! Go Laurence! We definitely love your wit and brilliant sense of humor.
Brit here: I have 2 drive thrus less than 2 miles from my village, and all my sinks have mixer taps/faucets. Both are much more popular in the UK than they used to be.
@@thisisnotaustin1I can't imagine they'd put the window on the "wrong" side like that, with how inconvenient it would be for the customers. I've been to a couple of places in the US that do, but there's a workaround in place - the food passes over in an electric conveyor system, or it's optional and there's a window on two opposite sides of the building so cars with passengers can use the "wrong" side lane where the line is probably shorter
Agreed! Then we had twins and we learned really quickly to use the drive thru. My good friend, that already had kids, told me that's why modern kids have such atrocious manners in regular restaurants becos they never saw the inside of one until they were ten years old 😆
I'm the reverse. With kids, I always enjoyed going in and let the kids have fun in the play area. When I was alone I would just as soon eat in the car even if I just park for 5 minutes.
@@AntfarmerMy parents made a concerted effort to develop our restaurant manners young, like starting at 3, and every time I hear about it, it sounds exhausting. Started off with fast food places, eventually graduated to places like country kitchen, and eventually full blown sit down restaurants like Chili's or other places where there'd still be plenty of noise
@@gamemeister27 Yeah. That's something parents have to actively do. I was raised in the '80s. We did drive thru at times. We also went in at times. We also went to eat at family style restaurants like Big Boy and Ponderosa. We all had good table manners for being in public because we were taught them at a young age. We'd sit and do the activities on the little paper mats to keep kids occupied. We didn't run around because we were never allowed to do so. Adults sat on the outside, kids sat on the inside in the booth seats. We also liked the food at the places we went out to eat, so it was a treat. We didn't want to cause trouble.
@@gamemeister27 This is what my parents did and my husbands parents. We are doing the same. It's actually not too bad. Cruises are good practice too because the staff all are so kind and great with kids.
especially humor. python, benny hill, are you being served, fawlty towers, black books, dangermouse, the original who's like is it anyway?, blackadder. snarky brits are the basis of a lot of my humor development, and thats not mentioning douglas adams and terry pratchett and even neil Gaimen. Britain is just where funny comes from(the shared language helps, i love japan, but much cultural nuance is lost in translating)
Well, go hang out in August when the Brit's are opening windows, sky lights (no screen) and their homes are filled with dirt, dust and spiders. Then there's the humidity which really affects the bathrooms. You'd be glad to return to the USA and at least have an exhaust fan in the restroom which works (ventilates outside).
My memory is getting foggy but I think we had separate faucets way back when I was very young - but you are correct! A single faucet is so much better!
I remember them back in the 70's but only in old buildings. My parent's apartment and my Catholic pre-school. One of them had a connecting tube, so it was still mixed.
I used to live in a WWI-era building, and my bathroom sink had clearly once featured separate faucets. I have no idea when it was converted, only that at some point, someone drilled a new hole in the sink between the two faucets and used one of the original fixtures as a central mixer faucet. Where the original faucets had been, there were separate hot and cold taps to control the proportion of hot and cold water flowing to the center faucet. (Moving to a house with modern faucets was an absolute revelation.)
Two and a half weeks of watching Brits worship people (Royal Family) was enuf...for me. Glad our (USA) gene pool is not like the blueprint to a submarine like the UK.
My dogs also love drive-through windows. Sometimes it's a biscuit (the bank or pharmacy), sometimes a burger, sometimes a pup cup. The oldest one has taught the younger ones, "Make sure you lean out of the car window and give your biggest doggy grin, so they can't miss you."
@@JaneAustenAteMyCat some banks will also have drive-thru atms that are just in seemingly random places. and there's some businesses like Walmart/ hardware stores that have added drive throughs or curbside pickup so you can call or order the stuff you need online and pick it up without ever getting out of a vehicle
Be great if Americans could order up 10 million Lawrence's and Laura's. Instead, we are not getting..., what we are getting and paying for it dearly. Welcome Laurence!
I was born and raised in Billings, Montana. We never had AC in my home. We had central heating but no AC. The Summers got hot but not as hot as they do now. I moved to Phoenix and AC was everywhere. I retired back home and my Mom had installed central AC. I can't live without it now.
Also born & raised in Montana (north-central). Never had AC until I was in my mid-twenties. We always did just fine growing up with window fans (& both doors open if we had locking screen doors) overnight & a regular fan for air circulation during the day. Now, with the warmer summers we have, AC is essential; just a few months ago my AC wasn't working at the start of a bad heatwave and I couldn't get my bedroom cooler than 82 degrees even with a window open all night (& an alarm to close it before the outside temp exceeded the inside temp).
Floridian here and none of us could live without it. One of the public schools in my city is named after an inventor that was important in the development of AC 😂
Yeah. I grew up in Alabama and Mississippi, so AC was a necessity. Then I moved up to Seattle in 2007, and NOBODY has AC. At first I didn't even miss it. There would be only two, three weeks where it got into the 80s, so I'd just put the floor fans on full blast. Now we are actively considering putting in central air conditioning because of how damn hot it gets for most of the summer.
When my husband and I were house hunting years ago, I didn't realize how much I cared about a mudroom initially. But the more houses we saw, the more I found myself liking the mudroom houses more than the others. It wasn't on my must-have list, but we ended up with one! Hurrah!
@@catw6998 Ours is the house must have a 2 car garage. We live in a state where it snows a lot in the winter and we don't want to have to leave either car on the street.
@@ian3580I disagree. A garage is a garage. It can turn into a “man-cave” but it isn’t a mud room. Plus they don’t always have an extra entrance specifically in the front.
A proper rural mud room would have a half bathroom attached That way, if you were working in the barn or the shop, you could relieve yourself and wash up, or wash up before meals without traipsing through the house. (The kitchen was usually off of the mud room.)
We were dairy farmers. Our mud room contained a shower and doubled as a laundry room as well. It was the only area in the house without carpeting. It had a closet where only overalls were hung in because they were dirty. Rather, s*tty.
Don't kid yourself. You need a small bath in your shop. Who is cleaning up after you (floors) remove your dirty boots and clothing? Are you married and if so, for how long. I suppose some women are good with cleaning floors every day.
I am thinking of finally adding a storm entrance room to the back of my place. It might just be a seasonal addition as far as being closed in. It would work like a mudroom of sorts I think. I like so many of the ideas talked about here. Thanks!
I'm 70 years old now, so when I was growing up all older houses had separate hot and cold taps. The secret was to plug the drain and run a basin of mixed water, and wash your hands comfortably with that. As a lazy (energy efficient) youth, I usually just gritted my teeth and endured the cold water, unless I was really ❄️ cold 🥶 😅
Yep, my washer and dryer are in the back room (mud room) that leads to the back yard of my house. My son calls it the utility room. All the winter coats and other winter clothes are on coat racks on the wall along with the dogs leash. Winter boots, multiple shovels and gardening tools, shop vac, tool box and various other items we grab at different times through out the year on our way out the back door that leads to the car port. It’s a handy space that’s nice to enter into when coming into the back of the house. Couldn’t live without it.
Our mudroom is where everything we don't use is kept, it's also the laundry and our rear door, I keep threatening to clear it out, but I'm still waiting for my wife to tell me what to keep or throw away, why do Americans want to hold on to stuff they will never use!!
I heard about a man who called an air conditioner repairman. The repairman came in and walked to the thermostat. The owner stopped him and said, “That one is a fake for my wife to play with. The real one is in this closet.”
The invention of air conditioning is credited to Willis Haviland Carrier, an American engineer whose ingenuity revolutionized the way we experience indoor environments Hope he has a bronze statue erected in his honor.
@@courtneyraymer6586 that's really cool! I live and work very close to the Carrier plant in East Syracuse (DeWitt), NY. It used to be humongous, but they knocked down a lot of it by the time I got here. Probably laid off lots of good people too.
If you ever find yourself in Wisconsin you can experience the Drive-Thru Liquor Store. Always nice having a neighboring state that's juuuust a bit trashier than your own...
For the ultimate in outdoor laziness, some Adirondack chairs come with a reverse-sloped footrest or ottoman. So you can put your feet up, but not have them out horizontally and keep your knees bent.
I feel like in a lot of US homes, the garage serves the same purpose as a mud room. It's sort of an in-between space that you aren't afraid to get dirty, and it tends to collect clutter and trash for which you don't otherwise have space.
The Adirondack chair gets its name from the Adirondack Mountain range in upstate New York. One legend speculates that the name was chosen for the chair because guests of a convalescent home for tuberculosis patients in the Adirondack Mountains enjoyed sitting in the chair to take in the therapeutic fresh mountain air.
it's not a legend. they were invented in saranac lake when it was a tb cure village. the chairs are designed like that to accommodate sitting while wrapped in a blanket. a flat bottom chair would cause the patients to pitch forward and possibly fall. source: i'm from saranac lake
@@jonnieuppercut Saranac Lake: the coolest village in the Adirondacks. There are so many great reasons to visit this part of the world. It’s my happy place.
@@scheddoc it probably is. We have a lot of weird house features that stopped being built when modern tech came to be. It's a very old house feature like a coal chute
@@scheddoc They are meant for regions with distinct snow and mud seasons. The space is a transition area for seasonal wear between the outside and inside of the home.
@@scheddoc Mudrooms are more of a thing for wetter areas as well as colder areas, being more of a place where you can pull stuff off that's soaked or covered in muck without tramping it through the rest of the house. A lot of places combine the mudroom with their laundry as well for the same reason. The mudroom is not, normally, the main entrance though which tends to still be more formal, but one where the backyard or garage (if attached) enters from that the people living there tend to use most often.
Faucets in Houston Texas in summer have almost no cold water. It tends to heat in the pipes. Surprised me when I moved from the Midwest about 40 years ago.
I've noticed the same thing when in Florida. I've lived my whole life in Michigan and the pipes are buried deep down below the frost line, so the water gets cold. It seems like the pipes in Florida are close to the surface and get heat from the environment, thus never getting cold.
