The past couple of weeks have been kinda psycho at work so I haven’t really had the time or inclination to write. To quote the late, great Don Adams from “Get Smart” – “Sorry about that chief”.

I’m pleased to report that Olivia has settled into her new job okay. After a pretty scary first week, things have sorted themselves out as they always do. Hooray! Lucky for her the hospital she’s at is only about a 25-30min commute from home. I’m feeling a little ripped off with my 75 minute door to door trip, butfor the moment thems the breaks.

A few observations:

Did you know that in some parts of the UK milk still gets delivered by the milkman? My work is one such place and they do the “whole glass bottle with foil top” thing – which I think it’s fabulous.

They don’t really eat pumpkin over here. From what I can gather it only makes an appearance around this time of year for Halloween. I never would have thought that they’d celebrate Halloween over here, but there you go.

The TV show “Law & Order” has a different theme song over here. I know a lot of my friends hate the franchise but I must confess to being quite a fan. In Australia the three variants (L&O regular, SVU and Criminal Intent) all have theme songs based loosely around the same tune. Some of you may remember me joking about having the L&O song as my bridal waltz. Somehow that one never got past the committee. Anyway, over here the song is a lot more dramatic and full of itself. I don’t like it one fig.

I like to think of myself as being able to crack the occasional funny. Tomorrow is four months since we arrived and it did not take me long to realise that Brian humour simply doesn’t have the same affect over here. Unfunny bastard that I am.

This morning we watched “Sin City” on DVD. It’s a great film. I heartily recommend it.

Whoever it was that designed the trains over here definitely did not consult the gurus at Mitsubishi. Who remembers those famous “not so squeezy” ads where the three sumo wrestlers appeared to fit into a Mitsubishi truck without too much trouble? Well I am reminded of this every day when I catch the train to and from work.

The trains are crowded so seats are at a premium. When you do manage to snag a seat, the seats themselves are quite narrow. So narrow in fact that when you have three people sitting next to each other, the first two are bunched up against each other and the third has one buttock hanging off the edge. The poor third person then gets knocked by everyone passing by as they get on or off the train.

Now you’re probably there thinking “Now, Brian, you’re not exactly … how should I say… slim, are you?”. .. and you’d be correct. The thing is I’ve taken to observing this daily crush and keeping an eye on the people involved. On the whole, if you’ve got 3 young school children or 3 super waifs there won’t be a problem. However, even regular sized people are subject to the uncomfortable squeeze. It’s crazy to watch. I know that smaller seats enable the train to seat more passengers, but really… this is ridiculous. I really should measure the width of the seats…

Yes folks, I really DO need an iPod so I can lose myself in the music rather than taking notice of such inane things…