Lewisham

What happened to make the Algerian police escort you? That can't have been cheap for them. Did you ask them or what?

Why was it a gecko? Why not a banana or some other random costume?

As we wait for OP to deliver, I interned at Google, so have some perspective on the 5PM issue. It varies from team-to-team. My team everyone seemed to work 9-5 or timeshift, eg. 11-7, but I'm certain teams on product launches, like G+, were working longer hours than that.

The other questions seem personal to the OP, so I won't comment.

I’m a Brit who has lives in California and have seen things get steadily worse (wildfires and drought) over the last 10 years. It feels like we reached the tipping point here and we are just fucked now.

Should the response from the perspective of mental well-being move from “we can fix this, be positive!” to “it’s broken and can’t be undone, so here is how to deal with how things will now be”?

This sounds highly unlikely, especially on a dual carriageway where pedestrians are prohibited.