Sleep Deprived

It's been a long week so far, and it's only Wednesday.

Sunday we had the dog vs. porcupine contest (winner by a TKO - Peter Porcupine). I got to bed around 3:30 a.m.

I only got about three hours sleep Sunday night, because I had a 7:30 doctor's appointment Monday morning (no big deal - just a blood draw for a routine physical scheduled for next week).

Monday night we had some friends over for dinner. Fueled by a couple cups of coffee (I very rarely drink coffee after lunch), I enthusiastically joined in the after-dinner drinks and cigars ritual, which went on longer than planned (quelle surprise!). So I stayed up later than usual - again.

Meanwhile, while I was out of town on my elk hunting trip, our Honda dealer contacted my wife regarding the ongoing airbag recall.

What's the problem with the airbags, exactly? It has to do with the explosive devices in the metal airbag inflater. In the faulty airbags, those devices can burn more aggressively than they should, causing the inflater to burst and sending pieces of metal flying through the airbag fabric. This could potentially maim or kill the car's occupant.

Not wanting me to be maimed or killed, she and the dealer scheduled the recall work bright and early Tuesday morning. This meant I had to get up early (again!) and join the lemmings rushing towards the cliff big city where the dealer is located. I had the pleasure of reminding myself how nice it is to be retired and no longer have to deal with rush hour, highway construction, rude and ignorant drivers, and all the other joys of commuting.

The recall work was estimated to take about two hours. Of course, she had other plans that morning, so rather than drop the vehicle off and pick it up at our leisure, the plan was for me to hang out at the dealership, drink their lousy coffee, browse their collection of new and used cars, and generally amuse myself until the job was done.

Of course, the work took closer to four hours than two. On the plus side, the coffee was surprisingly good and the dealer provided fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts. And I did manage to get out of town before the homeward-bound rush hour began.

However, Tuesday night was our neighborhood monthly poker game. I'd already committed, and last-minute dropouts are strongly discouraged (if you commit and then don't show you provide the drinks next month). So Tuesday will be another stay-up-late night.

That's three nights in a row of staying up past my bedtime, coupled with two days of getting up way too early. I'm getting too old for this lifestyle.

Thankfully, nothing is scheduled for Wednesday morning. However, I do have something planned for Wednesday afternoon...

Zzzzzz.....