Daily life in America questions

Some of those might take several "exceptions" to explain. I'll take a couple.

2. We would possibly call it a summer shower (if it is summer), a light downpour, a light rain, a brief shower, or a sprinkling. There are other terms that could be used.

5. There are generally plenty of convenience stores in the suburbs. There may or may not be a separate deli (for a story you can say there is if that's what you need), but most larger suburbs will have one or more grocery stores nearby and they will often have a deli.

1) cable television is often from different companies even in different neighborhoods of the same city, so...different levels.

2) In Seattle area where I live, the situation you describe wouldn't even be noticed, much less called anything particular. It is said Seattleites have a hundred words for rain. In LA or Austin, TX, it would be notable.

3) Depends on the city or area of the country in which your story takes place. A small, tear-down quality house in my neighborhood (across the street from Microsoft) goes for around $1800 US dollars a month. A room in a basement would be around $500-800.
4) I don't know.

5) lots of convenience stores, 7-11s, Subway sandwich shops and Starbucks in the suburbs of many cities.

Where does your story take place?

I'll try to answer one more.

3. This is going to vary a lot from place to place. I assume by "good area" you mean a decent, safe area, not necessarily an upscale area. It could be either way; there are still small houses that are for rent in nice areas. Finding a small apartment to rent is also possible. For a story, I think you would be safe to use either one. Around larger metropolitan areas the rent is high for even a small house in a really nice area; less so in the smaller cities.

1. Cable TV is one or more different companies. Where I live, it's CableOne. Other communities may have a choice. Going to a different area of the company, I would not expect to have the same cable provider nor the same channels.

Another option, satellite TV is generally provided by the two biggest companies: Dish Network and DirecTV.

2. I'd heard a separate term for that but I like AlleyCat's post.

3. The question is pretty vague. If you are asking tiny house vs. condo or apartment, it is more likely to rent an apartment or condo. Where I live, it isn't unusual for a small house to be torn down to build a duplex or four-plex.

4. A quick internet search shows lots of advice for getting onto reality shows. Some applications are in person, some are by video, etc. The producers are generally looking for certain personality types.

5. Yes, there are lots of convenience stores. In some tiny rural towns, the sole business might be a gas station/convenience store/movie rental and bait shop (if it's near a popular place for fishing).

tarkine said:

I have a few questions about life in American for a story I'm writing. Since I've never been to the USA, I have absolutely no idea about what day to day life is like.


1. Cable television. Is it different from state to state? My character is on holiday in LA. And is are there different levels of cable - national, local?Cable or satellite TV- do you mean does it pick up both local anmd national news?Also just a side note- we call it vacation here, not Holiday.

2. What do you call it when the sun is out, the weather is warm and it rains lightly as a cloud passes by? Sun shower- but this will differ from region to region.

3. is it feasible to rent a tiny house in a good area? Or would it be more likely that someone might sublet say, a small apartment over a garage? for the vacation? Yes it is possible to rent a house to stay in for vacation if thats what you mean.

4. The application process for appearing on reality teleivision. I'm sure there is something like a paper application, then an interview with a casting agent... the application would be online, but that's all I can answer.

5. What about the good old corner shop - deli, 7/11, convenience store? Are there a lot of those around in the suburbs? there're everywhere.not just the burbs.

Thanks in advance. :-D

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I have 998 channels, but you have to subscribe to them in package deals. So for basic cable, you might have only 35-50 channels, with a premium package you pay around $100 a month and get a few hundred. Specialty channels like HBO and Showtime are on separate package deals.

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I lived most of my childhood in San Diego. LA's climate is similar to Australia's. Dry most of the time, rarely raining in summer. But rain in August tends to be muggy, which is otherwise unusual for the area.

Little houses abound in LA, so renting one would be a possibility, but remember that we drive on the other side of the street, and you need a car to get around in LA.

Delis, convenience stores abound also.

