Thoughts from the Ass End of the Night, Volume 3

 Once, insomnia posts were a staple of this here blogamathing.  I spent a lot of time in my 20's and 30's waking in the middle of the night, and deciding to type nonsense onto the computer.

I'm going through a spell right now.  I'm not sure the cause, though I have a suspicion I'll detail.  I'll just say this stretch, which started last Thursday night, is kinda gruesome and maybe tonight has me a little worried.

Last Thursday, I woke up around 1 to go to the bathroom, and couldn't fall back to sleep.  Went through alternating moments of it's too hot in the room, and then too cold.  Tried sleeping on the couch so as not to wake Shyam, and ended up falling asleep in a weird position, which left my neck and shoulder in a pretty good amount of pain that whole Friday.

The weekend came, and I was off.  I was able to squeeze in a couple 7 hour sleep nights. 

Then, Monday, I closed, which was followed up by an 8AM shift Tuesday.  I slept about 5 hours.  Which is about normal for one of those nights.  Wednesday, I also closed.  Tuesday, after the All-Star Game, I went to bed, and slept for about 2 hours, before waking again.  I was awake all the way until Shyam's alarm waking her.  Like I said, I closed, so I was able to sleep from about 7 to 11 and catch up somewhat.

Yesterday, Thursday, I was off.  I was woken at about 6 by thunderstorms.  There was a lot of lightning and wind, so I got up to make sure nothing major was coming our way.  After heading out for an oil change and a visit with my Mom, I came home and napped for about 45 minutes.  Tonight, we went to bed around 10.  Around 11:45, I got up to pee, and came back to bed.  I slept again until about 1:30, and I've been wide the fuck awake ever since.  Twice I've gotten up to go read in the living room, and got myself back to the point of nodding.  And as soon as I lie down, I'm wide awake.

As a minor note, in the few minutes it's taken me to punch these paragraphs out, I can feel myself getting sleepy.

I wish I knew what was wrong.

Summer's part of it.  It's not even necessarily the heat.  It's fucking swampy outside, all the time.  Unloading trucks at work lately have left us looking like we're playing basketball.  It's uncomfortable to sleep in, even with fans and AC going.  I also have a minor suspicion that our bedroom AC unit is about to give up the ghost.

Another part of it is the shifting schedule.  I don't have a set schedule.  Haven't for 19 years, at least.  I'm used to having to close a bit.

We lost another manager recently and somewhat unexpectedly.  As a result, we had to move our evening manager into that role, which left me grocery manager and me to close the store.  I've gone from closing one night a week to 2-4 times.  My body doesn't know when to sleep, and I'm having a hard time coping.

It's 5:47.  My alarm's supposed to go off in about an hour.  I can feel myself being sleepy.  I just don't know if I'll fall asleep when I lie down. 

If I didn't have a pair of new hires to do today, I'd consider calling in....

Add to that, my boss goes on vacation tomorrow, and I'm working 9 of the next 10 days.  I don't have anybody to spell me if I should call in.

I will admit to having a couple things on my mind.  

My friend Kevin Britton died at the beginning of this month in a motorcycle accident.  Eric and I had met up with him just the previous Sunday to take in a Smokies game.  Because of work, I wasn't able to attend a funeral service.  I didn't think it bugged me a the time, but it might be sticking with me.

My friend Micah's mom suffered a stroke a little while back, and he's had too much on his plate.  It bothered me how difficult it was to get her into a hospital room, and then, how difficult it's been to secure treatment.

We've been having trouble finding enough help at work.  That's not new.  That's been ongoing for months.  The past couple of months, though, it's been bothering me, as I've seen my hour count start to rise.

I don't get to see Shyam as often as I'd like.  And when we do see each other, one or both of us is too tired to do anything much fun.

I haven't gotten to see Thor: Love and Thunder yet.  That's aggravating.

I was supposed to be on vacation this week.  We had tried to plan a vacation with the family like last year's to Gulf Shores, but somebody had a claim in on this week.  About a month ago, that claim moved back a week.  I'd like to have gone somewhere with my family.  I've gotten to hang out with my nephew once this summer....and he's gonna be starting school again in a couple weeks.  

Meh.  Sorry to unburden myself....

Mid Year Reading Round up 2022

 Just a quick rundown of what I've read, so far, in 2022:

January

Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL  by Jeff Pearlman

When Pearlman's passionate about his subject, he's a good read.  And he was passionate about tracking this down.  Good read....I wish the current USFL, in its first season, had even 1/8th of the color and energy portrayed in Pearlman's book.....