When I was a kid growing up in NJ, our mudroom was the garage. We hung up our winter coats, etc. under the stairs (split level house), then we entered the house. Just the other day, I said to my husband that Florida is the only place I know where you run the cold water in the summer & it gets hotter.
The fact he's lived in America for 16 years and still has a British accent is just further proof the British accent is a speech impediment. I kid! I kid! ... Well, half kidding. I love your content, and your dry humor! Never change, man!
My step-grandson moved from Britain to America when he was six. He’s now 26 and still has a British accent. His half brother, born to an American mother and British father, has an American accent with a few British-isms thrown in. We’ve broken him of saying to-mahto, but he still says garrage instead of garage! 😂
TBH it kinda sounds like he's exaggerating his accent a bit for the channel. Dunno if that's true or not, but he's probably the only British person he interacts with since moving here and lots of people switch accents in far less than 16 years. Heck, I flunked a 1-year Japanese class in school and still ended up mispronouncing several American words thanks to it, like letting slip "Foon-koh Pops" when making fun of Funko Pops with a friend of mine once.
The cutoff date for properly learning the language is 18. I have immigrant friends with kids of all ages (born here, came as small kids, came as highschoolers, came for college, work…). If they have a few school years here, then they learn local english very well, and lose lot of the accent. After school years, we keep our accent we imported.
@@juzoli Excellent example is John Barrymore, a Glaswegian Scot that went to the US at 15 and can code switch perfectly between US, UK and Scottish as he did in Dr Who shows before doing Arrow. Me I got to US at 26 so mostly too late, mixed accent and mixed word use, most US and UK people people pick up on it but don't give me any pain over being out of place.
Current house had no mudroom, but an extended cement landing over a cold storage to a set of stairs. Ripped the crappy vinyl railings off, installed framing and a door. Then took off the wall torch/light, replaced with electric heater. Cut recessed lighting into the ceiling for four led soft lights with shielding (prevents spiders/bugs nesting), and various light filters on the windows before adding lounge furniture. It's now a nice multi-season relax room.
As an American, the only house I've seen with a mudroom was my grandparents' house. Even then, it's a porch that was converted into a mudroom. So I think mudrooms are most common on some older houses, but I with all houses had them because they're amazing.
This is a very true thing. It's gone the way of a breezeway. I came home from the hospital to a house with a breezeway and my mom still lives there. If you don't know what it is, in the midwest where it's flat, and before air conditioning, it was used to cool the house and by god it works. It can be 100 degrees later in the day and I'm FREEZING in her house in the morning. Just stopped being made cause of the ac
I think mud rooms also must be/have been more of Eastern/Northern US things. I never saw one in Southern California growing up...maybe 'cos it never rains in California 😉😉 Now in Oregon, where it rains 9/3 (9 months on 3 months off LOL) I've seen 1 or 2 in older houses.
@@Antfarmer Live in Minnesota. Even in houses that don't have full mudrooms, there is usually an entrance that opens to an area that serves a similar purpose. Despite the name it's really more for winter when you're tracking in snow and dirt on your boots. Also gives a place to stow your winter coats, hats, mittens, snow pants, etc.
Adirondack chairs are really excellent. They’re a very convivial type of seat - I always imagine having them around a fire pit, drinking and chatting with friends.
They are miserable without a good pad. My buddy has both a fire pit and Adirondack chairs (with good padding) around it and they are great for conversation. Plus his have cup holders drilled into the arms. Perfection.
I know you talk about the differences between the states and uk, I’d love to see you talk about the uk on your trip visiting family. Glad you talk about things you can’t live without from America.
We still don’t have a/c and we’ve lived here 50 years; I’ve ever lived in a place with a/c. A number of years ago we remodeled our small house and now get a beautiful breeze in the summer. I wish we had a mud room. We bought a couple of Adirondack chairs last year, we love them. We live in the Pacific Northwest
Mudrooms are more of a thing where you have those nasty winters or live out on a farm or ranch. We have what I call the utility room (holds the washer, dryer, and freezer) that is a room between the garage and the kitchen or the back yard and the kitchen. Sorta isolates the rest of the house from the cold or keeps us from bringing all the outside to the inside.
We have a combination. It’s a mud room/entryway/utility room with the laundry on one side (behind doors) and catch-all on the other (behind doors). We just call it the back room. 😊
Different names in different areas. All mean essentially the same thing. A place where a half bath, laundry, pantry, freezer,, closets, furnace( all or combination) can be located before entering a house. Usually off a garage or back door. Good in areas of the country where snow or mud seasons exist( spring & Fall) to remove outer clothing & footwear.
Things that I like about the US, space (both indoors & outdoors), basements (agreed, they aren't ubiquitous), rural life (you don't have to be caught up into farming).
Put an umbrella or pergola between the tree and the chair. You'll get some mess on that, but it keeps you and the chair clean. Its also great for extra shade. Most people get those large umbrellas that have a holding point on one side (rather than up through the middle) as they can be easily tilted and there isn't a pole in the way of the area you want to use. Being tiltable means as the sun changes angle, you just adjust it and go on enjoying the yard.
That is a patio/deck chair. You should have several outside and an outside table so your family can sit outside with you. You need a table in case you want a snack, to put your pitcher of lemonade. Fold up chairs are only for the beach or an outdoor concert, not a rager. Local musicians. You can bring your dog as long as it is on a leash.
This type of thing is exactly why I love traveling. There are so many different cultures, and sometimes you find one has a brilliant solution for a problem you didn't even know you had, because it's essentially a cultural blind spot. For example, in Mexico they put a big label on all the junk food to let you know if it has a lot of sodium, sugar, etc... and it's right on front where you can't miss it. Makes it where if you're avoiding something like sodium, you can tell at a glance what snacks to avoid without having to spend all day reading labels.
I love mud rooms but I hated when we had two faucets. It makes no sense. I like to always remind my friends that English, both US and UK, is always evolving. Learn to adapt
My house has two faucets except in the kitchen and main floor bathroom. The builders were cheap, I guess. Unfortunately there is also a distinct lack of shut-off valves under the sinks, so changing the rest of the bathrooms isn't as straightforward as a good afternoon's work.
I am so proud of you, Laurence. I am so happy you became a citizen and proud to call you a fellow American and a Midwestern neighbor...cheesehead here! You are a great addition to the U. S. of A!!!
Ha ha Lawrence, I think I’m a closet American! My house in Scotland has ac, mixer taps and a mud room! Also when I was on holiday in Orlando last year, I went to get a morning coffee and a muffins from Perkins bakery across the road from my hotel but the road was so busy for crossing, I went back to the hotel, jumped in my Chevy Suburban, joined the traffic, made a left, went round the drive thru, got my stuff, took a right then a left and was back in the hotel car park in less than 5 minutes! God bless America!👍❤️🏴🇺🇸
Don't get a sunroof. Build a real room if you want the extra space. They cost almost as much as a real room, don't add value to the property, settle over time so the windows no longer close and the roof needs to be resealed every 5 years or they leak. Plus we have air but it is way to cold for winter and because it isn't as insulated expensive to cool.
Mudrooms are common in areas with a lot of snow. No one wants snow all through their home. And if the mudroom is not heated, it becomes a large fridge and freezer during winter. My friend has cases of beer in his mudroom because it was colder than his fridge on most days.
Loved your video! I grew up at a time when there were no drive thrus, mainly the 1950's & 60's and we rarely went to a fast food place any way, as they were few & far between. My mother was a housewife & cooked most meals. Those were the days! I miss them & the people too. Congratulations on becoming a US citizen!
I am retired USAF and got to visit and live in many countries (12 including North Korea). Here in the US if you have an older home with water spigots, the hot is on the left and cold on the right. In Japan they run the pipes up through the wall without a crossover. The taps on on side will have the hot water on the left, such as the kitchen, but go into the room on the other side of the wall and the hot water is on the right side. Also, the toilet is often in a separate room from the bathroom. Also, my closets in Japan had a light bulb that was in the back near the floor and stayed on all the time. It wasn't for the light, the heat helped reduce mildew.
@@donhoverson6348 You sre right. Not even one monster. If you leave the closet door cracked it can prevent those terrible monsters under the bed too. Great observation.
No, I lived in South Korea for two years, my job took me into North Korea. If I had have lived there I would have escaped. The DMZ is very interesting place to cross. There are farmers who live in the very northern part of South Korea and get paid to report anything 'unusual' going on. They are required to be in their houses by 8 pm. The military live in tents to remind them they are at the front. There are incursions both ways at night. The friendly forces keep their vehicles running so they're ready if needed. You can tell the friendly outposts from the North Koreans by their color - the friendly is a light blue, the North's are gray. The biggest binoculars I have ever seen were there. I am 6 feet tall, many of their gusrds are that tall, if not a little taller. The country is quite beautiful, but the leadership/laws are quite demanding. There is an old locomotive 'stranded' there among a bunch of wildlife.What's very interesting is there's a display for three (if I remember correctly) of our servicemen who were killed in 1976. It is called 'The Tree Chopping Incident'. If you want to make a million dollsrs, the North has a flag there that is huge. If you can capture it, you get some money. Thanks for the reply.
@@Colorado_Native OK, so you didn't live in North Korea. Thanks for correcting that. I also really doubt you went into North Korea as part of your job, not past the DMZ anyway. If you met a 6' North Korean, he'd be their record holder. The average height of their military recruits (presumably their most fit people) is a foot and a half shorter than that. I find it hard to believe a word out of your mouth.
In middle school, my sister was wearing lace up vans & got her foot run over by a speeding van. The shoe only had a scuff mark & her foot wasn't broken at all. Vans are great shoes.
Mudrooms are mainly for 2 uses, normally. One purpose is to allow you to knock the weather off you before entering the house itself, wiether it be snow in the winter or rain during the rest of the year. Also it allows you to keep the mud & dust out of the house, most of the year, by giving you a place to exchange your shoes/boots for slippers/house shoes. The second purpose is as a climate break or air lock between outside and inside, traditionally that would be to keep the heat inside during the winter in northern climates, but now it includes keeping the heat out when you are running the AC in the summer.
