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I awakened in the very wee hours of Wednesday and decided to check FlightAware for the progress of milady's flight. Let me backtrack first ...
Her trip started on Saturday last when she flew out to Las Vegas where she would meet up with two of her sisters, the ones who would be traveling with her to Korea. One sister lives in Las Vegas, the other is but a "short" drive away in Arizona, five hours give or take, short compared to the way to Maryland and over some rather inhospitable terrain as well.
Her flight to Korea left late on Tuesday, Vegas time, early on Wednesday, Little Rhody time. So, where was I?
Ah yes, I awakened in the wee hours and thought to check her progress. Somewhere off the southern coast of Alaska as it were. I had gone to bed very late, last minute chat with The Missus Herself before boarding, dontcha know. Hit the rack around 0230. Around 0500 I needed to have a pee. Now there's a danger in awakening the brain in the middle of the night ...
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So at or about 0700 I dragged my tired ass out of bed, had breakfast and said to myself, "I can always take a nap later."
Thing is though, I don't nap, once I go down, I go down hard. Unless it's the middle of the night and I've got loved ones traveling over large bodies of water.
Yeah, four hours is really plenty of sleep.
Compared to no hours.
Been there, done that.
It's tiresome.
I'd write more but I need to sleep ...
Ciao!
Yah Sarge......a loved one....distance....long flight time......very different time zones........who needs sleep eh? :)
ReplyDeleteTo sleep, perchance to dream, then to get up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep!
DeleteArgh!
This summer was the first time we've met our grandchildren when they weren't jet-lagged by flying from The Orient. They were much more fun. A three hour flight in the same time zone is a piece of cake.
ReplyDeleteWon't argue with you there!
DeleteSarge, once my brain gets started at night, it is almost as if I should get up in the morning - very very seldom do I manage to get back to sleep after that point before two hours.
ReplyDeleteSame here.
DeleteFun, innit?
Yeah, hate it when the brain gets woken up because the bladder needs to pee. I lay in bed and argue "no ya don't" "yes, I DO", "okay, fine." Fingers crossed getting up to go pee doesn't wake up the puppy...okay, he slept thru, or at least didn't move in his crate...now go back to sleep...riiight...
ReplyDeleteSo my cheat trick is to turn on you tube, and watch a mind numbing video...nothing interesting or else the brain wants to stay awake and watch it, but usually after about 5 minutes, I do drift off.
However, when family is flying back to San Diego, or like the other night when there was a bat flying around the bedroom, there was NO sleeping going on!! I had run out of the bedroom, turning on the light and slamming the door shut, so I knew it was contained, but still...think I got maybe 2 hours that night? Waking the brain up is bad...waking up the adrenal glands is VERY bad!! After I had spent a few minutes running around to all the windows I had open and shutting all of them!! Didn't want his friends and relations to pop in also!! No one comes out at 10:45 at night to collect wayward bats...trust me...no one. I spent the rest of the night on the couch. Then I spent an hour on the phone trying to find someone who would come collect said wayward bat. Finally find a very nice gentleman who's been doing this for 25 years and was happy to come collect said bat for a fee, as well as helping to push the storm window aaallll the way to the top of the window which we figured was the entrance...which I was VERY happy to pay so that I didn't have to figure out how to get that D*** bat outta the bedroom!!
So, yes, I took a lovely long nap on Wednesday afternoon.
I really need to look into getting these old aluminum windows replaced!
Very glad Mrs made it safely to Korea. Fourteen hours is a very long time to be in an airplane seat!!!
Suz
Suz, did the San Francisco to Seoul many times in my youth. It is a long flight. Also did a flight, Nellis AFB (AKA Las Vegas) to Osan AB Korea. Bit difference there, first there was no drinks served nor was there a toilet, and the final straw was I couldn't get up and walk around. The F-4's ejection seat has very little cushioning. Yes, that was a LONG trip, much longer than the clock said it was. So, while I understand other's thoughts of long flights, I don't worry about passenger liner flights much.
DeleteJust sayin'
juvat
Oops and I forgot something. My son and his family are getting a new assignment the start of next year. Instead of that long trip to England from Texas at 12 hours or so, his new assignment is in a place called Adelaide Australia. Googled that one up and it says 22 hours and 20 minutes from Dallas! So...we've got that to look forward to. ;-)
Deletejuvat
Suz - Bats in the house, great fun. Not!
Deletejuvat #1 - Pilot was probably bitchy and the passenger probably slept the whole way ...
DeleteJust sayin' 😉
My butt still remembers those trips. There's a story in there, somewhere ...
juvat #2 - My oldest daughter, The Nuke used to travel to Australia a lot when she worked for the Navy. She doesn't miss that trip, not at all.
DeleteTough laying awake thinking about something that you know you can't do anything about, but you can't turn it off.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Yeah, it's crazy but it happens from time to time.
DeleteI still need 7 hours at 65. I only got 6.5 last night and I have been sluggish all morning.
ReplyDeleteI do not miss the flights that were over 6 hours. I do miss the status level as my flying has dropped to 3 or 4 Savannah to Boston trips a year.
Seven is my standard as well.
DeleteTo sleep, perchance to dream. I know exactly how you feel. I can sleep okay on regular work days but if there's anything different, like a presentation, or jury duty which I had Monday through Wednesday, my brain will not let me sleep to my alarm.
ReplyDeleteYes, special circumstances send my brain into overdrive!
DeleteI was going to say something that would sum all this up, but I got a cramp (you know where) from reading about Juvat's and "the Missus Herself" flights. I read somewhere that there is a Boeing airplane that can fly for 22 hours now (DFW-Australia?) Good thing the plane does all the flying now a days. From what I hear, these new boys and girls up front don't even look out the windows.
ReplyDeleteOld School Fuzz D4
Look out the windows? Flying over the ocean isn't much of a view, then again, what happens when all those fancy electronics drop offline?
DeleteHearing about all these "self driving" cars, both the personal ones like Tesla offers, and the pay to ride taxi type things, it looks like they have "driverless cars" pretty much figured out. I remember about 20 years ago there was some sort of contest for a vehicle which could drive from one place to another (a few miles) and they all got lost or discombobulated, and everyone chuckled and said it couldn't be done. Well, they did it, and it is now not an unimaginable feat to add vertical movement commands to an appropriate vehicle. I think the even got some working as tankers aboard carriers- a cheap insult to Tuna's tribe and the wonderful "Hoover" airframe which was an admirable tanker, surveillance, and ASW platform as well. But, I think the USN got bored with the tanker drones (or the fighter mafia killed them).
DeleteNow, I don't like to fly anyway, but I darn sure want at least one pilot in the front, who is awake and looking for traffic, and checking gages and doing some math on fuel on hand vs fuel required to reach destination with adequate reserve. For a 14 or 22 hour flight, I'd be happier if there were multiple pilots who take turns watching the airplane fly itself.
JB
Concur. I don't like the self-driving cars where no one is behind the wheel. Both daughters have used that mode of transport, gives me the willies it does!
Delete(Don McCollor) Way back in College, I had a geology prof who had been a transport (DC-3) pilot. Afterwards he flew in Central/South America for a time. On one flight, he was tired, turned control over to the copilot and went to sleep. A bit later, the copilot also was tired, turned on the autopilot, and went to sleep as well. They overflew their destination a bit and woke up with trackless jungle below and the fuel gauges nuzzling empty.
ReplyDeleteRather surprised anyone survived.
Delete