Angelika Upcoming November 6th is the big day, when we'll have elections from which a new President will emerge. Undoubtedly, by now you've heard that this final leg of the race is between the republican candidate Mitt Romney and the incumbent President, democrat Barack Obama. We've been following along the election campaigns for months and months now. Highlights in October were the public debates, a total of three between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama and another one between the two potential future vice Presidents, Joe Biden und Paul Ryan.

Angelika If you've read Michael's treatise on PACs (Political Action Committees, Rundbrief 06/2011 ), you're probably wondering what these "Super PACs" are about that are all over the news these days. What's going on there?

Michael In Germany, "Spezi" is a popular designated driver drink, but it's nowhere to be found on supermarked shelves within the U.S., and neither are similar German products like "Mezzo-Mix". By accident, I recently found a combination of American ingredients that create an astonishingly great tasting interpretation: Ice cubes, a slice of organic lemon including skin, 4/5 of Coke Zero and 1/5 of American regular Fanta.

Michael If you're visiting from Europe and receive a prescription from a doctor in the U.S., you might be wondering where to pick up the prescribed meds. There's hardly any small pharmacy anywhere, but all you need to do is enter one of these big Walgreens chain stores and walk past all the shelves, all the way to the end of the center aisle until you arrive at a window counter at the back wall.

Michael We're just about 2.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and you can tell the proximity by the high air humidity in our household. Salt quickly starts clotting in the shaker, and if bathroom tiles aren't being scrubbed down on a regular basis, ugly black mold quickly starts to accumulate. This plague needs to be tackled every couple of months with a cleaning solution from hell called "Tilex Mildew Root Penetrator". Pump a few times with the spray bottle, and work in the foam with a brush. Let it soak for 5 minutes and watch the tile grout turn white again. Downside is that the solution contains bleach, so you better keep it away from colored fabrics (siehe Rundbrief 05/2010 ), and it reeks of chlorine like there's no tomorrow.

Michael In German households, you'll mostly find high-end stoves with Ceran cooktops these days, but in a typical U.S. rental unit, it's not uncommon to see traditional stove models that still feature old-fashioned burners (Figure 1). They generate heat by running electrical current through spiral-shaped metal coils, which often turn bright red if the dial is set to max. They might not be the latest tech, but they offer one unbeatable advantage: If you make a big mess, e.g. by letting milk spill over, you can disassemble these burners and clean them separately, no tools required. The coils come right off and also the underlying metal plate, which prevents any spillage from entering the inner parts of the stove, can be removed and scrubbed clean.

Angelika On October 1st 2012, San Francisco banned plastic bags at all store registers. Even before that, since 2007, there's been an ordinance in place to prohibit supermarkets and drug stores from bagging merchandise in plastic bags, only paper bags are permitted Rundbrief 04/2007 ). Now, the plastic ban has been expanded to all stores in San Francisco, and only bakeries and restaurants are exempt until 2013. What's more is that stores are required to charge 10c per provided paper bag. Customers who don't want to pay for bags need to bring their own, preferably reusable bags.

Michael It's been 16 years since we arrived here to San Francisco, and I vividly remember how hard it was to find a skilled barber. Back then, I was working in the Italian neighborhood of North Beach, and one day by accident stumbled into a small barber shop on Columbus Street. I loved the haircut I got there and have been coming back to this shop all this time, even after I got a new job in Silicon Valley.

Michael I'm sure you've seen reports on TV about people lining up in front of the Apple store when a new product first goes on sale. They desperately want to be the first to own it, and when the iPhone 5 came out, they went as far as camping outside the store overnight!

Angelika Starting July 1st, California has banned the sale of fattened duck liver. This culinary delicacy is known as Foie Gras, in the U.S. and France alike. Fattening the livers of geese and ducks is accomplished by force-feeding, and animal rights activists consider it cruelty to animals. The ban passed legislation all the way back in 2004, but for the following eight years, a transition and grace period was granted. According to estimates, up to 400 restaurants had the item on their menus in California. We've seen foie gras on many Napa Valley restaurant menus and must admit that we've always enjoyed eating it.

Michael Who's the the fastest mouse in all Mexico? If you're about our age, you know the answer: Speedy Gonzales . The carton series ran on German TV during the 70ies of the previous century and was greedily absorbed by the editorial team bringing you these lines. "Arriba, arriba, andalé, andalé!" the mouse kept screaming in Spanish, which means "Let's go" or "Hurry up", well, does this ring a bell now? The sombrero wearing mouse zoomed through the stories at breakneck speed and kept outwitting and outlasting the slower cat Sylvester.