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| A member of our crack technical staff fielding a call from one of The Chant's many fans. (Source) |
Honestly though, I'm exhausted. Work is interesting lately, no, I mean that in a good way. I spend far too much time thinking about work and not enough time sleeping. This is always the case when I'm working on some new facet of my job.
As taxpayers you should be pleased with my diligence. You want me in that lab, you NEED me in that lab. (Overblown sense of my own importance? Moi?)
While the work is interesting, it will be a while before my brain calms down and takes everything in stride. While it's cool to wake up in the middle of the night with one of those "Eureka! That's how that system is supposed to work!" moments, it's not particularly conducive to a good night's sleep. And it annoys the Hell out of the cats.
"What? It's time to eat? Awesome."
Once I convince them that it's not time to eat and they should go back to sleep, I'm wide awake. Two days in a row of hitting the sack at 2200, waking up at midnight with a "Eureka! No, damn it, I need to pee." and then waking up at 0400 without the slightest prospect of going back to sleep is wearisome.
But I shall overcome, might even look into an OTC sleep aid. Much as I dread that prospect. I'm not a big pill guy, at DN 65 I've already got two pills a day I need to take, the prospect of more fills me with dread. I can see myself in years to come with one of these...
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I reckon it's inevitable, the alternative is something I'm not ready for yet.
Yes, I've thought about it, and yes, that's where I want to be planted when my time comes. I know I'll be in good company.
But not yet!
I don't want to go on the cart. I think I'll go for a walk!
Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.
Oh wait, wrong clip...
And yes, I've already got one.
(Hey, the Muse said "Go with Python." So I did. Man, she is hungover.)
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Never a bad idea to go with Monty Python and a belated kudos to Andrew..... :)
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd understand.
Delete;)
Thank you, Nylon12. Many strange things in my head.
DeleteShhh, they don't need to know everything.
DeleteThe daily pill thing.
ReplyDeleteAlso 65, also two pills per day, and the pill container thing works very well. Use it if for no other reason than preventing the wrinkled brow of, "Did I take the blood pressure pill today?"
And every week I play a game called, "Can I shake exactly seven pills out of the bottles and put them into the pill thing without dropping one on the bathroom floor." ('cause dropping a pill on the bathroom floor will invariably result in said pill rolling under the vanity and then the cacophony of knee creaking and old man noises will be loud indeed.)
Arlington Cemetery is running out of space. I got a survey request from DFAS the other day.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/eligibility-survey
I read a good book on the history of Arlington Cemetery called, "On Hallowed Ground" by Robert M. Poole. Amazon has the Kindle version for $1.99. (I know that the book title should be in italics, but I have yet to find a way to make the comment section allow italics, maybe it's just my lack of knowledge)
If time permits when traveling, my wife and I will pull into small cemeteries and look for veteran's graves. I call it visiting my buddies, and I am not yet sure why there is so much pollen in cemeteries. Probably the flowers, yes, I am sure it's the flowers.
Work provides a huge amount of structure to everyday life, and when you retire that structure vanishes overnight. Part of the retirement planning is frank thinking about what and how much structure you will need in your post work life.
Good post. (even with the pollen problems)
I try to visit Arlington when I go to DC, wasn't able to the last couple of times. Lots of pollen in those places.
DeleteStructure? Oh dear, I need to think on that.
Just as an FYI, if you enclose the words you want in italics starting with <> with an I in the middle then end it with <> with an /i in the middle it works like a champ. (In fact, when I first wrote this, they didn't show up because I wrote it exactly as it should be and the code was accepted).
DeleteComputers have a nasty habit of doing what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do.
Enclosing em in the same way will produce italics, using a b will produce bold text. The "joys" of html.
DeleteAs for computers doing what you tell them to do and not what you want them to do. I make my living finding the boundary between those two things and (gleefully) pointing out to the software folks the errors of their ways.
Testing is easy, the idea is to break things. If you run a test and nothing breaks, that's not a successful test, that's a test which isn't rigorous enough. DAMHIK
Breaking software? All you need is a couple of teachers! Do you mind if I send you a couple dozen? Win/Win for you and I.
DeleteOoh, lab monkeys!
