Just remember...Left.

     It's a very odd feeling you get when you are watching an American film, and you have a momentary freak-out cause you are seeing a car traveling down the "wrong" side of the road.  I find myself wanting to yell out to the tv screen in a strange mixture of fear and dread for them!  I have only been driving here in England for just two months now, yet when I think back about driving in the states, its always backwards to me.  I can't seem to get the damn wheel back to the right side of the vehicle.  And then to make driving matters worst, driving on the left over here after learning on the right in the States seems to have taken on the same effects that one might expect from massive acid abuse during their childhood.  At any unforeseen moment, I can have a terrifying flashback from driving on the right side, and frantically question if I am on the correct side of the road or if I am about to be utterly destroyed in a 65+mph crash.  Happens all the time... Fun like no other, really.

   I had no idea what to expect when we got over here, but I absolutely love it here!  I remember when I was younger, in the States I would sometimes swerve over to the other side of the road and scream " We're in Eng'land!"  There was quit possibly far to much joy in that for me when I had passengers, generally I didn't even get a smile from them, I loved it.  Wonder what a Brit would do if they were riding with me and I did that here and yelled "Shoot-Damn, Welcome to the U S A!"  Bet I'd hear the phrase "Bloody 'ell" a fair amount.  

   I have to give the English credit though, they are every bit as good at driving here as they are at making beer!  Anyone that enjoys good beer will know what a powerful statement that is to make.  Since I have been here I'm sure I have added an inch to my belly from all this awesome beer they make.  And it doesn't just stop with them, they get all the good stuff beer-lovers in America dream of tasting.  As for light beer...I haven't found it yet.  That should be a sign to you that they know what the hell they are doing.  

   Now, I understand how odd it might seem to not only discuss the topics of beer and driving together, but to even go as far as comparing the two.  Well the thing is, drinking doesn't have to really involve a car at all over here.  There is no place like a good pub.

   Take a stroll down the road, yeah it might be raining (or even sleeting), you are damn sure it will be freezing outside right now, and you might even have to walk past a pig farm.  But don't let that detour you, cause a local pub is a mile walk, sometimes with challenges, well worth it!  I had quit a number of bars back in Columbia, SC that felt invaluable.  There is nothing there close to the atmosphere a pub in a small English town entertains.  When its cold outside on a friday evening, and the rain has been relentless for the pass 8 hours (7 of them you have been working in it), the pub will offer a unique spark back into a bleak day.  Sitting at a crimson oak wood table next to a brick hearth with a peaceful crackling fire, that is surrounded by laughter and chatter from the town locals, all accompanied with a warm stout beer (and maybe some chips).  Well, this place knows how to decompress after a long week, or day.

This is No Place for Kids or Seasons

    The Fabulous Las Vegas...fabulously HOT Las Vegas.  Its that time of the year again when many good Americans will be turning off there ac units and sliding open their windows and propping opening their doors.  The temperature outside is topping off at that prefect number to enjoy a house full of that outdoor smell.  You can sit on your porch and hear all the way down the street the inner-workings of each household's tv, games, laughs....and well, sometimes other stuff.  Unhindered by the clockwork on and off again hum of the air-conditioner, you can hear when the wind hits the window screen and moves it in and out like it is breathing. Fall is in the air and is filling us with a renewed hope of the holidays to come...
    For most people here in Las Vegas, reading that above will be as close as they ever come to experiencing it.  Fall is most likely still a month or so away, and can be expected to stay for about the same amount of time as a typical Vegas tourist.  I have 6 windows in my place, only 3 of them open.  I feel that the were installed more for escape reasons (ie. fire) than for "Damn, it feel nice outside!"
   My first take on this said "Sin City" was that it was called that because of the obvious reasons.  Gambling being that state past-time, near nude women plastered on any building over ten floors high, the GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS IN TEN MINUTES TO YOUR ROOM hand outs, the alcohol consumption has got to be in the top ten for the world, and lest we forget you can get wedded and divorced by the same Elvis!  All of this plays a part in the city nick-name but I have seen the double meaning in it too.  The day we drove into Las Vegas, to start a new chapter in our lives here for a spell, it was 117° when we crossed the Hoover Dam.  Now I understand that most folks, when they come here to Vegas, want their picture taken in front of the "Welcome to The Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, but I believe the people back home would get a more accurate idea of this place if the picture was taken in front of a giant "The Fabulous Vegas Thermometer" while sweating out every ounce of hydration you took in minutes after you consumed it.  Therefore I will believe that "Sin City" also means it hot a hell.
    We aren't looking to bad today, its 11:21am and only 85°F outside.  Looking to get into the mid 90's today...for the 1st of October, I'd say today will be a nice day.