Haven't been to Denver, except the airport. What I could see out the airport windows: looks like a high mountain plateau. It will also have a dry climate.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Oo oo I want to play

tarkine said:

I have a few questions about life in American for a story I'm writing. Since I've never been to the USA, I have absolutely no idea about what day to day life is like.


1. Cable television. Is it different from state to state? My character is on holiday in LA. And is are there different levels of cable - national, local?
Different from state to state and by company to company, while the channels are the same, their order and who broadcasts them are different. At my work we have two different providers, one allows
us to watch certain sports games while the other doesn't, also one is about four hours ahead in programming lineup

2. What do you call it when the sun is out, the weather is warm and it rains lightly as a cloud passes by?

Here, a spring shower.

3. is it feasible to rent a tiny house in a good area? Or would it be more likely that someone might sublet say, a small apartment over a garage?

Depends on the state, the midwest more so. The closer you get to more popular areas the less likely to impossible it becomes.

4. The application process for appearing on reality teleivision. I'm sure there is something like a paper application, then an interview with a casting agent...

My sister tried to get on the Biggest Loser, it involved sending in a video, being chosen as a finalist, interviews, basically the casting agents are looking for a type, and they will search till they find it.

5. What about the good old corner shop - deli, 7/11, convenience store? Are there a lot of those around in the suburbs?

I say yes. More convenience stores than anything else, but in my immediate area I can think of at least four.
Thanks in advance. :-D

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For the weather one, I'd say "It just sprinkled" or "it's sprinkling". We do have houses to rent where I am from that can be reasonable, but they are usually pretty old then, or in a not-so-safe neighborhood, one.

The corner store is very true here, but keep in mind that you still might need to drive there. Too often, there is nothing resembling a sidewalk/pavement at all. It's often too dangerous to try to squeeze in beside traffic; there may be walls right by the road, briar patches, drop-offs, etc.

I have channels into the 600's, but most of them are crap

Siri Kirpal said:

LA's climate is similar to Australia's.

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Australia is a nation comparable in size to the United States, minus Alaska. LA's climate is similar to that in Sydney. It isn't anything like that in Brisbane, which would be closer to the climate in Miami. Australia is closer to the equator, which means there really isn't a place as cold as the very cold places in the U.S. Tasmania might have a climate similar to Missouri or Kansas in terms of temperature, but would be wetter. The U.S. doesn't have a locale similar in climate to Darwin. And Australia lacks really high mountains, like the Rockies, so those kinds of climatic conditions aren't comparable, either. No Oz city is comparable to Denver.

And certainly not to Anchorage, where I live, at 61 degrees north latitude, and where we have had (so far) the second-highest snowfall on record, something like 125 inches. With more predicted for later in the week. The record is 132, and we're going after it this year.

caw

1. Cable television. Is it different from state to state? My character is on holiday in LA. And is are there different levels of cable - national, local?
Different cable companies have different packages, but the basic package is pretty much going to have most of the "core" channels that people expect for cable. Satellite tv can get you a whole lot of extra channels, and that's pretty much available anywhere from one of the two companies mentioned previously.

3. is it feasible to rent a tiny house in a good area? Or would it be more likely that someone might sublet say, a small apartment over a garage?
I just moved into a nice starter-home neighborhood (one of those where all the houses are pretty much alike) in the suburbs. The houses are good-size, not small but not mansions, in a "good" area. Right next to my house is one that is being rented by about 4 college kids. It's uncommon here, as most people just purchase a house (as it's cheap), but not unusual.

5. What about the good old corner shop - deli, 7/11, convenience store? Are there a lot of those around in the suburbs?
Tons. We have a Dollar General on nearly every corner, which sells cheap food/drinks/random housewares. Dedicated delis, not so much - they're typically inside supermarkets. Convenience stores are pretty much the same as gas stations, and unless you're in a good/rich part of the city you're not going to have sidewalks - but I live outside the city limits in a rural area that's suddenly becoming suburban, and taxes are cheap so there's not a lot of public works projects, haha.