DeleteThe Holy Hand Grenade is my fav part....LOL
ReplyDeleteNow there's an idea for the future, I love that bit.
Delete"It's a hand grenade." From Death Race 2000.
Delete:)
Delete2 pills? At our class reunions now we talk about number of pills we are on ,stents ,bypasses, joint replacements and who has passed away.good fun you should attend
ReplyDeleteI'm well past 2 pills and that's not including supplements. One of those pill containers is mandatory and refilling it is a Saturday AM first cup of coffee ritual.
DeleteUnk - I have friends in that state. I ain't quite there yet.
DeleteJuvat - It's far less stressful fixing aircraft than it is flying them. But you knew that, dintcha?
DeleteYeah, there was a point in my life when high blood pressure was a good thing. Now...not so much.
DeleteRoger that.
DeleteI've got two of those damned things, one for morning, one for evening. My wife has 21 old film canisters that she uses for her pill containers, properly labeled for every 8 hours. Fill the things up, order refills, fill the things up, order refills. Yay. The joys of being medically challenged, yay. And now I do three for the dog daily. More Yay.
DeleteWe, both of us, are under 65. Dog, not so much (in dog years.)
Dang!
DeleteI'm kind of feeling good about myself right now.
It’s nice to see you remember how to post (HSWHTPFIHC)
ReplyDeleteWell, I need to pull out the old "Posting for Dummies" manual.
DeleteWhen you retire, there is no insomnia, there is simply a change in schedule. Wake up at three? Just read or watch TV till you fall asleep and no worries about an alarm going off, because YOU HAVE NO PLACE TO GO. WHen I was working and had insomnia I found a glass of wine did the trick.
ReplyDeleteOK two glasses...maybe three...or scotch...OK, i had a problem, but not any more.
Sounds like good advice Joe!
DeleteIt's only a problem if you can't get back to sleep, right?
Well, there's seems to be you replace work with talking to various companies like your pension company, your insurance companies and all sorts of phone beggars, all that think that now that you're retired, you have all day to spend on the phone with them.
DeleteI spent less time on the phone talking to various med companies when I was working than now that I'm not.
And I don't care for talking on the phone...
DeleteI'm just going to have to start getting up much earlier so that all the good comments aren't used up already. You could just post several MP clips and, I suspect, many of us would be good with it. Not that I don't eagerly await your pearls of wisdom and pithy humor, it's that I understand that it takes much time and effort. Running a blog in addition to having a job and wife/family is tiring. Rest as and when you need to.
ReplyDeleteAs to the pill minder thing, I have two, one for my morning pills and one for my evening pills. So all you youngsters, eat your veggies and otherwise take care of yourselves or you'll wind up like me.
Are you going to have Andrew share more of his tales? I enjoyed his post and it gives you a break. I cannot imagine coming up with a new post six days a week.
Thanks for the post.
Paul L. Quandt
Andrew has been bitten by the blogging bug methinks. He hasn't run screaming from the table, nor has he changed his email address. He'll be back.
DeleteTwo pill minders? Holy crap, yeah, I think my Dad had two as well.
"...so that all the good comments aren't used up already" - Good one.
Yes, I'll randomly drop various things from my head.
DeleteNice.
DeleteSometimes it's earwax, sometimes it's comments. My head's a random-item generator...
DeleteHahaha!
Deletejoeh:
ReplyDelete"... because YOU HAVE NO PLACE TO GO"
You forgot the last part of that; to wit: "and all day to get there."
Paul
All day to get there, AYE!
Delete(Now I'm really looking forward to retirement!)
I feel for you Sarge. Conference is running well, and I'm through with the 0600 arrival days at work, but I'm still waking up at OH MY GOD ITS EARLY. Even when I don't have to. I guess I'm stressed, even though I've got this thing wired. Sucks.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the conference is going well. I am so glad that my job isn't as stressful as yours. I don't have to brief anyone, Hell, they hardly invite me to meetings anymore, they can't handle the truth, so they don't invite me.
Delete0600 arrival days at work? Been there, done that, burned the tee shirt.
My wife, who suffers from difficulty to sleep, is now using Melatonin. She falls asleep easier and wakes up nice and easy.
