Shel Israel is asking questions of the world. On the off chance that you read this blog [Thank you, Todd] and you don't read Shel's blogs, I'm answering his request to spread the word...

I believe if enough people join in and answer enough of these questions over a period of time, the results will tell us something about what similarities and differences people have. I almost never ask for links, but if you find this effort interesting, please spread the word, encourage others to come. I want diversity in every way that wird is used.
-- Shel Israel, ItSeemstoMe: Questions to the World #4

Since I do read both "It Seems to Me" and "Naked Conversations aka The Red Couch", I've known about this list of questions since he started asking them on November 22. I haven't taken the time to answer any myself yet, but I'm going there now to do so. You should too.

One observation that I'll make, is that the first question received more comments answering it than the others. The first asked the world to predict. The others look for revelations. Perhaps even bloggers prefer predicting and opining to revealing.

So, join me in answering all the quesitons, starting with that first one. Let's give Shel the diversity he seeks, and let's see if bloggers will reveal themselves.

Update: I should thank Letti, and any commenters here, as well as Todd.

The trip down to SoCal was uneventful.

Generally, I like to drive down CA-1 [the Cabrillo Highway in NoCal and the Pacific Coast Highway or PCH in SoCal]. 'Tis a beautiful drive, with the ocean pounding away at the cliffs for most of it. It can take 11 hours though, and this trip we wanted to get down south quickly. And we wanted to see how well they had put our Highlander back together after the accident. So, we took I-5.

The I-5 goes down the central valley of California, an agricultural region similar to the midwest of the USA. San Luis Reservoir affords some great views, but mostly it is sear, dry land speckled with vineyards and orchards. Along the drive, you can see the aqueducts.

The brown grasses punctuated by the greenery of forced agriculture really strikes home how vulnerable California is to drought, and how dependent we are on diverting waterways, dams and irrigation. All in all, an interesting trip.

The Highlander did fine, though there is this hum from the rear. /sigh

We're looking forward to our meetings later today. This should prove to be a very interesting engagement for us.

'Tis strange outside, the sky is mostly blue with patches of high marine layer grey, but fog is streaming past my window.