Making It Up As I Go Along #333

Sunrise as seen from my spare bedroom window.

MONDAY...
— Back to CNI to supervise for two weeks. So it’s day shift... a little rough but I get through the lack of sleep and work is alright.
— Ball is a scrape game tonight. We are rained out, without being told by the league, and yet it was fine while we were there so we played another team that showed up.

TUESDAY...
— Tired... more lack of sleep. Probably had nine hours in two nights combined.
— The Olympics brings the world together... in fakeness. It’s revealed that the little girl who sang in the opening ceremonies didn’t actually sing. The singer, the Chinese decided, wasn’t pretty enough. So they took the soundtrack for her rehearsal tape and dubbed over a cute little girl who captured the world’s heart. Quite the positive message. And looks beats substance yet again.

WEDNESDAY...
— Less tired at work but it’s a busy and hectic day back as CNI supervisor. Lots of phone calls and fires to put out. Meeting in the afternoon slows it up some.
— Last physio appointment after work. Now I’m on my own with exercising to strengthen the shoulder. Hamstring is 100% now anyway. It occasionally feels a little tight but I slipped on it in Monday’s game and it didn’t flare at all.
— Olympics are painful for Canada. I had vowed not to watch at all but I had forgotten how much I enjoy watching swimming events and rowing. So far the swimmers have just been a comedy of errors... and I’m just tired of listening to commentators build them up for a couple of days before their events...and then, when they place 11th, we get the “nothing to apologize for, they gave it their all and made a personal best.” Shut up! If they were only going for personal bests then don’t build them up as a medal threat for two days prior. If they were a medal hope, personal bests are the consolation prize of losers. Make up your mind media, what are we watching for? No more bait and switch. Mike Brown finishes 4th tonight... he at least seemed to be in the game. Most of the ones before him were off in la la land in their last race. Well at least nobody’s drowned in the pool... we’ve got that to be thankful for.

THURSDAY...
— Olympic boxing is one of the worst sports of all time. Scoring points for rinky dink taps and not giving points for power punches that appear to be obvious but are missed by judges. Makes figure skating look like a legit sport.
— Work is okay, busy and tired... yet I still stay three hours afterwards to go to AFIS for some extra time.

FRIDAY...
— Make it through the week of days... but exhausted by the end of it. I meant to do another hour or two of extra time today but, by 3:00, I just wanted to head home.
— Co-worker, Mike Smith, talks to me today about my blog... wondering if he’s mentioned in it. No mentioning of him! I won’t give him the satisfaction.
— Oh... d’oh.
— Canada’s lack of Olympic success is getting comical. Today a shot put thrower misses the bronze medal by 1 centimetre. Well at least with a guy like this, there was never any expectation that he’d win anything anyway... so this is a good story rather than a choke.

SATURDAY...
— Quiet day around the house. See that Canada finally won medals at the games. Do a walk around the pond (about 45 minutes) and watch a ball game on TV.


Lullaby Sunrise
How I know I’m a night person. It came through loud and clear this week. My first full week of day shift in a good four months.

Most people I know say it’s nice being done with work at 3:00. Then you have all evening and much of the afternoon to do with as you want. Well for me, 3:00 meant I was able to go home and crash. This week saw a return of the half hour naps.

Like a tranquilizer it is. I’d even stay clear of the sofa and sit in the chair to watch some TV. I’d feel okay and look at the clock to see it just past 4:00... and then I knew... it was coming. The sleep.

Usually, when I’m on day shift, I go unconscious at some point between 4:15 and 6:00. In that hour and forty-five minute stretch, I’m likely to be comatose for at least a third of the time. And even sitting up in that chair, my head nods to the side and I drift away.

So much of my saved part of the day only involves sleep anyway. And then there’s the nightly countdown to bedtime. By 8:00 I’m looking at the clock knowing I need to stay clear of caffeine and try to avoid sugar. I can’t start watching a movie because it’ll run in to bedtime. So by 8:00 I basically feel like my night is over anyway.

And there’s sleep countdown. This is that time that starts ticking off in the head from the point in time the light goes off to the loss of consciousness. For every fifteen minutes that go by with sleep no closer, the frustration builds. Then you start looking at the clock and thinking of the things that could have been.

11:00... I could be watching the Daily Show right now!

11:15... If I was on evening shift, I could be going to bed now... so this is like a dreaded quick change at work... and I know how tired I am when I do that!

11:30... Colbert Report.

Midnight... I could be heading out for a walk.

It goes on until I slip away... dreaming of counting down the minutes of lost sleep as that alarm clock come ever closer to making its presence known.

Have you ever done that? Dreamed about trying to get to sleep? It’s the most restless sleep you can have. Ugh.

The early morning brings one benefit with it. At least it does in the summer, when the world appears to be at least starting to get a move on at these horrible hours. That benefit is being able to witness sunrise.

Here’s the kicker though. I would go to the front bedroom window and look across at the brightening sky and it wouldn’t make me happy to be awake. It makes me want to go to bed.

I remember many a poker night that ended with sunrise. One at Dave MacDonald’s house in a summer of my teenage years. After the game came to an end, I walked the few hundred yards from his place to mine and looked at the glowing colours of day. A distant painting on the horizon that led me home. And I crawled into bed while the rest of the world got up.

Then there was games at Del’s cabin. When poker would end at 7:00 AM and I’d climb into the sleeping bag while some of the more crazed individuals would go out and check the rabbit snares. I’d be long gone to dreamland when they got back... and we’d all snooze until the early afternoon.

This is what sunrise does for me. A wonderful sight to take in before going to sleep. For me, it’s too peaceful and relaxing an event to witness... it goes all against energizing yourself for the start of the day. It’s like waking to a lullaby.