Boulder, Colorado III

My canvass round was a series of streets on the very edge of town, just where Boulder meets the Rockies. Brand new streets, opposite others still under construction (including a development of zero carbon homes). Large suburban homes with garage space for three cars each. Immaculate driveways. And crazy numbering e.g. 4th street has 4 houses, with the numbers 4854, 4860, 4866 and 4872.

You might therefore be surprised that almost everyone I spoke to was a Democrat - and not just a Democrat, these people love Obama and were keen to thank me for giving up my time to work for him (no one has ever thanked me like that in the UK).

The only slightly sad thing was: I was supposed to be registering people who, according to my list, were not yet registered to vote. But everyone I managed to speak to was pretty convinced they were registered - some had even received their postal ballots already. So I left registration forms with them - better safe than sorry - but it seemed overkill to make them fill them in there and then, just so I could go back to the office with some completed forms.

So, although registering voters seemed like a really tangible way to get involved, it has turned out rather less so. I might volunteer for data entry duty tomorrow...

Detour into British politics

David Cameron plans to scrap a third runway at Heathrow in favour of a high speed rail network linking England's major cities.

It is so depressing that this has come from the Tories - I don't want to vote for them, but this kind of thing is so much more radical and optimistic than what feels like "business as usual" from Labour. Hopefully they'll catch on and adopt it, and no one will complain too much because it's such a good idea. Hmm, how likely is that?

Boulder, Colorado II

After that negative post, something more cheery.

Today I wandered past the Obama campaign headquarters for Boulder county - and 45 minutes later wandered out, fully qualified and accredited as a voter registration official for the state of Colorado!

The exciting thing was that this training was being provided to a group of people just like me - about 10 people who had literally just walked in off the street in the last 20 minutes or so... which suggests they are getting huge numbers of volunteers. Everyone was very upbeat including a young man from south east London who had never been involved in politics in the UK but had come over solely for the purpose of campaigning for Obama, and will be here until the election.

I will report on my round of super-suburban houses (almost the last street on the edge of town) after I have done it tomorrow.

Boulder, Colorado

I am afraid Boulder has disappointed me. I was hoping for something along the lines of Hebden Bridge / Todmorden, but bigger, since everyone says it's the best place in the US to live, is totally right on and wonderful in every way.

It is true that the place is full of cyclists, ethical furniture shops and stoner-ish students. Sweetly, its bus lines have names like hop, skip and jump. But it's also the yuppiest city I've ever been to - so it is full of oxygen bars, smug people, over-priced restaurants and travel agents specialising in Nepal and Tibet.

And the most beggars I've seen since I arrived in the states - with signs saying things like "way beyond hungry" and "punched (in the face!) and hungry".

Chicago, Illinois

I've got a few hours to kill in Chicago between trains, and I thought I'd write something about traveling by train here because it is so different from doing so in Europe.

Firstly, on nearly every line there is only one train each day, often in the middle of the night.

Secondly, the trains are almost universally late - on long distance trains usually up to around 2 hours, but it can be much more. Mine was an hour late leaving Pittsburgh and nearly two hours late into Chicago. Mainly because freight trains always take precedence (because they bring in income, whereas the passenger trains are run at a loss).

Once the train has arrived, all the embarking passengers queue at one door. Then the guard picks out first families with children, then people in groups of two or more, and seats them first. Only after that can others get on.

The trains (some at least) are double decker, and the seats are huge, with lots of leg room. They recline, and a leg rest comes out to make it easier to sleep. The best approach is to try to get two seats to yourself which, with the leg rests out, make a pretty decent bed.

Conversation with strangers is pretty much mandatory (the opposite of the tube).

And there is one group of people you are bound to meet on an Amtrak train, in this area at least - the Amish, who prefer trains to other long distance methods of transport (apparently).

