Well, yesterday I said goodbye to a dear friend that I have known since I was a wee lad.  All of the good times spent together, coalesced into a deep trust. A familiarity that seemed so surprisingly natural, considering it's rarity.  But Mike has left this place and traveled up through the clouds to reach another place. Another world. Though the sun always shines where he has gone, we will miss him and look forward to seeing him again, someday…

But with the price of oil inflating airline tickets, it may be some time before I travel out to his new home in CalEforNyah (I believe that is the correct gove-nator pronunciation). That's right, my friend has moved to the left coast, with all the crazies, hippies, and beach hotties (there's always a silver lining).  I'm sure the shift from his urban Atlanta lifestyle to the quaint township of San Deigo will take some time.  Luckily his ferverent viewings of the OC will help to ease the transistion as he masters the new language and currency.

CalEforNyah has its own language. For instance, "the" must be inserted as often as possible into any and all statements such as: "I need to go to the store to get the bread for the meal, I would take the 9 to get there but due to the construction I will take the 5". Also he will have to learn some new words like "medicinal-marijuana" and "fly-over-states".

California also has its own currency. While the paper bills and coins are surprisingly similar to US currency, they are not nearly as valuable. A good rule of thumb is 4-5 Cali-dollars for every real dollar, depending on the area. This where many people get confused over their potential salary in C-land until they go house shopping…