The 4th Tuesday Of November Dawns Dark After A Night Of Bad Insomnia

You might guess, via looking at the picture of my primary viewing portal on the outer world, that I am up well before the sun on this 4th Tuesday of the next to last month of 2011.

What you can not tell from the dark view is that it was one rough night of bad insomnia in Durango World.

Around 10 last night thunder began rumbling. The thunder continued rolling until sometime after 1 this morning.

After the thunder was turned off, with the return of peace and quiet, I was unable to fall asleep until some time after 4 this morning. And that only lasted til a little after 5.

So, I gave up on sleeping and got up and made coffee.

It is 47 degrees currently, at my location. I think the 24 hour average was above 50. I don't know if I have the energy to attempt swimming. I'll decide that after the sun decides to arrive for the day.

Up Early The Last Wednesday Of September After A Night Of Extreme Insomnia

I'm looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at some extreme darkness on this last Wednesday morning of September of 2011.

It seems like the month of September started yesterday, yet, after today, there are only 2 more days left in the month.

Already I am hearing mention made on the radio of the "Upcoming Holidays."

My least favorite time of the year.

I saw yesterday that Wal-Mart is already purveying Halloween paraphernalia.

The early morning darkness perfectly matches my early morning dark mood.

I had my worst bout of insomnia in a long, long time, last night. I read in bed til past midnight, waiting for the sleep impulse to strike. I gave up on the wait and turned off the light. Sometime after 2 in the morning I fell asleep, apparently quickly going into nightmare mode, where I had a confrontation with a vicious house cat. In the nightmare I kicked a rock at the vicious house cat, but in reality I kicked the wall next to my bed.

Kicking the wall next to my bed had me back awake and tossing and turning for I don't know how long.

Eventually I did fall asleep, again, and then woke up and gave up and got up, before 6.

I think today is going to be a long long day.

Up Early After A Long Texas Night Thinking About Mississipi Floods, Arnold & Maria's Marriage Woes And Getting Stuck In A Trunk And Shoved Off A Pier

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell it appears I am basking in a serene shade of blue this second Tuesday of May, already almost one third through the month, on a fast track to the 4th of July.

Each morning's Mississippi River flood news is worrisome. A few weeks ago we had the worst tornado outbreak since some time in the 1920s. And now the Mississippi is flooding at its highest level since some time in the 1920s.

My one and only time in Galveston I was told the water was usually not so murky, but was being muddy due to the Mississippi River being in high discharge mode.

In other discharge news, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger have separated. I suspect, after he ceased being governor of California, Arnold was spending too much time at home getting on Maria's nerves.

In a total change of subject from flooding rivers and marital woes, last night I had my first bout of insomnia in awhile. I did not manage to fall asleep til well after midnight. Eventually I did slip into peaceful slumber mode, complete with cinematic nightmares.

Last night I think I may have been overstimulated by watching CSI: Miami on demand. I think it was the season ender. Horatio was badly wounded by a gun shot, and then watched one of his CSIers, the cute brunette (I can never remember names) get shoved in a trunk, with the car then rolled off a Miami pier, with the CSIer in the trunk feverishly trying to get cell service.

I have a great fear of being shoved in a trunk and rolled off a pier, so no wonder I had myself an insomnia bout.

I guess I will go for my morning swim now and see if I can cool down from my current super-heated state of being.

Up Early After A Bad Bout Of Insomnia With Morning Aggravation With The Dallas Morning News

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the second Wednesday of March it appears we have dawned with yet one more blue sky morning in North Texas.

It is 45 degrees out there this morning.

I had myself a bad insomnia outbreak last night. Endless bouts of short bursts of falling asleep and then waking up again, with constant tossing and turning.

I likely burned a lot of calories during last night's attempt to sleep. The problem was exacerbated, I think, due to it being a bit warm and muggy. Opening the window brought in a cold breeze, causing bouts of blankets off blankets on, til common sense kicked in clear enough to cause me to shut the window.

