What I miss (and don't miss) from the States

I am going to put together a list of things that are not present, for better or worse, here in New Zealand but were back in the Old Country. In order to give equal treatment, there will be equal numbers of items on each list. This will be a living list; changing as I experience more of Kiwi life. The aim is to allow you, my esteemed reader, a window into my life and how it is different on this side of the big puddle.

Things I do miss:

• Freeways
• Happy hours
• Craigslist
• Sprint and other "low-cost" cell carriers (never thought I would say that!)
• Central heating, insulation, double-glazed windows, and other early-20th-century housing inventions
• Epicenter and decent gym equipment
• Taxes (also never thought I would say that! Roughly 28% vs. 15% income tax, 12% vs. 9% sales tax)
• American football

Things I don't miss:

• Panhandling
• Airport security (and U.S. airlines in general)
• Customer service call centres
• George W. Bush (yes, obvious, I know)
• Huge SUVs (although there was a Hummer H2 parked outside my office one morning)
• Biking over Capitol Hill to get anywhere
• Tipping!
• American sports stars