I honestly don’t know how England can consider itself a civilized nation when it’s impossible to BUY ANYTHING past 6pm on a weeknight and 4pm on the weekend. In America, retail businesses realize that most people actually shop  when they’re not at work, which means that they’re open at hours when people can potentially visit them. For example, today Snookums and I headed out to look for coffee cups, bookshelves, and new winter coats. We managed to make it into one shop before they all closed. What’s up with that?! We had money to burn! And we were denied by the arcane belief that every worker needs to be home and clustered around the telly by 6:30 every night. And don’t even get me started on New Year’s Day – this place was DEAD! I crave the convenience of America’s 24-hour consumer culture. I guess all that’s left is the Internet…