My cousins live in Denver but I've never been there, unfortunately. I know it's dry and they go skiing a lot, and the weather can change from 70s and sunny to a blizzard the next week.
Hope that helps some.

If it's anything of interest, there's an old saying that if it rains while the sun is shining, it will rain again tomorrow.

Don't know if that's true or not--usually by the time tomorrow comes, you've forgotten about it.

tarkine said:

I have a few questions about life in American for a story I'm writing. Since I've never been to the USA, I have absolutely no idea about what day to day life is like.


1. Cable television. Is it different from state to state? My character is on holiday in LA. And is are there different levels of cable - national, local?
Each cable plan can have like 5 different levels with different channels offered for different prices per month. Also there are several different options: cable, sometimes more than one company, The Dish etc. Most will include the local channels, a national news channel like Fox or CNN, and an assortment of channels like the kids channels, home improvement channels, some movie channels...sports. And always in LA: several Spanish-language channels.

2. What do you call it when the sun is out, the weather is warm and it rains lightly as a cloud passes by? A shower. If it was warm and showering, it would be during a monsoonal flow, otherwise it would be cool when showering.

3. is it feasible to rent a tiny house in a good area? Or would it be more likely that someone might sublet say, a small apartment over a garage?
Totally feasable to rent a tiny house in a good area, and more likely than a garage apartment. Many places in California also have 'mother-in-law units' which are small apartments with separate entrances either attached or separate from a main house. That is also an option in older areas of LA, like say, Burbank. We're not big on basements in California, though. Those are only in older houses if at all.

4. The application process for appearing on reality teleivision. I'm sure there is something like a paper application, then an interview with a casting agent... OK, it starts with an application, then an interview with a producer, probably over the phone the first time. The next step would be actual screen testing in the form of a video interview. Then a lot of producers get together, look at the tape, and give a yeah or nay. A lot of people make it through the first few steps and then put their foot in it in the video. If it is a game show, then you actually do a practice game. If it is say, a real estate show, often the producers will work with real estate agents to find the couples for the show.

5. What about the good old corner shop - deli, 7/11, convenience store? Are there a lot of those around in the suburbs? A gazillion of them, but this can be very neighborhood based. If the neighborhood is a little more urban, the 7-11 might be the "corner store"...my bff lived in Burbank, and rather than a deli, they had a Cuban bakery/restaurant. Oh my gosh, you have no idea how good... However, important to know: we have a car culture from hell out here. No one walks when they can drive, and that means people are more likely to drive over to Von's or Ralph's (supermarkets) than walk down to the neighborhood store. But do they exist for your writing purposes? Yes.

Thanks in advance. :-D

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jmho: I live in Northern California now, but I am from LA and go here several times a year.

I'm not sure if you're still needing people to answer questions, but America is a big place, and I suppose there's no such thing as too much information.

1. Cable television. Is it different from state to state? My character is on holiday in LA. And is are there different levels of cable - national, local?

In cable, there are two types of channals, local and national. National channals will have the same schedule no matter where you are in the country. Local channals will still have some major TV shows out of Hollywood, but they will have more control over the schedule, and there will be a different news station running the nightly report depending on where you are. But the news station will be close to where your watching from, and it will relay news stories occuring in the area.


2. What do you call it when the sun is out, the weather is warm and it rains lightly as a cloud passes by?

Drizzle? Shower? I'm not sure. It's not something that happens enough to have a name. But ther is a song about it.

I wanna now, have you ever seen the rain comin' down on a sunny day.


3. is it feasible to rent a tiny house in a good area? Or would it be more likely that someone might sublet say, a small apartment over a garage?