Just typing this blogging I can see this is going to be a rough day. Almost every other word I am either misspelling or typing some odd typo. I don't recollect ever giving the backspace key the level of workout it is getting right now.

I think I am going to have to bail on the Dallas Morning News online. You have to be an online subscriber to read the content. When I open the paper it says "Hi Durango" indicating I am logged in.

However, this morning when I clicked to read a story about the Dallas kayaking whitewater section of the Trinity River that is part of the Dallas Trinity River Vision, which sees a bit more clearer vision than the cross-eyed Fort Worth Trinity River Vision, I was told I needed to subscribe to read the content.

When I clicked on the register and subscribe button I was brought to a subscribe to the hard copy offer. Which I rejected when I clicked "No Thanks" and took off to read the Seattle P-I online.

For free. Except for annoying ads.

I guess I will try and go swimming now and hope that that perks up my tiredness and sloppy synapses.

I Successfully Slept & Traumatically Dreamt About Sonja Morgan & The Queen Of Wink

I think I mentioned, yesterday, that I'd been traumatized by a horrible bout of insomnia, the night before, due, I think, to adjusting to the HEAT WAVE and getting the A/C to the right level of COOL.

I was a bit worn out by the time I tried to sleep again, sometime after the sun turned out the lights, last night.

I fell asleep fairly easily, went into vivid cinematic technicolor dream mode. I was being driven in a Disneyesque superpark by my favorite New York City Housewife, Sonja Morgan. Sonja and I were having ourselves a really good time, driving and talking and looking at the Disney sights.

Sonja suggested I come to New York City for a visit. And then my phone rang. I looked to see it was the Queen of Wink calling. I weighed the propriety of taking a call whilst I was having fun with Sonja and decided to risk it and flipped the phone open. The Queen of Wink said hello, I am transferring you to another person, where you can sign up.

What? This startled me. And woke me up. It was a bit past 11. Sometime after midnight I'd calmed down from the Queen of Wink's phone call and fell asleep and back in to dream mode again.

I won't be detailing the second scary wake me up dream of the night. Suffice to say the MPAA rating would likely be R. And not for violence. Or language. I won't say if it involved the Queen of Week or Sonja Morgan.

Or both.

Texas Heat Insomnia Strikes Deep Into Sleep

Saturday night was not all right. Insomnia.

All day long, Saturday, for the most part, this, that and the other thing did not go well.

By around 4 in the afternoon the official temperature taking location for D/FW, that being the airport, went over 100 degrees for the first time this year.

I went to bed early, feel asleep, went into pleasant dream mode. And then about 11 I woke up to find myself a hot, sweaty mess.

And thus began the rest of the night's attempt to battle with the A/C to make the temperature in here semi-pleasant.

Have I mentioned I am not acclimating to the HEAT well this year? Why? I don't know.

And now this morning I found the pool pump is not circulating the water. Again.

Insomnia In Texas With My Hero Richard Nixon

You're looking at me in the midst of an insomnia bout.

Well, it really was not insomnia. I went to bed around 10, had no woe falling asleep, woke up about 2:30, could tell I was not going to fall back asleep.

So, I got up.

I've been reading the Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House. I'm easily influenced by anything I read. When Haldeman talked about my hero, Richard Nixon's, theories on sleep, in that it's a big time waste and we really don't need all that much, well, it imprinted on my memory.

Like how Nixon, sometimes, would stay up all night long, working on his plots and schemes. Or Nixon would wake up really early, and, like me, realize he was not going to be sleeping anymore, so he'd get up, like me, and go to work on his plots and schemes.

I'm wondering if Nixon got a bit more sleep maybe that whole Watergate disaster might never have happened. There really was way too much plotting and scheming involved in the Watergate disaster. That's real clear when reading the Haldeman Diaries.

I suspect I will be sleeping real well tonight, with a possible nap intervening between now and then. In the meantime, I'll be doing some heavy duty plotting and scheming.

