By popular demand, photos of Bubba, the Penguin, Me, and proof of the high demand for Miracle Whip are now up, along with other photos from the wedding of Sarah's cousin.
American Culture Photo Album -->

Wal-Mart is another American institution.
Like a K-Mart or Target, they have a large range of stuff to sell; the difference is that they have a huge range of stuff. Aisles upon aisles of stuff, from appliances to pot plants, car tyres to baby clothes, shoes to computers, children's toys to guns. Yup, guns. Rifles on one aisle, the other side had Sesame Street books. And handguns in plastic, just like you'd buy action figures.
The shop has its own fast food shop inside, as well as a car service centre and even an optometrist.
Oh, and its cheap, too, so thats where all the ferals congregate.
Photos are up.

While playing on the internet today, it dawned on me that LPG is simply not available in America. The oil companies won't allow it to be explored, much less be a relied-on method of power.
Mind you, petrol (or gas, as they call it here) is cheap - on the order of 50 to 60 aussie cents for a litre.
Calling it "Gas", even though it is clearly a liquid, leads to amusing misunderstandings, when someone proclaims they "got gas on the way over", it simply means they have more petrol, and not a warning to open the windows and stand far, far away.

Two rather new flying experiences this week; on Tuesday I had a few shots at flying (and landing) a tailwheel aeroplane, and last night went for a night flight.

Flying a tailwheel aircraft is no different to one with a 'normal' tricycle undercarriage, but when it comes to landing one, thats when things get hairy.
Normally, you have the centre of gravity in front of the main wheels, so when you put on the brakes, the wheels just drag behind the plane, slow you down, and hopefully stop when you want to stop. Tailwheel planes have the main wheels up front, which means you are trying to stop with the full weight of the plane trying to get past the wheels in front.
Keep it balanced, and it all works. But should the plane start to swing sideways, one needs to jump on it quickly or you will quickly find yourself pointed in the opposite direction...

Night flying on the other hand is just lovely. There's normally not much else in the way of air traffic, so its easier to get where you want to go, when there is traffic, its much easier to spot flashing strobe lights in the darkness than a little wing against a cloud. Night is cooler, calmer air, so its a smoother ride... and best of all it looks so pretty up there with city lights below!
Americans need three hours of night flight to get their private licenses; we need ten hours to get a seperate Night rating... well, one hour down! Unlike Australia, there's not much space on the ground here unlit: even between towns there are houses and other lights spattered across the land... makes it very easy to pick which part of the black is land and which is sky.