I'm in California on a business trip, and unusually I've had a weekend-long lull with no car and little to do but appreciate the surroundings.

The work is in Menlo Park, but I'm staying two towns to the north, in Redwood City. In both towns, there seems to have been an abundance of time, money and effort to spend on urban design. Curbs, intersections, dividers and roundabouts all appear to have been exquisitely planned. And yet there are very few pedestrians anywhere, and it's clear that the designers were in some ways very aware of pedestrian issues, and in other ways utterly clueless. The buttons that one is supposed to press to cross the street not only work, but issue audio signals and speech for the blind ("The walk sign is on for crossing Alma Street.") And yet, at many four-way intersections only three sides are crosswalks, meaning that you are supposed to cross the street three times instead of once if you happen to want to cross a certain way.

The taxis in this town are total amateurs. Having to call ahead I expect. But though the driver had a CB radio receiver, he kept getting calls from the dispatcher on his cell phone, and seemed unpleasantly surprised every time it rang. While on the calls he said things like "I don't want to do that, I'm tired" and "I don't want to deal with traffic."

I know that Cold Stone Creamery doesn't serve the best ice cream. But there's something about the name that just draws me in. Creamery. Cold Stone. It's a great name.

Just now I was riding back to my hotel on a public bus. When I got on, a homeless man behind me asked for change, and I couldn't very well say no with a big cup of Cold Stone Creamery in my hand. He got off at the same stop as me, and walked behind me toward my hotel. When he called out to me, I tried to balance my fear with respect for the homeless, which I had seen advertised on TV earlier in the day ("Whether you say yes or no, look them in the eye when you do it"). I decided to see what he had to say. As he approached he counted out change, and then handed back to me an amount that appeared at least close to what I had given him, saying "I just needed some change." Confused, I said "so...you don't want it?" He said "Nah." Judging by the sounds I heard as I headed to my room, he then went over to use the ice machine.