slushworld

some tips

In researching tips and tricks for a good night sleep, I found that almost everywhere I looked there was a similar list of things.  Here is an example of one of the websites I found some information:

Sleepnet

I like some of these ideas.  Especially the fan.  Maybe running a fan in my room (especially when I'm sleeping on normal people's weekends) will keep the dirt bikes out.  And Don, to your comment from the last post:  Earplugs are good in a pinch for me like when camping or something, but just don't cut it as a normal solution.  I think my eardrums need to breath or something.  Its like too quiet with those things in.  I'm afraid I won't know if someone is yelling fire or not hear my alarm clock or whatever. 

I had read these lists a couple of days ago and took one to heart, but .  For example, the one about not going to bed hungry.  Well I was a little hungry the other day when I came home from work and rather than grab a nice healthy snack I stuffed my face (got most of them in my mouth) with Baked Cheetos (at least they were baked).  Although I did get a little chastised from my wife for eating my stepsons lunch snacks....oops.  I think I need to keep healthier foods around.  I think the other tips I've got down pretty well. 

Today is the tough day.  Its my Friday!  So what that means, is I go home today at 8am, give my Ma I ride to work (she's having some car problems...cough cough..), then go to sleep for a few hours

I'll sleep for about five hours then I'll plan on being awake until later tonight and falling asleep while the sun is still down which is such a strange concept to me.

one of those nights...i mean days

I went home after the last shift again truly prostrated (exhausted), and passed out quickly.  Made it to the bed after the evening ritual (brush teeth, change..blah blah).  I got woken up a couple of times to noise outside of my house.  See, we live in an older house (built in the 50s) with old single pane windows.  Not only do single pane windows lack on any insulating value, but their soundproofing ability is nothing to be desired.

While I was in REM, my neighbor was having a conversation with someone outside.  When I woken up from it, I would have bet money that she was no more than seven inches from my window.  Again, single paned windows.  Then some kids were driving through my bedroom on some sort of motorized bike like a dirt bike or quad or something.  They were good, because I never actually saw them jump my bed, but I heard them.  Oh, I heard them. 

So, another night...ahem...day of interrupted.  Eyes were watering and I was yawning when I went to church at 6pm.  Hopefully I'll get some better sleep today.  I'm going to research some sleep tips to see if there is anything else I can do to improve my sleep, but I'm guessing that I'm limited based on trying to move to a more human sleep schedule on my days off.  I'd welcome any comments and I'll post my findings later.

I sense a theme....

Its Saturday night.  The toughest night of the week for me.  I woke up this morning at about 8am, spent the day with my wife, took an hour nap before coming to work at 11pm for my eight hour shift.  That means when I get off of work today at 8am and home by 9am, I will have been up for 25hrs with an hour nap stuffed in there somewhere. 

I had read this article earlier in the day..which I guess was technically yesterday.  You know that gets kind of tough.  When I go into work on a day, lets say a Saturday, and I'm only at work for an hour before the day changes.  So its hard to use the words yesterday or today because my "work day" spans two calendar days.  Anyway, back to the article.  A post on Achieve-IT states:

The Caffeine Nap is simple.  You drink a cup of coffee and immediately take a 15 minute nap.  Researchers found coffee helps clear your system of adenosine, a chemical which makes you sleepy.  So in testing, the combination of a cup of coffee with an immediate nap chaser provided the most alertness for the longest period of time.  The recommendation was to nap only 15 minutes, no more or less and you must sleep immediately after the coffee.

Sounds pretty good to me.  Here's the link.   

I didn't try it tonight because I was expecting to sleep for longer than an hour.  But I'm sure my future will hold many opportunities to try this.  And of course, I'll post how it goes

a little more about sleep

Ever been so exhausted when you are doing something that prevents you from sleeping?  Driving, being a copilot, working, whatever.  Just that feeling where you say to yourself, "I can't wait to get home and go to bed...I am just going to walk in the door and pass out.  I may not even make it to the bed.  I may just walk three steps in and fall nose first in the carpet and sleep there."  You know the kind of tired I'm talking about now right?  So that's how tired I was coming home from work yesterday.  I don't really know why but what I do know is that I was tired...uber tired.  The only thing that's keeping me awake on the drive home is my excitement for when I don't have to be awake anymore. 

So I finally got home, made it past the temptation of the carpet and was about to go to bed when I remembered I needed to brush my teeth.  Now I've only been brushing my teeth for about 30 years daily and yet sometimes I still forget as if its this new habit I'm trying to form.  There are two things that will prevent me from falling asleep even if I am as tired as described above.  The first one is unbrushed teeth, the second one has to do with nail clippers which I'll rant about a bit later.  Here I am again, tired as Rip Van Winkle (right before his 20 year cat nap), but have to brush those teeth.  What is it about teeth brushing that is so invigorating?  I mean, I go from almost falling asleep in my own driveway because I don't want to go inside, to being more alert than a squirrel on no-doz.  OK, so I'm exaggerating, but after all, this is a blog and exaggeration makes it more interesting.  Maybe.  So brushing my teeth kept me awake for about 15 minutes.  But, apparently I was very tired considering I slept for 10 hours yesterday. 

What else will keep me awake you ask?  You know when you cut your nails (fingers or toes, you choose), and you don't make a clean line.  Like one of the cuts goes below the other one so there is a little bit of rough nail when you rub your finger across it?  Or worse yet...it gets caught just slightly on your...(gulp)...bed sheets.  I can not stand that.  Absolutely drives me bananas.  I will cut my nails no matter what time if a sheet grabber surfaces itself.  It honestly gives me the chills just thinking of it.  I'm guessing its like nails on a chalk board for some.  It is the worst.  That's about it for now.  I'm plenty awake today! And its my Friday!  Leave a comment if you like.

random babblings from the graveyard shift

One of most interesting things I've experienced since moving to the graveyard shift a few weeks ago, is that my life totally revolves around sleep.  What time should I go to sleep?  How much caffeine should I have to keep me awake while at work, yet not keep me to awake to prevent me from sleeping at home?  Should I nap before going into work?

Days off are a completely different story.  I get home at about 9am on Thursday and don't have to be back to work until 11pm on Saturday.  When I get home Thursday, should I nap or sleep?  Nap and I attempt to return to a somewhat normal sleep schedule for my days off, however, I am definitely a little extra tired until I get back to work.  Sleep and I would feel better on my days off, but what the heck would I do at my house after like 10pm when my wife goes to sleep?  I mean, I've already finished the internet at work so that won't take up any time.  Can't mow the lawn or work on the house at 4am.  Do you sense my frustration?  This whole thing would definitely be tougher if I didn't have such a great wife who does everything she can to make it easier for me.

I am also concerned about my coworkers sleep habits.  Most of this concern revolves around their ability to stay awake at work.  We're always trying to find ways to make make sure everyone stays awake.  There are some good "humane" tools out there.  Here are a couple I have found:

USB Air Darts  - This is the best choice by far but out of stock everywhere!  One guy even hooked up a USB Cam and wrote some software to use it remotely.  Sweet.

Airzooka

The Firewheel

I think its time to end my first blog post and save my energy for the reverse engineering of my sleep pattern that will begin soon.

-slush