Worn Out At 5 In The Afternoon By Dreary Fort Worth Rain & Last Night's Mattress Flouncing.

It is a bit past 5.

I've had me a day. My eyes are bleary and I'm feeling a bit light-headed. I had a bad bout of insomnia last night. I think I'm operating on about 2 hours sleep.

Gave up trying to sleep and got up around 6. Did my regular routine. Pool cool, hot tub hot.

North to Grapevine at noon, rain started on the way back here.

You can see the dreary rain through my windshield, around 4 this afternoon, with my windshield wiper slapping time on the lower right corner.

The current bout of extreme wetness is scheduled to end sometime tomorrow.

Where was I going during this slick rainstorm? The drugstore, for some drugs, sleeping pills. I'm going to knock myself out, tonight, rather than have a repeat of last night's exercise in mattress flouncing.

Mattress flouncing? Excuse me. I'm tired. But that made sense to me when I thought it. Not so much when I typed it. Too tired to change it.

Insomnia Strikes Deep Into The Heart Of The Sleep

Another strange night in Durango World. I was real tired, so I went to bed real early. First mistake. But I fell asleep easily. And woke up at midnight. Was this too early to start a new day, I wondered?

After thoughtful consideration, I decided midnight was too early to get up. Thus began 4 hours of tossing and turning that ended at 4, when I did get up.

I was in the pool before 5. I like being in the water in the dark. And with no moon lighting up the place, it was dark.

After I had breakfast I turned into a blogging, webpage making maniac. Except for this particular blog, which is the blog that if I don't blog I get emails or calls asking what's wrong with me. So, far, though, today, no emails or calls inquiring after my well being.

I'm checking out for a couple hours. Talk to you later.

Finding My Quiet Texas Center Among The Ruins

Worst bout of insomnia in quite a while last night. While watching TV, prior to trying to sleep, I chipped a tooth on popcorn, which then led to breaking a fingernail. I knew with all this calamity I was going to have a rough night.

I gave up trying to sleep about 4. I was in the pool while it was still quite dark.

Sometime in the morning I opened a birthday card from my mom and dad. There was $25 in it and a coupon for Sweet Tomatoes, with the card telling me to go there for lunch today.

But. I was too tired to go out for lunch. Around noon I took off from here, got gas, then went to the Post Office where I found 2 keys in the Post Office Box. It is quite a puzzle to find the numbers that matched the keys. I was looking for 18 and 19. One would think they would be right by each other, but the P.O. Box numbering system follows its own peculiar logic, that I have difficulty penetrating.

Eventually I found the boxes and saw one had a huge envelope and the other contained a huge box, which said the contents were temperature sensitive. I feared a repeat of last Thanksgiving's melted peach pie. More on what I found at the Post Office later.

When I drove away from the Post Office I called my mom, because, like I said, I'd just gotten gas and I always call my mom when I get gas. They are still up in Washington, now at my sister's in Kent. The one who got central air-conditioning installed during the recent rare heatwave. Which likely will not happen again in our lifetimes. Mom said it is now rainy and cold. So, they are heading down to the Oregon coast were it will likely be rainier and colder.

Rainier reminds me, it is a year ago, today, that I drove to Mount Rainier National Park and actually saw The Mountain up close for the first time ever.

I talked to mom all the way to Village Creek Natural Historic Area. I was hoping for a nice, relaxing walk, hoping to see something interesting, like an armadillo herd or a big snake. But the only new thing was the bench in the photo at the top. It's made out of that lasts forever, made out of plastic bags, fake wood material that is used more and more. Apparently the bench was donated by someone.

A plaque by the bench says,

"In Loving Memory
JIM KUNDE
1937 - 2009
Come and find the quiet center"

That is what I wish I could find. My quiet center. It's illusive.

Insomnia & A Punch Drunk Drive In Texas

Night Two of my latest Insomnia Outbreak was not too bad. I went to bed well past 11 and got up a bit before 4 this morning.

