Highlight: Talking to Cousin Al on the phone. He's an all around good guy. Very fly, very reliable, and very stable. An old soul.... We grew up together. We went to different schools, but we saw each other a lot on the weekends. He's a couple years older than me and would be a chaperone and chauffeur for my friends and I when we were teenagers and wanted to go to concerts. My father was crazy strict, but he'd relax if I was with Al. There was a lot of drama with our parents and aunts and uncles but never among our generation. It will be nice seeing him and his wife in a couple weeks. We'll spend lots of time talking about retiring from our jobs.
Low point: The fires in California, especially the ones in North County San Diego.