ReplyDeleteMe? I tried one, was dragged down by Morpheus and the Flayed Bull sitting on my chest and woke up 10 hours later even more groggy and zombie-ish than normal.
But, then again, she can take 4 Benadryl and all it will do is stop her nose from running. I take 1 Benadryl and I pass out like a bad Disney movie and sleep for 4 hours (Really great when my allergies are going full-bore and I've taken all my regular prescriptions and I have, have to take 2 Benadryl to stop the slime from killing me and my nose stops, eyes roll back in head, I pass out. Wake up 2-4 hours later choking on slime and have to repeat pills, which results in repeating sleep, continue until allergy attack stops...) I lead an exciting life. I always wanted to be... a Lumberjack or some other fun outdoorsy life, but being allergic to the color "Green" is contra-indicated to a woodsy or farmy life. Not to mention the fact I can pick up a sunburn at sunrise, being of the "pasty northern European variety" and already doing enough damage to my outer layer in my youth to hold me over for 5 lifetimes.
I'm developing allergies as I get older, who knew that was a thing?
DeleteAs to the pasty, Northern European complexion, oh yeah, got it in spades. I can get a sunburn under a full moon!
Allergies can slowly appear as you get older, or spontaneously from... blood transfusions. Yeah, blood transfusions. It's a thing that they don't talk about, but should. Guess they figure you'll care more for waking up alive rather than waking up with a snotty nose or suddenly discovering you're allergic to shellfish (that you've been eating all your life and you discover the allergy because suddenly your tongue swells up to the size of a good-sized carp and you start choking to death...)
DeleteYay. Allergies. And the real mind-screw is that you are actually allergic... to yourself. The allergen is the catalyst for the start of the allergic reaction, the rest of the pain and suffering is caused by your body reacting to your body's reaction to your body's reaction to that one small grain of allergen that started the whole thingy.
Ain't life grand?
Yup, seems that way at times.
DeleteResisting the pill container? I have three. Two are for extended travel times.
ReplyDeleteJust because you replenish the container weekly (Sunday am in my case) doesn't mean you remember to take them.
Well, I have two in reality, the bottles the stuff comes in. I also have a routine at night, give the cats their nighttime treat and give myself my pills.
DeleteThey have the better deal. But a fixed routine helps me, a lot.
"...a fixed routine helps me, a lot."
DeleteYes. I count it a good week when I arrive at the end of it and all the pill minder slots are empty.
PLQ
If you did it right, yup.
DeletePLQ, Same boat, I am.
Delete(to use Sarge's Yoda-lish)
Urgh!
DeleteI am feeling sadly lucky as I read these posts. I religiously take my Gabapentin for the old foot/nerve pain/swelling/attitude thing (herbicides, NOT AO, mind you). I've been lucky with regular blood pressure, pulsing and hair growth in places I did not know I had. Ambien has been a God-send for me and has not caused any side effects, such as irritability, suicidal thoughts, etc. I have lost my memory, but no one has noticed (I think).
ReplyDeleteIt worked!
DeleteNow if I can just remember.
Hahaha!
DeleteI have those, "why did I come downstairs" moments. If I can't remember, I go to the refrigerator, always something in there of interest.
DeleteThough that might explain the weight gain...
My go-to response when I retired was "It ain't like I gotta be somewhere". Still works somewhat.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the pill boxes, I have two. One that has both morning and evening sides and one for the oversize ones just like the one in the picture above. I do the refills Saturday night just before bedtime. I'm up to 15 pills a day without any real serious ailments except for afib. Express Scripts is wonderful.
15 pills a day?!?!
DeleteAnd here am I, whinging because I take 2!
Express Scripts is wonderful.
DeleteExcept when on automatic. I had to stop that for one of my "one a day" medicines when I looked and saw I had 6 bottles of 100 each. (I was supposed to have a 90 day supply) So, now I order it as soon as it's available, but manually.
My own pharmacy has an automated system. Which apparently is incapable of simple arithmetic.
DeleteI don't do the automatic refills either, Juvat. Especially since our wonderful congress had mandated a price raise on all the meds.
DeleteGrrr...
DeleteCongress. Bastards.