Oddities of Britain I

I love living in England but sometimes I just have to vent. Do feel free to add your own observations!

• Ice, or the lack of it in cold drinks. I know this is an easy shot but it does irritate me. Tobes and I went to McDonalds recently and my Diet Coke didn't have a bit of ice in it and it wasn't even very cold. I've heard the whole climate argument - not hot here so people don't care about ice, etc - but come on, it's not about temperature it's about taste. Coke tastes so much better ice cold and yet I have lots of English friends who keep their Coke on the counter or in a cabinet and drink it at room temperature! It even says on the bottle 'Best served ice cold' so it's really just a matter of following instructions. You wouldn't drink a mug of cold tea or coffee so why drink a lukewarm Coke??
  

• Electric windows in cars on the front two windows only. It seems strange to me to have both electric and crank windows in one car but if you're going to do this then shouldn't the electric windows be in the back? If the driver is the only person in the car he or she can always lean across and crank down the passenger window but they would have to be a contortionist to reach around and crank down the back windows. I know because I've tried and I am definitely no contortionist. Just doesn't make sense to me.
  

• This is a big one - lorries (semis) on the M25 during rush hour. I wish I had a pound for the number of times I've sit in parking lot traffic on the M25 surrounded by lorries. Remove the trucks and it would make a HUGE difference. In Texas most things are shipped by truck overnight so you don't get these huge vehicles clogging up the roads all day. Here it seems that truck drivers work 9-5 like everyone else which means that the roads are packed with lorries all day while everyone else is trying to get to work and back again. There should be restricted hours for shipping, at least during rush hour but preferably making all shipping an overnight job. Jason says that it would cost the companies too much because they would have to pay the drivers extra to work 'unsociable' hours. I say the government should supplement that money to make it possible. It would greatly improve the traffic situation and probably save money in the end because they wouldn't need to build new roads. Someone elect me Mayor of London please!
  

• Not having a clothes dryer. Yes, they do have dryers in England but you don't see them very often. First, you need to have room for one. If you're lucky enough to have a good-sized kitchen you'll probably go for a dishwasher in the extra space rather than a dryer (and often there's not even room for a dishwasher). I've seen people with a dryer in their dining room, but I wouldn't like that. We have a combination washer/dryer in our kitchen which means that the dryer part is a condensation dryer and isn't vented so it basically cooks the clothes dry and it takes quite literally HOURS to dry a very tiny load of clothes. So what you generally get is loads of damp laundry hanging up on all the radiators and any available hanging space inside the house (so often it's too cold or wet to hang them outside). It just seems so Victorian and silly in the 21st century to have clothes hanging up all over the house. What I wouldn't give for a separate utility room with a big top-loading washer and huge vented dryer. Ahhhhh, now that's luxury.