Thanks for the link Rick, I'll check it out :-) Speaking of this months unusually hot weather, I just came across this article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-october1-2008nov01,0,5292299.story
October becomes warmest on record for L.A.
Thanks to an 11-day heating streak, October 2008 has become Los Angeles' toastiest in history..............