Don't pet the dogs

It's freezing here again today. It snowed last night, and now it's pissin' and windy. I dare not go outside. I went for a jog last night through the lovely streets of Capel and almost died twice: once cause it was so damn cold and I thought my lungs had completely frozen through, and once cause I thought a big white rabid dog was coming after me. I was jogging down a side-road, and spotted a house with an open front door. Sitting in said door was a large white dog. As I jogged closer, he started BOOKIN' it out the door with a not so happy bark, so as you might expect, I followed his lead and BOOKED it the hell outta there. Damn dog scarin' me n' whateva.

Speaking of dogs, in England, you can't just pet someone's dog. Yes, I realize you may not really be interested in dog-petting etiquette, but hey, I must warn anyone who's planning on visiting. You know, if you're walking down the street in America, and someone's dog seems nice and friendly, it's perfectly fine to give the pup a lil' somethin' somethin' scratchy scratchy. In England, ya just don't do it. At first I just thought people were rude, but then Paul enlightened me, or maybe he's just pulling my leg...

And lemme tell you about this town I live in. It's beautiful, I've never been anywhere like it. I'll never get sick of the natural beauty, the view of the sea, the lights of France across the water, and the endless farmland behind our house. And when you walk down the road in England, old men will seriously say "Ello, luv" when you walk by. How great is that? I gotta say though, I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to small town life. Or should I say teensy itty bitty town life. Get this - the other day at the Village Hall (which is in no way, shape, or form like the Village Hall you're picturing in your head. It's like a small brick building with a 12-car parking lot). Oh sweet - I found a picture of it online, check it out.

Anyways, as I was saying, the other day I went to the playground with Elijah (which is right next to the Village Hall). He had to go potty, so we headed inside, but it was locked. There's a small open entry, and in this entry is a large rack of books for sale. On the rack is a little box that says "Honour Box". Meaning, put your money in here and buy a book. There were plenty of one and two pound coins in there, as well as some small change. Mind you, this money is in a flimsy plastic see-through container. I'm amazed that the honor system is still in use, and it obviously works, and no one swipes the money! Wow. As we left the building and walked through the small parking lot, I glanced into a parked car and saw a baby in the backseat, ALONE, happy as can be. No one was around. Holy crap - you can leave your kid in the car here????? I don't understand.