Cold sunny San Diego morning, wake up to a thoroughly lonely house. Put on my warming shoes, plus my Chaz Tenenbaum puma jog pants, and my snowboard jacket. Maybe I'll change into normal clothes; I have showering planned sometime later. But in spite of my half-hearted intentions, this haphazard keep-me-warm get-up becomes my day clothes.

Ignite this Thermador stove and hard boil three eggs. Set the timer on my sports watch for 10 minutes. In the mean time, let me lay my wireless laptop on the icy marble countertop so I can pump pirated mp3 sound wave metallic tingles from my two-dollar head phones. Meanwhile, I duck the shower of bubbles snapping in the boiling pot of water.