I have triumphantly returned to Los Angeles. My car is simmering in the garage, cooling off from its supersonic run across the desert. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am to be able to collapse on my couch, watch my TiVo and sleep in my own bed tonight. I had some tests done last week, and among the results was an indication that my stress levels were through the roof. [Ed. note: Well, duh.] Unfortunately, it seems to be affecting me physically, so I need to find ways to calm myself down when I start getting tense. Case in point: I was driving back today and was passing through the Riverside area (hello, Inland Empire!) and started thinking about work and all the stuff that's due this week and my column that I haven't started to write and this and that... and I started getting tense. At that point, I said to myself, "Take some deep breaths, and just relax." So I took in a nice deep breath. However, it's really hard to take in a nice deep breath when you're driving through a section of Riverside that perpetually stinks of manure. I had to drive on for another couple of miles in order to get to some clean -- well, as clean as you can get in Southern California -- air to breathe. Now I must hunt and forage for some dinner.