![\"clownswilleatme.png\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stevepeer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/clownswilleatme.png?w=1000\")
<\/p>\nSleep is a wonderful thing.<\/p>\n
I have spent many astonishing hours covered by that dark and mysterious blanket, where dreams approach and the real world is far, far away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lately, my sleep patterns have been erratic. It\u2019s funny how your need for sleep changes during your life. Back in the day, when I was an up-and-coming manager in the graphics field, I needed very little. We would finish work at 10 pm, then eat pizza and watch Law and Order, and Homicide. I would sleep four-or-so hours and head back to the office around 7 am.<\/p>\n
Back then, all-nighters were par for the course. I could go without sleep for 36 hours, sitting at my computer and completing mammoth projects. Of course, whenever I closed my eyes for more than a second I instantly started to dream. By the end of the sleepless stretch I was drained.<\/p>\n
Skip ahead. When I started working as a reporter I found I needed seven or eight hours a night just to stay sane. I wasn\u2019t a fan of being a practicing journalist. You have to do a lot of slimy things and I think that sleep was a brief escape from a job I didn\u2019t really enjoy.<\/p>\n
Skip ahead again: The present. Again, a manager, and to usurp the title of a bad movie, I\u2019m \u201cSleepless in Shenzhen.\u201d Interviewing prospective teachers in other time zones explains part of this. I rise after only four to five hours of sack time. I need more, desperately, but manage to catch up on weekends.<\/p>\n
![\"sleep-brain.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stevepeer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/sleep-brain.jpg?w=300\")
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an evil cycle. I wake up at two or three, do school work, blog, write email, etc. until it\u2019s time for work. I do my day, and after getting home it is a giant struggle to stay awake. When I fall asleep I wake up after four hours and do it again. My attempts to change this pattern have so far failed. The longest stretch I have slept in the last seven months is six-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n
Sleeping with someone else is a challenge. I was a celibate hermit for many a year. Adjusting to a hot someone, figuratively and literally, in your bed is a chore. I\u2019m not complaining, but when it\u2019s more than 40 degrees outside, a hot body beside you can be an impediment to a good night\u2019s rest. (also an impediment in other ways, but I\u2019ll leave that alone)<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not complaining. You can get a lot accomplished when you\u2019re awake 20 hours a day. I\u2019m certain the surrounding apartments are less-than-pleased listening to my washing machine at 5:00 am. I\u2019m amazed my wife can sleep thru the noise of me attempting to defeat the sentient monster that has formed in the kitchen sink from dirty plates and chopsticks.<\/p>\n
Maybe this will change, maybe it won\u2019t. For now, I\u2019ll enjoy the early morning quiet time. When baby arrives (if ever) I\u2019m sure my quiet time with be at a premium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sleep is a wonderful thing. Lately, my sleep patterns have been erratic. It\u2019s funny how your need for sleep changes during your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[45],"tags":[326,798,838,839],"class_list":["post-102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humour","tag-journalist","tag-shenzhen","tag-sleep","tag-sleep-patterns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n