The Right Of Way

I was nearly run over this morning.

I was walking to the train station to catch and absurdly early train (so early I don't even think the sun had come up yet... gross). I get to a street (not even a street, really, more like a lane), look both ways, see nothing, and proceed to cross the road. As I am halfway across a car comes SPEEDING down the road and comes to a stop approximately half and inch from my thigh. And then BEEPS at me as though I have been standing in the way for at least 5 minutes.

EXCUSE ME?

Is anybody in such a rush that A. They can't obey speed limits on a highly pedestrianized street (hello train station; commuters..... duh); B. Cannot apply the brake at a reasonable time which would allow them to stop a polite distance from tired WALKING commuter; and C. Cannot pause for TEN SECONDS while commuter finishes crossing the road.

I WAS THERE FIRST.

This is especially disturbing considering I, at the moment, have no medical insurance.

And I still have no idea WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY.

Please Place Your Order at the Bar (and it will be served to you at your table)

It's supper time. I'm hungry. I go into a pub-ish kind of place for some grub and take a seat at a table which already has a menu. I figure out what I want and wait for someone to come take my order. And wait. And wait........



This is about the time my friend notices the sign - Please Place Your Order at the Bar (and it will be served to you at your table).



The service industry here is thisclose to nonexistant. Yesterday, a BK clerk yelled at a woman because she was questioning him about her order. THAT HE FORGOT TO RING IN!

Yes, BK. BK, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut - there are more of them here than there are in a typical American city. And they are CRAP!

After pounding pavement in London all afternoon, I popped into the Liverpool Station McDonalds to grab a burger before heading to the train. It was possibly the longest que I had every seen at any McDonalds establishment. However, there were more employees at this particular McDonalds than any other McDonalds I had ever been to, so the cue moved fairly quickly. I get up to the front, order a Big Mac, and pay the £4 (multply that by two for it's approximate Canadian value of $8 - for the SANDWICH), then make my way to an empty seat to chow down. I took one bite and......

I wanted to vomit.

The bread was stale, the burger unexplanatory, and the sauce was missing something..... But as I looked around me, hundreds of suit-clad people were clearly enjoying their tasteless, over-priced Mcdonalds' feasts - when they could pop into any pub in England and, after placing their order at the bar, sit back with a cheap beer and chow down on cheap, authentic, DECENT TASTING English food.

Let's just call it a fast food universe.

Greetings From the Other Side

I have managed to find free internet in Chelmsford. I am now one of those internetless losers I used to make fun of when I worked at the library. Someone please ship over my PC.

Obviously I have made it to England in one piece, though my feet might disagree, seeing as I am now car-less for the first time since I was sixteen (BLARGH!); I walk approximately 12 hours of the day. When I get back to Canada you will not even recognize me I will be so thin and posh.

Today someone on the street asked me for directions. I must look like a real Brit! Oddly enough, despite the fact that I spend about 4 hours a day trying to get unlost, I knew the way to the place they sought. Wicked.

Sadly, as I have no friends, I have no one to share all my crazy episodes with. I am going stir crazy!