My synapses seemed to be firing with some accuracy, so I was a blogging maniac this morning. I was even able to think clearly enough to figure out two words to play in my ongoing word game with the Scrabble Queen of the State of Washington.

I was a bit concerned to learn this morning that there had been 2 more earthquakes in my zone of Texas. Even though I was awake for a lot of the night, I did not feel the earth move.

My one longtime reader may remember that since it is Wednesday I probably went to Southlake and likely went to Sprouts Farmers Market. My one longtime reader would be right.

I tried to snap pictures of the bizarre "Air Pollution Alert" signs I see each week on Davis Boulevard. I don't quite get what one is supposed to do with these alerts. Right after the first alert that nitrogen tank with a warning sign, that I've mentioned previously, still sits about 5 feet from the road. I tried to snap a picture of the tank when I drove by, but my timing was off.

Due to that sleep deprivation thing, driving was fun, it felt like being punch drunk after 600 miles on a long Roadtrip. Speaking of which, my favorite nephew named CJ, was reading my Roadtripping Blog and a posting I wrote today about White Sands National Monument. I mentioned this was a stop on a trip that led to 4 days at the Luxor in Vegas. My nephew somehow misunderstood and thought I am currently on my way to Arizona and Vegas and asked if I'd pick him up on the way.

Maybe my nephew is being sleep deprived too, hence the confusion.

Jabba The Hut Insomnia

Last night I watched that awful TV train wreck I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! on NBC. Most of the so-called celebrities I'd never heard of, including one especially obnoxious guy named Spencer Pratt.

Spencer Pratt is a Big Brat who has epic temper tantrums. I think watching this triggered a post-traumatic stress reaction, reminding me of that Tacoma Monster, who Gar the Texan dubbed Lord Voldemort, due to the dreaded fear she leaves in her wake, that has people afraid to utter her name, lest she direct an eruption in their direction.

Last night I had trouble getting to sleep, my first insomnia bout in a long time. Sometime after midnight I finally passed out, only to be awakened by a nightmare where Lord Voldemort had morphed into Jabba the Hut and was spewing a bunch of nonsensical vitriol at me. I think my sub-conscious turned Lord Voldemort into Jabba the Hut because they sort of look alike and neither has a neck.

Creatures like Spencer Pratt and Jabba the Hut are like slightly sleeping volcanoes. For the most part they keep the molten lava that seethes inside them under control, but way too frequently that molten lava gets released, usually in a most inappropriate fashion. And when the lava flows it reveals the ugly thought processes that torment the inner workings of the human volcano's mind.

During the months after my Tacoma Trauma last year I tried to figure out and understand what caused such strange self-destructive behavior, writing about various aspects of the subject, generating a lot of interesting comments and emails.

I eventually concluded the Jabba the Hut was the way she was due to a combination of many factors that combined to create a monster.

One factor is being an Only Child. Blogging about Only Child Syndrome eventually led me to learn that dealing with this syndrome is a world-wide problem. Many Only Children pitch a fit when they don't get their way, even in adulthood.

In my quest for answers I blogged about Histrionic/Narcissistic Disorder, the symptoms of which hit bingo in Jabba's case.

I blogged about mental health side effects caused by taking various psycho-tropic medications, again hitting bingo in Jabba's case.

I blogged about Morbid Obesity and the underlying mental health issues involved when a person engages in that type of overt self-destruction.

I blogged about Toxic People and how to recognize the signs that the person you are dealing with is extremely toxic and best avoided.

I blogged about Transactional Analysis and how one is best off if one deals only with people who operate from an adult I'm OK, You're OK mindset. And never deal with someone who's outlook on most of the world is I'm OK, You're Not OK.

Eventually I was satisfied I'd figured out what was so messed up about Jabba and why.

And then last night after watching Spencer Pratt be a brat, Jabba appeared in a nightmare, and unlike the Jabba the Hut of Star Wars fame, this Jabba was able to walk. Jabba was chasing me, trying to catch me and eat me. Just like the previous insomnia nightmare, where it was 6 ugly, extremely fat women running after me with their huge mouths wide open.

