For some dang reason, they transliterated “gift shop” into Japanese syllables, then Romanized it back, resulting in “GIFUTO SHOPPU”, which they put next to the perfectly-fine Japanese “omiyageya”. I really don’t know who they wrote it for… Japanese speakers who know the alphabet but not any Japanese characters?

Looking up, the towers seemed horizontal, and I felt like I could step onto one and sprint out to the end of it.

Andrew, hachi and I visited the Golden Gate Bridge. The marriage of apparent human sympathy and pragmatic metal signage impressed me almost as much as all the mighty engineering. I really can’t even imagine the state of mind someone would have to be in to consider jumping off a bridge, and I wonder how often this phone gets used. I have also recently wondered how many people regret their decision in mid-air. I think that’s probably one of the worst feelings you could ever have.

Andrew likes to take photographs. He and I wandered around the San Francisco area together for a couple of days after the conference. We found some fine views, like this one near the elevator in our hotel.