Don't worry about being sleepy at work. What's the worst that could happen?

Well, I got fired. So there's that.

Lesson learned? Perhaps. At the least, my mildly tragic history with the old work-sleep conflict has given me much time and reason to think on this subject.

Fortunately for me, LM managers seem to allow scheduling flexibility to a contortionistic degree. So I consistently get about 8 hours of sleep before work (which I declare the minimum for some and the maximum for all), and my homecoming times reach deep into the night.

But I still get tired. Most often this occurs mid-afternoon, when lunch has had time to settle, but not so much time that the excitement of day's end stirs the soul once more. Frustrating indeed, given my above declaration. I refuse to sleep more than a third of my day; if I'm going to be tired anyway, might I as well sleep less? I have sampled such reduced durations of slumber, deliberately and otherwise, often to disastrous effect: namely, even more severe and inescapable tiredness.

However, there are some tricks I use to help me survive the day with slitty eyes still imperceptibly open. Maybe they will help you too...

(1) Avoid heavy meals. A big lunch is suicide for the waking mind. Back in Palo Alto, Eric and I would enjoy many plates at an Indian buffet, and agree that no more work needed to be done that day.

(2) Eat an apple. I once read that apples wake you up more than coffee. I don't drink coffee, so my comparative research may be found lacking, but apples are certainly refreshing, especially when kept chilled. I have even experimented with smelling my apple as a waker-upper. Try it. Then wink like a madman at whoever witnessed your bizarre freakshow.

(3) Snack throughout the day. I am known for using one of the large drawers of my desk as a massive snack stash, and eating almost constantly. I think there are several basic bodily functions: work, consumption (eat, drink), expulsion of waste (peepee, poopoo), reproduction, and sleep. Since you will naturally perform one task more efficiently than two, snacking forces your body to turn your dial from sleep mode to eat-drink mode. Winner.

(4) Drink water. A lot. This follows the same theory as (3), but adds another element: You will have to pee. And you won't pee while you're asleep. And if I'm wrong, I don't want to hear about it.

(5) Go for a walk. Maybe this doesn't apply, but I'm pretty much free to wander the room/building/campus during the day. I try to go for a walk at least once a day, to get some fresh air and sun as a minimum. And leave my cell block to hide under one of the satellite dishes as a maximum.

(6) Dance. In the bathroom. You know it.

Work nights I aim for 7 hours, but at bare minimum 6. If I get less then this I become totally not functional for the day. I might as well tell my boss I am going to sit and my desk and not think for 8 hours. I had a little less then that on Monday and Tuesday night and last night I made up for it going to bed at 930pm.

I get tired in the afternoon. I try to have meetings in the morning where my mind is still sharp. Once I start hitting 2 - 3, my mind starts shutting down.

I just follow certain grammar rules because it just seems natural to me. I don't really pay attention to it all that much.

Hey Everyone,
Thanks for coming out this weekend, I had an absolute blast. From poker to Football to even going to mall w/ Kevin in his pink shorts -> Obon to the after party. I hope you all had fun, you know I definitely did. I haven't had a weekend like that in a long long time. Pictures will be on my Xanga soon, Web site as well but need more time on that. I'm working on a football picture section, so I'm hoping that'll be done sometime soon.

Thanks Shannon, Lindz, and friends for helping to clean up and making mini burritos. =)
Thanks Brendan for the lights.
Thanks Marcy and Kevin for coming down, that was awesome.
Thanks to everyone who brought something and for just coming out.

Hopefully we'll get to do this again sometime soon.

Brendan, those memories are awesome and they were great for each age group. The point is I don't want to stop the memories from coming and though there are good memories that come from playing poker, videogames, etc., I don't want those to limit us from doing other things outside of the house. Not just w/ drinking either...bowling, mini golf, we can go play hockey, ice skating, go snowboarding/skiing, camping, Vegas (for Steve), go the beach, etc. Football is great, paint-balling is another one, etc. To have great memories from just sitting around sounds great for when we're like 40+ when we definitely cannot move like we used to, though Mr. H is proving me quite wrong when I think about it. =)

Bottom line, I love playing poker, I love hanging out with all you guys, I just don't want to limit ourselves to doing the same ol' things week in and week out. I have enough routine at work as is. Being drunk isn't my excuse for wanting us to do something crazy, it's just a time to let loose and just forget your worries for a while.

When I have more time, I'll try and think up some more goofy shit that we've done through the ages. I got some stored in the memory bank.