Spencer Pratt and those non-celebrities are on again tonight. I think for my own peace of mind and a good night's rest I probably should not be watching.

Getting Rid of Toxic Waste

It has been over 6 months since I rid myself of direct contact with a TTP (Terminally Toxic Person), who had acted out with extreme toxicity, for no apparent reason, berating sweet lovable me, like a proverbial Shakespearean untameable shrew.

While there have been, and will be no, in person contacts with that particular Human Nuclear Waste dump, there have been some incidents of written toxicity, both in blog form and in very nasty, perverse blog comments to this very blog. It's really sad how delusionally warped the human brain can twist.

It pleases me that I have others who follow the plot line and have made note of noticing the toxicity on display and its revelatory nature.

I mentioned a few days back that I was going through an intense Chinese Herbalist prescribed anti-toxin regimen. This doesn't have to do with human toxins, rather it's those toxins we eat, drink or breathe in, that wreak havoc with our internal organs.

In addition to the Detox Tea I mentioned before, I'm also drinking down salubrious volumes of Horny Goat Weed Tea.

I do not know, precisely, what is causing the salubrious effect, be it the Detox Tea, the Horny Goat Weed Tea, or what. But I had my 3rd night in a row of no insomnia. Disturbing dreams, yes, but no insomnia.

MLK Day Insomnia in Texas & Naked Bart Simpson

I have been up since about 2 this morning. I went to bed early. I did not have any nightmares, like during my last insomnia bout, where I was chased by 6 monster women trying to eat me.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning in effect til 6pm. A Red Flag Warning means the conditions are right for wildfires, as in it's dry and windy. So far, I smell no smoke.

For the past few days, AT & T I-verse has been having all their pay to view channels running free. That meant what appears to be a couple hundred versions of multiple HBO, MAXs, Showtimes and others were viewable and recordable.

Consequently I watched large parts of Suburbia and The Simpson's Movie. Maybe too much uninterrupted Homer wrought havoc with my ability to sleep. Or maybe it was that extremely long, Bart, full frontal nude skateboard scene.

Anyway, so far it's been a rather low energy Martin Luther King Day. Usually I celebrate by doing something altruistic. Right now I can't remember an example.

I read my Tacoma nephew's blog this morning. They are all sick. I have not been sick in a long time. Sleepless, yes. Sick, no. When I was up in Tacoma I tried to instill in those boys and their parents the salubrious benefits of washing their dishes with hot water and soap. I warned if you don't do this you risk getting all sorts of viruses and bacteria.

Now, I wash all my eating equipment in extremely hot water, with extremely potent dishwashing soap, to the point that I reach hospital level sterility. Hence that not getting sick thing. Maybe, now, with this most recent bout of ailing, those Tacoma nephews of mine will finally take heed of their uncle's wise advice.

And right now I don't need to hear from you boys, bragging about how easily you can fall asleep. All day long.

Texas Insomnia & Other Woes

New Year's Day I went to bed fairly early. Which caused me to get up fairly early. As in a bit past 2 this morning. Consequently I'm feeling punch drunk, like I've been on the road, driving non-stop for 24 hours and in dire need of a motel room.

I got up, made coffee, with it being hours before the Dallas Morning New would arrive. I finished reading Hollywood Kryptonite. That's the book that makes the case that George Reeves (Superman) was murdered, rather than a suicide. The Ben Affleck movie, Hollywoodland, with he playing Reeves, is based on this book.

Superman killing himself has always bothered me and I really think that is at the root of my extreme distrust of Super Heroes. After reading Hollywood Kryptonite, I'm convinced Reeves was murdered by a hitman ordered up by his jilted girl-friend, Toni Mannix.

I called my Mom early this morning to try and persuade them that waiting a week to come here, rather than leaving this coming Sunday, might be a good idea, due to we are supposed to be getting a cold snap, starting with rain on Monday. I told Mom, the way it goes here, is a few days cold, then back warm again, that by the Sunday after next we should be back in warm times again.

