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The Missus Herself and my daughter The Nuke have both remarked that I seem to have reverted to my teenage years. Staying up to all hours of the night and getting up when it pleases me. Playing games and listening to loud music seem to go hand in hand with that behavior.
Well, guilty as charged and I throw myself upon the mercy of the court.
What's more is that the week started with a late night trip to the airport and dinner (oh nice, they're open until midnight) at Appleby's. The rest of the week followed suit, seldom in bed before 2:00 AM and seldom up before 10:00 AM. (I mean that's eight hours, innit? I've a right to that methinks.)
Anyhoo, that's all well and good until one needs to be up early to do something that one truly enjoys. Such as breakfast with dear friends, then all that late night activity leads to a problem. How does one go to bed at 10:00 PM to get up at 06:00 AM?
Well, on paper it's quite easy. You wash up, lay down in bed, switch the lights off and ...
Bloody well lay there for an hour and a half before deciding to get up and read.
Midnight, oh well, I can still get a solid six hours of sleep. Then the mind starts playing games wi' ye. For instance ...
"I could get up, write some, have some coffee, and just stay up all night!"
That's when the body reminds the brain, "Uh, we're not in our forties anymore, not even our fifties. Damn it man, we're seventy-freaking-two, we can't just stay up all night ..."
"Ah, but remember the time in Norfolk when things went sideways and we departed our hotel at roughly two in the AM to drive back to Little Rhody? Heck, we're only driving thirty miles in the morning, surely that's nothing compared to Norfolk to Bristol in the middle of the night?"
The body reacts by saying, "Dude, that was twenty freaking years ago!"
I know this because we were in Norfolk for the commissioning of USS Nitze (DDG 94), said event occurring on the 5th of March, in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Five.
But ...
The body sighs and whispers, "Trust me, it ain't gonna happen."
And it didn't, I did get to sleep and logged a "solid" four hours. Which was enough to meet up with my besties, dine on a marvelous breakfast, then head home and help The Missus Herself in the yard. Said task I was voluntold to do. When I mentioned that I helped in the yard, The Nuke asked, "It was strongly suggested that you help, right?"
"Of course, love. But I did it with a song in my heart and ..."
Who am I kidding? I didn't want to, but I put on my big boy pants and helped. But the air was brisk and refreshing, and it was sunny, whereas at 0730 it was cold and frosty, had to use the remote starter on Blue for the first time since last March. Still works!
Breakfast was good, the company was awesome, and ...
I am so freaking tired that I am bereft of inspiration, creativity, and any desire to write fiction.
Besides which, the truth will set you free ...
Right?
We'll be back in the trenches on Tuesday, perhaps I'll reveal at that time which army our characters are in.
Or not ...
Stay frosty my friends.
Stay frosty Sarge? 32 above right now.........having a teen age mind in control of a old fart body, well good luck there. I've found not watching any electronic screens before beddy-bye, reading for a few minutes before hitting the sack calms what's left of the gray matter tween my ears.
ReplyDeleteSo what do you do when you need to get up four hours earlier than normal?
DeleteSet an alarm clock.. use bad words when it goes off.. get up and do what it is I have to do.
DeletePrecisely my technique!
DeleteI still get up at the same time every morning. Restarts the old circadian rhythmic clock. Doesn't help much when I can't sleep well, but that's not always. A nap in the afternoon is helpful, too. Bed well after dark and up before dawn makes for a short night. Running hard is for the young.
ReplyDeleteI've always had a tendency to be nocturnal. Too many years on night shift in the USAF.
DeleteYou spent half a century, call it 2/3 of your life, marching to someone else's kettledrummer of fish. Your soul, your nous, is telling you "Hey! You can finally be what you want! Be your true self!" You've earned it. If we end up waiting a week, or a month, for the next instalment, so be it. We're, in theory, adults. We can deport ourselves with some measure of patience.
ReplyDeleteAbout sleep, I'm seeing more articles, I haven't back tracked them to see if they are all just commentary on the same source, suggesting that humans have a natural sleep cycle of going to sleep when it gets dark, logging a few hours of sleep, getting up, working a few hours, then sleeping for a few more hours before getting up for the day.
I've never seen the sleep some, get up, work some, go back to sleep thing. I'm thinking that in the old days you got up when it was light then went in at dark. Long days in the summer, short in the winter. Of course, if you're a dairy farmer you get up well before sunrise, the cows won't wait on you!
DeleteLook up "biphasic sleep." My wife does it. I can do it if left to my own devices. I turn in around 2100 or 2200, sleep until about 0300. Then I can get up, spend 4 or 5 hours doing this and that, then ready for a nap around 0900 or so. Then go until 2100 or 2200. That's why I always tried to nap on my lunch breaks.
DeleteWe don't see it because our society isn't set up for it. We're expected to get up and work until Quitin' Time! (Who dat hollar "Quitin' time?"}
Wouldn't work for me.
