Hi, I'm over here!

It's currently 4.20pm, which means that I'm about an hour from wanting to go to bed. At first, I thought I hadn't been affected, but when I woke up at 4am on Sunday and couldn't get back to sleep (until about 10 minutes before we had to leave the house, when I was out like a light) I realised roughly what was going on. Apparently it's worse in the other direction. But not as nasty as I thought it might be.

Seeing Braunwin again was great. I know she reads this so I'll not embarass her, but I thought it would be odd being away from someone for 5 months and then just turning up again. It wasn't at all.

America is a little bit odd though. The flags are everywhere, which I'm in two minds about. In some ways it's a shame we can't wave the Union Jack around without being considered psychopathically nationalistic, but, I suppose because of this, the US Flag being everywhere has an air of the psychopathically nationalistic about it. But the people are all very friendly (with the excpetion of the immigration guy, who just grunted at me, despite the sign at immigration that said 'We pledge to give you a warm welcome to our country), and can't do enough to help. The shoes are cheap and well-built, as are the sandwiches. The buses all seem to run on time, there are no problems with traffic, and I don't think I've seen anyone who appears to be genuinely poor (though some people are less rich than others). But it all seems a bit like Milton Keynes in that respect. Everything works, but it has only served to highlight how I define being British. We revel in the things that don't work. We're constantly complaining about the bloody weather, the traffic, the trains, the government, the weather, the heating, the rubbish collections, the weather, the neighbours, the price of everything, and the weather. But when it's all working...

Anyway, more on that later, sorry this has been so unedited - I'm in a bit of a hurry. New York is from Sunday, and I think that's going to be a different kettle of fish completely. In fact, we've already pencilled in a visit to Pulton Fish Market, so fish might well be involved.