In my carriage, along with the usual assortment of travelers there was an Amish father and son, complete with straw hats (but wearing buttons...), a drunk who couldn't remember where he'd gotten on, and two young men (about 20) carrying bibles and singing praise songs while everyone else was trying to sleep.

Pittsburgh to Chicago was just over 9 hours, Chicago to Denver will be about 17.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania III

We watched the first Presidential debate last night. The consensus of the pundits seems to be that it was a draw - it was focused on foreign policy, which is an area in which McCain is considered stronger than Obama; Obama held his own, without delivering a knockout blow.

This doesn't give much sense of what it was actually like. Both candidates were impressively articulate, but their styles differ, and I think the difference favours McCain. Obama is clearly an intellectual - calm, considered, understated but nevertheless definitely charismatic. He was much more effective at weighing up the importance of different commitments or policies, while McCain stuck to themes that make him sound good (pork barrel etc) while ignoring the key issues.

McCain is less charismatic but somehow he is able to tap into people's emotional side more effectively. His anecdotes seemed more genuine, and I thought that although Obama "won" the majority of the points throughout the debate, McCain scored the last - and most important one - with his comments about knowing how to heal the wounds of war, and how much he love veterans. It sounds cheesy but his political skill is that he was able to pull it off.

People often say that American voters have a tendency to vote for people they could imagine going for a beer (or having Thanksgiving dinner) with, and on this score McCain, playing the role of the opinionated but loving patriarch, wins hands down.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania II

http://videobama.mirandajuly.com/

In case the sight of two sexy women wrestling helps you want to donate to Barack Obama...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The left/Democrat-leaning press seems determined to convince us all that Obama can - and will - win. Magazines are full of suggestions for the first 100 days of renewing the nation and faith in government. There are endless stories about lifelong Republicans who can't quite explain it but... they will vote Obama. There's just something about him apparently. One even said something along the lines of "I wasn't even listening to the words, but I liked his voice and that's why I'm going to vote for him".

It's hard not to think this is a slightly desperate attempt to keep up morale.

Cleveland, Ohio

I have found reasonably convincing proof that America is a more advanced nation than England:

1. Peanut butter pie
2. Peanut butter cup Ben & Jerry's ice cream
3. No waiting list for an allotment (here at least)

On the other hand, there are a few stikes against:

1. One train per day out of Cleveland in each direction - both between 2 and 3 am
2. No pedestrian access to Cleveland's long distance train station (!)
3. Local taxes spent buying the most expensive site in the city and building an America Football stadium on it - used only 9 times a year and unaffordable for the majority of residents of the city...
4. Black poverty levels which make some streets look a lot closer to Umtata, South Africa than the rest of the USA

Most surreal experience in Cleveland: going to a public chalk art festival where a Caribbean band performed an hour of songs about how everyone should vote for Obama.

Word on the street is that he won't carry Ohio, and McCain knows it, so will campaign hard in the area in order to deplete the Obama camp funds.

Friday 19th September 2008 – 20:45 local time, Ziemia Cieszynska (Third Lock, Welland Canal)

You probably didn't, but just in case you were wondering where post rock went... I can enlighten you. Upstate New York. You heard it here first (and on NPR in Buffalo, NY. NPR is such a strange institution, but I'm grateful for it has international news...).

Friday 19th September 2008 – 18:25 local time, Ziemia Cieszynska (First Lock, Welland Canal)

All is not lost. Miraculously, comfort food never before seen on this ship has appeared, as if by magic, as if someone sensed my deep need! Belgian chocolates, boiled sweets, slightly dubious Polish chocolate bars... and I've still got a jam sandwich saved from breakfast in my cupboard...

Friday 19th September 2008 – 17:25 local time (I think), Ziemia Cieszynska (Lake Ontario, near Niagara Falls)

More waiting. Our ETA seems to be constantly slipping away into the future.