I grew up in a house in Iowa that didn't have AC until I was about 14...we just closed up the house the first thing in the morning and ran a dehumidifier during the heat of the day...at night, we opened up the house and turned on the humongous Westinghouse floor fan, pulling a cool breeze through the upstairs windows. It was great until the fan caught on fire one night... As for Mud Rooms...they are slightly different than Back Porches, usually not as large...common in older farm houses so that you didn't bring mud and muck in from the barn. We had friends who milked cows and their mud room was fully equipped with a shower, toilet, and a washer/dryer and a closet with clean clothes! As for your Adirondack chairs....they will last a lot longer if you bring them inside and keep at least one of them in your Mud Room in the winter. Put the others in the Living Room and dream about Spring when it's warm enough to put them back outside.😉
Minnesota here as well. But no dehumidifier. Really wasn't necessary except for maybe one week out of the summer, usually July. Northern, near the Canadian border.
I went to Spain in high school (2017) as an American and the fact that 1.) hotels didn’t guarantee a/c 2.) water not being free refills at restaurants 3.) portion sizes were way smaller 4.) local transit being much better all blew my mind
I live in Finland, have been my whole life (40 years) and water refills have always been free (to my knowledge) in restaurants. Fast food places not so much
A/C is slowly increasing in 'popularity', possibly as more people perceive (rightly or wrongly) the effects of climate change? Many would argue that increasing the use of A/C actually exacerbates the problems of global warming. 🥵 I've never encountered (tap) water that is not free, but we never hear stories about people being fined for collecting rainwater. It's a funny old world, and the differences keep it entertaining. 😁 As a Brit, restaurant portion sizes are already too big. I was brought up when you cleaned your plate and ate everything set before you. Very much a post-war 'thank goodness the rationing has gone, but we don't want to take too much advantage of it' kind of thinking. That has persisted and has led to me becoming way overweight: I try to eat carefully, but it's a tragedy in my eyes to leave a half-eaten plate of food, especially in a restaurant. 🍖
@@GeoffRiley Personal air conditioning in houses isn't really an issue because they're such a small portion of carbon emissions. The real culprits are things like office buildings and stadiums that aren't always in use but have air conditioning running 24/7 anyway. Or the wealthy with multiple homes who have those homes running air conditioning even as they aren't living in them. An entire suburb of people using air conditioning is producing less carbon emissions than the local mall with 25% occupancy.
@nekrataali blah blah doesn't matter. China is producing more than ever and Taylor swifts jet emits more than your sorry little examples. Regular people aren't the frickn problem
Mud room: my only recollection of a mud room, when we lived up in NY. We had a split level. The mud room was straight back after entering the front door. I think there was a door in the mud room. I see Artur is getting taller and bigger.
60+ yrs old (American born and stuck) and have never lived in a dwelling (25 addresses) with a mud room. If it couldn't be wiped off on a doormat, it stayed outside.
Mud rooms might be more of a Midwestern thing. I lived in the South for my first 35 years and never saw one down there. For one thing, consistently heavy winter weather seems to make them more essential. A place to knock off all the snow, slush and muck before walking onto the nice carpet and wooden floors is VERY practical. All the messy boots and shoes tend to stay in the mud room.
I have never had a mud room, either. I don't think it's a big thing in the American South, where I've lived all my life, though I can certainly see the advantages of having one. I would have probably spent less hours of my life sweeping, vacuuming and mopping floors if I'd had one, especially in fall and winter.
I climbed 2 Adirondack High Peaks yesterday. Phelps and tabletop. The fall colors are amazing this year. I live in the Adirondacks, and yes, the chairs are amazing. We have an Adk. Porch swing. Thanks for including the Adirondacks! Love your program. Keep up the good work
I love how unique this list is! Mud rooms aren’t as common here in Eastern NC, but I wish I had one! More often here (mostly in older homes) you will see a “stoop” or a side or back porch that serves a similar purpose.
Yeah, I have been here for 16 years. When I first got here I thought drive throughs were just for lazy people. Then I enjoyed my first mid west winter - and it all made complete sense lol
I loved how your wife nonchalantly hid during the Mondly spot (that is so something I would do as well) and then the next frame your pup was such a cute backdrop. Good way to keep your viewers engaged in the ad. 😁 Love your channel! Cheers!
Our laundry room doubles as a mud room. We could release our dogs through that via a door in the garage, but prefer to let them out the back patio way. Two large rugs, one in and one out, help with keeping their paws dry, and a towel acting as a measure against mud.
Ooooh Laurence!!!!! As we get older (I'm 58 with bad skiing/tennis knees) In my area Near Lancaster PA...they are making higher Adirondack chairs for our hurting knees! And backs!
In the 1950s my father built an indoor Adirondack style chair that had a normal padded seat, but with the slat back and the wide arms. It is extremely comfortable.
As an American stationed in the UK in the 90s, I missed things in the UK when I went back to the US. One was medium-sized cities and towns where things such as pubs and clubs were within crawling distance of each other. I could go out with my friends, or my mates, and we could go to a city like Cambridge and walk around and pubs were everywhere. We didn't need to drive from one to another like I did in the suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
As a fellow US/UK citizen its quite possible to go from the UK to the US, make lots of personal changes and come to depend on US things, then later on return to the UK and do without many of them since by and large the UK has adopted a lot of US habits too but has invented a few new ideas of its own. AC though is a necessity of life in most of the the US where there is high humidity, if you return to the UK, the humidity is hugely lower, it is being used in more public spaces though like grocery stores and many box stores, hospitals etc even the underground tube stations I think has some of it. Mixer taps/faucets are becoming more common in new UK builds and is something I would insist on or if I did any plumbing updates, hardware stores do sell mixer taps. Many new builds include a toilet (WC) right inside the front door entrance, that is something that could be adopted in the US. And bigger UK new homes are also getting utility rooms where the laundry would be done with a back door and place to make a dogs mess. Most newish UK windows now also have a small vent opening, you can leave the window shut tight but still let in fresh air without bugs getting in. But of course UK homes are rarely bigger than 800sq ft while most US homes are twice the size, not much the UK can do about that, so most rooms are always tiny. But having done my 40 years in the US, I really appreciate the much milder UK weather and the possibility of getting daily exercise by walking to the grocery store with a backpack and no car. Biggest difference is that UK house flat prices are stupidly high ie 2x the per sq ft price. But food is about 40% of US food prices, it should not be that way since the US grows food for the whole world, but US grocery chain are just greedy as heck. General rule, most US food items are about $4/item while UK food items are closer to 1 quid or $1.25, either way some items are much more or much less. At checkout a rough estimate is to count the no of items as rough price estimate. not gonna do a YT channel though
When I was a kid, we rented from an Asian lady so we had to take our shoes off. It became a habit for many years to just take my shoes off when going inside a house. It was only when I visited friends in England that I got weird looks when I took off my shoes, like I was getting too comfortable or something. I don’t do it as religiously as I used to in my parents’ house (mostly because my dad smokes indoors so there’s always a thin layer of ash on the floor).
I think wearing or not wearing shoes indoors is regional in America. Here in the upper midwest anyway we take our shoes off indoors. But our weather means if we didn't our floors would get filthy fast.
Growing up in Kansas, I was taught to take my shoes off inside because black widow spiders really like to set up a nest in shoes. We have three species of black widow here.
My old house in NJ was built in 1920, so the bathroom sink had two taps. Washing my hands, brushing my teeth, etc, was a study in speedily going back and forth to achieve warm water. So happy when my dad finally installed a new vanity with a single faucet.
I am curious about the original shower. It must have been mixed, while the sink had two taps. Or did houses just have bathtubs without showers back then?
We had a giant rectangular tub that was deep. It was FANTASTIC! And, no spillover drain. No shower, though. It had a single faucet. It was so heavy, especially when full, that the original builders had to pour six inches of concrete to support it.
A rubber plug with a fancy chain was attached to our double-faucet sink, and when it plugged the sink drain the nicely warmed water was available for hand washing and sponge baths. The cold-water water faucet tap was for drinking water and tooth brushing.
@@Xubuntu47 Shower spouts were regulated by the hot and cold water knobs that also regulated bath water from a single spout. No shower = two water spouts.
Have been enjoying your videos for quite a while, Lawrence. Happy to have you here in the US as a resident, a citizen and a UA-camr. I also just got a set of Adirondack chairs for my back patio and I adore them! I pretty much have to, because when you sink back down the slope of the seat, it's almost impossible to lift myself back up. (Sent from my phone on the back patio where I've been for 8 days. Thank goodness for Uber Eats delivery!)
I had a van in England in 1973. It was a 1948 Fordson and was fun, if a little underpowered. The coppers who stopped me while driving it one night couldn't believe I didn't have a load of stolen goods in the empty cargo area. 🇬🇧👍🇺🇸
I’ve heard the term “mud room” since I was a kid 71 now) while visiting my aunt and uncle’s Dairy farm. I do believe they had one of those rooms in the entryway of their home, small area. I’ve also visited family and friends who had areas designated in their entryway for hanging coats and placing their wet, snowy or muddy shoes/boots, and so on, though they weren’t called mud rooms. In most cases, they were just part of the entryway, using a hallway area when you come in the door. I don’t think those areas even had a name, just the entryway or entry hall leading into the house. Also, most of these areas were by the back door or the side door. Some people never even used the front door. I’ve even seen people have the front door blocked with a large piece of furniture. I even saw a home once that had a long curtain hanging in front of the door like it was a window and a China cabinet setting in front of it.
Lawrence, I believe you will appreciate this. 23 years ago, on a trip to visit family in Netherlands, we had gone to visit the replica Batavia. On the way back, my then 7 year old son stated he was hungry. As we drove through Lelystad, we saw a brand new McDonald's (from the pick-up window side). As we turned into the drive through entrance we could see very bright lights & some sort of commotion near the turn past the order window. As we got to the window, we saw that it was a TV newscrew. My son asked why they would film a drive through, a very ordinary item for him. My father explained that this was the first drive-through in the area and as such it was newsworthy. Have you ever gone to the Adirondack Mountains in upstate NY?
