Sometimes Atheists are allowed to gloat

So you thought that by being religious your society was better off? Maybe not.
So you think that Intelligent Design is the best explanation for our existence? Maybe not. (BTW, the Scientologists _love_ ID - it's like getting all the christians to bat for them!)

San Francisco

What a great tourist city! Quite easy to get around (exxcept maybe the hills...) there are so many things a tourist can do; so many sights to see, so many restaurants to eat in (57 StarBucks in 49 square miles though...), beaches to visit, parks to roam. Just great.
Got in on Friday and bought myself a camera (tried to find boots too, but they eluded me entirely in the US) then retired to my Motel.
Saturday I went on a bus tour in the morning, and then to Alcatraz in the afternoon. It was so misty (as you'll see from the pictures) that we could hardly see a thing. It was good though; an entertaining tour, and Alcatraz had a bunch of stuff to do (human guide, audio tour, just generally wandering about)
Sunday the weather got better and I went out and wandered around Fisherman's wharf, inside a submarine (wow - really small!) around to downtown and into MOCA (is it good that it sounds like it's mocking me?). Tried again to find boots, or even internet!

Back from the US of A

I had a great time kicking around (mainly) California for the past 2.5 weeks. I went on a tour of Yosemite, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon (thanks Mel!) and then spent a week in San Diego where I attended the RubyConf - my first foray into the world of Nerd Conferences.
See here for pictures of the fun we had on the tour. I'll put up some photos on my own site of the places I went while not on tour - though there aren't that many and they don't have people in so aren't as interesting.
Since getting back 4 days ago I've had a 'luggie' that I picked up on the plane (I think) but have managed to spend every night bar last night with Sharon. We saw Oliver Twist (which was almost a disappointment; Sykes is just not scary enough) and entered the Evening Standard win a Flat competition (well, there's no other reason I'd buy that stupid newspaper).
OK, hope you are all well, I will enter more detailed information in the coming days (I promise :)