This post is coming at you from a FedEx Kinko's in San Francisco where I'm visiting family and friends. My mother doesn't  live at a FedEx Kinko's, she just doesn't have a fast internet connection.  This magical week between Thanksgiving and the Christmas rush is a great time to travel. Air fares are way down and the crowds at malls and theaters have not yet begun to swell.  The weather is wonderfully cool and rainy just as I had hoped.

Interesting to note that I've gone from the 30th best city to walk to the 3rd best city to walk according to this Brookings Institute study.  But SF is not the best city to drive in, let me tell you.  As a young man, I used to pilot my enormous Dodge Corona across the Golden Gate Bridge to a job in Union Square and thought nothing of speeding above the choppy bay with the railing just inches to my right and a semi truck even closer to my left. Steve McQueen's chase scene in the 1968 film, "Bullitt" was a normal commute to me.  Today, I'm a lot more careful behind the wheel of Dollar Rent-a-Car's Mercury Manchego.. or whatever it is, because I didn't buy the extra insurance.

The 3-hour time change has caused me to wake up at an unprecedented 6:00 am, so I'll sign off and try to reset my circadian rhythm with a pot of Peet's Coffee. (San Franciscans are too cool for Starbucks)

Stay Classy, Tampa Bay.