Personal Dork Assistant

Eight more hours out of

Eight more hours out of my life spent on the lovely Interstate 5. Actually, a couple hours of that was on State Highway 57 and Interstate 210, since I stayed overnight at my uncle's house in LA. Diamond Bar and the whole eastern San Gabriel valley is really growing fast. Almost all the lots in the uncle's gated community are filled in now. Mostly custom builds, so no cookie-cutter houses here. Too bad some of the custom builds are kinda tacky looking. Corinthian columns, mini-turrets, faux-stone facades, thankfully not all at once. The houses sure are big, though. Thank goodness for uncle's architecture training, which keeps his house from being just another McMansion. Outside the gates, every little ridge-top along the edge of the valley are being flattened and graded for new construction. Not cheap houses, either, 4-6000 sq. ft., $500K+. Unfortunately, the commercial districts are the endless procession of mini-malls characteristic of the LA suburbs. You can't beat the Chinese food in the area, though.

Shameful secret to staying awake on the road: singing along to the iPod.

MVP: Old Spice Cool Contact Refreshment Towels. Sure, it's just an oversized alcohol wipe with some funky scent, but it helped in the depth of the Central Valley when the (leaking again?) AC couldn't quite keep up with the heat.