Sometimes I spend long hours of the night awake in bed.
Usually the radio is switched on at a low drone in the hope it will lull me to sleep. There are times when a particular voice or article will bring me to full alertness and I become absorbed in a programme. Once over I am content to snuggle down again and sleep will take over for an hour.
I have tried reading, getting up and walking around, making a warm drink etcetera, but am finally resigned to the fact that three hours sleep are my lot. Now please don’t suggest I get up and do some physical work. My day is long enough as it is without turning the night into day too. I have a friend who will get up and do household chores and then sleep for long hours during the day. I don’t want that.
Since Tobias came into my life, he stands guard beside my bed to offer some distraction when I become completly restless. Today was one such day. Boy, am I glad. I was flitting about on the net when I heard a ‘ping’!
It was my Elly finally settled into her hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. It was almost 6am for me yet it was still yesterday for her! A very long yesterday. She boarded a plane on the Tarmac at Dublin, Ireland at 10am Irish time, and twenty hours later she had reached her destination and was talking to me online.
In my very young life, when people went to ‘AMERICA’ it would take a week by ship and many were never heard of again. Unless you were good with the words and the pen…..
My very first job was as a telephone operator in the Dublin telephone exchange. Calls to ‘America’ had to be pre-booked with an operator and were very expensive. The operator in Dublin called White Plains Exchange and they dialled the number. The majority of calls lasted THREE minutes!
Now not alone can I speak instantly to Elly in far off places but I can see her as well. Thanks to this same process I have spoken to and seen several bloggers that I now count as friends.
The world might be getting warmer… it is certainly getting smaller!
I hate nights like that, the only things that help me sleep are Kalms they are herbal tablets and you take them at night. Also they don’t make you feel tired the next day.
I hope Elly settles in well, the internet is great.
I don’t think I would enjoy travelling to and living in new countries nearly as much if I didn’t have the internet to keep me in touch with my loved ones. It’s a wonderful thing! We will have to get connected on Skype so that you can talk to Korea sometime soon, Grannymar! xx
The internet has open up a whole new world of friends like you Grannymar, and it’s tremendous.
Grannymar, here is an offer that I hope you will take up. No matter what time it is, just send me an SMS and I shall switch on my mule and we shall have a chat and may be I can even sing a lullaby to put you to sleep.
I have another suggestion, but you may just decide to fly over and clobber me if I made it.
I know what you mean about lack of sleep, I get about five hours uninterrupted sleep some nights and then I alternately doze and wake until I get up. I’ve tried all sorts of tricks but none of them work for long.
When I was a child, my parents seldom phoned another country to speak to their relatives because of the expense. Other countries seemed incredibly remote. Now I just take for granted that I can fly to Australia.
Val – Thanks for the suggestion. I refuse to go down the road of either sleeping pills or over the counter help yourself medication. I have enough problems with the medication prescribed for me. A nights sleep and Elly will be ready to take on the world. I know she has a busy week ahead.
Hails – Adding you to my Skype list and our email chat too! Now how do I say ‘Hello’ in Korean?
Maynard – So many wonderful people that I would have otherwise missed.
Ramana – If you have a voice like Leonard Cohen, I might never get to sleep! And the other suggestion…..! I’m saying nuttin! 😉
Nick – 5 hours! I wish. Three consecutive hours sleep is magical and rare for me.
My mother (mum) didn’t tell me how things would be —like:
You won’t be able to see as well.
You won’t be able to hear as well.
You won’t be able to smell as well. (Put on that deodorant; you still need it!)
Your body will feel stiff.
You can’t move as fast.
You’ll get aches & pains.
But she did say:
You’ll sleep less at night & more in the daytime.
We used to call home to England regularly and you’re right it was $7 for 3 minutes and the echo on the line barely allowed us to talk. Now it’s not only clear as a bell but free! Amazing.
BHB – My mother never mentioned not sleeping… She was the exception and would sleep on a clothesline!
Baino – Now we call without thinking of time or distance. Wonderful!
Interesting…we had to walk down the road to find a ‘phone box…so didn’t bother….
Wot’s an SMS Ramana? Sounds dangerous.
as for sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeping ………………..iiiiiiii caaaaannnnnnnn sssssssssslllleeeeeeeeeeeep anywhere s any time..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Uh wazzup?
Magpie – When you learn to switch on your mobile phone I will tell you what an SMS is! 😉
Stop boasting about sleeeeeeeeeeeping, you have a woman in the bed for starters! I only have a pillow.
Hmmm, again, the comments are as good as the post! lol Hope you might get a good sleep tonight! I know, when I was stationed in Okinawa in 1968, we would be patched through ham radio operators to speak to our family in the US. We had to schedule ahead. I have only talked overseas on the phone one time. That was to my niece when she served in the Peace Corp at Niger, Africa. The internet is wonderful. I mean where else can you talk with someone from India, Ireland, Scotland and California at the same time!
I want my mother to get the internet so we can talk to each other, we’re presently using the phone. Ever since the internet came into my life, first by cyber cafe and now at home, my life is so much richer. Home is only a …………keyboard away! I’ve got some terrific friends, the LBC gang, what more could I ask for? May the journey never end!
I’ve just been reading the comments. Judy’s right, on this blog, the comments are as interesting as the post. I love sleep myself, but I hate going to sleep because it is the time when the kids are asleep and I can read, go on the net – but I have to sleep because who will get up to send the kids to school? Besides, Yash doesn’t like me being on the net at night for some reason – can’t figure out why…….
Someone who has trouble getting to sleep, and staying that way for any length of time, besides me. I’ve given up on getting more than 4 hours a night. My feeble mind just will not shut down for more than that.
We had a party line when I was a kid, so no long distance calls. Love being able to talk to people from all over the world via the net.
Oh Grannymar, I was a ‘hello girl’ too…. What fun times they were, and when they first opened up international dialling it was wonderful!
In fact I blogged about it here http://www.iramble.co.uk/2008/08/communication-is-the-key/
Judy – The internet has certainly opened up the world for all of us. 😀
Gaelikaa – May our journey together be only beginning!
Brighid – Sometimes I wonder where the phrase ‘eight hours sleep’ came from.
Kate – Something else we have in common. We have certainly seen changes over the years.