# I'm back in the U.S. of A. and I can't sleep. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772 "2003-10-16T13:09:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/1 "2003-10-16T13:09:23Z")
Jet lag. Jet lag sucks. For those of you that don’t know, I just spent the last six weeks in Europe. I came back here last night. It’s hot. It’s about 35-40 degrees warmer here than it was in Amsterdam, where I largely spent my time. And it rained, which it doesn’t do much here. I miss the weather. I am happy to have my 24-hour fast food place (Del Taco) back, and overnight grocery stores, but really, it’s not like I _need_ those things. At least, not in the larger scheme of things. As long as you time it right, you can still get pretty much the same stuff in Europe that you can here. I miss all the little shops that specialize in particular goods. And hearing the key turn in the lock, meaning that someone you’ve been waiting for all day to come back from work is home. I miss my boyfriend. A lot. I think it’s time to sign on to [orbitz.com](http://orbitz.com) and start looking at flights back. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/2 "2003-10-16T13:16:31Z")
Melatonin! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/3 "2003-10-16T14:04:45Z")
I know exactly how you feel about the weather, **Heloise**! I like cool, wet weather myself. And the shops. I don’t know about the shops in Europe, since I was doing the backpacking trip and didn’t have a lot of space for buying things. But I’ve been in New Orleans, and it has lots of shops, so I kinda know what you mean. No experience at all with the lock thing, though. So… When is **Clogboy** going to change his name to **Mr. Heloise**? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/4 "2003-10-16T14:56:39Z")
Poor **Heloise**. Glad you made it back OK, and aren’t suffering too much. We have lovely cool weather over here. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/5 "2003-10-16T18:05:16Z")
How long were you in Europe, **Johnny**? And where? As for the name change, I’m still trying to convince him that Vegas isn’t all that bad! 😃 Thanks, **Angua**! Only mildly suffering (heh!), nothing a several thousand mile move wouldn’t cure. And yes, you do have fabulous weather over there. As soon as the pilot said, “And the weather is currently 95 degrees,” I wanted to start crying all over again!!! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/6 "2003-10-16T18:13:58Z")
> [@](#): > > How long were you in Europe, **Johnny**? And where? After high school I did the “European Backpacking Thing” with my best **fiend**. We started in London, then went over to Oostende for about eight hours before heading off to Milan. From there we went to Florence, then Venice, Vienna (just for a couple of hours), Munich, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Uppsala. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/7 "2003-10-17T01:52:21Z")
Well I’m glad you’re home but I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you – things just didn’t work out that evening in the pub, stuff sometimes crops up unexpectedly. Hope you got to see some of the real town, as welll as the usual tourist destinations. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/8 "2003-10-21T11:06:50Z")
We did our best, L\_C. I was wondering what had happened to you. Everything all right? Oh, and **Heloise**? Just did some Travelocity browsing. You can come over for nearly a month, starting mid December, for less than €425. Interested? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/9 "2003-10-21T14:48:10Z")
I just got back from the old country (alright, it was France, so I guess the smelly country is a little more accurqate) on Sunday. I was wide awake around 5am this morning. As for choosing between a tiny village with two patisseries and a 24 hour drive thru beer store, it’s a tough choice. I’ll take the one that stays above freezing all year round. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/10 "2003-10-21T18:12:37Z")
A few years back I came back to the states from Osaka Japan and had severe jet lag. Just as night was falling I lost my power as well. There is very little to do at night without power. It is difficult to read, there is no computer, there is no TV… Finally around 3 I drew a hot bath, opened a bottle of wine and drank it until I felt sleepy. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-back-in-the-u-s-of-a-and-i-cant-sleep/207772/11 "2003-10-22T00:28:15Z")
Yep, fine thanks **Coldie**. Just a deadline I hadn’t paid sufficient heed to but that also decided to become trickier as well. Hope we have better luck next time!