The Ends of the World    by Peter Brannen

A look through the various eras and extinction events suffered by the Planet....works as an excellent companion piece to Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction

Rose Madder    by Stephen King

The continuing project.  This was one of the ones I'd never read all the way through.  I think I started it and abandoned it somewhere just after its publication.  Actually, not a bad read at all, though I wish King hadn't leaned so hard into mental illness as the genesis of Norman's abusive behavior....almost as if it's an out or an excuse of some kind.....

All About Me!    by Mel Brooks.

Lots of people found new projects during Covid-19's early days....Mel decided to write a memoir about his 70+ year career.  On the whole, I ended up not getting as much out of his movie-making stories that I'd hoped, but his adventures in TV before the movies, and on Broadway after, are well worth the read.

Camera Man   by Dana Stevens

The best biography of Buster Keaton I've read.  (I've now read three, to date).

February

Ballpark:  Baseball in the American City    by Paul Goldberger

A nice walk through the history of the ballpark and the Major League.  Does get a little repetitive....even if those multipurpose stadiums of the 70's are banal, do you have to use that word so much?

Ronan Boyle Into the Strage Place     by Thomas Lennon

This one is probably the funniest of the three Ronan Boyle books.  With one particular interaction having me crack up at a stoplight.

Junkyard Dogs    by Craig Johnson

Quick read.  Johnson continues to turn a good phrase....

You've Got Red on You:  How Shaun of the Dead was Brought to Life  by Clark Collis

Decent read....good look at the making of the flick....

Based on a True Story: a Memoir     by Norm MacDonald

Damn, but I miss Norm.  A re-read.  Easily one of the funniest books I've read.

The Green Mile  by Stephen King

The one was better than I remembered.....

March

The Lincoln Highway    by Amor Towles

I got this one for Christmas.  I'd been hearing about Towles for a couple of books....I liked this one.  

The Drive-In 2: (Not Just One of Them Sequels)   by Joe R. Lansdale

Just some good old goofy Lansdale.  I'd like to sit back and shoot the shit with this guy, perhaps more than any other author I read.....

The Shark-Infested Custard   by Charles Willeford

Hilarious, and dark as hell

Ghost Story   by Peter Straub

I ended up not caring for this one.  Long.  Never really coming to a satisfying point. 

April

George Washington    by James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn

A little dry, but a good enough overview of his presidency

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination   by Neil Gabler

Creativity as a business endeavour fascinates me.....

Desperation    by Stephen King

I liked this one better than when I first read it in 1996....still, it's quite a bit longer than it needs to be.....

Eat a Peach   by David Wong

Interesting....as much a musing on management as it is a memoir

May

American War     by Omar El Akkad

One of my two or three favorite books that I've read this year.  I might have liked it even more if we weren't living in a dystopian future already, and perhaps running headline into the scenario outlined in this book....

Hunter Houston and the Molten Menace   by Bobby Nash

A gift from a buddy.  A quick read.  Nash has a good ear for The South....

The Regulators   by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman

Another new one----I'd never made it all the way through this one.  On its own, it's not bad.  But it doesn't have the same feel as the original Bachman books, somehow.....

In Cold Blood   by Truman Capote

Decided to re-read after catching the Capote flick one afternoon.  A re-read.  Actually read it for the work itself, instead of for content, in that half-assed resentful way I tended to read assigned works back in the day....

Never a Bad Game: Fifty-Plus Years in the Southern League    by Mark McCarter

Picked up for 75 cents at a local used book store.  Bathroom reading, if you wanna know the truth.  Also?  This one smells of being hurriedly and half-interestedly put together.  There's a bit of wikipedia journalism going on with this one.....

Razzmatazz      by Christopher Moore

With two books, Moore's Noir series is edging toward my favorite bit of his work.  At the very least, it's made me laugh more consistently than the bulk of his work since Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove.  (And I say that liking the Pocket series a great deal....).  Funny, with lots of nice turns of phrase....

June

A Better Man  by Michael Ian Black

In a letter to his son, Black speaks on what being a man in the 21st century means.  This wasn't quite what I was expecting... though I was quite pleased by what I read.....

Blood, Sweat and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of the Making of Mad Max Fury Road   by Kyle Buchanan

A helluva good read.  Probably my favorite thing I've read this year.....

Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind     by Yuval Noah Harari

My bedtime read for most of the spring...  

The Devil Crept In      by Ania Ahlborn

I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did.  Solid concept.  but there were times the writing just felt wooden.....

The Dark Tower:  Wizard and Glass     by Stephen King

This one's in my top five favorite King works.  It was a pleasure to revisit.....