h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i'm almost nineteen

dorian

When I was almost 19, I got a scholarship to Tanzania with the Experiment in International Living, which meant I was there for six weeks . I think I was going out with a dental technician (I can't remember his name) - this faded immediately I went to University. I was singing in a folk club sometimes. I was an avid reader.

I had no real idea of what I wanted to do with my life, except that I wanted to use my languages and had thoughts of perhaps being an interpreter. As it turned out, I didn't have the discipline to study hard enough (I spent a lot of my undergrad years playing table football!), although I got my degree.

i'm spending my highschool (at college) partying with girls, in front of a computer screen, or listening to music on my beanbag while recovering from a hangover.

Dorian

*hands over an icebag*

What do you do with the girls, while you're in front of the computer screen?

well i forgot my tables, (turn tables DJ style) if i'm playing with my tables they just have top wait. but girls always take precidence over computer. and most of my friends for that matter.

Dorian

Ah, yes. And your massage skills will come in very handy there, no doubt.

mos def i need some way to console them after i piss them off, by being very engrossed in my music.

Dorian

Oh, does that happen often?

I'm going for a day trip to Le Havre on Friday - sailing overnight - arriving at 7am and then coming back in the afternoon. Long day. Will get back in London at 11pm - very late for little .

enough.
have fun on the whole trip thing.
but, um... you might want to redefine your definition of late. late only starts when the clock approaches 0330

dorian

How late do you think late should be for a seven and a half year old?

3.30am - I only know that if I've woken in the night these days.

wait, ohh..... i get it 2300 on the late side for your kids. right, me well once the weekend hit's i'm a walking party and average 10 hours of sleep total from thursday morning till sunday night.

dorian

Wow. Mind you, when I was a student, I could manage on around that. However, as single parent of a small child working full time, I need rather more sleep now. Offspring goes to bed at 8pm usually. He's going to be dead on his feet by midnight, which is when I think we're going to arrive home. It may be that we have to take a taxi from the station.

I'm really looking forward to the day, though (if not the coming back). Should be fun.

all good. yeah i have insomia, probly already told you that, but in the last six months there have only been nine days that i've gotten more than 6 hours of sleep.
last night i got 4, monday night was 5ish, sunday night 3, saturday 5, yes this is my life and it ending one minute at a time.

dorian

No, I don't think you've mentioned insomnia. I know it can be a bit of a bummer. I had a pattern a little while ago of waking at 2.30am, or 3-4am and then finding it difficult to get back to sleep. I found sometimes, it was easier for me to get up, do something (like say hello to my computer) and then go back to bed. Come the morning, of course, it felt like I'd just got off, and then the alarm would go.

Are you doing anything to try to combat it?

no, it's become so much of a regular habit that the very rare nights that i do get 8 or 10 hours of sleep (i don't count being passed out from the magic A word sleep) that i am grumpy and irritable the next day. so i endure and continue life.

dorian

Yes, I've heard of people grumpy when they've caught up with a lot of missed sleep. Can't remember why it happens.

Are you coping on such little sleep? If you are, then I wouldn't worry about it. Lots of teenagers and early 20s get very little sleep and seem to manage OK. It seems to balance out later.

right. yeah i cope, but people think i'm high all the time because i what around really dazed all day.

dorian

Might also be something to do with diet. If you eat or drink before bedtime, it can affect the quality of your sleep. I'm now careful not to eat a couple of hours before bedtime and alcohol (I hardly drink at all these days) definitely wakes me in the middle of the night.

thanks for the recommemdations.

dorian

Well, whether you experiment with diet is up to you. Might be worth a go. On the other hand, if you're happy with the way things are or it would interfere with your social life too much ...