The voyage was sold to me as 12 days – taken literally, we would have arrived at noon yesterday. We were delayed by Ike but on the basis of the times for the seaway, lakes and locks posted on the bridge we seemed on course to arrive today. But each of the times appears to be a slight underestimate, so we keep losing time.

Yesterday morning I calculated we would arrive at about 4am tomorrow, and by the evening we were told “reliably” it would be probably around 10am. Now it is looking more like 2pm. Small differences. But I am getting so expectant about disembarking – being able to choose my own food! Being able to call the people I'm staying with an apologise for being 3 days late. Being able to check my emails and write home etc – that every extra hour is almost physically painful, creating real anxiety in me.

This may also be because I am about to run out of comfort food (having carefully rationed it for an ETA of 18th plus one day contingency!).

Wednesday 17th September 2008 – 23:05 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska (just passed Quebec City)

It strikes me that taking a long distance boat is not dissimilar from cycling. In both cases you become acutely aware of the weather, and specifically of subtle changes in it. It's something I've always appreciated about cycling, and I feel the same now.

I thought of this because the weather has been so changeable on the voyage – calm days of glorious sunshine and the tremendous waves, wind and leaden sky (and all the internal noise, chaos and seasickness that accompanies them!) when we caught the tail end of hurricane Ike, just west of Newfoundland.

Last night there was the most incredible sunset, we sailed due east, straight into 180 degrees of fuschia and glowing orange, with the full moon rising right behind us, reflecting the pink of the sky ahead.

Today we have spent most of the day in a cloud of rain and fog, so we could barely see the shore 200m away and almost missed Quebec City as we passed it.

Tuesday 16th September 2008 – 23:15 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

I've finished The Audacity of Hope and maybe later on I will write a bit more about it. For now, two thing particularly struck me.

Firstly two facts that really shocked me:

1. In some high schools in America, the students are sent home every day at 1:30 “because the school district couldn't afford to keep teachers for a full school day”
2. “Each year more than twenty thousand workers are fired or lose wages simply for trying to organise or join unions” (unfortunately, no reference given)

Secondly, I was surprised to find a couple of areas of common ground between Obama and Morris/McGann – on performance related pay for teachers (a good thing), and on the obscenity of current levels of executive pay, especially the fact that the richest people make most of their money as capital gains (taxed at 15%) rather than income (taxed at 30%), meaning they pay less tax as a proportion of their total earnings than those anywhere else in the income spectrum.

I'm not sure exactly what this means. It could just be chance that some issues overlap between the two books. But I wonder whether these small areas of common ground are actually really important, as some of the few things that people from across a seriously divided political spectrum can agree on. They could perhaps provide the basis for some non-partisan work of the kind Obama is so keen on.

Sunday 14th September 2008 – 23:48 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

Remarkably, I have just managed to have a conversation for nearly an hour IN GERMAN. Admittedly, I didn't do much of the talking, but I understood almost all of it.

And our scope was wide ranging – from the threat Europe faces from Russia, to swimming with wild dolphins; from the economics of running a ship slower than it could go to the best way to get a good photograph of the sunset; and from the reason the incessant rocking of the ship is so tiring (that even while you're sleeping your mind is still active, trying to make sense of the noise and the movement) to how military aeroplanes are much more polluting than civilian ones.

All of which was very pleasant and reasonably uncontroversial. Until we reached “South Africa was a much better place 20 years ago – now it is just kaput”. I disagreed, saying it is better now, but he repeated that he thought it was a disaster and the whites should never have relinquished power. And with my utterly limited German, all I could offer was a plaintive “but now they are free”, which didn't wash with him at all.

I was reminded again of how much I value the ability to argue about politics (reasonably) articulately, and how much I would hate to live again in place where I couldn't speak the language.

Sunday 14th September 2008 – 18:22 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

As a counter-balance to Fleeced I have moved swiftly on to Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope. I've not gotten far but it strikes me that his diagnosis of what is wrong with American politics – of why people are so disillusioned – is very different from the one implied by Morris and McGann.