DeleteSecond sleep is the historical name for it.
DeleteGot it.
Delete...or not. Armies are, by and large, armies; both in macro and micro.
ReplyDeleteBG
This is very true. At the lowest level professional armies are very much alike, even at the higher levels that's true. Really the only difference is the language and the uniforms.
DeleteEnjoying life sans home computer and phone, not really missing either. People at work asking me when I'll retire.
ReplyDeleteLooking at 20' travel trailers, just the dog and me (wife doesn't camp my way).
I should have been hand writing shorts for you to use, maybe in the future, sitting at a campfire, touring battlefields.
Still working nights, I know too well sleep disruptions. Just checking in, let you know I'm here lurking.
Good to hear from you, DV.
DeleteBTDT. First year of retirement you get...a little weird. Sleep schedules, etc. I was hanging out on the couch with the sheltie, listening to youtube videos of rain-on-the-roof camping outdoors videos. You'll work your way through this. Finally settled, now it's up every day at 630a - 7a sans alarm clock. Your exterior says you're retired, but interior is still awry and will be for awhile.
ReplyDeleteRe: trailer, check out the new Keystone Reign line. Updated construction, composite floors, etc., no wood to rot. Also a lot lighter than the traditional ones. For a solo, they have a 13' that would be perfect. Tandem, you might want to go up a step.
Alan E.
I've heard that from folks, takes a while to discover the ideal routine.
DeleteNaps are nice. 30-45 minutes seem to bring on four or more productive hours.
ReplyDeleteI can't nap, it's either two to three hours or nothing at all. It's the way I'm wired. (I've tried napping, I always get a headache from it.)
DeleteSarge, 8 hours is 8 hours no matter when it starts and ends. For me it is a killer at the moment, because there are not enough hours in the day and the only way I can "find" them is to cut into my sleep. I cannot make less work as more.
ReplyDeleteI will say that I think TB the Elder struggled some when he first retired as well before he found his "groove" - which in his case was getting up around 0500, stoking the fire (in Winter), and heading up to the local coffee shop for an hour or two to hang with other local "old guys".
Finding the groove, that's very important.
DeleteI, too, was playing the old (50s) music louder - until my other half suggested rechargable ears. Right, as always, she is.
ReplyDeletea solid 4 hours. I'll take it. I should wish; I find I have to replenish the porcelain goddess at least every hour. Who was that idiot the came up with the idea: "Keep hydrted."
Yeah, stay hydrated, stay awake all night peeing!
DeleteNoob here. Followed a link from CW's Daily Timewaster, and have been lurking and bingeing the well written fiction and conversation.
ReplyDeleteRetired last year with the idea that I'd take a year to "decompress" (yeah, that's the ticket!) and just enjoy not having a wake up/go to bed time. Worked fine for a few months then I found myself back in the work rhythm. In bed at 10:00pm and up at 600am. No alarm needed. Ok. ::shrugs:: No biggie. I was on track to read 100 books in 2025 which would have taken care of my To Be Read stack. Picked up a gently used six string acoustic and began playing again. As a widower I made my own list of chores and decided when they needed done. Enjoyed day trips to the surrounding smaller towns and eating out when I wanted. Living the life. Then, six days before retirement anniversary, a hurried trip to the ER and eventually a triple bypass. Still trying to come to terms with the idea that seven weeks ago someone had my chest open like a steamed clam and was fiddling with the necessaries. Weird sometimes how life has a way of grabbing ya by the collar, giving a good shake, and making ya see things a little different.
The Missus Herself mentioned that lately, you've got to live your life because you never know when the Grim Reaper might come calling! Take care of yourself cuthach, we're glad you're here!
DeleteTake a couple of days off Sarge, I got your six. You deserve it.
ReplyDeletejuvat
Thanks juvat, you da man!
DeleteFREEDOM!
ReplyDeleteYou earned it, so do as you see fit. Free will is (usually) a wonderful thing, allowing thoughtful or impulsive choices among life's offerings. For most, some choices will be better than others, but not really wrong choices, just different than others might make.
Of course, there are some people with free will who will make truly bad or even evil choices. We can read about them in your fiction.
Build your schedule around your breakfast dates and enjoy your freedom!
BTW- that's a pretty god post on nothing!
JB
Thanks, JB! I think building the schedule around the breakfast dates is a good idea!
DeleteThe recent furlough gave me a taste of what retirement will look and feel like, but I'm not ready for the boredom. But despite being younger, I'm not one for the late nights ever. Maybe midnight, but I go into low power mode by 11!
ReplyDeleteHobbies, I recommend them to you. Otherwise you'll go insane.
DeleteI'll have to figure that out. Travel for sure, more volunteer stuff too, but I sat on my phone too much during the furlough so that's gotta stop.
DeleteYeah, the phone is a time sink.
Delete