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Night Owls only

Talbot

One Too Many
Messages
1,855
Location
Melbourne Australia
Chas said:
I work shifts in a psychiatric ward (going on 20 yrs. now) so I know all about night shifts. Sometimes on my days off I find myself staying up 'til 3 or later 'cause I lose track of time.

C'est la vie.

Chas, I had a buddy who was in this line of work. Tough duty sometimes.

He always swore it was worse during a full moon. True?

T
 

Shangas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,116
Location
Melbourne, Australia
I come from a LOOOONG family of night-owls. Me, my father, my brother, my uncle and my cousin are just five of the dozens of males in my family who are night-owls. I have a cousin who's an airline pilot, so I daresay he's another family night-owl.

For me, I've always been a late sleeper. When I was a kid and all my schoolmates were going to bed at 8:00pm, my bedtime was 10:00pm or later. In summertime, sometimes I don't sleep at all (it's too hot and I can't sleep when it's hot).

I find the dead of night to be the only truly peaceful time. You can relax, listen to jazz, listen to old radio programs, watch movies, watch TV, surf the internet, read, write...and with nobody to bother you. AT ALL. Even if you get a quiet patch in the daytime, it's interrupted by stuff like doorbells and phone-calls and all that rot. I go berserk if my writing-time is interrupted, so I do most of my writing at night.
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
Unfortunately, if left to my own devices, I'm strictly nocturnal. I say unfortunately, because I work a 9-5 which has me scraping myself out of bed each morning and driving to work.

Ever since I was a child, probably around the age of 4 or 5, I've been unable to flop down in bed and shut my eyes. Even now, working mornings, I have a tendency to stay awake. In fact, for many years, I'd given up trying and taken lower paying night jobs to accomodate my natural tendencies.

I do miss the night time and I do still consider myself a night owl. During extended weekends, or time off work, I instantly snap back into my late night habits - usually going to bed around 3am or later and not getting up until the afternoon. And believe me, it has nothing to do with being lazy or wasting the day; my days just start at different hours.

I can say with certainty that if you've never been a nightowl you're missing an entirely different mode of living. Being awake when everyone else is asleep, especially in our 24/7 world, is easily equitable to a different culture altogether. People are different, places are different, life is different. You tend to miss special events, or social opportunities. You also tend to seem like a cagey loner, lol .
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
Shangas said:
I go berserk if my writing-time is interrupted, so I do most of my writing at night.

YES! :eusa_clap

My feelings exactly! I go mad when someone interupts me in the flow of writing. I had an ex-gf who once likened my reaction to Jack Nicholson's in The Shining. I guess that's one reason we're not still together. :eek:

I am so much more creative at night and I truly miss that now. I'm tired all day, every day, and my brain can't function on the same creative level when I wake up early.
 

Mario

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,664
Location
Little Istanbul, Berlin, Germany
Are nighthawks and scarecrows admitted as well? :p :D

tom-waits.jpg
 

scottyrocks

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,178
Location
Isle of Langerhan, NY
For some reason, I cant sleep tonight, so I decided to read this thread.

I have done various stages of nightowlry over the course of my life.

I worked at NBC for a number of years at one of the 24-hour manpower coverage desks. I was usually on either the 4p-12m, or 12m-8a shift. I dont know which one sucked more, the 4-12 because it was so busy, or the 12-8 because it threw my body off so badly.

I will say, though, that for a long time, staying up late at night and waking late morning was the way to go. I cant do it these days and do miss it occasionally.
 

ScionPI2005

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,335
Location
Seattle, Washington
I'm definitely more of a night owl myself, even though my current job forces me to become a morning person. Actually, it forces me to become so much of a morning person that it almost throws me into being a night AND day person.

I get up at about 3:30am for work, which means if I want eight hours of sleep, I have to be in bed asleep by 7:30pm. That seldom ever happens with me. In fact, more often at the start of my work week, I end up taking a two hour nap between, say, 8pm and 10pm, and then staying awake working on things until going to work. Definitely not my choice mind you, and I'm completely exhausted by 3pm when I get out of work.

It's my choice to work the hours I do though, as the only other option for a shift where I work would be 3pm-1am. Where that would probably fit my nocturnal activities more, I dislike the idea of getting up late morning, and having work looming over my head. I'd rather just get up and get it done and get home.
 

shopgirl61

A-List Customer
Messages
341
Location
Auburn, CA
Mr Vim said:
I work rotating night shifts, and well I thought maybe there might be some other bleary eyed souls out there like myself who'd like to talk about the finer thoughts that amble across their brains in the wee hours of the morn, like so many zeppelins of a bygone era.

