I need another vacation

The Red Eye has taken it out of me and I've been home 30 hours. Let's start at the beginning:

LAX is the worst airport in the nation. It took me 40 minutes to check in and then another 30 minutes to get through security. At O'Hare [the busiest airport IN THE WORLD], when I left for this West Coast jaunt, I was able to check my luggage and clear security in about 10 minutes. To me, this is a clear indication of a problem...but that is just me.

Thankfully, the check in/security mess was not an indicator of things to come. I got to the gate and had to sweat it out. I say this because I fly standby. I fly standby only when there are seats available on the plane. Flying standby is a recipe for disaster when the flight is oversold. And this one was by 12. But I got a seat: 4B [First Class Aisle, Booyah].

I have only slept on airplanes when a bed is included in my seat [Yes, I am a namby-pamby, I know]. To pass the time I watched the movie, then an episode of Studio 60 on my iPod, and then I was home.

Home, but completely useless.

My dad was kind enough to pickup my worn-out self at the airport. We headed back to the burbs where I crawled into bed and slept until my dog was kind enough to wake me up 10 minutes before the Bears game [Seriously, she came in and woke me]. When feeling like a train wreck, I tend to take up residence on my parents couch and this is exactly what I did. Unfortunately, the Bears were in the Christmas spirit and tried to give the game away [thus depriving me of a napping opportunity]. After the Bears Game, then the Eagles-Giants game, and half of the Sunday Night Game, I finally returned to the city. And promptly went to bed.

It's going to be a long week.