There are ways in which Milton Keynes seems like a clash of cultures. Its network of roads, for example, appears to have been lifted from an American city in that it forms a largely orthogonal intersecting grid with the roads bearing labels such as V7 (V for vertical) and H3 (H for horizontal), supposedly as an aid to navigation. However, at the many intersections of the network there is almost universally to be found one of the plethora of roundabouts for which Milton Keynes has become justly famous, roundabouts being something of an anathema in the States. Given the rather mundane nomenclature of the roads, it comes as something of a surprise that many of the roundabouts sport relatively colourful names, one such being Bottle Dump Roundabout.
Having generated a sizeable collection of casualties from our various alcoholic skirmishes with Keith and Marlene, it would have been a little more interesting to be able to introduced Keith to a variety of burial grounds for our dead soldiers. Hitherto, they had been stored rather unceremoniously in the garage and it was necessary to reclaim space for the expected carnage of battles to come. Somewhat regrettably, therefore, there does not actually appear to be a dump for bottles anywhere near Bottle Dump Roundabout; perhaps the name is historic, predating the development and expansion of Milton Keynes. Thus it was that Keith had to endure yet another scintillating trip to our local Household Waste Recycling Centre (a.k.a. Tidy Tip) to bury 54 casualties with full military honours, all having served faithfully and fearlessly in the European Wine Lake War of December, 2007.
Various battles are over but the war continues. Following in the footsteps of our heroic forebears, our allied Brirtish and American force will carry the fight to the heart of the enemy with an invasion of Normandy, France on December 28th, following further essential training exercises and rehearsals on the run up to Christmas – but that’s another story.
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