I just returned from a delightful Thanksgiving dinner with my parents. The streets and highways, which were eerily deserted when I drove to Albany at 5:30 p.m. were packed with fellow Thanksgiving-returnees. I quickly realized that many of them were, unlike me, most likely drunk; an accident I passed in the center lane on the freeway deepened my suspicions. The toll plaza was back up clear to the split (quite a ways and significantly worse than the morning commute, for those of your not familiar with the Bay Bridge), which made me glad that I wasn't heading back to San Francisco. It took me a while to figure out why the traffic was so much heavier heading into the city, but I'm guessing that since people's homes are more expensive in SF people opted to have Thanksgiving at their East Bay friends' larger houses.

When I pulled into the shopping center parking lot behind my apartment building, the formerly empty parking stalls were now packed with cars. CompUSA, it appears, decided to kick off the holiday shopping maddness a little early; the store was packed with customers.