No more video Blogs

I've decided that the effort of doing a video blog isn't worth the benefits. It takes about a whole waking period to get the video to my computer, edit out the naps, add subtitles, and upload it to the blog. Lately it's become such a chore that I start nodding off while I am doing it. While I usually don't feel that tired, if I'm sitting down for too long or doing something I don't really like, I'll start nodding off and feeling loopy.

Firist Mistake!

You know, they say not to get overconfident. And you'd think that after seeing people do just that I'd not get overconfident myself, but I did. It was only a small mistake, really: I took a nap when no one else was home, and didn't ask someone to call me when I should wake up. I thought something like "Well this will be my personal success--to prove that I could do it myself. "

Anyway, I ended up waking up, looking confusingly at my camera (as if to say "why is this recording?") , and turning it off. Then, I remember standing in front of the couch for probably 2-5 minutes trying to justify sleeping for a bit more. I eventually set the alarms for ten minutes, and the loud one for (I thought) around 15 minutes. But somehow, the big one was set for a bit after 11, and that's when I finally woke up.

So I slept for about an hour more than I should have. Compared to most oversleeps you would hear about, it's really not that bad at all, but it still feel really down from the fact that it happened. After that, I tried to find stuff to do to stay awake, and finally got into a good Team Fortress game that pulled me completely from that lingering tiredness.

Also, my 4th nap (1:40 - 2:00 PM) passed without me realizing, so I had to take it quickly, and forgot to set up the camera. But I think that will be the extent of the damage from that oversleep, and it really hasn't caused that much harm. I'll just make sure now to always have someone ready to call at the end of the nap, if no one is there to wake me up in person.

I am a social creature

I already knew I was a social creature, but I didn't know it was this extreme.

After the 2nd nap today (5th day), I started walking into town, trusting the walk to wake me up. But it didn't, to my surprise. I got probably about a fifth of the way to town when my mom saw me on the side of the road and pulled over to talk to me. I asked for a ride into town, thinking the thick of the city would be more stimulating than the road to it. I was wrong, however. I was still really tired--When I was waiting for a breakfast burrito at Carls Jr., I had to keep lifting my head from where it drooped over my table.

Anyway, I made my way to Fred Meyer, and chatted with my boss and the morning people (I work there, but have 19 days off for the adaptation period) about how tired I was or how recent naps had gone. Near the end of the conversation, I realized I simply wasn't tired anymore. And the whole walk home, I was the opposite of how I was before I'd hit Fred Meyer--I was awake and happy. Similarly, when I got home it was hard for me to sit without nodding off while I waited for a half an hour for my 3rd nap to roll around. I woke up Chancey and talked to him, and never even got close to nodding off until my nap.

Day 4

Here's the video for day 4:



Some notes:

Kyle said that I woke up from the 4th nap a few minutes before the alarms went off, saying that I needed to get up (but sounding very tired). He told me I still had a few minutes left, and I rolled over and went right back to sleep. I very vaguely remember it.

When I'm waking up from Nap 4 for the last time, that's Kyle who sits down and tells me to sit up, since it's obvious I'm reluctant to get up. Waking up from this nap was by far the hardest, yet the period of wakeful afterward was one of the more alert ones.

That was very scary.

Wow.

In my previous post I talk about how tired I was. Let me assure you, I was understating it quite a bit, mostly because I was too tired to realize how tired I was. Looking back, it's scary--if my brother hadn't been home, I might not have woken up from naps 3 or 4. When I was eating after the 3rd nap, he looked back and saw me sitting there with my head drooped and my eyes closed. "Logan!" "*mumble*" "Stand up and eat!". I didn't argue; it made sense so I did so. He continued, "Get a cup of water. Cold water." So I dumped out my water and let the water run before refilling the glass. I dunno if it helped, but the point is that I was very tired.

My legs were sore (and still are) from walking so much; I'd thought I was acclimated enough, but I was not. So walking into town wasn't a viable option, because I didn't want to wear out my legs further. I ended up walking my dog very slowly for a while, working my legs lightly enough to where I felt I wasn't working them too hard. I also moved some big rocks around for a while, and used the elliptical my Mom has in the living room. I was able to stay up until my nap, and i quickly fell asleep.

I woke up thinking (with no real evidence) that there was a mistake somehow, and I hadn't gotten a full 20 minutes. My brother was still home, though, so he was able to force me up and start me eating. Just as I was starting to dread another period of struggling to stay awake, I realized: I'm not tired anymore.

It was a slower realization than that implies, but once I did fully realize the truth of it, I was ecstatic. Not only do I not have to go through that crap again (not yet anyway) but also, that 20-minute nap replenished me significantly. It's about 2 hours and 40 minute since I woke up from that nap, and I'm still very much awake. And this is all without any physical activity, just watching my brother play Ninja Gaiden II (pretty sweet game) and posting here on the blog.

I played one of my favorite albums pretty loud, and sang along loudly too. I'm still jittery with relief and happiness.

Out of Nowhere

Holy crap.

After 17 naps with no sleep momentum and very little fatigue, nap number 18 (3rd nap of the day) comes along, and the period after it gets me with a surprise attack. Since I woke up from that nap, it's been a pretty strong, constant urge to go to sleep. I remember in the shower I was halfway dreaming at the same time. At the end of the shower I cranked the cold all the way up and the heat all the way down, which helped for about ten minutes.

I can't wait for this coming nap. It will feel awesome at first, although it might not revive me much.

A casual post

I've been so busy during these first few days that I kind of turned this thing into a data dump, rather than a fleshed out blog. Now that I should have a bit more free time, I should be able to post here more about how I feel or what I think about the whole thing.

I am really surprised that I am not any more tired by now. It is the fourth day of the adjustment (I just woke up from the third nap for today) and this is the first nap that I've felt a noticeable desire to go back to sleep for more than a few minutes. Usually when I wake up and start eating, the desire disappears within a couple minutes (although I can still be tired), but this time it just diminished a gradually over about ten minutes. I'm still feeling it now, although it is slight. I've been avoiding couches altogether since my first night of uberman, but until now it was just to build the habit of the action. Now, I think if I were to sit down on a couch, I might start to nod off or lay down to sleep.

I'm too tired to keep blogging; I'm going to start doing some of the activities i have planned for this waking period. Wish me luck!