DelBloggolo: ITS GETTING HARDER AND HARDER

Friday, October 10, 2014

ITS GETTING HARDER AND HARDER

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Sleep that is.

Depending on my day, at certain times of the evening, if I am home, sleep can beckon me to an early bedtime. I have learned not to listen to the call of slumber so early, even though my old age makes me want to.

When I go to bed there is a ritual, brush my teeth, leave two Aleve pills near by and take out my I-pad and go on YouTube after a rousing game of Spider. This is to keep myself alive until TLW (The Little Woman) falls asleep from the TV. She watches the TV in bed and I don’t care for it. YouTube takes me to places I’ve never been or makes me laugh or even gives me a history lesson. Type something in their search box and something comes out: Very simple and very convenient.

But there are certain rituals beyond afore mentioned. I am dealing with a mad woman. Yes, take more blanket than I’m entitled to, and there will be repercussions, a stern look and one of the most amazing readjustments of the covers I have ever witnessed., followed by a small but dignified grunt.

One of my big problems is I can fall fast asleep and then go into a deep slumber and awaken, leaving me up for most of the night. Sometimes arthritis kicks in on my left arm and shoulder and I need to take something for it. I try to count sheep and get hungry, for some reason wanting a lamb chop! I try to count all my good qualities and find that after a few seconds of futility, I start counting my bad ones, which will turn into a nightmare of counting.

I try to walk around like the experts say I should, but that only makes me wander to the closes window and wonder why everyone is gone for the night, no lights on in the houses and no life in the street.

Whenever I travel, the first night in a strange bed is always a problem, especially when traveling alone. The room temperature needs to be cool, no moderation please, and just like at home, I need an opened window. Cool rooms make me rest in one place, snug under a blanket never moving until the crack of dawn, or TLW extricating herself from the bed to find a rooster to start the day.

My mother told me I was never a good sleeper as a child, sitting in my crib all night, not making noise but having a good time. I guess I was a child of the night!

The Marriott

About twice a year I find myself in Albany either at the Hilton on State and Lodge or the Marriott on Wolf’s Road off the thruway attending a convention. The Marriott has the best, soft, fluffy and the Hilton: not so hot. Both beds find me twisting and turning to fall asleep, but the Hilton offers a tremendous view of the State Capitol building, where I swear at the Governor in the privacy of my room.

The Hilton

When I worked in Manhattan, many a night I spent at the office working late, going home on the train and eating then going up to my office at home to work through the night, jump into the shower and off to the train to work all day. When I finally got to Penn Station or Hunters Point Avenue, I would collapse in my seat on the train and hope to catch a nap, only to have some fidgety moron sit next to me to keep me awake!

I never like to sleep in other people’s homes, because once again, that first night finds me laying awake, fidgeting and thinking of other things while trying to fall asleep, sleep and I don’t coexist. I guess this is all part of the aging process.