Driving the car

Hello there! Driving update! I have got my permit and now I'm on the open road. Currently my main issues are:

1. Which peddle is brake and which is go
2. Drifting to the left when I look at the mirrors
3. Speed limits
4. Being in the right lane
5. Being in any lane
6. Reversing
7. Going backward
8. Understanding when to go at the lights
9. Getting nervous and jumpy whenever I see a police car
10. Getting nervous when there's someone driving in the lane behind me
11. Straight lines
12. Pedestrians
13. Keeping the brake on when starting the car (see 1)

Photos of the new apartment

Hi everyone, just thought I'd post some photos of the flat now that I am in it.I'm struggling to think of stuff to say about these pictures that isn't blindingly obvious like "this is the bedroom", so... this is the bedroom:

This is the vehicle known as The Golden Bullet. It's fast(er than walking) and it's gold(y looking).

Me eating soup.

Another photo...

Poop poop!

Fanfare please!

I have today taken my first step toward becoming a motorist by successfully taking my written driving test. Anyone from the UK is going to baulk at this slightly: I read a leaflet, walked into the testing office (with no appointment), took the computer test and was given my practice permit papers. It was scarily easy. I could have gone straight out to take the full driving test right away, but I opted to wait until I'd had a little practice. I think 45 minutes should suffice.

But things are never as easy as they sound, because while being allowed to be in command of half a ton of speeding metal required only the most rudimentary of capability, printing a permit that says you passed requires a half ton of bureaucracy and a Social Security Number (which is still being processed). So unfortunately I'm going to have to wait to get behind the wheel.

Give me a week and then, People of St Louis beware!

Setting the scene

When Alistair Cook moved to America in 1946 he started an iconic weekly series of over 900 radio addresses to his native country called "Letter from America". I cannot recommend these programs enough; their insight and gentle style made the letters a remarkable source of transatlantic understanding. While the title of this blog is something of a muted tribute to Mr Cook, I doubt the content will be of any significant interest to anyone other than those that know me and want to keep a track of my comings and goings. I'm going to try to write regularly and actively seek out interesting content when nothing is readily at hand.



So anyway, I've moved to St Louis (a mid-west city on the Mississippi about the size of Manchester in the UK, St Louis is famous for Beer and it's Arch) and live on Heman Avenue. Aside from Sparta and Chuck Norris Street, Heman Avenue is the most manly place to live in the world. It's a nice part of town, and well worth a visit (house guests are genuinely welcome and greatly anticipated here!). I'm not going to try to write a whole lot about St Louis right now because I don't really know a whole lot, but I'm going to blog about my exploration of St Louis and of America.



I arrived in the USA on November 5th 2012 - the day before the re-election of Barrack Obama. I'm not trying to claim credit,  I'm just saying - it looked pretty ropey for Barrack for a while there, then I showed up and suddenly he won. Those are the facts, draw your own conclusions.



So, that's pretty much the scene set.