Wow, my wireless modem works in John Wayne Aiport - who knew? Just as well since my flight was cancelled and I have a two hour wait for the next flight. At least I was able to persuade the reservations agent to give me an extra five hundred frequent-flyer miles as compensation.

On Wednesday, I began to get just a little bit annoyed at myself. I have this habit of trying to squeeze too much in and then realizing afterwards that I'm not leaving time for the things that are truly important to me. On this trip, I just didn't seem to have any time to work out or go running, and I was beginning to feel like a big, fat slob. But then, when I started to think about it, I realized that part of it was also due to huge chunks of my time being eaten up by business travel, so I just decided that I'd take time out of work to do those things I was missing.

I continued my three hour lunch break with a great caesar salad with New York Steak, while taking the sun on the hotel balcony and reading the New York Times.

My three hour lunch break

The hotel, the Hyatt Regency, was pretty comfortable and easy on the eyes, even if there was a bit too much beige in the decor. It's built in a quietly luxurious, solid, simple style. I particularly liked the little fountains in the lobby.

After returning to the office, and getting in a couple more hours of work, I headed off immediately North, on the San Diego Freeway, bound for Pasadena, to visit my old work friend Fernando. The directions were complicated - from Yahoo, and I didn't have a good map, so I had no idea how long it would take. As soon as I was on the freeway, I began to realize the truths about Los Angeles traffic.

Experiencing rush-hour traffic in Orange County

The traffic soon improved, but due to strange inconsistencies in the Yahoo directions ("turn left onto Unnamed Road"), and also due to the wildly inefficient directions Fernando gave me over the cell phone once I'd gotten lost (Fernando is even more directionally challenged than I am!), it took me two and a half hours! There was something surreal about the drive - particularly the latter stages, where I felt like I was driving head-on into the tall mountains overlooking Pasadena, just barely visible in the dusk. At least we had a wonderful meal, at a place called "Mi Piace", on Colorado.

Dinner with Fernando, in Pasadena

Fernando and I worked together for three or four years at my last company. He's a very smart guy, from Mexico, and he's also one of the most youthfully naive thirty year olds (he was carded at dinner - I wasn't) I've ever known. He has an almost angelic innocence about him. For some reason, he thinks very highly of me (maybe this is why I like him!) and he's always embarrassing me by over-praising me in front of others. We spent most of our time talking about our old company - he left shortly after I did. From what I've heard, the place is disintegrating. Actually, it would be more correct to say that it's ripping itself apart due to the crazy decisions being made by the top executives. The more I see of the business world, the more I realize that most companies just muddle through by having bright creative people at the lower levels making up for upper-management dysfunction.

After parting from Fernando, I still had time to drive over to Beverly Hills to meet with another friend, David. Beverly Hills, of course, is so wealthy that it makes Orange County look like the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. David's the guy who works as a lawyer for Fox Studios who got me into a pre-screening of the new Star Wars movie, if anyone remembers that far back :) He lives in a beautiful little apartment, filled with exquisitely chosen and placed Asian "objets". We went out for desert nearby and talked about the decline of manners in contemporary society. Who says Los Angelenos have no substance? :) David's one of those people I get on really well with - even though he doesn't read my journal but just looks at the pictures :). He's cynical, and quick-witted, but kind-hearted underneath.

I tore homeward down the 405, and was in bed by about 1.00 a.m. I managed to sleep almost 8 hours, waking up at 8.30, so I felt pretty good today. I put in a couple more hours work on my project before taking yet another long lunch break, this time so that I could take a good, fast run along the San Diego Creek. Despite not having run for a week, I did a personal best time/distance today, so I was pretty chuffed with myself (as we say in Newcastle upon Tyne).

I have really enjoyed this trip so much. I've been in a terrific mood the whole time. I've had more energy than I'm used to having, even under the best of circumstances, and I've been unusually social. Even better, I've been entirely free of my frequent, gloomy, second- guessing introspection and the irritation I've often felt recently at tiny little inconveniences. Blame it on the breathy weather, or the lack of stress from the uncomfortable living situation awaiting me in San Francisco, or just on having a fulfilling project to work on while I'm in the office.

In a good mood in the Irvine office

I almost feel that I could move here, which leaves me very confused, as I simultaneously want to move to New York, Boston, D.C. while remaining in lovely San Francisco!