Reasons to love (sometimes in inverted commas) the countryside/seaside...

1. Powercuts happen, and are made worse, as this week, by someone (from the council I imagine) putting tarmac over the electricity control thing, thus making someone else dig up the tarmac before electricity thing can be mended.
2. We have our own style; like flip flops with Pac A Mac's. People also show no shame in wearing waterproof trousers, even if their thighs look fatter, (n.b. suspect this is unavoidable for all except skinniest yummy mummy).
3. Children need waterproof trousers to get to school, as umbrella's don't work in high winds.
4. The shops run out of semi skimmed milk, thus making us sample strange strained milk, and full fat, and try and keep supplies of long life milk about.
5. Cashpoints regularly run out of money, making you spend less. Strangely this is not just the case with the one decent cashpoint in the Old Town, which is always empty after a busy weekend. It's also the same with banks own cashpoints, even when the banks are open (perhaps they need the cheery Nat West man from the ads ten years ago to fill them). Or possibly they don't have any money in the bank?
6. There is little vegetarian or healthy food to buy in local shops, one could imagine vegetarianism was a faddish diet, and only purchase food in verified health shops. Least it means local independent health food shop does roaring trade.
7. Wellies are everyday wear, if deemed too rainy for flip flops. Acceptable alternatives would be boots or Converse. Nothing else.
8. People are friendly, love to help, chat and freecycle. In particular they adore offering their gems of childcare wisdom to stressed parents on buses or in supermarkets. If they have no wisdom to offer, choke inducing lollipops are offered to babies and small children.
9. Goths are in fashion, but not as much as in Middle Eastern England where they never went away. They have come and gone and are now back on the South Coast as Emo's. Not to be confused with suicidal people as this is Rude to Emo's.
10. There is nothing to buy most of the time, but when there is it is expensive. Primark is no longer acceptable, we all know too much. It leads us all in to making our own (which is another story altogether).