"Lessons learned from a trip to LA": 1) I love Nissan Altimas; 2) I love driving late at night; 3) My "friend" McKenny is not much of a friend when you need help; 4) My friend Alfredo is always very sweet to me; 5) I have a feeling my sister and Alfredo will get along amazingly; 6) Madonna has her own hotel located on Madonna Road; 7) There are a lot of very hot latino guys in cowboy hats in the small town of Gonzalez, CA (Of course, it was kinda dark and I was feeling very, um, full of life); 8) Sheryl Crow really does make amazing albums; 9) My family is wonderful, even when they aren't happy with each other; 10) Wendy & Wayne = Worry (inside family joke); 11) I'm old enough to be my 7-year-old niece's father (Of course, that is obvious, but it becomes strangely clear when a child she is playing with comes up to me and asks if it is ok to give "my daughter" a piece of gum (!) ); 12) There really is no parking in SF. The rental agency asked me to keep my car an extra day for free because they had no more parking available; 13) Circumstances often work out wonderfully. (It was fortuitous that I still had my car as it was very necessary for me to pick up my friend Corby in Oakland last night); 14) San Francisco/Bay Area is really its own little universe, with its politics, lifestyle, dotcoms, etc.; 15) It is much warmer in Southern California and one really should take appropriate clothes for that climate; 16) I still don't know enough about computers and it's insipid that I still can't figure out my handheld; 17) I like California.