His hypothesis is that the increasing polarisation between the Republicans and the Democrats is the main problem. This has many manifestations which turn voters off. Venomous, and highly personal, negative campaigns during election seasons. The inability of politicians from different parties to come together and reach compromises. And the sense that, as an ordinary American, the voter is forced to choose between two extreme positions, neither of which fits particularly well with their natural outlook.

Obama describes these people well: “There's the middle aged feminist who still mourns her abortion, and the Christian woman who paid for her teenager's abortion, and the millions of waitresses and temp secretaries and nurse's assistants and Wal-Mart associates who hold their breath every single month in the hope that they'll have enough money to support the children that they did bring into the world”.

Not that the two hypotheses are necessarily mutually exclusive. But it strikes me that Obama's is softer, its solutions more inter-personal, while Morris and McGann are (or ought to be!) seeking a real revolution.

Saturday 13th September 2008 – 21:10 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

I've been reading the latest bestseller by angry commentators Dick Morris and Eileen McGann: Fleeced (or, how Barack Obama, media mockery of terrorist threats, liberals who want to kill talk radio, the do-nothing congress, companies that help Iran and Washington lobbyists for foreign governments are scamming us... and what to do about it) – you get the idea what kind of book it is.

It was interesting, but not exactly in the way I'd expected. Its title, its tone and the first couple of chapters chapter seem to give it away as a right wing, anti-government rant. The first chapter is all about how Barack Obama, if elected, “would take this country suddenly, sharply and dangerously to the far left”. Firstly as if this in itself, regardless of what it entailed, was necessarily a bad thing – it gives them away a little – but also (secondly) pure scaremongering – everyone must know there is a real difference between Obama's policies and those of the “far left”.

But what is interesting is how the rest of the book pans out. The premise is not so much anti-government as anti-everything – the sleeve even says as much: they are angry about “big business, big labor, big government and big lobbyists”. Everyone, in fact, who seems to be screwing over the little guy.

At times they seem to willfully miss the point in order to be able to justify wild rhetoric against Democrat policies. They manage to get angry about Obama's policy proposal to reverse Bush's tax cuts for the top 6% of earners: “if the Democrats retake the White House in November, our wallets will be considerably lighter once they're finished with us” - again, giving away that they really speak for the rich (“our wallets”) rather than for the little guy. And the vitriol with which they write about the Clintons suggests a personal rift (he was Bill's political consultant for 20 years).

But at other times they speak a language that grass roots campaigners from all perspectives understand – giving out the addresses and phone numbers of the Senators who Chair committees on various issues, and urging readers to kick up a fuss to make change happen. In a chapter on regulating the quality of imported consumer goods they even recommend establishing a “no sweat” trademark, similar to the present “fairtrade” one to enable American consumers to select only toys produced by adults under decent working conditions.

And their conclusion, when considering a whole range of issues for us to be angry about (sub-prime mortgages, murky credit card charges, poor educational standards, excessive hedge fund profits, corrupt military contracts in Iraq etc) is actually more, but better, government, not less.

Which brings me back to the paradox which made me want to read the book in the first place. Someone at RSe (very sorry I don't remember who – shout if it was you!) pointed out that Americans are uniquely (among citizens of democratic countries) sceptical of government, yet have been unwilling (or unable) to curb some of the more blatant – usually financial – abuses of power which would simply not be possible in other countries. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise us that the land of the pork barrel should be unwilling to trust the motives of those in power.

But America is also a land with a strong belief in progress, and in its own democracy. And if the consistently high ranking of this book on American bestseller lists is anything to go by, a lot of people are feeling alienated from business as usual politics. I suspect there could be considerable support for a populist political movement which genuinely shunned the corrupting influences of lobbyists, big business and the Washington “in crowd” in favour of truly defending the interests of the “little guy”.

