01.11.05 - 3:40 p.m.

I can't remember the last time I had this bad a case of jet lag. My body thinks it's 5:40 AM. I'm exhausted. I go home, crawl into bed at 10, but wake up at 2AM because in my head it's noon.

Been stressful coming back to work. Can't get things to work, diving into the guts of a complex murky system. Plus United and/or Lufthansa lost my checked bag, which contained nearly every piece of new clothing I've bought in the last two years. I don't buy clothes much, hate clothes shopping, so it's especially painful to think of having to replace the clothes I'd accumulated over time. Pants that actually fit. The few nice shirts I owned, the cashmere hat I bought for the trip. The Doron Ashkenazi stuff I got in Tel Aviv, remember thinking the clothes were expensive but Az pointed out I never buy clothes so if I find something I like I should go with it, remember thinking she was right... Fucking airlines. I keep calling the baggage line and getting "Simon" the automated imbecile. The replacement of human beings with automated help lines is one of the more frustrating aspects of modern existence. I feel my life evaporating away as I sit with the phone at my ear, trying to get through to an actual person.

I want my bag. I want my toothbrush. I know I'm not a tsunami victim but what's the point of these journals if you can't let out petty stress now and again.

Been raining nonstop.