Thursday, September 29, 2005 - Damn it's hot!

It has been really hot here over the last 2 days, we don't have A/C since we live near the beach however you get a few days a year when you wish you had A/C, today is one of them. I don't seem to do that well in the heat. I get very dehydrated and dizzy if the temperature goes above 80, which it is today.

I got a call today from my friend Larry. Larry is also from Birmingham and had been in the US for nearly 20 years. He recently decided to go back to the UK which he did about 6 months ago however his job is US based, he works on-line so his move was pretty much seamless. Larry is coming back to the States for 6 months or so to get his US citizenship, which he did not do before he left. It's making me think I should apply for mine also as I am debating a return to the UK, the only difference appears to be that ;

a) You can vote in the US

b) You must file taxes from abroad

c) You can do jury duty

And of course you get a US passport in addition to your UK passport.

I ran into a guy I know who is also from the UK on Sunday. I  know him  over the years from the British and Irish pubs here in Santa Monica. Chris is from Sawf Landan ( South London), always on about The Krays and The Richardsons and likes his booze. I hadn't seen him for a while and he's getting up there a bit now and I noticed he's looking a bit gaunt.

I mentioned it to him saying " You've lost a bit of weight have'nt you Chris?"

The funny thing is most Californians would probably be flattered and take it as a compliment, being a London boy Chris' response with a completely deadpan expression was " Yeah, I'm facking dying"

It made me laugh thinking about the cultural differences in the probable response I would get from a person born and raised in L.A.