Wake me when it's over!

I completed a health assessment form recently and several of the questions dealt with sleeping habits. "Do you fall asleep when you sit down to watch television?" "Do you sleep while riding in the car (when someone else is driving, of course)?"

Heck, these days I can fall asleep almost anywhere, including sitting on the john, in a crowded airport or the kitchen table. I'm assured repeatedly it's a function of age, but I know other people my age who aren't habitual sleepers.

It would be different, I suppose, if I awoke rested and revitalized but unfortunately, all too often I wake up after 20 minutes or eight hours or even 10 hours and feel just about as tired as I did when I nodded off.

Each time I fall asleep and wake up not knowing where I am or what day it is, I hark back to my days in high school and college. Sleep was a minor detail. In college, I could operate on four hours of sleep and not miss a beat.

My first job was working as a generalist with a small newspaper chain. One of my many jobs was to drive newspapers from the printing plants to the various post offices in the small towns along the road in central North Dakota. I was usually on the road by 1 a.m. and my journey ended usually as the sun was rising.

I can't recall ever being tired on that schedule. Today, I would have to a sleeping bag in the truck and stop every 15 minutes for a snooze.

The worst part of needing more sleep these days is that I sometimes feel like I'm missing out on things when I sleep. Who knows, someone might discover a cure for cancer, and I would have been sound asleep. I can' t think of.....................................................


Whoops! Sorry I fell asleep there for a few minutes.