The way I'm going, I'll learn to hibernate like a bear before this is over.

 

I no longer have this ID card, as my job with the census ended 2 1/2 months ago.  But it brings back good memories of a time where having a job kept me out of trouble.  Now that the pandemic is entering into a new phase of hunkering down, it makes sense for me to remember the good times while waiting for my turn to get vaccinated.

It's easy to get a little bit jealous when one sees her friends starting to get their vaccinations.  With all but one exception (my brother, a first responder), everyone who has his/her arm stuck has been a healthcare professional.  Even the woman I've been seeing is scheduled to have her arm stuck this week.

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You might be asking, "Why is this woman talking about hibernation?"   Well, I've been finding that I now have very irregular sleep patterns, and one day is blending into the next.  Today, it took a phone call from a friend to wake me up in advance of a co-op board meeting that I set up.  Thankfully, I wasn't too late for the meeting.  Although I'm usually awake through the night, I'm finding it easier and easier to sleep during the day. Without a job to go to, or social events to attend, it is very easy to lose track of time.  The other day, TCL had to ask me what day of the week it was - a question that neither of us would have to ask when we were both working and had social activities to attend.

The job at the census bureau was one I was thankful to have.  The tasks weren't that difficult, and the pay was good. Although I'll never have an opportunity like that again, I've started to apply to organizations for work.  Hopefully, one of them will come through, as it would be nice to have a few extra dollars coming in, as well as a reason for me to reset my circadian rhythm each week...

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I may have mentioned that one of my blog's readers was in bad health.  Several of us bloggers who know this reader noted that we had no way to find out whether this reader had passed away or not.  None of us knew the real name of this reader, and had no way to contact this person's wife.  Given that I'm all over certain parts of the internet, I stumbled onto this site: http://ifidie.org/learn that may be of use to our TG community. If our friend had used this site, her friends would receive an email within 30 days of her passing.  I plan to start using this site soon.

 

If I only could have gotten to sleep

 

 

If I had been lucky, I'd have been able to fall asleep last night.  Vicki was scheduled to come over here in mid afternoon, and we were supposed to enjoy some take-out food instead of going to one of our usual restaurants.  It's been forever since I had anyone in this place, save for FL coming into my apartment, so that she could make use of the bathroom.  Other than the cleaning lady (who hasn't been here since February), the last person other than me inside this place was my ex girlfriend.

Around 3 am, I turned off the lights and turned off the TV, but couldn't get to sleep.  So I wasn't surprised to find me still awake around 7 am.  Even more surprising, I received a Facebook chat request from her.  (I sent her a skit from the comedienne Sarah Millican and sent it to her, hoping she'd get a laugh out of it.).  Given the time of the day, I don't think she was trying to reach me.  Instead, she accidentally tried to reach me (from what I could tell), and I decided to let her get on with her day without a conversation which could stir up feelings in both of us that would not be of use this early in the morning. At this point, I decided to make breakfast, and consider going back to bed for a couple of hours.  Of course, I went back to bed - and woke up around 11 am.  This meant that I wasn't going to get the place straightened up as much as I'd like to have done before Vicki arrived.  So, as I was taking garbage out to the dumpster, Vicki arrived with lunch.  

Before I go on too far, Vicki and I used to enjoy a local sushi/hibachi place in Croton.  This place has been closed for indoor dining since the pandemic started.  And this was our first opportunity to enjoy their food (especially their seafood soup) for a long time - and it was as good as I remembered.  Eventually, we got around to one of the purposes of her visit - giving me some "hand me downs", now that she has lost a bit of weight.  Sadly, my screwed up sleep got in the way, and I was struggling to stay awake (failing miserably) while we were chatting. So I was glad when Vicki left, allowing me to take a quick nap which lasted longer than expected.  And then, after a couple of hours of being awake, I fall asleep again. 

Why do I mention sleep so much?  My body clock is out of whack these days, and I found this happening during the early days of the pandemic.  Could there be a connection here?  Is this related to the lack of social stimuli due to the pandemic?  Who knows?  But it's something I'll have to deal with until I can find external stimuli to keep me awake during "normal" hours.