Loved the piece and the topics that were covered. It does bring forth a couple of issues or notes with the group that I play with on Monday nights.
1) We always play in the same place, but if we do go for a separate location, we will car pool, since only two of the six of us actually drive. That keeps things simple.
2) The setting for the game is a comfy living room, with 6 seats - we get comfy and start to play, while the hosts sit on their computer chairs. A lack of tables makes for interesting dice rolling, but considering that we haven't rolled a single dice in 2 weeks of RP, we're doing well. If any of us (generally just me) needs to act part of the sequence out, there is enough floor space for me to make an arse of myself.
3) One of the group that DMs SLA Industries for us has a wonderful method of getting us into the game every Saturday (only 4 players this time, so it's much more cozy). He slaps on some Ministry and performs a title sequence, where he describes something happening for the cameras that are the focus of the game. As players, we see this, though our characters are usually oblivious, as the titles roll. Recaps will have usually taken place in the kitchen while I make a brew and we are quite amicable toward one another, in spite of the perceived animosity between Michael Rhodes and his Operative colleagues.
4) Munchies - we eat a meal around there, as our hosts have children, so we feed them and pack them off to bed, before starting. People are free to bring food along, so long as they share and share alike. If you're rustling plastic while the DM is in mid-flow, you'd better apologise with the offer of a bag of calories for your lord and master, who you have just derailed yet again.
5) Drinking is a part and parcel of the gaming experience. Be it a glass of wine or a bottle of cider for the ladies, some single malt for our host or just a cup of tea for me, as I am driving, we get by. No-one really gets off their face, as that's bad etiquette, on the whole.
6) Winding down sessions is never really a strong point. I've personally felt like I want to slap a few of my gamers: As I've got a pretty good eye for the time, using my laptop to store my notes and play some music for the background, I've got a clock available that doesn't make me look antsy, when I check it every five minutes. When I'm describing a scene and she interrupts me saying "sorry, but just so everyone knows, it's quarter to eleven and I know people have got to be up for work in the morning", it really harms the immersion. When we do wind down, if she is DMing, her interest stops dead and she pretty much falls asleep straight away, allowing us to sneak out, while her husband (also a gamer) apologises profusely.
7) I've been caught before trying to end a session when combat is afoot. Sadly, this happened two or three sessions on the bounce, as being unaccustomed to the combat system and the charms of Exalted, the players were a little slow to uptake it and while I try to focus on the one combatant whose turn it is, getting interruptions from the Fire Caste, who keeps going on about how she will rip someone's throat out, I have to keep pointing out that they will do nothing until their turn.
I've been Roleplaying with this group of friends for nearly 2 years and I've been playing RPGs now for nearly 15 years - over half of my life. I do make mistakes (I'm only Human most of the time, after all) and I view it as a learning experience.