Friday 12th September 2008 – 20:55 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

For the last few days I have been wondering how to describe the motion of the ship. I have two purposes. The first is just the desire to communicate to you who haven't felt it quite what a strange sensation it is. And the second is to defend myself – my fear in particular – against those who have traveled the Atlantic and who don't recognise my description.

Perhaps it's just what we're all telling ourselves, but I think this is a uniquely – I'm not sure of the right word, but I want to say hyper-mobile, or motile – ship. It is partly because we are small – only 180m long and very narrow (for the inland waterways between Montreal and Cleveland). But it is mainly because our cargo – high quality steel – is very heavy and sits very low in the boat. We, more than five stories above sea level, counterbalance the momentum of the cargo by swinging wildly about.

So, to attempt the description. The underlying motion, the base state which feels like being stationary, is a gentle rocking from side to side. Maybe ten degrees either side, and with perhaps 10 seconds between each extreme. When it is rough or windy, this becomes faster and more extreme – perhaps 25 or even 30 degrees in either direction in 7 seconds is my best bet.

Then there is the pitching, when the waves are coming at us from the front, which is always accompanied by a juddering which feels like the engine has stopped. Being long and narrow, we don't feel the pitching so much, but when combined with the rolling, and especially at night, in the dark, you start to feel as if you are on a magic carpet, swooping around in unpredictable directions, at unpredictable speeds.

Occasionally the rhythm pauses, then you feel it crank back into motion, like the second time a rollercoaster goes round its track.

Friday 12th September 2008 – 20:34 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

Amazingly, just as everyone said, I no longer need the seasickness pills to function. It is remarkable. I can't help thinking: faced with such disruption, surely the only healthy bodily response is to feel dreadful?! Yet I feel positively ok.

Another interesting thing about seasickness pills – they are very good at stopping the sickness that comes from being tossed about at sea. But they do nothing for the anxiety it causes.

Wednesday 10th September 2008 – 18:00 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

Every half an hour or so a great, terrifying swell comes, launching the ship sideways so that the whole view becomes sea, and then sky and then sea again. The contents of mugs fly across the room. Sitting here writing, my chair slowly slides away from the desk. Previously secure items work loose, fall to the floor, crash loudly and roll about.

In the face of such determined entropy, the usual orderliness of the ship seems to have been abandoned. The biscuits which once sat neatly (and permanently - uneaten) on a plate in the captain's room are now strewn across the table, along with the sugar from the bowl that sat next to them. Some of his papers lie scattered by the door. Upstairs the carnage wrought by the wild movement of the ship is even more extreme. In the officers' room next to the bridge, maps and journals have fallen from the cupboard and are strewn all over the floor, while the red bags containing spare immersion suits roll backwards and forwards around the room. The two chairs lie on their sides, gently sliding with the movement of the boat (see photo).

The captain keeps promising better conditions “later”. I think everyone's waiting - understandably – for this promised respite before attempting to clear up.

Tuesday 9th September 2008 – 18:35 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

Someone should have told the chef that on the first day of seasickness tongue may not be the best dish to serve. Even Roman, the tough third officer who shares our table, opted for sausage instead.

Tuesday 9th September 2008 – 18:30 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

At about seven last night the boat started moving in a way which was different from before. We were no longer rolling gently and predictably from side to side. Instead, we pitched and rolled at the same time, tracing big circular lines, some fast, some slow. Things started falling off tables. Doors started slamming. It became impossible to walk in a straight line.

At first I was just scared, holding on to the table and not quite being able to believe that the boat could swing so dramatically without capsising, Then I was scared and felt sick – travel sick and like there was something stuck in my throat. I tried standing on deck and looking at the horizon (the recommended non-chemical cure for sickness), but it was just terrifying seeing the boat swing from side to side and pitch forwards into the waves. So, having smugly held out with only “sea-bands” to protect me, I gave in to the inevitable and took a seasickness pill, and started to feel a little better.