It really depends on where you are. In a smaller town, it might be possible to rent a house for not a lot of money, but in larger cities, I would say the word 'tiny' is subjective, but the general rule is the better an area is, the more expensive the rent is going to be. But by extention, the houses are also going to be nicer. You aren't going to find a lot of tiny, trashy houses in nice neighborhoods. Brings down the property value.


4. The application process for appearing on reality teleivision. I'm sure there is something like a paper application, then an interview with a casting agent...

I live near the Mall of America, and I have actually seen times where agents just come there and hold interviews for people to be on reality shows.


5. What about the good old corner shop - deli, 7/11, convenience store? Are there a lot of those around in the suburbs?

You'll usually see a few, but it's a dying industry. I know that there has been a big problem lately with Walmarts opening in small towns, because it forces all smaller business to shut down because they can't complete.

blacbird said:

Australia is a nation comparable in size to the United States, minus Alaska. LA's climate is similar to that in Sydney. It isn't anything like that in Brisbane, which would be closer to the climate in Miami. Australia is closer to the equator, which means there really isn't a place as cold as the very cold places in the U.S. Tasmania might have a climate similar to Missouri or Kansas in terms of temperature, but would be wetter. The U.S. doesn't have a locale similar in climate to Darwin. And Australia lacks really high mountains, like the Rockies, so those kinds of climatic conditions aren't comparable, either. No Oz city is comparable to Denver.

And certainly not to Anchorage, where I live, at 61 degrees north latitude, and where we have had (so far) the second-highest snowfall on record, something like 125 inches. With more predicted for later in the week. The record is 132, and we're going after it this year.

caw

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"-- a Sikh greeting)

I thought about that after I posted and was heading to bed. Thanks for the corrections. (Though I doubt the OP would mistake LA for Alaska.)

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

I am in New England, which can be a whole other world compared to the south or the west coast. So my answers probably won't be as helpful, but in case you set a scene out in MA, CT, RI, ME, NH or VT, here you go:

1. Cable television. Is it different from state to state? My character is on holiday in LA. And is are there different levels of cable - national, local?

We get about 500 channels through Comcast (Xfinity). In my town that's the only cable company available. In other towns and cities around me, Verizion is also available (FIOS.) So there is variation just from small town to small town and town to city.

2. What do you call it when the sun is out, the weather is warm and it rains lightly as a cloud passes by?

We would call that a cloudburst or a little cloudburst.

3. is it feasible to rent a tiny house in a good area? Or would it be more likely that someone might sublet say, a small apartment over a garage?

Yes, it is. In almost every small town in NE there's a section of town which is often older with bigger homes, many of which are divided into apartments or condos. BUT, there are also houses for rent in the same area.

4. The application process for appearing on reality teleivision. I'm sure there is something like a paper application, then an interview with a casting agent...

Most likely you'd apply for this online, with an online application and a video sent in, too. (Uploaded along with the application.)

5. What about the good old corner shop - deli, 7/11, convenience store? Are there a lot of those around in the suburbs?

Tons of these everywhere. In a 'ritzier' part of town you might have to drive a small distance as in some 'residential areas' they wouldn't be allowed. In most NE towns there are sections zoned for residential, or commercial, or both. This is why you might see a Seven-Eleven or Tedeschi's (common where I live) in an area of older homes. It'll be there on the corner along with a dentist office, maybe a realtor's office and next to the big mansion that's been converted into a funeral home.

The west coast of America has very little similarities to the east coast of America. Or as we say, the left coast the the right coast...

tarkine said:

I have a few questions about life in American for a story I'm writing. Since I've never been to the USA, I have absolutely no idea about what day to day life is like.


1. Cable television. Is it different from state to state? My character is on holiday in LA. And is are there different levels of cable - national, local?

At a hotel, you get whatever the hotel system uses; otherwise your choices are related to geography for "cable" since they have localized monopolies.

For my area (about 25 miles from L.A.), the providers are:

• Time Warner Cable
• Verizon FiOS (fiber optic)
• Dish Network (satellite)
• DirecTV (satellite)

all have hundreds of channels of totally useless drivel.


