Thursday 12 August 1999
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Pic of the day: Typical user of HTML editor. (Hey, it was this or a picture of my new haircut.) Slept ca 7 hours this night. That's noticeably more than usual, but really it's not more than maintenance. At least with an infection to battle, my body needs its sleep. As does yours, probably. New research shows that most people in the Western world suffer from lack of sleep. And I do not mean insomnia, though that is certainly a problem for some. No, people just plain choose not to sleep enough. I am guilty as sin: I tend to stay awake as much as possible. Life is too short to sleep, and there is so much fun to have. But according to Psychology Today, the price is high: Most people function well under their peak capacity. Productivity suffers. Sometimes life or limb is lost due to the lack of concentration. Even when people feel sharp, they still do not give their best. It all started with Edison and his competitors, rushing to bring electric light to the homes. Until then, there were oil lamps and tallow candles; flickering they tried to keep the darkness away, to no avail. The body adjusted to the darkness and people naturally went to sleep early in the night. Today, night is like a frontier being settled. Where only ruffians and outlaws ranged, the masses are moving in. Shops are keeping open longer and longer hours. With Internet, you can trade around the clock. Or chat with friends. All in the bright day-like electric light. The human body wasn't made for this, and so we suffer. Or, like me, fall asleep at work. (Luckily only a couple of minutes today.) Listening to a penguin trying to teach me Word97 loses its appeal after a while. The first part of the sleep period has most deep-sleep, which is needed for the body (growth hormones and stuff). Then gradually REM sleep takes over as the night goes on. This vivid dream sleep aids long term memory. Measurably. And it is inhibited by alcohol as well as older sleep pills (barbiturates). Drinking to sleep, then, is probably a bad idea if you wish to remember what you've learned this day. Of course, there are those who would prefer to forget each day as soon as possible. (I am not among those.) Just writing about this, I'm getting so tired I can barely stay awake. And the journal channel is virtually deserted anyway. Yesterday that Gurgle girl was there with a few friends. Pretty cool. One of them was another Daggerfall player. They are everywhere! :) |
Finally got a haircut today. Whew!
Payday! :) Still not bought the wedding gift for Dan. They'll marry tomorrow, Friday 13th, but I won't see them before Saturday. |