As you can tell, I'm already reaching critical mass.

I think it's interesting to consider that our thoughts are more "out there" when we're tired. I know my writing takes on more of a unqiue vibe on these lonley nights.

How 'bout it? Any other Owls out there? Where are you at, what are you doing and what rationale has you up so late?

Oh hun!, you are preachin' to the choir... this former inhabitant of state # 49 by way of the Kenai Peninsula... nearly 2 yrs now and i'm still awake 4 hours ago:eek: ;)
 
As for why I'm in this club: 1. I do my best work at night, 2. I haven't been able to sleep through a night in so long I've forgotten what it's like. (FYVM, recurring nightmares!)

And when Shepard complained about Abby "mainlining caffeine", I couldn't help but think "you say that like you think it's a PROBLEM"...
 

James71

A-List Customer
Messages
447
Location
Katoomba, Australia
For years I worked nights. For a while I worked and lived with a family who published a newspaper, and I would sit up until dawn writing for that, and then sleep through the heat of the day. I found that creatively, that suited me better than trying to work through the heat of the day.

After that gig I worked my way through uni in security. Primarily doing bouncer and bodyguard duty I was invariably working nights, which again, suited me fine.

Then I graduated and got a job in my chosen field. In the space of 36 hours I had to change my body clock around 180 degrees and get up at about the same time I was used to going to bed. I seriously struggled with that, but thought to myself that it would be ok when I got used to it.

That was 16 years ago, and this mornings 6 am start was no easier than that one all those years ago.... perhaps one day I will get used to it. Maybe when I am ready to retire.....

Anyway, althought it is midday here right now and I am considering lunch, know that I consider myself one of you.... for when my holidays come around next month I will be straight back, as I always am, to the night routine.

James.
 

DerMann

Practically Family
Messages
608
Location
Texas
Everything about the morning and afternoon dissatisfies me. Rush to do this, rush to do that, make sure you don't forget this, don't be late for that.

The only thing that happens at night is usually the result of one's true free will. Not only is one bound by society at these hours, but as one becomes more tired, it seems that our sociable airs are dropped and a more natural person emerges.

Always been a night owl. Went to sleep last night at 5AM, woke up at 8:30AM to take care of some things, and now, time to nap the day away!
 

HepKitty

One Too Many
Messages
1,156
Location
Idaho
bedtime is midnight or later, even if I have to get up at 6 or 7 for work. I can't help it, unless I've worn myself completely out after several days of 4 hours sleep. I admit I do like to sleep in when I can but that's not very often
 
Must be nice--only way I have to get around the recurring nightmares is to mainline caffeine and electrolytes and then literally push myself to exhaustion--so, basically, bedtime for me is 0700-0800 and Reveille sounds around 1000-1300.

Occasionally, I get lucky and manage to put myself into a coma for around 8-10 hours without waking up screaming...
 

Mr Vim

One Too Many
Messages
1,306
Location
Juneau, Alaska
Another set of night shifts have pounced on me for the future weeks. And although its early for me to peruse the night owl thread, I still have eleven long hours to go.

The strangest thing about being in Alaska in the summer is the sunshine, on the solstice we only get about four hours of nightfall, the sun sets around 11pm and dawn is around 330am, not a lot of time for night owls to wander. Ah well, there it is.

Oh and HepKitty, you're in Idaho? Where abouts? I'm from Boise originally.
 

HepKitty

One Too Many
Messages
1,156
Location
Idaho
Mr Vim said:
Another set of night shifts have pounced on me for the future weeks. And although its early for me to peruse the night owl thread, I still have eleven long hours to go.

The strangest thing about being in Alaska in the summer is the sunshine, on the solstice we only get about four hours of nightfall, the sun sets around 11pm and dawn is around 330am, not a lot of time for night owls to wander. Ah well, there it is.

Oh and HepKitty, you're in Idaho? Where abouts? I'm from Boise originally.

currently the worst part, dahling: Pocatello. originally from the beautiful North, and was fortunate enough to live in WA for a while and beyond lucky to live in Germany on a scholarship program for a year. I like Boise, I try to go there every few months or so. a girl's gotta get her sushi rice and eye makeup remover somewhere
 

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