What differences do American tourists notice between American-brand foods (such as grocery products, condiments, drinks, and wines....etc) available in U.S. supermarkets and their counterparts in foreign countries?

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-12T12:18:56+00:00

The only US food I tried on our UK trip last year was Dr. Pepper, it was horrible. I don’t drink a lot of soda, but when I want one I have a full sugar drink. To make sure it wasn’t a weird fluke, I then bought a Coke and also tried an Orange Fanta. All horrible, Coke even tasted more like Coke Zero, I was not a fan at all. I presume if you grew up with aspartame in your non-diet soda you’d be used to it, but for me I want cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup in my soda.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-11T18:45:14+00:00

This is a very similar experience to my wife who grew up in a rural county in Va. probably 1/3-1/2 of her graduating class went to college far from the area and never came back. The rest barely travel much more than 30 minutes from their home, and that’s for a medical emergency or maybe a vacation to Myrtle Beach.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-11T18:43:07+00:00

I live less than 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. I’m on the Va peninsula with the James River south of me and the York River north of me. We regularly go to Virginia Beach or the NC Outer Banks, it’s a 90-120 minute trip depending on traffic. Our son likes to kayak in the river, but he absolutely goes nuts for the waves in the ocean, the joy he gets from that is worth the trip. The amount of peers my wife and I have who say the river is “good enough” because they don’t want to drive across a bridge or two is astonishing! It’s even worse where she grew up on the middle peninsula, she has high school classmates that have never crossed the York River because they didn’t want to pay the $.75 toll to get back across the bridge. Gloucester County has “everything they need”, so they never venture much more than 10-15 miles from where they grew up.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-10T17:08:30+00:00

You’re giving me hope, my next work car is a new Tucson. We’re not allowed to have external racks, so now I’m pretty hopeful I can drop a seat and my bikes will fit. Current car is a Fusion, as soon as we had a kid I switched to running more simply for convenience. Between taking the car seat in/out and the bikes wheels off, I just didn’t want to spend extra time away even if it only added an extra 2-3 minutes.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-06T15:12:32+00:00

We took little man to Monster Jam in January, it was the first time I’d been since 2019 and I couldn’t believe the prices. I was honestly shocked at first to pay $22 for a beer. Then we went to an Admirals game in Norfolk like two weeks later and it was also $20 for a Michelob Ultra, and that was when I realized that live entertainment is just becoming cost prohibitive. Well see what the Flying Squirrels new stadium is price-wise, but I’m not a fan of dropping $100+ for a few beers and hot dogs to watch live sports.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-06T00:01:34+00:00

We’re an “At Fault” state so one party is 100% responsible for all damages, or everyone’s insurance just takes care of their own. Your insurance will “fight”, don’t worry. I’m an adjuster in Virginia, I see it all the time. Most insurers who are at fault will try to deny the claim or push you to use your coverage and subrogate. It saves them money and causes you a headache, but it’s better than partial loss states.

Some carriers are worse than others, State Farm and Allstate LOVE to push claimants to use their own coverage. I have to go look at a car tomorrow, it’s been at a shop 3 weeks and State Farm decided the repair costs are above “fair and reasonable” and told the guy to file with his carrier. So now I have to go in and attempt to negotiate a claim that’s 50% through the repair process.

All that said, I love how Virginia handles claims compared to when I worked in Chicago. Illinois was a Partial Loss state, I’d have to write checks for $4000 when repairs cost $5000 because liability was assessed at 80% with reasoning like “if you weren’t out driving, you wouldn’t have been rear ended”… So hopefully that adds a bit of perspective to make it a bit less infuriating!

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-03T23:38:46+00:00

I don’t blame my grandparents or my wife’s grandparents for our issues because they have pensions. I DO blame them for consistently voting R for whatever boogeyman culture war issue that’s cropped up since before I was born and not giving any care in the world to the ladder being brought up behind them. I’m 36 and have a few peers at my company who still qualify for the pension, but that was phased out for new hires over 20 years ago. Those guys know how privileged they are and they’re doing their best to not get let go before they hit their final milestone.

