On Sleep ...

H/t to Andy N.
Source

I think I've been looking for that description for a very long time. Disappointment sleep, it's not an extra few minutes of repose, it's knowing that you gotta get up, and soon. It's not like waking up at 3 AM and saying, "Ah, I can sleep another X hours." No, I call that "bonus sleep," where your body thinks, "damn it, I have to get up now" but your brain realizes, "Damn, I can sleep more, deep sleep too."

Nope, waking up shortly before the alarm goes off is very disappointing. It's looking at the clock and thinking, "Damn it, brain! Why couldn't you just sleep right up until it's time to get up?" Nope, it's awakening, knowing that it's not exactly time to get up but it's so close that you might as well get up.

Happened to me damn near every day when I was gainfully employed. When I was younger it wasn't that much of a big deal, now that I'm old and decrepit, every minute counts. Waking up before you have to, usually because nature calls, is a pain in the butt. After all, us old folks are bouncing out of bed every two to three hours anyway.

It's gotten so bad that if I do sleep for more than four hours in a row, I wonder what I missed. "Hhmm, I didn't get up to pee at 0300, I wonder what the weather was like at that time? Was it still raining? When did that stop?"

Ah, the joys of advancing old age.

Friday morning I had to get up so as to go to the airport and collect The Missus Herself on her return from the Far West. (Hey, Korea is west of here distance-wise, we got that "Far East" crap from the Brits. I mean it was closer for them to go east, but not for us colonials!) Besides which, she spent a couple of days at her sister's in Las Vegas, which is also west of my location.

Anyhoo, her flight was supposed to land at 1030 local (it did) so I didn't have to really get up until about 0830. As it's 30 minutes to an hour (depending on traffic) from Chez Sarge to TF Green, 0830 would work, time for coffee, maybe a bagel (which did happen), then shower and shave and head out to pick up mama.

So of course I woke up at 0600. To pee, of course. Returning to bed I checked the time, two and a half hours before the alarm. Perfect!

So of course, I checked The Missus Herself's flight schedule. And my email, and the blog, and then Facebook, and then ...

Damn it! Now it's 0700 and the brain is fully awake. As my old bones scream "Lay down you fool, go back to sleep!" - my brain is saying, "Yum, bagel."

So yeah, rather than log some disappointment sleep, I got up.

A lovely morning, a lovely day, though a bit cool in the 40s, but ...

Okay, I'm not a morning person, I like sunrise as much as the next person, but damn why are they so early?

Anyhoo, mama's home, domestic tranquility is reestablished, and I'm not flying solo anymore. So I'm good, tired, but good.

Carry on, I'd nap but my damn brain won't quit until it gets dark again ...

Sigh ...