Mud rooms don't need to be muddy. You live in the northern part of the USA. Up here all houses should have a vestibule between the outdoors and the indoors. This allows you to limit the amount of heat that escapes from the house during the cold months (they occur during winter).
My grandparent’s house, built in 1938, had the 2 faucets, one for hot and one for cold, in the bathrooms. The kitchen had 2 handles that fed into a single faucet. The water pipes came out of the vertical wall about 8 inches above the sink. Each pipe had a on/off valve and a pipe that lead to a single pipe that held the faucet.
Go to mondly.app/lostinthepond to get 96% off of lifetime access to 41 languages and start learning today.
Love you 😍 💗 😎😎😎👍💪
A skeeter boy
@@LostinthePond That's a weird sponsor for an American centric channel.
7:00 on the language part as an American I am a huge fan the UK ability to politely insult
Story about water taps, born in 76, in 84 moved to a house & town built in the 1800's so my new home had this "massive" cast iron tub & the bathroom sinks had these 2 taps & a plug on a chain. It was interesting as an "80s kid" growing up in a house that seeming liked time forgot. Even had a glass screw-in fuse box. Most part its been modernized but it has a charm.
Laurence, I hope you're enjoying being a US citizen as much as we love having you one.
If he wasn't enjoying it thoroughly, he'd have left this country behind a long time ago.
Foreign people who crap-talk America have, 99% of the time, never been here in their lives. They just believe the "propaganda." And I'm not just talking about Russians.
*Laurence
Hopefully he continues to stay an American after Nov 5th
@@HicSvntDraconesi remember that date!
Hope so, Nov 5th is my birthday! (And Guy Fawkes day for a Brit!)
The backward slope of Adirondack chairs mean that they aggressively demand that you continue to sit in them. They will brook no denial of laziness and afternoon naps and have an armrest the perfect size for a glass of anything that appeals, and are hence one of the most glorious inventions the US has ever given to the world.
Didn't you just quote that verbatim from one of Lawrence's other videos
😅❤
there is a version in Canada called the Muskoka chair. The backward slope is milder, letting you get out of the chair quicker. You always have to worry about bears up here.
@@TheRealBatabii No.
The Adirondack chair is, without question, the most uncomfortable chair I have ever sat in. Being short my feet hang above the ground while in the said chair making it all the harder to get out of it. If a bear wander by I would have to surrender to being his lunch.
As soon as I heard you speak of laziness… I knew you were one of us. Just beautiful.
Mud rooms are more common in the Midwest and Northeast, but are a glorious architectural addition. They're very uncommon on the west coast and I have always been envious when I see them and wish I they were common where I live. The pile up of shoes and stuff to go out that doesn't fit other places still happens, but not in a special room. The mud room is also great as an "air lock" to help with containing pets, heating or cooling in the house, and snow or other debris from outside since it gives you a room that is neither in nor out. Putting laundry equipment in the mud room crowds out the ability to have a room for shoe removal and outdoor clothing/shoe storage. A proper mud room is golden.
I love that his mud room has classic 70s paneling. Reminds me of the home I grew up in.
Having laundry equipment in the mud room is fantastic for people that have dirty clothes when they come home. When I was a paramedic, I’d strip in my mud room every day I came home and throw everything directly in the wash. Never had to bring bloody / soiled clothes in the house.
I’d want a full bathroom attached to the mudroom. Time to shower off +/or wash the dog before you bring all that _____ in the house. Leave your clothes and towels in the laundry basket (while you’re there) before coming in to the rest of the house.
Oh, contrare! We West coasters in Oregon & Washington love our mud rooms, we have a long mud season. California is not the whole coast!
Also pretty uncommon in the south, I honestly didn't know what he meant at first because I've never seen one lol.
Look at this full blooded American Patriot talk about our beautiful country. 🇺🇸
Gullible Americans don’t realize when an Englishman is blowing smoke up their hind quarters. Wake up America.
Nothing is more American than British people moving to America and denouncing Britain.
Guy loves the US probably more than I do
Why tf does he talk about America better than most Americans that are born here 😂😂😂😂😂
@@alantremonti1381And also celebrating the 4th of July.
I’m an American living in Cornwall and I have an American friend here who makes Adirondack chairs and sells them all over the southwest of England. He frequently gets comments on how original they are.
America taking UK by storm. Great chair. NY.
It's funny actually, the mud room is like the American analog to Japanese entryway, where outside shoes are removed - I know a lot of American households that treat it the same way, especially in parts of the country with lots of rain and snow
Dont compare us to other countries
They were also very popular in farm houses where you could take off your boots. You don't want to drag what is in the feed lot across the living room carpet.
@microusb42069 you're on a channel the whole point of which is to compare the US to another country. You're watching the wrong channel.
Genkan
I live in Minnesota, and our mud room has a stash of those free slippers you get from hotels and airlines… just for our guests in the winter!
Things that are more typical in the USA that I would have difficulty living without: 1) Central Air Conditioning 2)American sized fridges with ice makers 3) Tumble Dryer 4) Storage vanities in bathrooms 5) Walk-in Closets 6) American varieties of barbecue. 4) Things being open late and on Sundays.
@@jpack85 Ice in drinks in the summer time is what keeps us from killing each other.
@@cg9612 😅
Guns
@@Jon-qf6qg NOPE
I'm a Brit, but live in Virginia. My British sister, who is now German (thank you Brexit) came to visit with her family in July. Now she is insisting on a tumble dryer for her home in Germany.
As an American living in the UK for almost 8 years, AC is _definitely_ what I miss the most (or even just a good ceiling fan). It wasn’t too bad when I lived in Scotland for the first 2 years, but now I’m further south in England and I’m pretty warm-blooded, so I get hot so easily. In fact, for me, one of the best things about going on holiday is just enjoying a nice, air-conditioned hotel room 😂
(EDIT: just for clarification, I’m currently renting my house, so I can’t do anything like install my own ceiling fan or AC unit. I could check with my landlady about a window AC unit and all that, but the truth is that UK only gets about 4 or 5 of those “unbearably” hot days anyway, so it just doesn’t really feel like it’s worth the effort. I use standing and tabletop fans and open windows to get by.)
There is a solution to your dilemma...
Wait, they haven't even started using ceiling fans?! They are so nice when there is no AC. I get that AC is terrible for the environment, but it's sooooo niccceeeee.
Right....no moving to Devon for us.
It’s not just about the temperature. People think that. But it’s also about having non-stagnant or stuffy air. Not only do many Europeans not have AC, they don’t have ceiling fans either. Never seen a. Ceiling fan when I was over there.
Air conditioning is energy intensive compared to not having air conditioning, but it’s actually very energy-efficient compared to heating. A home in a place with a hot summer and mild winter will on average use much less energy on HVAC than a home in a place with a mild summer and cold winter.
As a Midwesterner, my biggest joy in a house is my 3rd car slot in my garage that is never used for a car, and instead an area where I can do whatever without annoying the family.
I don't watch sports or TV enough to justify a man-cave, but I can tinker with what electronic device I feel like fixing. If I want, I can play video games with friends in the corner area, or even open a door off to the side and sit in my adirondack chair for a nice cigar or tequila. Best part is that I'm more likely to run any errand for the family because "I'm close to the cars and why not?". The inside of the garage is temperature controlled, so I never worry about getting too hot or cold. Things like the household trash, recycling, lawnmower, and snowblower are towards the garage door, so all these tasks are xlose by to encourage doing them. The closer I am to a chore device, the more happily I am to do it.
Cheers, from MN to you, Laurence.
I lived without A/C until I was 10 myself (then spent my adolescence coming home, turning on the A/C for an hour, then turning it back off so my parents were none the wiser). My home is now a continuous 65 degrees Fahrenheit, and my life is bliss! 🥰
Right? One of the main attributes couples should look for any each other is a compatible thermostat temperature! Sure having the same political beliefs and religious belief is great, but it can all be for nothing if you aren’t compatible temperature wise! 😂😂😂
We don't even know what 65 feels like until late fall. Oh, you mean inside the house, then for us that's during the winter only. It's always above 73, downstairs, but upstairs it can at times be a whole 10 degrees hotter. If it's 76 downstairs, it'll feel like it's 85 at least upstairs, unless you're in the small room, with no ac in the summer. It gets to 90 or higher in that room if temps outside are 100 or a bit higher.
Me too. No AC until I was 10. Dim memories of fans. We did it because that’s what people did then.
@@TiredMomma How sad. 🥺
I wish my air conditioner could get it down to 65 in the summer. It can't handle a 40 degree difference. I do keep it around there in the winter though if not cooler.
A lot of the mud rooms I've seen in the US double as laundry rooms.
Yes, which really does not make the room, a mud room. Most absurd architectural design anyone could come up with. Typically the woman trying to clean everyone's clothing, with people (children) coming in and out with dirty shoes and boots. It's not a mud room. It's an afterthought about "where" to put the washer and dryer. Bad designers and architects do this.
What? Having the washer and dryer in the mudroom makes sense since you can throw your dirty soggy clothes in there to wash instead of dragging dirt around the house. Ours also has a double utility sink between the washer and the door leading to the outside, and a closet-sized bathroom for when you need to go but are going right back out again.
In Quebec I remember most houses I've been to had either a mudroom, a sunroom (similar in many ways) or the entrance gave you direct access to the basement as well as those were more storage and tool-centric than living spaces (firewood storage, furnace room, etc.)
Being an area people come into dirty makes it the perfect place for laundry actually. I work outside a lot and when I come home I leave my boots in a lined drawer I built into mudroom counterspace, strip off dirty clothes and put them straight in the washer...
I call those laundry rooms.
@@JeanWatson-y3hits the back door you insipif foreign national
You will never lose your British sense of humor, and as an American, I love that.
You are correct! The Brit's do have better humor than Americans. Kudos to the Brits for that! Go Laurence! We definitely love your wit and brilliant sense of humor.
I'm very impressed how happy Arthur is. He has clearly bonded with his parents.
when we visited our friends in Scotland, they had a mud room with grapes growing in the ceiling. it was brilliant.