Mom said it would be too much trouble to wait a week, they were already packed, they'd add more cold weather clothes. Where Mom and Dad grew up, in Whatcom County, just south of the Canadian border, they experienced many a blizzard with very cold temperatures, heavy wind and a lot of snow, blowing into big drifts that could cover barns.

No one here in Texas can understand how varied the weather in Washington is. It is so unlike here. Most here think it rains all the time up there. Where Mom and Dad grew up, in Whatcom County, was only 40 miles north of where I grew up, in Skagit County. Whatcom County was in the path of weather systems coming down Canada's Frasier River Valley. As in very cold fronts, meeting up with wet Pacific air, causing massive snowstorm.

Meanwhile, where I lived, we called it The Banana Belt, while my Grandma's were snowbound with huge drifts, we'd have no snow and not even be freezing. Just a few miles to the west of where I lived the land was in the shadow of the Olympics, meaning they were a dry zone with way less rain than those of us living near the Cascades. When the clouds hit the Cascades they'd back up and pour rain on us. But the Olympics block a large area to the west, with some areas getting desert like levels of rainfall, annually.

And then there's the other side of the mountains. You drive over one of the Cascade Passes (you can't right now, closed due to avalanche danger) and you are in a brown Texas-like, albeit it more hilly and way more irrigated, zone. Eastern Washington gets real cold. And has a lot of orchards where they grow all those apples you see in stores here. And apricots, peaches, nectarines, cherries, grapes and all sorts of good stuff.

I take it back. Eastern Washington bears little resemblance to Texas.

So, anyway, Mom and Dad know what a cold winter is like, but they've become Weather Babies, like me. We all shivered in my sister's Iceberg she calls a house, in Tacoma, last summer. But I don't know if they remember what it is like when it is 20 degrees with a 40 mile wind blowing from the north. I expect to hear my Mom do a lot of complaining about the weather. She told me she just won't get out of the car.

I wonder if it is from my Mom I learned the Art of Complaining?

Sleepless In Tacoma

Yesterday whilst up in the air I drank a lot of Coke. As you, of course, know from reading every word in my Blog.

I'd been up since 5am Sunday morning. I'd gone on a long walk about noon. I'd flown for over 6 hours. When I landed in Washington it was 9:25pm Pacific Time. I'm usually in bed by that time Central Time.

By the time I got to Tacoma it was 10pm, midnight by my internal clock. When I got to my current location I unpacked and set up my computer.

I wasn't feeling sleepy, so I figured I'd take a sleeping pill (Unisom) and blog about my experience with Love Field and Southwest Airlines. I should have been sleepy. But I did drink all that Coke. And there are stimulants added to Coke. Well, a stimulant, as in caffeine.

Soon it was way past midnight. I wasn't sleepy, but I went to bed. I got cold, even though there were several blankets on top of me. I got up and found a thick comforter. This in the middle of summer. It's colder in here than I keep it with A/C in Texas.

Sometime past 3am I fell asleep for a bit. It is now 6am. I got up, turned on the coffee maker. Then I got chased by a pair of poodles. So, I went outside with them. And the air smelled like Christmas trees. I tell you, one of the many good things about living in Texas, is to be away from Washington for awhile and to return to be amazed at how good it smells, how sparkling clean it looks. And this summer, with no drought, it's very green.

I hope I can sleep tonight. In the meantime I'll be doing some poodle walking and some Lulu walking. And find a blackberry milkshake somewhere.

Texas Insomnia & Saharan Dust Storms

I had a bad bout of insomnia last night, for the first time in a couple months. I'd been taking sleeping pills, but last night I didn't remember I'd run out of my supply of knock out pills.

Last night I was tired, I was yawning, I'd have no problem falling asleep, or so I thought. I watched Hell's Kitchen til 9. That may have been too stimulating. I was then at the computer til 10. Again, maybe too stimulating. Then I went to bed and read a book I've almost finished, "Voices From the Third Reich." Again, likely too stimulating.

