One day this week, it might have been Monday, I went to the local supermarket to buy some potatoes. As you can tell this is going to be a thrilling blog. And as I was searching for my potatoes, I realised that I didn't have a peeler. Eventually I found several tonnes of potatoes, nothing comes in small sizes around here, fetched myself a peeler and went to the checkout. Standing there holding my bag of potatoes in one hand and my peeler in the other, I thought aren't I just the picture of a young male living on his own. The only time I ever consider buying something functional, like the peeler, is when it gets to the point that I actually need it. At no point does it ever occur to me that something might come in useful. Another example is how I got up this weekend and fancied a waffle, so I had to go out and buy a toaster. That day I also bought some teabags, but seeing as I don't yet own a kettle it might be some time before I have any tea.

Thinking about it... it might just be that I am lazy sod. That's probably the reason why I have been living in my apartment for a couple of months now, but I still don't have a bed (or any other furniture for that matter). The idea of bed is a nice. As is the idea of a sofa. But... it is just so much effort to actually go out there and get one. I just procrastinate (I can't believe that word is spelled correctly) and make up excuses ... "I don't have a car"... "I'll order it on the web"... "The floor is very comfortable"....etc, etc.

I went to a party a couple of weeks ago. And, in case you are interested, merriment was had by all. On the way to the party I stopped in at my local, or one of my local, bottle shops... to purchase some alcoholic beverages (or in the words of The Streets "...to purchase a hazy escape at the alcohol place"). Now being as I live in crazy, alcohol hating, mad religious Pennsylvania the bottle shop is only allowed to sell beer and other "weak" alcoholic beverages, i.e. not wine or spirits. So I picked up a 12-pack of Yuengling (I think) and a 6-pack of Blue Moon. At the counter the bloke said that will be $11.50, which I knew from excessive personal experience to be the price of the 12-pack. So I said what about the 6-pack, and he explained that due to state law... I had to take the 12-pack outside the shop and then come back in a purchase the 6-pack separately. This is possibly the most stupid alcohol related law that I have ever heard of in my life. But there we are... or at least here I am living in a land of mad religious people who hate alcohol.

On the subject of alcohol. I was looking at the Pennsylvania drivers manual the other day. They have a section on drink driving (or DUI or American terms), which is fair enough. They also have a section on underage drinking, apparently if you have a party at your house and say some 20 year olds come and consume alcohol beverages in your house you can be fined. The fine is around $1000 for the first underage drinker and then $2500 for every other one... and not only do you get fined, but you can also lose your driving license. Which I don't really understand... it seems somewhat random. Not to mention that I believe the incidences of alcohol related deaths would plummet if America adopted European style drinking laws. People would be exposed to alcohol sooner and it wouldn't be the great taboo excitement that it is... anyway you get the picture.

The waiting that I am doing is waiting for those lovely INS people to acknowledge receipt of my application to have them consider me British once more. I was very brave as I did not send the $100 application fee along with the application... cause it is blatantly their fault. However, being a government agency it is debatable whether or not they will consider this to be the case. So I am half expecting to get a letter saying this application can not proceedprocede until they have the $100. Anyhow, I get to sit (or stand) and wait for their response.

On the subject of the INS, I want to write some people letters complaining at the treatment I have received... but I can't decide who I should send these letters to. I mean who, if anybody, are they responsible to? Obviously I realise that it won't make a blind bit of difference, but I want to moan at somebody.

My current fantasy is that I might try and write a screenplay. I spend so much time bouncing of the walls of my apartment in one reverie or another, that I feel I should be trying to do something more productive with my hyperactive imagination. The trouble with this fantasy is two-fold: as I have discovered writing my thesis and this journal... I can't write for toffee; I am a lazy bastard who is never going to get round to actually producing... well anything much;

And finally.... an amusing fact of the day/week/whatever. Back home in Blighty in Parliament they had a debate on how to tackle truancy. And of the 639 members of the Commons a stunning 20 turned up for the debate. Oh, the hard life of an MP.

There was something else..... but it probably wasn't very interesting.