Greetings from sunny So-Cal

Hey, I've finally made it to the left coast, much to the amazement of my friend Brian who thought it would be a cold day in hell when I finally got out here to visit him. It certainly didn't hurt that my plane tickets were paid for.

You see, some folks that we dogsit for happen to breed and show Brussels Griffons (think small, Ewok looking dogs). Or, if you're a movie buff and have seen "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson & Helen Hunt, it's the little dog that Greg Kinnear had across the hall.

Anyhow, a buyer for one of the latest puppies is located here in the LA area, and our friends were unable to make the trip out to escort the puppy for a variety of reasons. I, on the other hand, jumped at the chance when they asked us. Actually, they asked my wife first, but she had stuff going on, so she suggested I try and hook up with Brian (the cynical one mentioned earlier). So, we found out on Tuesday evening and by Friday I was in LA with this adorable puppy named Angus.

As I mentioned, this is my first time here, and it's been a pretty cool experience. Did some touristy stuff, and some not so touristy stuff. My recommendations include:
• the Warner Brothers backlot tour (if you're really ambitious/rich you can go for the $125 in-depth tour, but we stuck with the $35 normal tour. Still pretty cool). I'm told the Universal one is pretty lame, since it's not a real working lot like the WB one is. We even got to walk around the actual set of the Gilmore Girls.

• Roscoe's for Chicken & Waffles - yes, I had that same reaction you're having right now, but it was pretty darn tasty. Get the Scoe's #1 which is a 1/4 chicken and 2 waffles and you won't go away hungry.

• Bob's Big Boy in Burbank - the oldest one in the country. tasty shakes, tasty food and Big Boy!