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

WOW!!!
kea, I'm astounded!!!
I couldn't believe you'd got all this together so quickly, there must be a bit of in the air around your way
I've been & registered on that time-zone site, got side-tracked of course (sent a message to someone who's living in the Middle East near where I did)
It's really good to have some idea what time of day it is for other people, though hootoo is a dream come true for me 'cos my sleep patterns are so weird, I could be on any time ( & likewise asleep at any time; but usually only for a couple of hours at a stretch; but when I DO feel I HAVE to do it there & then, RL deadlines are an absolute nightmare!)

I know Abbi has similar sleep problems & too I think; what about the others? How many of us have to try & cope with 9to5 syndrome when our body-clocks just don't work that way? Personally Ifeel it's at the root of a hell of a lot of problems; I started drinking heavily mainly as a way to switch off so I could sleep at the "right" time in order to get up for work -- a recipe for disaster; don't try this one at home folks!!

Off to visit De Myelin Nation! See ya later!

zdt

Hi guys, looks like I'm the last one to make the list. I'm Central Standard Time in the U.S. Not sure if daylight savings applies or not.

Terri, yes I too have sleep problems. My sleep cycle rotates. I sleep a little later each day, and stay up a little longer each night, until my sleep cycle is completely reversed. I wind up getting up for my "day" at 9:00pm. It can be most annoying. Luckily I am not working, so I don't have to worry about a schedule being disrupted. People have asked me, "Can't you just get up when you want to get up?" The answer is no - I have tried, setting alarms and such, but nothing really works. I just fall back asleep. I happen to be Bipolar, and I have heard from two sources that it is not unusual for Bipolar people to have disrupted or reversed sleep cycles. I tend to get on Hootoo after my parents have gone to bed, so that I'm not tying up their phone line. So I'm often on when people in Europe are beginning their day. JEllen

AH ha! BI-polar, join the club!
-- or at least that's one of the labels that's been thrown at me; others being borderline personality disorder, histrionic, dependent , antisocial (?!) etc etc.
And just plain odd of course!

One of the many labels thrown at my mother was bi-polar, or in those days "manic-depressive"; she was certainly extremely , not to say bloody cruel. I'm pretty certain that one of the major reasons for my sleep problem is that she used to force me to sleep with her & put my hand on her chest so that I could get help if she stopped breathing (she had a heart condition & also regularly took overdoses)
-- not the best recipe for good sleeping habits!

It's only now that I'm beginning to just accept that a) I probably actually need less hours of sleep than most, & that if I try to force it I won't be able to & get frustrated & ratty; b) I may as well see it as constructive & use some of my excess energy (mental, not physical) in doing things like hootoo, writing, art work etc even if it's at 5am; so long as I don't disturb anyone else. The two main factors that have really helped are that hootoo means I can chat without making a noise; & having the luxury of no "day-job" to worry about! Plus of course, an incredibly supportive partner. Lucky me; how do you manage though? Presumably your parents need help when they wake up (& you're probably ready to switch off then!)

My doctor, who is very good & a seriously practical person says "Any sleep that you get at any time you really want it is worth double the time spent asleep because people tell you you should be" !

off to chat to Abbi! Yet another one!

You sound like you cope with your sleep problem pretty well. Do stuff while you can, and all that. I help my Mom during the night, if she needs to walk to the kitchen for a snack, or if she feels too unsteady walking to the bathroom. Dad takes over in the daytime, although I often come downstairs and stay with my Mom so he can go to the grocery or wherever. It works out pretty nicely for all of us.

Yep, I reckon if we're lucky enough to have worked out a way that works for us, then we're better off than most people! The fact that I can now honestly say I'm happier than I've ever been makes me wonder whether all those labels were really only a way of saying "get a life -- the one that suits YOU!"
Take care, stay (but a bit of is fun too!!)