I turned off the lights coming up on 11. At about 11:30 that idiot Puerto Rican I've mentioned before called. She knows I go to bed early. The phone ringing was too stimulating. Of course, I did not answer it when I saw who it was. And then a minute later the voice mail tone went off. Again, too stimulating.

I lay in bed, over-stimulated, wondering if the Puerto Rican had called, all angry, due to reading something I may have said about her in my Blog. So, I got up and listened to the voice mail. I quickly deleted it when I could tell she was drunk and was calling me at almost midnight to tell me she'd watched the finale of Desperate Housewives again. That it was real good. That I should watch it.

So, back in bed, any sleep impulse totally evaporated. I tossed. I turned. The overhead fan made me chilly, so I turned it off. Still not asleep, coming up on 3am, I turned off the A/C and turned the overhead fan back on.

Sometime just after 4am I feel asleep for about 15 minutes. During those 15 minutes I had a nightmare involving my deceased grandma and me trying to help my now shrunken grandma navigate the kitchen floor at the house I grew up in, in Burlington, Washington. I woke up overheated.

I fell asleep again sometime after 5am. This time the nightmare was a Nazi stabbing another Nazi and another Nazi telling him to stop and the stabbing Nazi then slicing his own throat. Of course I woke up instantly and then laid there pondering what the significance of this nightmare was. I'm still pondering.

Sometime about 6am I heard the Star-Telegram hit my front door. So, I got up, made coffee, laid on the floor drinking the coffee and read the paper, what little of it there was worth reading. Then I got on the computer, saw how much Google money I made yesterday and then proceeded to blog my grumpy disdain for that recurring Star-Telegram inanity of pointing out Texas connections to people in the news. No matter how trivial.

It's gonna be a very long day. I am constitutionally unable to take naps. My first chance of being able to sleep will come sometime past 9pm this evening. I will need to brave going to Wal-Mart today to get a fresh supply of knockout drugs. I'd rather be a drug addict than suffer through another night like last night.

This is the last WWII book I'm reading. I must cut down on the amount of stimulation I subject myself to.

And as if my personal misery weren't enough, today north Texas is being blighted by a dust storm that has blown in from the Sahara Desert. That's in Africa for those of you who didn't know when the American Civil War took place. I hate it when we get a Saharan Dust Storm here. It makes me sneeze.

Done Teetotaling

I'd been having insomnia problems. Really really bad insomnia problems. I decided this might be being caused by my drinking problem. So, I've made the decision to quit teetotaling. I've been off the stuff for 2 days now and the insomnia problem seems to be much much better.

Long ago I stopped drinking any coffee in the afternoon. For years I had to have a cup around 4pm. But then something happened to my metabolism, or maybe I just was nervously suffering from more stress. The problem did seem to arise after I moved to Texas. If I didn't have the afternoon coffee I'd develop a coffee withdrawal headache. But then one day I did not have my afternoon coffee and I had no headache and I've been coffee free, except for in the morning, ever since.

Back to the ceasing of the teetotaling. For a long time the health benefits of green tea have been touted. How it boosts the immune system, amps up the metabolism, all sorts of supposed benefits.

So, I started drinking green tea in the afternoon. Three bags worth of the stuff. It took me awhile to connect the cause to effect, but after I started drinking the salubrious green tea I started having worse insomnia issues. I knew green tea had some caffeine in it, but I didn't think it was a significant amount. Not nearly as much as coffee. Or so I thought.

And now I've stopped drinking green tea. Cold turkey. No withdrawal symptoms at all. And I slept really good last night. Except for some very disturbing dreams.

On a related side note, Wikipedia has an interesting list of people, unlike me, who are still teetotalers. George W. Bush is on that list. So is Adolph Hitler. Interesting coincidence that both share in common the teetotaling thing and a bad habit of invading other nations for no good reason.