Up at 4am, Jamie Oliver's "Oliver Twist" on in the background (ugh, he just picked up a thing of fennel: I hate licorice, and he's going to barbecue it. Oh wow he's opening a vanilla pod and rubbing it into the monkfish rub to go along with basil and juniper berries of gin fame. Cool), me scouring the web for random links and reflecting on the last day.

The reason I'm up is because I was in bed, trying to catch up on Vegas sleep, and I left the lights on in the kitchen. It illuminated the arch that separates my bedroom and sink in such a way that, me in the vague throes of sleep, looked over and thought I saw an enormous guy in a suit towering over the bed. Freaked out, I quickly shook off my slumber in preparation to face this enormous bouncer; ah, it was only a trick of the light! Heart still racing a mile a minute, the day has officially begun.

Tom is a good guy; he's my usual cabbie here in Thousand Oaks, and I called on him to truck me over to Ventura. He's a consummate sports fan, but he doesn't stay quite as connected to the sports news as I do, so it's always fun sharing with him the latest rumors and analysis.

Brett is my usual mechanic. He's got sole custody of the kids, and he's planning on taking them out this weekend to ride in the quads. He couldn't help me with the timing belt, but I understand where he's coming from (the liability point of view), especially since the car could never pass smog the way it sits. Good thing I don't have to do a smog check for another year. Good thing I plan on...

Let me interject here by pointing out that I just saw a commercial for an online gambling site that features online slot machines. What a racket! No one ever went poor banking on people's stupidity.

Good thing I plan on buying a new car next year anyway. Speaking of cars: Javier is the tow truck driver I just met. I had been using Roy's Towing out of Thousand Oaks, but the tow company that 411 found me in Ventura turned out to be almost a 1/3 cheaper! TO is pricey in all aspects it seems. He and I were just talking low riders and hot rods, and I have to admit that a lot of what I know comes from a combination of Gran Turismo and also talking to car buffs in jail. No experience in life should go unused.