The Thanksgiving rush is through. Time for the Christmas rush to begin.

I got asked something over Thanksgiving, and not just once. "Do they have Thanksgiving in Britain?" was the question in question. One too many 'question's there. So here's the answer. No. In fact, there are more countries that have Boxing Day off work than have a Thanksgiving. The whole history of the holiday is: white people were hungry, natives helped them out with food. The white people in Britain are the natives, so we'd have starved to death.

But that's not knocking the holiday. Any excuse for food and a sleep in the afternoon, says I.

They say life is full of little coincidences, and today I found one.

Background to this story: I had a car accident in the middle of the Australian nowhere in 1998 which eventually led to me meeting my wife (look for my October 29th 2002 posting in this weblog for the full sordid details). I was messing with MultiMap online today and found that there's a Lake Seabrook in the area I had my crash.

Some plucky GPS-bearing people went the 870kms (540 miles or so) from the town of Kalgoorlie (nice place, good beer) to the exact point that marks 30°S 119°E (quite literally out in the middle of nowhere). This page shows what the area looks like, and why I'm surprised someone managed to find me in the car after only an hour.

If you're wondering why someone would travel into the middle of nowhere just to find a specific latitude and longitude point, it's all part of The Degree Confluence Project. The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location. Everybody needs a hobby, and there's no better use for a GPS locator and a digital camera.

Listen : When The River Runs Dry - Hunters & Collectors ... World In My Eyes - Depeche Mode.