since + past simple / present perfect

Google "using since in a sentence."

You will get many sites that can explain all the verb tenses used with "since."'

Whenever I see or hear combinations of words like that, I reach for my sawed-off, ya know?

Jeez, why?

The thing is I've checked many websites and I haven't found a good explanation.

Nothing personal, I assure you, homey. I never paid any attention to that kind of nomenclature when they brought it up at school, and I don't now. I just don't want to be bothered with terminology.

But, then again, I didn't have to learn the language from teachers. It was spoken everywhere I went, but no one I knew could tell you what a "gerund" was. They just used them, that's all.

You are not native speaker of English?

I am a native speaker, that's what I was trying to say. I didn't have to learn English from books.

I must agree with you here, I've learnt a lot of vocab and expressions while watching English films or listening to natives. Theory and practice are two different things sometimes.