When it got so dark that the horizon disappeared I got up and told the sailors that I was going to bed. “So early?” asked the captain, to which I replied “I'm escaping”. He countered with “but there's nothing to escape from”. I think he meant “there's nowhere to escape to”.

Monday 8th September 2008 – 17:05 GMT, Ziemia Cieszynska

Social organisation on the ship is extremely hierarchical, and I'm not sure why. For example, all of us eat the same food, at the same time, in the same room, but crew are obliged to sit at one end, closer to the kitchen, while officers and passengers sit at the other end.

Indeed, it is pretty much only at meal times that we see anyone other than the captain and the three officers who live on the same floor as us and take shifts steering the boat. Everyone else is clearly elsewhere working, but on what, and where, we have no idea.

Just as in some countries the fine gradations of race are a reliable marker of social standing, here elevation serves a similar purpose. The most senior officers work on the top deck, and live on the level below (with the passengers). Below them live the less senior officers, and below them the other members of the crew. The majority of the crew's work appears to take place at the bottom of the ship – in the engine room, , outside on the lowest deck, with the cargo or in the kitchen. It reminds me of one of those dystopian novels (HG Wells?) or films in which an entire servant race lives below ground, rarely seen and hardly appreciated by those above.

Thursday 4th September - 21:15, Corus factory, Beverwijk (Dutch time)

I thought it might make some of you giggle to hear about the food on board.

I am a reluctant vegetarian, and was secretly slightly relishing the opportunity to eat meat (largely) guilt free for a couple of weeks. Arriving on board has confirmed my suspicion that vegetarianism isn't a viable option on a Polish boat. We are served platefuls of food, with no choice of either contents or portion size.

The first two dinners were roughly what I'd expected - variations on meat + boiled potatoes (with gherkins the first night, and in a stew the second). Breakfast - a boiled egg the first day, a frankfurter the next, with bread and jam. I got scared I would end up constipated and scurvy-ous after 2 weeks of this, so went to Haarlem and bought apples and vitamin c to keep me going. But then came tonight's dinner...

A large pile of droopy lettuce in a creamy sauce. A main dish of three large pancakes, stuffed with that savoury cheese you get in eastern European pastries, and covered in chocolate sauce. Plus, a chocolate mousse-cum-blancmange, with cherry syrup (possibly leftover from the lunch I missed), a pear and a large carton of orange juice.

Surely not a typical Polish dinner? I am wondering if this was a last-night-on-land celebratory dinner, or if the chef was using up his leftovers, or if he just gets bored (as the rest of the sailors surely do) of meat and potatoes, and fancies a change just once in a while.

Or perhaps he is experimenting with vegetarianism.

Thursday 4th September - 21:05, Corus factory, Beverwijk (Dutch time)

Those of you who know me will know that I am not a naturally spontaneous person. I like my life planned, I like to know the parameters I am faced with in order to construct my plans within them. And I don't like it when plans change unexpectedly, or for reasons beyond my control. Well, not much anyway. So not knowing when the boat is going to depart is fraying my nerves a little. At one point we thought it would be Tuesday morning or even Monday night, but since I arrived on ship (about 2pm Tuesday) the departure time has been pushed further and further back, and now stands at Friday afternoon. It's because of the rain - we are carrying high quality steel which can only be loaded when it's dry. It's going to make cars apparently. So every time it starts raining again (which is reasonably often) my heart sinks as it means more delays.

It's not just the changeability I am finding difficult. It is also the act of waiting, which is another thing I have never liked (exam results etc). I am waiting for a journey full of unexpectedness to begin, and in the absence of it beginning my mind is filling up with fantasies (mainly bad - seasickness, boredom, not being able to get the radio to work out at sea, menningitis and appendicitis and the boat sinking etc). If it would only start I could put my mind to the task in hadn, which is supposed to be reading and thinking about America, and then writing about it. But worrying is consuming most of my mental energy, so the intellectual project is onl hold. For now at least.