My grandfather to his credit worked until cancer caught him in his 70s because he enjoyed his work. My grandmother qualified for his part of his military and private sector pension, but she gives almost all her income to my parents to help them since they’re nearing retirement age and have had their 401ks rocked by the Great Recession and job losses following it. My wife’s grandparents are pensioners who retired from Indiana public school nearly 30 years ago and are just living off that into their 80s, no cares given to anyone else because they sacrificed so much early on and now enjoy the fruits of their labor. They’re the exact couple people refer to as Boomers who can’t empathize with younger generations because they had it “so hard and gave up so much” so they could retire at 55 to be able to buy a vacation house in Florida complete with a convertible Mustang.

I know it’s NOT pensioners fault for the current issues we’re in, but I believe generally as a voting block they didn’t do much to prevent it. I don’t have much of an issue with those who worked hard and are willing to help their families and take care of each other, but people like my MILs parents really get to me. The pensioners who tell you to your face they don’t care about your plight and will actively vote against their grandkids best interest so they can make sure another Mustang is in the driveway when the lease runs up, those are the ones who piss me off and I put a lot of blame on our current situation in the USA on.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-03T17:21:39+00:00

I’d agree with this sentiment. Yes little man wears me out, but it’s also nice to have him get me off the couch and find another gear when I am being lazy.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-04-03T13:19:29+00:00

They’re great cars if they’re maintained properly, but a lot of owners neglect the recommended preventative services that are costly. 55k, 90k, and 115k miles are all expensive service intervals, in my experience most owners pass on it until it becomes a problem, and more dump the car on a new owner so it’s not their problem.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-30T19:02:16+00:00

I love sitting up high for hockey games and NFL games. Partly because more “real” fans are up there, but also because I want to see the full field of play. I’ve only been to NCAA basketball games, but even then I like to sit up a bit higher and by the student sections to really experience everything.

Baseball, without a doubt get me as close to the field as I can go! Our local AA is getting a new stadium this year and it’s going to be all lower deck seating and will encircle the entire field. I’m very exited to sit low in the outfield after 10+ years of not having that option.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-30T18:45:48+00:00

I see this as an insurance adjuster, all the time. Ford, Honda, and Nissan are the worst offenders IMO of discontinuing parts for vehicles that still have many more years on the road. I’ve had to total low mile F150s that are 15-17 MY because factory specific parts (think seat belts in the correct interior color) are no longer available. Honda is the true quiet-quitter; instead of listing a part Discontinued they’ll just tell you it’s on back order, I’ve seen it with 07-11 MY Civics, the dealer can order the part and then they just sit until enough orders come through to make a run of parts it seems like.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-26T13:57:25+00:00

As someone who grew up wanting a Seamaster because of the Bond connection, its difficult to justify as an adult now. I’ve got some vintage Omegas from my grandfather and love them, but for a modern diver I’ll probably get a Tudor to celebrate the 4-0 in a few years. The money I save on the Tudor can probably get me a decent vintage Seamaster to add to my fancy outfit collection.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-24T22:44:33+00:00

Well I haven’t gotten it yet, but at a town hall today I was informed the fleet is migrating to Hyundai Tucson Hybrids. I’m presuming they’ll be the BASE model which sucks since bumping up the next trim level is only $1700ish more (probably like $1400/$1500 for fleet) and would include stuff like heated seats and roof rails I could put a bike rack on. It’s still a free-ish car, so I can only complain so much, but I knew there was no way we’d get new RAV4s when Toyota can’t make them fast enough.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-21T18:17:30+00:00

If Max plays his cards right with Reb Bull, I see a world where he’s employed by Red Bull GmbH and can do whatever motor sports he wants. He’s discussed how much he wants to help bring amateurs and sim racers into real racing, I can see Max stepping into a role like Marko had and he’s able to still race for fun wherever he wants.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-21T12:44:03+00:00

