some things that europeans do just make sense.

apparently the US leads the inventions and technology game, but there are some basic things that americans don't have, but should.

like, washing machines that actually spin the water out. here only the most inferior models spin at 1000rpm, but that is the normal spin speed of american washers. the better european ones do 1600rpm, and the best even hit 2000rpm. the clean clothes come out of the washer nearly dry, eliminating the need for a drying machine (the clothes air-dry in less than a day). also, european washers use only 4 or so gallons of water per load, but american washers use 4 times that much water per load. so the "high-tech" americans use much more water to wash their clothes, then leave much more of that water in the clothes so they can use far more electricity to dry them. hmm.

example #2: showers here have two knobs. one is for water temperature, the other is for water pressure. the water temperature knob has actual numbers on it, so you know what you're getting into (what the hell does a line that's half red and half blue mean, anyways? numbers are much better). so you can set the shower exactly how you like it, then turn the water on, and there are no surprises. no fiddling with knobs, while standing butt-naked outside the shower, alternately freezing and scalding your hand until it's a comfortable temperature. just put the knob to 40 degrees--Celsius, that is--and it's perfect every time.

also, the temp knob has a safety feature: in order to turn it hotter than 40 degrees, you hold in a small button on the knob. my husband had an interesting incident just before we left the states (sorry, honey) that involved catapulting bottles of shampoo which hit the temp dial, consequently scalding him. such unique events as this could be prevented by a safety feature on the water temperature adjustment knob. but seriously, kids scald themselves all the time. it just makes sense to have a small reminder that, ok, now i'm using really hot water.

example #3: small cars. why do people think that transportation vehicles must have all the accoutrements of their living room? all that is really necessary is a space slightly larger than one's body, in order to move the body to another location. if the distance travelled is great enough to necessitate more space than that, TAKE THE TRAIN!

example #4: small ovens. who really needs to bake eight trays of cookies at once? the wastefulness of maintaining a temp of 400 degrees (i'm back to Fahrenheit) in a space twice as large as will ever be used, is crazy. certainly we all have the special occasions on which we have 3 pies and a turkey in the oven, but how many times in the rest of the year do we heat a huge oven, just to warm one loaf of bread?

#5: 6-hour work days. oh, yeah.

#6: espresso and a pastry for breakfast. so civilized, so much more refined than platters of eggs&bacon&potatoes&sausages&gravy&toast with cups of coffee and tea and glasses of orange juice and milk and water and where's the bathroom?!