London, Day 3: Homesick

I'm foregoing Wordless Wednesdays only for my week abroad so I can continue with my British musings.

I talked to my kids last night.  Did I mention I have no cell phone access so I only get to talk to them a couple of times because I'm calling from my very expensive hotel phone at night?  So I woke up homesick.  Wishing I could walk down the hall and see their sweet little sleeping faces. 

Despite that, I've gathered a few Day 3 observations:

1.  Smoking?  I don't think it's as frowned upon across the pond as I keep passing people billowing smoke like a smokestack.  Ack.  I need to drop all my suits at the cleaners.
2.  Everything sounds more polite with a British accent. It doesn't matter what they're informing you, or how loony they think you are, or if they're just telling you to take a flying leap, they do it quite elegantly and appropriately without loss of restraint.  Impressive. 
3.  There is a TERRIBLE television system here.  What on Earth can you watch???  There's a handful of "mainstream" British television stations, I assume the equivalent of ABC/NBC, a handful of news stations, and that's about IT.  No HGTV, no Bravo or TLC, no History or Weather, no TNT or TBS, NOTHING even close.  I just wanted to watch t.v. for an hour tonight, order room service, and head to bed early.  When there were no choices on my hotel television, I went to an American website to watch my favorite guilty pleasure and you CAN NOT WATCH IT OVERSEAS!  Seriously, there wasn't even a bootleg you could catch (not that I endorse that), but I was hoping for some mindless entertainment to no avail.  What a brainless American I've become.