British suburbs

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "eloise_herisson" <eloiseherisson at a...>
wrote:

ELoise:
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> I might be wrong, but I think that the masses of identikit housing in 
> that quantity would be untypical of Surrey, which, on the whole, is a 
> fairly pricey area.
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> Eloise

bboy_mn - a few thoughts:

Exactly what is Surrey? Neighborhood? City? Township? District? County?

I was looking at it on the aerial photo maps that I referenced earlier
in this thread, and it seems to be made up of several towns, although
none of them are named 'Little Whining', but I can't quite determine
from these maps, both political and photo, if it is a county. 

Now massively far off subject, regarding suburban houses. I have a
friend who had a small construction company who built a small
subdivision on the south side of Alber Lea (don't bother, no one knows
where Albert Lea is). It was made up of perhaps 25 modest middle class
homes. I'm sure you could stop at any house in that neighborhood and
ask the owner and he would swear that his house was a unique one of a
kind. A more objective eye would show you that there were really only
four house designs. But some are built left-to-right, others are a
mirror image built right-to-left, others are switched front-to-back
add to that different paint and trim, and it does help create the
illusion of unique houses. I find it kind of sad that some of these
people are so entrenched in mediocrity and yet so desperate for
individuality. Seems like almost any of them could be distant cousins
to the Dursleys.

Now to really stray even farther. Eloise, are you in Britian, or
perhaps have you lived there? Every now and then I have some cultural
questions when I'm writing and I need a 'Brit-speak' authority. I was
wondering if you might volunteer to help me out. The questions are
usually very simple. Questions like-

Ginger Ale vs Ginger Beer - which is more common? If ginger beer is
more common, does that mean you never come across ginger ale?

Sofa or Couch - which is the more common term.

Units of measurement - I'm confused. Is Britain completely metric? If
I was going to order some bottled non-carbonated water from the store.
Would I order it by gallons or liters? In everyday speech, do most
Brits refer to feet and inches, or meters?

I have a few more but I really shouldn't dwell on this here. You can
email me if you are interested.

Sorry for stray so far from the central though.

bboy_mn