Autumnal Musings

I'm just wondering a few things about Britain...

• In the UK, the government assigns your car a registration number, but it's then up to you to find a sign company who will make your license plates for you. I wonder what the prison inmates do if they're not stamping out license plates?
• The Nottingham City Council has announced that there will be no more yard waste collections until April. We haven't had a killing frost yet, the leaves are still on the trees, and the grass is still growing. Why does yard waste collection stop at the time of year one needs it most?
• The National Health Service does not advise flu shots for persons under age 65. They do not consider students living in dormitories a high risk group for flu. Are flu shots over-sold in the U.S. or under-advised here?
• Among the food items one can't get and no one has ever heard of here is molasses. So if someone is really moving slowly what metaphor do they use in place of "slower than molasses?"
  {Mary just learned the answer to that one: They call it Black Treacle here. But somehow, "Slower than Black Treacle" just doesn't have the same ring to it.}
• Most light bulbs here snap into place with two metal pins in the base. Do they, then, have no jokes about "How many [Brits] does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
• A major political controversy here right now, in the midst of the whole Euro crisis, is whether the UK ought to cease to be part of the European Union. If Britain is no longer part of Europe, will Parliament declare the island to be a separate continent?
• A recent New York Times article noted that the average price of gasoline in the U.S. has dropped 50 cents a gallon since summer. We are still paying the equivalent of $8.30 per gallon for "petrol" here, and it hasn't changed much since we arrived. I don't have to wonder if that's the reason we see hardly any pick up trucks or SUVs here, but how does the market manage to keep the price so stable?
• We're told that pumpkins come from America, and that trick-or-treat is an American invention. But all of the pubs having Halloween parties, for which the patrons are invited to come "in fancy dress" (costumes). Does that mean that Halloween here is for adults instead of kids?

...just wondering.