Wish I could see that in my mind. Sounds kind of awesome, but with maybe a downside.
Sounds like a conservatory.
@@nicolad8822 yes. a feature US houses don't have. we will occasionally have a sunroom, but that's more of a sitting room with a glass ceiling.
Brit here: I have 2 drive thrus less than 2 miles from my village, and all my sinks have mixer taps/faucets. Both are much more popular in the UK than they used to be.
Yeah, mixer taps are a bit more recent, but I've been going to drive throughs and wearing vans since the 90s lol
The guy thinks the UK is still stuck in 2006 when he left.
do the drive thrus wrap around the building clockwise instead of anticlockwise like in america?
@@thisisnotaustin1I can't imagine they'd put the window on the "wrong" side like that, with how inconvenient it would be for the customers.
I've been to a couple of places in the US that do, but there's a workaround in place - the food passes over in an electric conveyor system, or it's optional and there's a window on two opposite sides of the building so cars with passengers can use the "wrong" side lane where the line is probably shorter
@@thisisnotaustin1 yes, they do!
Even as an American I never gave a crap about drive-throughs until I had a kid. And then I understood.
Agreed! Then we had twins and we learned really quickly to use the drive thru.
My good friend, that already had kids, told me that's why modern kids have such atrocious manners in regular restaurants becos they never saw the inside of one until they were ten years old 😆
I'm the reverse. With kids, I always enjoyed going in and let the kids have fun in the play area. When I was alone I would just as soon eat in the car even if I just park for 5 minutes.
@@AntfarmerMy parents made a concerted effort to develop our restaurant manners young, like starting at 3, and every time I hear about it, it sounds exhausting. Started off with fast food places, eventually graduated to places like country kitchen, and eventually full blown sit down restaurants like Chili's or other places where there'd still be plenty of noise
@@gamemeister27 Yeah. That's something parents have to actively do.
I was raised in the '80s. We did drive thru at times. We also went in at times. We also went to eat at family style restaurants like Big Boy and Ponderosa. We all had good table manners for being in public because we were taught them at a young age. We'd sit and do the activities on the little paper mats to keep kids occupied. We didn't run around because we were never allowed to do so. Adults sat on the outside, kids sat on the inside in the booth seats. We also liked the food at the places we went out to eat, so it was a treat. We didn't want to cause trouble.
@@gamemeister27 This is what my parents did and my husbands parents. We are doing the same. It's actually not too bad. Cruises are good practice too because the staff all are so kind and great with kids.
Please continue, your commentary points out things I take for granted. The reminders are appreciated.
We Americans are quite fond of British culture. I think its great to borrow things from each other :)
Yes please pass the sugar!!
Can't beat jellied eels...
especially humor. python, benny hill, are you being served, fawlty towers, black books, dangermouse, the original who's like is it anyway?, blackadder. snarky brits are the basis of a lot of my humor development, and thats not mentioning douglas adams and terry pratchett and even neil Gaimen. Britain is just where funny comes from(the shared language helps, i love japan, but much cultural nuance is lost in translating)
Well, go hang out in August when the Brit's are opening windows, sky lights (no screen) and their homes are filled with dirt, dust and spiders. Then there's the humidity which really affects the bathrooms. You'd be glad to return to the USA and at least have an exhaust fan in the restroom which works (ventilates outside).
Old British comedy. The woke bbc is garbage
I'm 70 years old and I can remember that separate hot and cold facettes were standard in then1950s but by the 60s the single tap was common.
My memory is getting foggy but I think we had separate faucets way back when I was very young - but you are correct! A single faucet is so much better!
I remember them back in the 70's but only in old buildings. My parent's apartment and my Catholic pre-school. One of them had a connecting tube, so it was still mixed.
I used to live in a WWI-era building, and my bathroom sink had clearly once featured separate faucets. I have no idea when it was converted, only that at some point, someone drilled a new hole in the sink between the two faucets and used one of the original fixtures as a central mixer faucet. Where the original faucets had been, there were separate hot and cold taps to control the proportion of hot and cold water flowing to the center faucet. (Moving to a house with modern faucets was an absolute revelation.)
My grandparents house still had one bathroom with single hot and cold water separated into 2 faucets .
Yes, my grandparents had the two faucets in the bathroom. House was probably built in about 1930.
As an American who's now lived in the UK since 2001, I find these videos oddly appealing.
Likewise, I'm an American who's lived abroad for more than 20 years. So great to have someone walk me though America, grass blade by grass blade.
Two and a half weeks of watching Brits worship people (Royal Family) was enuf...for me. Glad our (USA) gene pool is not like the blueprint to a submarine like the UK.
My dogs also love drive-through windows. Sometimes it's a biscuit (the bank or pharmacy), sometimes a burger, sometimes a pup cup. The oldest one has taught the younger ones, "Make sure you lean out of the car window and give your biggest doggy grin, so they can't miss you."
🐾🐾💙
🤣
There are drive-thru banks and pharmacies in the US? In the UK the only thing used for drive-thru is food and drink
@@JaneAustenAteMyCat some banks will also have drive-thru atms that are just in seemingly random places. and there's some businesses like Walmart/ hardware stores that have added drive throughs or curbside pickup so you can call or order the stuff you need online and pick it up without ever getting out of a vehicle
@@Angelic_Hero Huh. Interesting. As a disabled person I can see it might be helpful. I tend to just order stuff to my house
Glad to have you as one of us❤
Be great if Americans could order up 10 million Lawrence's and Laura's. Instead, we are not getting..., what we are getting and paying for it dearly. Welcome Laurence!
Most accurate turning forty transition ever. I approve
I was born and raised in Billings, Montana. We never had AC in my home. We had central heating but no AC. The Summers got hot but not as hot as they do now. I moved to Phoenix and AC was everywhere. I retired back home and my Mom had installed central AC. I can't live without it now.
Also born & raised in Montana (north-central). Never had AC until I was in my mid-twenties. We always did just fine growing up with window fans (& both doors open if we had locking screen doors) overnight & a regular fan for air circulation during the day.
Now, with the warmer summers we have, AC is essential; just a few months ago my AC wasn't working at the start of a bad heatwave and I couldn't get my bedroom cooler than 82 degrees even with a window open all night (& an alarm to close it before the outside temp exceeded the inside temp).
we didnt need A/C at night in south texas in the 90's. now? i have extra window units incase the central dies during the night.
Floridian here and none of us could live without it. One of the public schools in my city is named after an inventor that was important in the development of AC 😂
Yeah. I grew up in Alabama and Mississippi, so AC was a necessity. Then I moved up to Seattle in 2007, and NOBODY has AC. At first I didn't even miss it. There would be only two, three weeks where it got into the 80s, so I'd just put the floor fans on full blast. Now we are actively considering putting in central air conditioning because of how damn hot it gets for most of the summer.
When my husband and I were house hunting years ago, I didn't realize how much I cared about a mudroom initially. But the more houses we saw, the more I found myself liking the mudroom houses more than the others. It wasn't on my must-have list, but we ended up with one! Hurrah!
@@justalittlebitmo My Mom’s prerequisite to getting a house, garage and kitchen near each other.
Lucky you.
An attached garage is basically an enormous mudroom, and is very common.
@@catw6998 Ours is the house must have a 2 car garage. We live in a state where it snows a lot in the winter and we don't want to have to leave either car on the street.
@@ian3580I disagree. A garage is a garage. It can turn into a “man-cave” but it isn’t a mud room. Plus they don’t always have an extra entrance specifically in the front.
A proper rural mud room would have a half bathroom attached That way, if you were working in the barn or the shop, you could relieve yourself and wash up, or wash up before meals without traipsing through the house. (The kitchen was usually off of the mud room.)
The best! A brilliant invention.
We had stairs that led down to the basement where there was a toilet and a washer sink.
We were dairy farmers. Our mud room contained a shower and doubled as a laundry room as well. It was the only area in the house without carpeting. It had a closet where only overalls were hung in because they were dirty. Rather, s*tty.
Don't kid yourself. You need a small bath in your shop. Who is cleaning up after you (floors) remove your dirty boots and clothing? Are you married and if so, for how long. I suppose some women are good with cleaning floors every day.
I am thinking of finally adding a storm entrance room to the back of my place. It might just be a seasonal addition as far as being closed in. It would work like a mudroom of sorts I think. I like so many of the ideas talked about here. Thanks!
I'm 70 years old now, so when I was growing up all older houses had separate hot and cold taps. The secret was to plug the drain and run a basin of mixed water, and wash your hands comfortably with that. As a lazy (energy efficient) youth, I usually just gritted my teeth and endured the cold water, unless I was really ❄️ cold 🥶 😅
7:36 "Mud room" is where you change out of muddy clothes, usually has the laundry and cold-weather outerwear storage.
And usually has unused sporting equipment.
don't forget the boots!
Also, a broken umbrella and another one that might be alright.
Yep, my washer and dryer are in the back room (mud room) that leads to the back yard of my house. My son calls it the utility room. All the winter coats and other winter clothes are on coat racks on the wall along with the dogs leash. Winter boots, multiple shovels and gardening tools, shop vac, tool box and various other items we grab at different times through out the year on our way out the back door that leads to the car port. It’s a handy space that’s nice to enter into when coming into the back of the house. Couldn’t live without it.
Our mudroom is where everything we don't use is kept, it's also the laundry and our rear door, I keep threatening to clear it out, but I'm still waiting for my wife to tell me what to keep or throw away, why do Americans want to hold on to stuff they will never use!!
I heard about a man who called an air conditioner repairman. The repairman came in and walked to the thermostat. The owner stopped him and said, “That one is a fake for my wife to play with. The real one is in this closet.”
Workplaces do that too!
Might just do this too. End of the thermostat war!
@ Many workplaces already do this.
The invention of air conditioning is credited to Willis Haviland Carrier, an American engineer whose ingenuity revolutionized the way we experience indoor environments
Hope he has a bronze statue erected in his honor.
I don’t think so, but he has a lovely granddaughter who married my cousin in 1967. They gave him some wonderful grandchildren too. 😀
Oops, I meant to say GREATgrandhiildren !🫢
@@courtneyraymer6586 that's really cool!