"And just plain odd of course!"

aah, i'm feeling more and more at home here all the time

hi everyone.

hi JElllen, i'll add you to the list when i update it in the morning.


this was such a good conversation to get up to. i've been napping.

my energy peaks in the evening and so i have a tendancy to be up to all hours. in the last year i've been trying to get to bed earlier, because sometimes its easier on my body. there's an old wives tale about the number of hours before midnight being qualitatively better than those after. it was much easier to do in the winter, and i'll probably try it again then.

however i think this is fantyastic : "Any sleep that you get at any time you really want it is worth double the time spent asleep because people tell you you should be"

lately i've been remembering when i was in my early 20s and i used to stay up to the wee small hours, talking with friends or doing creative stuff. then i'd sleep in ' til midday or later. i remember >really< enjoying sleeping, it was a highlight of my day. and the rest of my life was pretty good then too, so the sleep must have been fantastic. lots of dreams i suspect. and also very deep relaxation in my body.

i can only dream of sleep like that now, so its good to have such a great memory.

i really like this too : "The fact that I can now honestly say I'm happier than I've ever been makes me wonder whether all those labels were really only a way of saying "get a life -- the one that suits YOU!""

i've been thinking alot lately about what i can do to make my life suit me better. that is so cool that you have done that, Terri.



and yes there was in the air (with the time stuff)

kea (on for another hour and then tv time )

ahhh..hello all....
i don't think anyone else has eyes @ the moment. so.

hi everyone


hmm...sleep patterns...

Mine are erratic at the best of times, which plays havoc on my poor 9-5 partner.
I seem to be a night-owl that comes awake just as the sun is setting - my energy seems to peak at around 1am.
I did manage to get to bed at 10.15pm last night thought! Hoorah! I think the chamomile tea helped, along with being utterly exhausted still from a party on New Year's Eve...

bipolar huh?
ppl think i might be bipolar...but i'm to chicken to go to a shrink and check...
ah well...

My symptoms were dramatic. It happened suddenly, back in 93. All hell broke loose. Luckily I'm pretty stable now.

oh. well i'm not too bad...but it has been sugested on multiple occasions...

chamomille

i hate tea + coffee...

even chamomille ?

mmm-hmmm..all of it. it's disgusting.

Do you not like hot drinks Moose? Fair enough

Chamomile doesn't taste anything like tea or coffee...
it's just herbs and hot water.

My doc was despairing at first, 'cos it was obvious things weren't going to get better if I wasn't sleeping. He wasn't able to prescribe anything like tranquilisers etc 'cos of my general state, but neither of us would have wanted them anyway, but he eventually found a herbal thing called (brand name here in France: Tranquital. Contains Valerian & Aubepine.) It did seem to help, & at least couldn't cause any harm. How much is the "placebo effect" we'll never know of course!
Here in France they're really into homeopathic medicines & another useful one is "L72"; no idea what's in it but just about anybody here takes it if they have a problem sleeping.

It's good to know I'm not alone in my ness; I reckon once you learn to your own brand of being instead of fight it, life becomes a hell of a lot easier to handle!

Don't envy you though having all the adolescent cr** to handle as well, everyone seems to assume it's the "best days of your life"; that's just not true in many cases.

And a little advice from aged Auntie Terri:
DO NOT BELIEVE THEM when they tell you you'll grow out of your spots, one of the depressing things about being ancient is you get spots on top of your wrinkles!!!
who cares anyway!!
T

I've only tried valerian by itself, Terri, or with other herbs like hops, etc (I know, conjurs up images of beer - a pint of valerian & hops ), but, it's very effective.

Hi sleepy people!
Go to bed!!!!!
That's an order!!!!!

I thought I would say hello, and then go about my chores.
Take good care of yourselves. Relax and enjoy your environment.
I've got some you could count!
lady Karen

I've tried counting < when I was looking after the farm. The trouble was in real life they kept increasing, usually at highly inconvenient times & in stupid places.

Hey , do you fancy starting a column about how incredibly stupid, messy, un-co-operative & suicidal can be?
Ducks as well, come to think of it. They also add psycopathic sexual tendencies to the list.

I'd say your baby humans sound entirely normal, congratulations! I haven't forgotten about the e-mail to "r" it's on a list to do!
zdt