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I have a California temporary handicapped placard and would like to park in Santa Monica in an area that has signs that say the area allows 2-hour parking (permits of a certain type are exempt). I do not have a permit. Am I allowed to park in these areas for more than 2 hours?

(California DMV says that I can park "in an area that indicates it requires a resident or merchant permit." I want to confirm that I am interpreting this correctly and that it's okay for park for more than 2 hours).

I'm going to Santa Barbara Saturday through Monday in July with my boyfriend and I'm looking for a three-day itinerary. We are looking for a relaxing weekend getaway that includes time at the beach, some wine tasting, a trip to Solvang, and probably hiking too. Which wine tastings are the best? And which hikes would you recommend? Which beaches are the most relaxing? I also read that a lot of the beaches have tar globs; which beaches would you recommend if we're trying to avoid those? Are there any other activities you think we should absolutely do?

Thanks!

I want to go somewhere with a nice and/or unique atmosphere, but hopefully nothing too pricey (ideally entrees would be no more than $25 per person). We're open to most cuisines (American, Italian, Mexican, etc. -- anything but Chinese or Japanese). We live in West Los Angeles, so we'd prefer restaurants in that area (Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice, Santa Monica, Culver City, Westwood, etc.)

I graduated from a University of California last quarter and now I'm applying for health insurance. For my last year as a student, I took advantage of the counseling services offered at my school. I took part in therapy because it helped me get through the stress of an extremely difficult course load during my last few quarters. To be honest, I would not have gone to therapy if it hadn't been 100% covered by my student health insurance. I was never prescribed any medication, I'm not seeing a therapist at the moment, and I don't intend to start seeing one again any time in the foreseeable future.

Obviously, I have no choice but to write that I've seen a psychologist for mental/emotional reasons. The question is how do I explain it so that it causes the least harm to my application? Do you think this is something I should be concerned about?

How does single cell real-time PCR work? What are the important differences between single cell RT-PCR and normal RT-PCR?

My neighbor has been running a car wash business in my residential neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA. The business is noisy (they have compressors running the majority of the day, every day of the week). I called the LAPD and was told that they do not deal with such things because this is a civil matter. They mentioned that it may be legal to have a business in a residential area if they have the necessary permits. My question is the following: how can I determine whether they have a business license? I am fairly certain that they do not, but how can I find out for sure? Do you have any other advice as to how I should proceed?

I'm traveling to Maui for 6 days, 5 nights next week. What should we make sure we do while we're there? We're interested in hiking, going to the beach, relaxing, cheap spas, birdwatching, food (tasty but not too expensive), and whatever else you think we should make sure we don't miss out on.

How hot? How humid? How much precipitation? Or do these things vary from year to year?

I am putting together a presentation on how much waste there is in our world today. I am looking for interesting/surprising/shocking statistics to incorporate into my presentation. Examples of what I'm talking about are

(1) Americans throw away about 100 billion plastic bags per year.

(2) There are 16635 Starbucks stores. On average, 755951 sales are made at one Starbucks per year. Thus about 16635*755951 = 12 575 244 885 Starbucks sales are made per year. Most of these are plastic/paper cups that end up being thrown away.

Please include references for the statistics you provide. Thank you!

Do you think it would be feasible to go to Paris (from London) for just one day? What is the earliest Eurostar train out of London and latest one out of France?

I plan to make about 20 minute phone calls from the US to a mobile phone in France about once a week. What is the CHEAPEST way to do this? Can you please give me a link to the website?

I was looking into the $6/month plan on Skype but it only applies if you're calling a landline. Are there any similar programs that allow you to call a mobile phone at the low rate?

I would prefer to buy it in a store, but I'll probably end up purchasing whatever is cheapest. What types of stores do you buy phone cards from? And what is a reasonable rate per minute for calling France? I plan to buy one phone card with a lot of time on it to use for 20 minute conversations about once a week.