Nancy and I drive about 35,000 miles/year to and from race events -- so get to see lots of roads, all populated with other vehicles. We probably see 20 states each year, and we often take different roads from the last trip - just to vary our scenery. I have yet to find more than a very few places where people don't hog the left lane, usually going a speed that would be expected to travel in the right lane -- leaving the left for passing. It is marked, one way or another, most everyplace -- "Keep right except to pass". I know that on some city freeways it is consider okay to travel in whatever lane you choose, so you probably would not get a ticket for hanging out in the left -- but you'd likely get the finger from more than a few people for doing it consistently.
Okay -- let's get back to Chip Gnassi. Sorry I led this into a non-related topic. If you feel the need for one more comment on lane choice, go ahead - but keep it to one time so we don't get too many people cranky at us. Thanks.