.Cee, I really loved reading this. We Americans are so damn egotistical. I think I might be a former Brit, stolen away by my dysfunctional family! I speak with so many endearments, I have to watch it with women who think I'm being bitchy or suspect, and men who think I'm flirting. I nearly lost a temp job once, for calling an elderly lady "dear" over the phone. I love how you bring out, when you're sitting at home writing, you're not in America, so why should you have to write like you are. I don't know how, but I think we actually do forget that "the internet is global." Thanks love :-)