As a European emigrant, one of the most odd things that we experienced when we moved to Europe was their concept of BYOB (Bring your own bulbs). It is common practice in California, that when you rent a house or apartment, it will come equipped with light fixtures and bulbs. That is in addition, in most cases, to basic appliances like a fridge and stove. That was not so in Spain. Moving to Spain was quite a shock, there were too many things that were new to us....

There are speeding laws in the US, just as there are speeding laws in Europe, so there is no real difference there. The major difference is in how those laws are enforced. In the US we are used to having police officers patrol the streets and highways. In Europe they patrol through cameras and radar. You can travel from one country to another and count on one hand the number of police cars you see on the side of the road (if any). But it is the sophistication...

On an regular basis, either annually or semi-annually, in the US (certainly in California), your highway vehicle must pass a "smog check". You know, the dreaded visit to the "smog check" shop where if your car passes, you only waste 1 hour of your life, but if it fails, there goes a month. They have the same thing in the EU, it's called ITV (Inspeccion Tecnica de Vehiculos), aka Vehicle Technical inspection. Like in California, you have to have your highway vehicle inspected on a regular basis. The...

In general, elementary school is similar between the two countries. But as you would expect, there are a couple key differences; pre-k, schedule, food, required schooling and optional schooling. Pre-K. Unlike the US, there is no differentiation between pre-k and kindergarten. Children between 3 and 5 can attend public school and are placed in different "P" grades; P3, P4 and P5. School hours for P-grades are very similar to elementary school hours, with about a half-hour reduction in overall attendance. Schedule: Overall attendance hours between Spain and the...

In a previous posting we discussed the history of opioids in the US and how it grew into an epidemic. This epidemic had a lot of caregivers in various forms. Some of it was in the form of the governing bodies not doing their job. Others were in the form of marketing and advertising to doctors and consumers alike. Yet others were in the form of companies looking out for their bottom line. In the clip below you can see the extent to which some companies went in...

This is the first of our series on the differences between the US and the EU. This is not your average list of shallow differences between life in the good-old U.S. of A and Europe, but rather an in-depth look at how life there (EU) is different than life here (US). I recently moved back to California after a 5-year stint living in Europe. My work had this great opportunity in Barcelona, Spain and I could not pass it up. I lived in Spain from 2013 until late...

Most people think our current opioid crisis began at the end of the past century. After all, it was in the 1990s when most of us began to hear news about a wonder drug that alleviated all of our pains and aches. Before that, all such wonder drugs were additive, yet Oxycodone, or as most of us know it, Oxycontin, promised no addition. How could this be? How could such a drug exist? The answer is simple, it was false advertising and misinformation. In a recent NPR PodCast,...