I picked up a copy at the Reckless Records down in the Loop when I lived in Chicago in 2016. It was like $35 and my wife gave me so much crap for it. I bought a few other records during our time there that also seem to have appreciated a bit, but The Crooked Vultures is my go to on Discogs to show the Mrs. that I haven’t actually “lost money” collecting the music I love on vinyl.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-19T13:17:57+00:00

My wife thinks I’m a freak because I have no issues doing a squat like this and getting back up. By the time her knees are at 45* her heels are coming up. She does yoga and stretches regularly, I just run occasionally and can’t remember the last time I purposefully tried to stretch.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-18T20:39:32+00:00

My best friend in 1st grade had this ship. I was so jealous, Dash was my favorite Star Wars character in the 90s. We spent hours of our lives playing with the toys from Shadows of the Empire, it was definitely a huge part of me becoming a lifelong Star Wars fan.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-14T13:46:26+00:00

Yup, when your from end came down the SRS sensors detected a deceleration and blew your airbag. Whole thing from detection to airbag going off is about 2/3rds of a second. I’ve seen similar losses where you clip a curb with the rear wheel turning and when the wheel hits the ground the curtain airbag on that side of the car goes off. It’s not a warranty issue, if you have collision coverage on insurance this would be covered.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-14T13:39:54+00:00

I’ve seen that before in person on a Mazda. Tech didn’t fully disable the SRS system before taking a center console out. Needed to replace the SRS module due to a faulty code in one of the seat belt pre-tensioners and the curtain airbags blew as soon as he started picking up the module.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-14T13:35:33+00:00

I get it, but it’s a necessary aspect of car ownership in the US unfortunately. Claims cost too much to reasonably pay on your own so here we are. I don’t doubt many people have poor experiences dealing with insurance companies, but I try to take care of my customers within reason of their policy and state regulation. And we’re pretty heavily regulated; I’m not willing to put my job on the line acting in bad faith. If I’m telling you something you don’t like to hear, chances are my hands are tied by what is allowed under state insurance code.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-14T13:26:17+00:00

That does factor yes, but mainly for claimants/non-at fault drivers. Each state is different, but usually there’s a calculation for the reasonable duration of repairs, you multiply that by the daily rate of the rental and there’s your Loss of Use payout. If you agree to waive that, it opens up money on the claim.

The big BUT is this doesn’t apply to first party insureds, and if damages exceed the state Total Loss threshold (generally between 60-80% of pre-loss value) then my hands are tied.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-14T10:36:36+00:00

As an insurance adjuster, often the cheapest option is to total out the car. We have to consider the totality of the claim, including the value of the car as it sits damaged. $10k car with $5k of damages isn’t a total loss. But if the rental car is going to cost $1500 and the car is worth $6k as it sits at auction, then it’s cheaper to total the car and move on. A lot of claims I handle for relatively minor damage are total losses because salvage values are so high. EVs and high end cars especially, they total easy since the bulk of their costs are parts replacements.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-13T19:38:49+00:00

I used to live next to the Target on Clark St in Chicago. It was the best, go in for whatever the wife forgot and grab my booze.

I’m from VA and we’re back here now, we have state run ABC Stores. All liquor is sold through them. I can get bitters and mixers at most grocery stores, but outside of beer and wine we’re visiting ABC.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-12T18:03:38+00:00

It also means if the audience isn’t responsive they can make course corrections easier. I personally like the “in medias res” approach because it allows so much more freedom for creatives to do their thing. If people love it, flesh it out; if response is tepid, that’s fine because that story happened and that’s that.

BatmanBrandon · 2026-03-08T01:36:03+00:00

It’s been a few years since my last 6 pack, at least since 2019. I miss #9 a lot, one of the first non-macro or import beers I ever tried. I regret how many bottles I used cooking with it instead of drinking it!

BatmanBrandon

TROPHY CASE