Saturday, November 17, 2007

Guilty pleasures...

Before I get to those...

I had a few questions asked about my using Melatonin to go to sleep when I come home.

If you can imagine getting off work from a physical job and trying to go to sleep an hour after you get home, that's what going to bed at 5AM is like for me. It's the equivalent of going to bed at 6 or 6:30 for someone on a "normal" schedule.

Melatonin seems to work well for me and isn't "habit forming" like the other things I keep reading about. I don't take it, though, if I have less than 6 or 7 hours ahead of me to sleep and if I get less than 8 I wake up a bit "slow"; if I can get 8 or 9 hours, I'm just fine. I always try to get 8 when I'm working for fear of running someone over with a 16,000 pound forklift when they walk out in front of me oblivious to their surroundings.

I first read about melatonin in an "Alaska" magazine as one of the recommendations for dealing with the sun/lack of sun issues at certain times of the year. For me, it comes in especially handy when I try and flip my hours as I did last night, going to bed at midnight instead of 5AM and getting up at 8. Dottie refuses to take anything she doesn't "have" to, and if she lets her hours slip to mine she can't go to sleep the night before she has to go back to work. Plus right now, I need the daylight hours to try and finish my outside projects as the weather is due in Tuesday evening...freezing rain, etc..

It was also mentioned in some other things I've read. There's a lot of information on the net as well, if you are interested in it.

On to the promised "Guilty Pleasures"!

I mentioned something the other day in a comment about watching "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader". Whether it's realizing how much I've forgotten, being shocked at how much earlier things are learned now than they were "in my day" or pleasantly surprising myself with some of the questions I get right, each week that's one hour the two of us enjoy. Of course, many of the answers I get right, I didn't learn in school...

Of the new shows on TV, "Big Bang Theory" has been a treat as well! Well written, funny, and well cast! I will miss it when they run out of episodes due to the writer's strike. "Samantha Who" has been pretty good as well. There are some others we've recorded that we have yet to find time together to watch, so I know what we'll be doing when the new episodes of other things run out!

The "Big Band" channel on my Music Choice on our cable has been on way too much lately, and caused countless searches of the "Solid" database and Amazon and caused my Amazon list to grow by a few pages...

For a treat when the weather finally closes in I picked up the 2nd series of "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex". I got hooked on the first series several years ago, have seen all the movies, and bought the mangas as well. Something about the human/cyber connection intrigues me.

Last but not least, with all the time I've been spending outside these last few weeks, watching our 11-going-on-12 year old dog act more like a pup since her arthritis pain is being eased by the MSM/Glucosamine/Chondroitin combination our vet found has been a treat. Though she can't outrun Bill anymore, she can run my legs off if she wants to, and refuses to stay in the house if I'm outside doing anything. It's quite a change from a few months ago when she couldn't hardly use one leg, and had great difficulty getting up off the floor if she laid there too long! (Boy do I know that feeling!)

Speaking of outside, time to go check some wood putty and get back to work...

May the weekend be lovely and kind to you all!

alan

8 comments:

mckait said...

I have been busy too, Alan. too busy to do any of the relaxing , fun stuff.

I am a firm believer in the natural remedies thing...and have used them , including melatonin, for many years.
Some of the kids at our school take it too.. they often have sleep issues..

Well.. hope that you are having a good weekend, nd that your Thanksgiving will be absolutely fantastic!

I am feeling an illness coming on for wednesday.. when my kids come home ... haven't seen craig or his wife for two years!!!!

anyway.. I know that I have a lot to be thankful for.. so I may just start counting now...
take care!

HAR said...

I am so happy I stopped here today. I need to try something to help me sleep. My sleep is horrendous.

Big Bang Theory has been talked about at work a lot. I need to get to it.

This strike is going to kill me. I love TV in the winter.

CrackerLilo said...

I used to work the overnight shift at a donut shop, and wish there had been melatonin. You do what you need to.

I'm tired of the writers' strike, too, and think the writers of Heroes and the Office should get everything they want.

I like seeing Foxworthy on a show that's actually being actively promoted.

And I don't feel guilty about any of my pleasures. :-)

robin andrea said...

We gave up TV when we came back to California for the winter, so our abstinence coincided with the writers' strike. We were watching Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert online, and we do miss them quite a bit. For real guilty pleasure we watched a few episodes of Desperate Housewives last night, also online, streaming from ABC. What a surprise that was. We could give up our very expensive satellite dish when we get back home to WA. We've learned to live without the TV, but not without the shows!

I've never tried melatonin, but I've heard very good things about it.

Chandira said...

:-) Thanks for the comment!

Funnily enough, I've been using 5htp, which is the serotonin precursor, as serotonin isn't digestable. That seems to work pretty well for me!

Taradharma said...

So glad to hear the pup is feeling so much better - what a relief, and an "easy" fix.

I used Melatonin quite successfully for awhile many years ago, then developed horrific nightmares. Doc said it was the Mel., so I stopped. Now I use Ambien, though it has gotten quite bad press, I find it very effective with no side affects.

I don't know how you manage that work schedule...I would be completely looney tunes (er, well, more so).

Taradharma said...

So glad to hear the pup is feeling so much better - what a relief, and an "easy" fix.

I used Melatonin quite successfully for awhile many years ago, then developed horrific nightmares. Doc said it was the Mel., so I stopped. Now I use Ambien, though it has gotten quite bad press, I find it very effective with no side affects.

I don't know how you manage that work schedule...I would be completely looney tunes (er, well, more so).

ryssee said...

Guilty pleasures: What Not to Wear and American Idol.
Glad puppy is getting around so well.
Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for all the messages you leave! :-)