CA trip: From coast to toast

My trip out to California began two Fridays ago with a trip from East Coast to West Coast. I have never been so jet lagged in my life. Of course, I worked the night before my early flight and only got three hours of sleep, so that didn't help. I got in to San Diego in the early afternoon and rented a sporty-looking Pontiac G6 coupe that I would have to return the next day because I didn't originally notice the check engine light was on when I got it. Oops on several people's parts.

I met up with my brother and had dinner with him and his roommate at a nice Mexican restaurant that had outdoor seating and a band. And because it's San Diego, the outdoor seating also had space heaters, even though it was in the 60s at the lowest. Oh, funny California.

By the time dinner was over, I was ready to curl into the fetal position I was so exhausted. But first we stopped by a grocery store that had some sort of wacky lighting for its parking lot. The lights are designed, I assume, to reduce light pollution, but they have the interesting side effect of making everything appear black and white. It's like you suddenly stepped into the first part of "Pleasantville." Or, as we three wise guys preferred to interpret it, a film noir. It made the trip to buy groceries seem much, much cooler.

We got back to my brother's apartment, and I promptly passed out on the floor.

My flight back to Virginia out of San Francisco (more about how I got from one place to another later) was an even longer day since I lost time. But I did get to have lunch with a friend in Phoenix during a layover, and I got my luggage when I returned home -- something that's never a given when I arrive here.

While there were no problems, both days did cement my dislike of flying. I'm not concerned about safety or anything, it's just not at all enjoyable. You're in a cramped seat for hours, you rarely get food that you don't have to pay out the nose for and when you do get a movie, it's something crappy like "Just My Luck." Which is exactly what I thought when I was subjected to it.