I live and work very close to the Carrier plant in East Syracuse (DeWitt), NY. It used to be humongous, but they knocked down a lot of it by the time I got here. Probably laid off lots of good people too.
I live in Florida, and I wholeheartedly agree! Give the man a medal!🥇
Yes. Air conditioning is a major invention that allowed the economy of the US South to thrive beyond just growing crops.
I sent my British friends a photo of when I was using the drive through pharmacy, just to give them a chuckle! 😉
Don't you mean the "drive through chemist"? I'm sure they have no idea what a "pharmacy/pharmacist" is.😉
Those are essential when you are sick and gross picking up your Rx. The only thing open during COVID too.
If you ever find yourself in Wisconsin you can experience the Drive-Thru Liquor Store. Always nice having a neighboring state that's juuuust a bit trashier than your own...
Everyone in the pharmacy is a sick person picking up an Rx. That's the last place you want to be or have to work.
@@sofa_king_kool ohio has drive-thru liquor stores as well. amazing
For the ultimate in outdoor laziness, some Adirondack chairs come with a reverse-sloped footrest or ottoman. So you can put your feet up, but not have them out horizontally and keep your knees bent.
Oh that is a good laze…
Yeahhh those are real nice
Thus the Adirondacks conquer the world.
And then you can't get up
@@WoodworkingforAnyone That's why you have kids. They can get you a beer while you're stuck in there.
I feel like in a lot of US homes, the garage serves the same purpose as a mud room. It's sort of an in-between space that you aren't afraid to get dirty, and it tends to collect clutter and trash for which you don't otherwise have space.
When I was a child here in the states, every one had the two taps with one for hot and one for cold. Glad someone came up with the one faucet design!
The Adirondack chair gets its name from the Adirondack Mountain range in upstate New York. One legend speculates that the name was chosen for the chair because guests of a convalescent home for tuberculosis patients in the Adirondack Mountains enjoyed sitting in the chair to take in the therapeutic fresh mountain air.
it's not a legend. they were invented in saranac lake when it was a tb cure village. the chairs are designed like that to accommodate sitting while wrapped in a blanket. a flat bottom chair would cause the patients to pitch forward and possibly fall.
source: i'm from saranac lake
@@jonnieuppercut Saranac Lake: the coolest village in the Adirondacks. There are so many great reasons to visit this part of the world. It’s my happy place.
Adirondack chairs are pure awesome. The perfect chair for watching a sunset, reading a book, or anything outside.
I wonder if John Green knows about this. (He probably does)
@Equivocal-squiggle I thought of him too. DFTBA
re mud room, we always had one in the houses I grew up in (in the midwest), but we always called it the back porch.
must be an eastern US thing. i'm from California and have never seen or even heard of this concept before
@@scheddoc it probably is. We have a lot of weird house features that stopped being built when modern tech came to be. It's a very old house feature like a coal chute
@@scheddoc They are meant for regions with distinct snow and mud seasons. The space is a transition area for seasonal wear between the outside and inside of the home.
I'm from northern california, we have them too. Lived in two houses with the mudroom being the front entrance.
@@scheddoc Mudrooms are more of a thing for wetter areas as well as colder areas, being more of a place where you can pull stuff off that's soaked or covered in muck without tramping it through the rest of the house. A lot of places combine the mudroom with their laundry as well for the same reason.
The mudroom is not, normally, the main entrance though which tends to still be more formal, but one where the backyard or garage (if attached) enters from that the people living there tend to use most often.
Faucets in Houston Texas in summer have almost no cold water. It tends to heat in the pipes. Surprised me when I moved from the Midwest about 40 years ago.
I've noticed the same thing when in Florida. I've lived my whole life in Michigan and the pipes are buried deep down below the frost line, so the water gets cold. It seems like the pipes in Florida are close to the surface and get heat from the environment, thus never getting cold.
When I was a kid growing up in NJ, our mudroom was the garage. We hung up our winter coats, etc. under the stairs (split level house), then we entered the house. Just the other day, I said to my husband that Florida is the only place I know where you run the cold water in the summer & it gets hotter.
A similar thing happens in California but the cold water just stops at a little above lukewarm (ie 70-75 Fahrenheit instead of 68 Fahrenheit).
@@LoveClassicMusic0205Arizona is the same - well the southern part,of the state!!!
I also live in Texas. The sun heats the water in my outside above ground hoses so hot it almost burns me.
The fact he's lived in America for 16 years and still has a British accent is just further proof the British accent is a speech impediment.
I kid! I kid! ... Well, half kidding.
I love your content, and your dry humor! Never change, man!
His accent is adorable
My step-grandson moved from Britain to America when he was six. He’s now 26 and still has a British accent. His half brother, born to an American mother and British father, has an American accent with a few British-isms thrown in. We’ve broken him of saying to-mahto, but he still says garrage instead of garage! 😂
TBH it kinda sounds like he's exaggerating his accent a bit for the channel. Dunno if that's true or not, but he's probably the only British person he interacts with since moving here and lots of people switch accents in far less than 16 years.
Heck, I flunked a 1-year Japanese class in school and still ended up mispronouncing several American words thanks to it, like letting slip "Foon-koh Pops" when making fun of Funko Pops with a friend of mine once.
The cutoff date for properly learning the language is 18.
I have immigrant friends with kids of all ages (born here, came as small kids, came as highschoolers, came for college, work…). If they have a few school years here, then they learn local english very well, and lose lot of the accent. After school years, we keep our accent we imported.
@@juzoli Excellent example is John Barrymore, a Glaswegian Scot that went to the US at 15 and can code switch perfectly between US, UK and Scottish as he did in Dr Who shows before doing Arrow.
Me I got to US at 26 so mostly too late, mixed accent and mixed word use, most US and UK people people pick up on it but don't give me any pain over being out of place.
Current house had no mudroom, but an extended cement landing over a cold storage to a set of stairs.
Ripped the crappy vinyl railings off, installed framing and a door.
Then took off the wall torch/light, replaced with electric heater. Cut recessed lighting into the ceiling for four led soft lights with shielding (prevents spiders/bugs nesting), and various light filters on the windows before adding lounge furniture.
It's now a nice multi-season relax room.
As an American, the only house I've seen with a mudroom was my grandparents' house. Even then, it's a porch that was converted into a mudroom. So I think mudrooms are most common on some older houses, but I with all houses had them because they're amazing.
This is a very true thing. It's gone the way of a breezeway. I came home from the hospital to a house with a breezeway and my mom still lives there. If you don't know what it is, in the midwest where it's flat, and before air conditioning, it was used to cool the house and by god it works. It can be 100 degrees later in the day and I'm FREEZING in her house in the morning. Just stopped being made cause of the ac
I think mud rooms also must be/have been more of Eastern/Northern US things. I never saw one in Southern California growing up...maybe 'cos it never rains in California 😉😉 Now in Oregon, where it rains 9/3 (9 months on 3 months off LOL) I've seen 1 or 2 in older houses.
@@Antfarmer Live in Minnesota. Even in houses that don't have full mudrooms, there is usually an entrance that opens to an area that serves a similar purpose. Despite the name it's really more for winter when you're tracking in snow and dirt on your boots. Also gives a place to stow your winter coats, hats, mittens, snow pants, etc.
I'm in Alaska, we call them arctic entries. Very common
I think it has more to do with climate. I live in Southern California and don't know anyone with a mud room.
Adirondack chairs are really excellent. They’re a very convivial type of seat - I always imagine having them around a fire pit, drinking and chatting with friends.
They are miserable without a good pad. My buddy has both a fire pit and Adirondack chairs (with good padding) around it and they are great for conversation. Plus his have cup holders drilled into the arms. Perfection.
Hard to get out of when you get older and have arthritis and bad knees, though.
I know you talk about the differences between the states and uk, I’d love to see you talk about the uk on your trip visiting family. Glad you talk about things you can’t live without from America.
@@TheFonzieCommunity Where’s Uncle Toby in all this?I’d have expected to hear his name mentioned at least once.
@@catw6998 maybe he didn't want to use the bit
We still don’t have a/c and we’ve lived here 50 years; I’ve ever lived in a place with a/c. A number of years ago we remodeled our small house and now get a beautiful breeze in the summer.
I wish we had a mud room. We bought a couple of Adirondack chairs last year, we love them.
We live in the Pacific Northwest
Nothing like Brit Wit! Well done!
Mudrooms are more of a thing where you have those nasty winters or live out on a farm or ranch. We have what I call the utility room (holds the washer, dryer, and freezer) that is a room between the garage and the kitchen or the back yard and the kitchen. Sorta isolates the rest of the house from the cold or keeps us from bringing all the outside to the inside.
We have a combination. It’s a mud room/entryway/utility room with the laundry on one side (behind doors) and catch-all on the other (behind doors). We just call it the back room. 😊
Different names in different areas. All mean essentially the same thing. A place where a half bath, laundry, pantry, freezer,, closets, furnace( all or combination) can be located before entering a house. Usually off a garage or back door. Good in areas of the country where snow or mud seasons exist( spring & Fall) to remove outer clothing & footwear.
Things that I like about the US, space (both indoors & outdoors), basements (agreed, they aren't ubiquitous), rural life (you don't have to be caught up into farming).
Mud rooms are highly regional. They’re a great idea, but I’ve never seen one in Texas (or California, but my sample size is much smaller there).
All the mud rooms I have seen, have been on Farms or in old farm houses for pretty obvious reasons who wants manure tracked through the house.
I tend to see them on house where there is snow and lots of rain. Have seen them on beach house or cottages by lakes or rivers.
heartofthematterlanguage
You're right about California--grew up there, never saw one in my life! but then mud was rare 😉
Great grandma's farm house in CA had one. It's the only one I've seen that wasn't a converted porch.
Something else that you don’t see in Texas are basements. Probably true of a lot the country.
Put an umbrella or pergola between the tree and the chair. You'll get some mess on that, but it keeps you and the chair clean. Its also great for extra shade. Most people get those large umbrellas that have a holding point on one side (rather than up through the middle) as they can be easily tilted and there isn't a pole in the way of the area you want to use. Being tiltable means as the sun changes angle, you just adjust it and go on enjoying the yard.
