I'm back from LA, and I have to say that I am completely knackered. I've been up since "3:45 am" (I'm using quotes for PDT times, as I spent the entire weekend pretending I was on EDT, putting me back - for three days - on my old college schedule of going to bed between 2 and 3 am and getting up between 9 and 10 am). I think it was more the travel than the time switch that's thrown me off, but it still doesn't change the fact that I'll be asleep about 8 seconds after my head hits the pillow.

That won't be for a few hours yet, as I'm at the new Wellesley Public Library, which just opened a couple of weeks ago. I may not be huge fan of the town, but they know how to build a library.

Some quick hits on the trip:

* Having now finally flown into LAX in the daytime, I think I now have some idea of what is meant by sprawl. I've heard about it, but couldn't appreciate it until we were on approach and it was LA as far as the eye can see. With all due respect to current residents and the once-and-future Angelino Joe Wright, living there would drive me batty. Too much everything.

* There was also this weird passive-aggressive urgency. People seemed to always have somewhere to go or something to do, but weren't all Type A about it. They never stopped talking about it, but it wasn't in your face. Also, everyone seems to have at least 2 jobs due to the cost of living. It's the first time I've felt lucky to live in the Boston area where that's concerned.

* It was overcast the entire time I was there, though there was some burn-off in the afternoons (I'm told it wasn't smog, and I'll give the locals the benefit of the doubt). So much for sunny California!

* Whose bright idea was it to put sewage treatment and electricity generating plants near the beach? Saw that today as we were taking off.

* Consider today's route: LA to Cincinnati to Boston. Consider you also have two planes: the Boeing 737 and its big brother, the 757. Which would you fly on which leg? If you had the 737 making the run from LA to Cincy, there's a job waiting for you with Delta. I suppose we have Southwest to blame for this.

* It was a little strange to get back from dinner last night only to have Sportcenter giving results from their Sunday Night Baseball telecast. I suppose I could get used to it (that and NFL Sundays ending early enough that you can get a late dinner after the ESPN game).

* Strange confluence I just made up: I was staying in the West Valley last night. I've read the book The Dreyfus Affair about a baseball player who comes out as gay while playing for a major league team in the West Valley. Last night, the play Take Me Out, also about a baseball player who comes out, won the Tony for Best Play. Sppoky. OK, not really.