2. What do you call it when the sun is out, the weather is warm and it rains lightly as a cloud passes by?

If you're in L.A., it's called a "Miracle!" with a capital M. It very rarely rains here except when it's cold; and then it's either a longer lasting drizzle or mist or all out rain. You're describing Hawaii beautifully, though. That's exactly how it is on Kawaii almost every day: warm, light shower, goes away in a minute.

3. is it feasible to rent a tiny house in a good area? Or would it be more likely that someone might sublet say, a small apartment over a garage?

Yes, absolutely, houses are available for rent all over the place. There are entire websites devoted to houses for Rent - Google can help there. Small apartments, houses, guest houses, or what some call a "granny flat". The world is your oyster.
www.losangeles.craigslist.org
www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Los-Angeles-CA/house_type/


4. The application process for appearing on reality teleivision. I'm sure there is something like a paper application, then an interview with a casting agent...

LOL. Okay, only weirdos and freaks do that. That said, I did it once. I got to see my face on TV! (eek!) You fill out an app with bio, then you meet with producers who interview you to find out if you're interesting enough to bring in ratings... at the time, I was renting a room in a condo with 2 girls...

5. What about the good old corner shop - deli, 7/11, convenience store? Are there a lot of those around in the suburbs?

oh, yeah. Of course, every neighborhood is different, but our house is .6 miles of pleasant walk from a shopping center with Vons, CVS pharmacy, a quaint little coffee shop (not Starbucks, that's another 1/4 mile around the block) and there's plenty more a block in either direction from there. If you want to plan on a specific area in the L.A. vicinity, I can give details about quite a few. Living in each will be very different.

Thanks in advance. :-D

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Hope that helps! Google Maps can give you tons of detail. Combine that with a craigslist search for rentals or one of the other sites, and you can get even more specific.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions about a specific neighborhood, since they can be radically different.

I'd be happy to answer anything about Denver. Haven't lived in LA but Denver I know after spending 20+ years there. Answering below for Denver:

1. Cable television. Is it different from state to state? My character is on holiday in LA. And is are there different levels of cable - national, local?

The primary cable provider in Denver is Comcast. The basic package (that you would probably get when renting a house) would be 50-75 channels.

2. What do you call it when the sun is out, the weather is warm and it rains lightly as a cloud passes by?

In Denver in summer, it's a daily occurrence around 3:00 p.m. Generally considered "a light sprinkle" or "the afternoon shower".

3. is it feasible to rent a tiny house in a good area? Or would it be more likely that someone might sublet say, a small apartment over a garage?

Absolutely! Most of Denver proper is very old and a lot of the original houses are quite tiny (think 750-900 sq. ft.) Note I say "Denver proper." The City & County of Denver takes up only a small portion of what is considered "Denver Metro". Denver Metro consists of 7-9 counties with multiple enclaves and cities. For your purposes, an area right off downtown would be perfect. There are a lot of older houses near the courthouse where the streets are narrow and the houses small. The big thing in Denver right now are "scrape-offs" where a smaller house is bulldozed right down to the foundation and then rebuilt in place with a two-story house or townhomes.

4. The application process for appearing on reality teleivision. I'm sure there is something like a paper application, then an interview with a casting agent...

Not really a big thing in Denver. I presume this is an LA question.

5. What about the good old corner shop - deli, 7/11, convenience store? Are there a lot of those around in the suburbs?

It very much depends on the neighborhood in Denver. The older zoning ordinances wouldn't allow for businesses in a residential district. The newer areas like Stapleton do. But there's always the 16th Street Mall, which is literally a long stretch of mall where there are no cars allowed--only shuttle buses and pedestrian traffic. It's not really comfortable walking distance from the courthouse (probably 1-2 miles away by foot) but there are very reliable buses in Denver, along with light rail trains. Very do-able.

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Hope that helps!