That is a patio/deck chair. You should have several outside and an outside table so your family can sit outside with you. You need a table in case you want a snack, to put your pitcher of lemonade.
Fold up chairs are only for the beach or an outdoor concert, not a rager. Local musicians. You can bring your dog as long as it is on a leash.
This type of thing is exactly why I love traveling. There are so many different cultures, and sometimes you find one has a brilliant solution for a problem you didn't even know you had, because it's essentially a cultural blind spot. For example, in Mexico they put a big label on all the junk food to let you know if it has a lot of sodium, sugar, etc... and it's right on front where you can't miss it. Makes it where if you're avoiding something like sodium, you can tell at a glance what snacks to avoid without having to spend all day reading labels.
The beard is looking good !!!
I love mud rooms but I hated when we had two faucets. It makes no sense. I like to always remind my friends that English, both US and UK, is always evolving. Learn to adapt
My house has two faucets except in the kitchen and main floor bathroom. The builders were cheap, I guess. Unfortunately there is also a distinct lack of shut-off valves under the sinks, so changing the rest of the bathrooms isn't as straightforward as a good afternoon's work.
I am so proud of you, Laurence. I am so happy you became a citizen and proud to call you a fellow American and a Midwestern neighbor...cheesehead here! You are a great addition to the U. S. of A!!!
Ha ha Lawrence, I think I’m a closet American!
My house in Scotland has ac, mixer taps and a mud room!
Also when I was on holiday in Orlando last year, I went to get a morning coffee and a muffins from Perkins bakery across the road from my hotel but the road was so busy for crossing, I went back to the hotel, jumped in my Chevy Suburban, joined the traffic, made a left, went round the drive thru, got my stuff, took a right then a left and was back in the hotel car park in less than 5 minutes! God bless America!👍❤️🏴🇺🇸
This is the earliest I've ever been to one of your videos. Great content as usual!
Dude, in my 35 years spent solely in the U.S., I have never seen a mudroom! 😲 I now desire a house with both a mudroom and a sunroom.
Don't get a sunroof. Build a real room if you want the extra space. They cost almost as much as a real room, don't add value to the property, settle over time so the windows no longer close and the roof needs to be resealed every 5 years or they leak. Plus we have air but it is way to cold for winter and because it isn't as insulated expensive to cool.
Mudrooms are common in areas with a lot of snow. No one wants snow all through their home. And if the mudroom is not heated, it becomes a large fridge and freezer during winter. My friend has cases of beer in his mudroom because it was colder than his fridge on most days.
Mud rooms are more for the northern half of the US. In the older homes in the southern half, they'd be call back porches.
Clearly you've stayed in one spot in your entire 35 years. What a waste. Seen dozens of sun and mud rooms. Nothing special. Travel more.
Yes, two essential rooms for us in the messy seasons regions. One for mud/snow gear and one for winter warmth, plant growing, and relaxation.
Part 2 pls, it’s nice to hear that we don’t hate each others cultures as much
Lawrence, you're one of us!
You look so American in the thumbnail. Hats off to you, good sir, for keeping your native accent. It's quite enjoyable.
Loved your video! I grew up at a time when there were no drive thrus, mainly the 1950's & 60's and we rarely went to a fast food place any way, as they were few & far between. My mother was a housewife & cooked most meals. Those were the days! I miss them & the people too. Congratulations on becoming a US citizen!
I am retired USAF and got to visit and live in many countries (12 including North Korea). Here in the US if you have an older home with water spigots, the hot is on the left and cold on the right. In Japan they run the pipes up through the wall without a crossover. The taps on on side will have the hot water on the left, such as the kitchen, but go into the room on the other side of the wall and the hot water is on the right side. Also, the toilet is often in a separate room from the bathroom. Also, my closets in Japan had a light bulb that was in the back near the floor and stayed on all the time. It wasn't for the light, the heat helped reduce mildew.
The light will also prevent monster infestation.
@@donhoverson6348 You sre right. Not even one monster. If you leave the closet door cracked it can prevent those terrible monsters under the bed too. Great observation.
You lived in North Korea? Don't you mean South Korea, or are you an escapee?
No, I lived in South Korea for two years, my job took me into North Korea. If I had have lived there I would have escaped. The DMZ is very interesting place to cross. There are farmers who live in the very northern part of South Korea and get paid to report anything 'unusual' going on. They are required to be in their houses by 8 pm. The military live in tents to remind them they are at the front. There are incursions both ways at night. The friendly forces keep their vehicles running so they're ready if needed. You can tell the friendly outposts from the North Koreans by their color - the friendly is a light blue, the North's are gray. The biggest binoculars I have ever seen were there. I am 6 feet tall, many of their gusrds are that tall, if not a little taller. The country is quite beautiful, but the leadership/laws are quite demanding. There is an old locomotive 'stranded' there among a bunch of wildlife.What's very interesting is there's a display for three (if I remember correctly) of our servicemen who were killed in 1976. It is called 'The Tree Chopping Incident'. If you want to make a million dollsrs, the North has a flag there that is huge. If you can capture it, you get some money. Thanks for the reply.
@@Colorado_Native OK, so you didn't live in North Korea. Thanks for correcting that. I also really doubt you went into North Korea as part of your job, not past the DMZ anyway. If you met a 6' North Korean, he'd be their record holder. The average height of their military recruits (presumably their most fit people) is a foot and a half shorter than that. I find it hard to believe a word out of your mouth.
In middle school, my sister was wearing lace up vans & got her foot run over by a speeding van. The shoe only had a scuff mark & her foot wasn't broken at all. Vans are great shoes.
Now I can travel to the UK and understand what they’re saying, thanks to Mondly.
Mudrooms are mainly for 2 uses, normally. One purpose is to allow you to knock the weather off you before entering the house itself, wiether it be snow in the winter or rain during the rest of the year. Also it allows you to keep the mud & dust out of the house, most of the year, by giving you a place to exchange your shoes/boots for slippers/house shoes. The second purpose is as a climate break or air lock between outside and inside, traditionally that would be to keep the heat inside during the winter in northern climates, but now it includes keeping the heat out when you are running the AC in the summer.
I grew up in a house in Iowa that didn't have AC until I was about 14...we just closed up the house the first thing in the morning and ran a dehumidifier during the heat of the day...at night, we opened up the house and turned on the humongous Westinghouse floor fan, pulling a cool breeze through the upstairs windows. It was great until the fan caught on fire one night...
As for Mud Rooms...they are slightly different than Back Porches, usually not as large...common in older farm houses so that you didn't bring mud and muck in from the barn. We had friends who milked cows and their mud room was fully equipped with a shower, toilet, and a washer/dryer and a closet with clean clothes!
As for your Adirondack chairs....they will last a lot longer if you bring them inside and keep at least one of them in your Mud Room in the winter. Put the others in the Living Room and dream about Spring when it's warm enough to put them back outside.😉
As a Minnesotan of a certain age, I approve this message.
Minnesota here as well. But no dehumidifier. Really wasn't necessary except for maybe one week out of the summer, usually July. Northern, near the Canadian border.
My dad's house has a fan like that in the ceiling, so it pulls the cold air in from the outside and blows it up into the attic.
I went to Spain in high school (2017) as an American and the fact that 1.) hotels didn’t guarantee a/c 2.) water not being free refills at restaurants 3.) portion sizes were way smaller 4.) local transit being much better all blew my mind
I live in Finland, have been my whole life (40 years) and water refills have always been free (to my knowledge) in restaurants. Fast food places not so much
A/C is slowly increasing in 'popularity', possibly as more people perceive (rightly or wrongly) the effects of climate change? Many would argue that increasing the use of A/C actually exacerbates the problems of global warming. 🥵
I've never encountered (tap) water that is not free, but we never hear stories about people being fined for collecting rainwater. It's a funny old world, and the differences keep it entertaining. 😁
As a Brit, restaurant portion sizes are already too big. I was brought up when you cleaned your plate and ate everything set before you. Very much a post-war 'thank goodness the rationing has gone, but we don't want to take too much advantage of it' kind of thinking. That has persisted and has led to me becoming way overweight: I try to eat carefully, but it's a tragedy in my eyes to leave a half-eaten plate of food, especially in a restaurant. 🍖
@@GeoffRiley Personal air conditioning in houses isn't really an issue because they're such a small portion of carbon emissions. The real culprits are things like office buildings and stadiums that aren't always in use but have air conditioning running 24/7 anyway. Or the wealthy with multiple homes who have those homes running air conditioning even as they aren't living in them.
An entire suburb of people using air conditioning is producing less carbon emissions than the local mall with 25% occupancy.
@nekrataali blah blah doesn't matter. China is producing more than ever and Taylor swifts jet emits more than your sorry little examples. Regular people aren't the frickn problem
@@janelleg597 Where did I say regular people were the problem? Calm down and re-read what I wrote lmao.
I highly recommend Adirondack chairs. The wind here in the Midwest won't blow them away and they are very comfortable.🇺🇸🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁
I love the comfort of an Adirondack chair until I have to get out of it. Arthritis in my knees makes it extremely painful. 😖
Maybe get a shade or umbrella over the chair to help block some of the bird droppings?
8:02 Oh no... He’s storing junk boxes in the mud room. A true American 😂
We had two taps when I was growing up. We must have been geniuses. We filled the sink with hot and cold and washed up in the sink water.
That's what they were designed to do 😂
All the food additives must have addled his brain!
Using more water and not getting a clean rinse.
Mud room: my only recollection of a mud room, when we lived up in NY. We had a split level. The mud room was straight back after entering the front door. I think there was a door in the mud room.
I see Artur is getting taller and bigger.
60+ yrs old (American born and stuck) and have never lived in a dwelling (25 addresses) with a mud room. If it couldn't be wiped off on a doormat, it stayed outside.
Were any of those homes in rural or suburban areas with distinct snow and mud seasons?
Wait, what? If it couldn’t be scrapped off, it stayed outside? So, if it could be scrapped off, it came inside? I’m having trouble with that logic.
I'm opposite I never lived in a house without a mudroom. I think it might be a farm country thing. I don't know what I would do without one.
Mud rooms might be more of a Midwestern thing. I lived in the South for my first 35 years and never saw one down there. For one thing, consistently heavy winter weather seems to make them more essential. A place to knock off all the snow, slush and muck before walking onto the nice carpet and wooden floors is VERY practical. All the messy boots and shoes tend to stay in the mud room.
I have never had a mud room, either. I don't think it's a big thing in the American South, where I've lived all my life, though I can certainly see the advantages of having one. I would have probably spent less hours of my life sweeping, vacuuming and mopping floors if I'd had one, especially in fall and winter.
I climbed 2 Adirondack High Peaks yesterday. Phelps and tabletop. The fall colors are amazing this year. I live in the Adirondacks, and yes, the chairs are amazing. We have an Adk. Porch swing. Thanks for including the Adirondacks! Love your program. Keep up the good work
I love how unique this list is! Mud rooms aren’t as common here in Eastern NC, but I wish I had one! More often here (mostly in older homes) you will see a “stoop” or a side or back porch that serves a similar purpose.
'Things you could live without, if you weren't lazy' is indeed a great summation of the perks of many American innovations
Accurate
Drive thru ATMs were my first culture shock. I step foot i side a bank maybe once a year now. Been a glorious 13 years living in the US.
Yeah, I have been here for 16 years. When I first got here I thought drive throughs were just for lazy people. Then I enjoyed my first mid west winter - and it all made complete sense lol
I loved how your wife nonchalantly hid during the Mondly spot (that is so something I would do as well) and then the next frame your pup was such a cute backdrop. Good way to keep your viewers engaged in the ad. 😁 Love your channel! Cheers!
Our laundry room doubles as a mud room. We could release our dogs through that via a door in the garage, but prefer to let them out the back patio way. Two large rugs, one in and one out, help with keeping their paws dry, and a towel acting as a measure against mud.
I've been watching your videos for a few years now and I'm glad to see you've finally evolved into your destined Yinzer form.
Yay first few comments! Love the videos, keep it up!
Ooooh Laurence!!!!! As we get older (I'm 58 with bad skiing/tennis knees) In my area Near Lancaster PA...they are making higher Adirondack chairs for our hurting knees! And backs!
@Del-Lebo
😆 I was going to say he won't like those pretty soon! Nice to know they make some higher ones.
WHAAAT????? OMG, where can I get them? Wonder of wonders.
It’s not a real Adirondack chair unless it’s actually made in the Adirondacks.
@@RandomNonsense1985 It's not a real Adirondack chair unless it's made in the Champagne region of France. No wait, maybe I'm confused.
In the 1950s my father built an indoor Adirondack style chair that had a normal padded seat, but with the slat back and the wide arms. It is extremely comfortable.
Having recent back pain I'm liking my pharmacy's drive thru.
As an American stationed in the UK in the 90s, I missed things in the UK when I went back to the US. One was medium-sized cities and towns where things such as pubs and clubs were within crawling distance of each other. I could go out with my friends, or my mates, and we could go to a city like Cambridge and walk around and pubs were everywhere. We didn't need to drive from one to another like I did in the suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
As a fellow US/UK citizen its quite possible to go from the UK to the US, make lots of personal changes and come to depend on US things, then later on return to the UK and do without many of them since by and large the UK has adopted a lot of US habits too but has invented a few new ideas of its own.
AC though is a necessity of life in most of the the US where there is high humidity, if you return to the UK, the humidity is hugely lower, it is being used in more public spaces though like grocery stores and many box stores, hospitals etc even the underground tube stations I think has some of it.
Mixer taps/faucets are becoming more common in new UK builds and is something I would insist on or if I did any plumbing updates, hardware stores do sell mixer taps.
Many new builds include a toilet (WC) right inside the front door entrance, that is something that could be adopted in the US.
And bigger UK new homes are also getting utility rooms where the laundry would be done with a back door and place to make a dogs mess.
Most newish UK windows now also have a small vent opening, you can leave the window shut tight but still let in fresh air without bugs getting in.
But of course UK homes are rarely bigger than 800sq ft while most US homes are twice the size, not much the UK can do about that, so most rooms are always tiny.
But having done my 40 years in the US, I really appreciate the much milder UK weather and the possibility of getting daily exercise by walking to the grocery store with a backpack and no car.
Biggest difference is that UK house flat prices are stupidly high ie 2x the per sq ft price. But food is about 40% of US food prices, it should not be that way since the US grows food for the whole world, but US grocery chain are just greedy as heck. General rule, most US food items are about $4/item while UK food items are closer to 1 quid or $1.25, either way some items are much more or much less. At checkout a rough estimate is to count the no of items as rough price estimate.
not gonna do a YT channel though
Profit margin in the grocery industry is 2% or less, I've read.
Your content is great.
My wife is a first generation Asian American. I now feel weird wearing shoes indoors. The only time I wear shoes with laces is when I'm dressing up.
When I was a kid, we rented from an Asian lady so we had to take our shoes off. It became a habit for many years to just take my shoes off when going inside a house. It was only when I visited friends in England that I got weird looks when I took off my shoes, like I was getting too comfortable or something. I don’t do it as religiously as I used to in my parents’ house (mostly because my dad smokes indoors so there’s always a thin layer of ash on the floor).
I think wearing or not wearing shoes indoors is regional in America. Here in the upper midwest anyway we take our shoes off indoors. But our weather means if we didn't our floors would get filthy fast.
@@claudiadarling9441 one of my wife's aunts said "if you go barefoot outside, you might as well wear your shoes inside".🤣
I’m in the Midwest (Ohio) and we never wear our shoes in the house.
Growing up in Kansas, I was taught to take my shoes off inside because black widow spiders really like to set up a nest in shoes. We have three species of black widow here.
My old house in NJ was built in 1920, so the bathroom sink had two taps. Washing my hands, brushing my teeth, etc, was a study in speedily going back and forth to achieve warm water. So happy when my dad finally installed a new vanity with a single faucet.
I am curious about the original shower. It must have been mixed, while the sink had two taps. Or did houses just have bathtubs without showers back then?
We had a giant rectangular tub that was deep. It was FANTASTIC! And, no spillover drain. No shower, though. It had a single faucet. It was so heavy, especially when full, that the original builders had to pour six inches of concrete to support it.
A rubber plug with a fancy chain was attached to our double-faucet sink, and when it plugged the sink drain the nicely warmed water was available for hand washing and sponge baths. The cold-water water faucet tap was for drinking water and tooth brushing.
@@Xubuntu47 Shower spouts were regulated by the hot and cold water knobs that also regulated bath water from a single spout. No shower = two water spouts.
Have been enjoying your videos for quite a while, Lawrence. Happy to have you here in the US as a resident, a citizen and a UA-camr. I also just got a set of Adirondack chairs for my back patio and I adore them! I pretty much have to, because when you sink back down the slope of the seat, it's almost impossible to lift myself back up. (Sent from my phone on the back patio where I've been for 8 days. Thank goodness for Uber Eats delivery!)
I had a van in England in 1973. It was a 1948 Fordson and was fun, if a little underpowered. The coppers who stopped me while driving it one night couldn't believe I didn't have a load of stolen goods in the empty cargo area. 🇬🇧👍🇺🇸
There are Michigan shaped Adirondack chairs, with UP tables.
Funny you mention that, because we have Michigan Hot Dogs in the Adirondacks, which are kinda sorta like chili dogs.
@@RandomNonsense1985 mmm...glaziers...
@@RandomNonsense1985michigan dog aka coney dog should be just-meat chili, onions, mustard, and the hotdog
Our neighbors have some of those Michigan ones.
I’ve heard the term “mud room” since I was a kid 71 now) while visiting my aunt and uncle’s Dairy farm. I do believe they had one of those rooms in the entryway of their home, small area. I’ve also visited family and friends who had areas designated in their entryway for hanging coats and placing their wet, snowy or muddy shoes/boots, and so on, though they weren’t called mud rooms. In most cases, they were just part of the entryway, using a hallway area when you come in the door. I don’t think those areas even had a name, just the entryway or entry hall leading into the house. Also, most of these areas were by the back door or the side door. Some people never even used the front door. I’ve even seen people have the front door blocked with a large piece of furniture. I even saw a home once that had a long curtain hanging in front of the door like it was a window and a China cabinet setting in front of it.
Lawrence, I believe you will appreciate this. 23 years ago, on a trip to visit family in Netherlands, we had gone to visit the replica Batavia. On the way back, my then 7 year old son stated he was hungry. As we drove through Lelystad, we saw a brand new McDonald's (from the pick-up window side). As we turned into the drive through entrance we could see very bright lights & some sort of commotion near the turn past the order window. As we got to the window, we saw that it was a TV newscrew. My son asked why they would film a drive through, a very ordinary item for him. My father explained that this was the first drive-through in the area and as such it was newsworthy.
Have you ever gone to the Adirondack Mountains in upstate NY?
@Hollandsemum2
Cute!
jj
*Laurence
I mean, read his shirt already
My favorite part of this channel is that you look more and more southern everytime i watch a video.
i am now impatiently waiting for part 2.
The longer beard looks good on you mate! Cheers!
He’s got the non-round glasses and now the beard-ier beard…
He really is becoming more American!
Mud rooms don't need to be muddy. You live in the northern part of the USA. Up here all houses should have a vestibule between the outdoors and the indoors. This allows you to limit the amount of heat that escapes from the house during the cold months (they occur during winter).
Sounds more like an airlock
@@stephenlitten1789 They work like that. A small coatroom or mudroom so you're not exchanging so much heat and cold when coming in and out.
😂 as soon as he said Vans, my first thought was "the shoes?"
My grandparent’s house, built in 1938, had the 2 faucets, one for hot and one for cold, in the bathrooms. The kitchen had 2 handles that fed into a single faucet. The water pipes came out of the vertical wall about 8 inches above the sink. Each pipe had a on/off valve and a pipe that lead to a single pipe that held the faucet.