Sorry about the lack of a post today. I’m in the midst of trying to reset my completely dysfunctional night-owl sleep schedule to something resembling a normal one, by pushing my schedule forward by several hours a night until I basically cycle back around. Apparently this counterintuitive approach can be more effective at resetting circadian rhythms than trying to push a schedule back 5 or 6 hours. But in the process I sort of lose a day, and at the moment my schedule is completely wack. Today, I went to bed at noon and got up at 8 PM; I’ll be up until 4 PM tomorrow.
Anyway, here’s one of my favorite late-night songs, by punk poet John Cooper Clarke, called “Midnight Shift.” (This is the opening segment to a documentary about him called “Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt.” Sorry the quality is so poor.)
I’ve read that most people are naturally on a 25-hour cycle, when the day/night (OTP!) cycle doesn’t override it.
Wow. I’m simultaneously heartened to see that I’m not alone in my sleep weirdness, but sad that so many of us have sleep issues. I’m pretty sure I’m wired for a 25-hour day.
Today has been a bit of a surreal day — so many hours of sunlight! But now it is time for bed.
Oh, and I didn’t mean to alarm anyone with the cat picture. I think a good rule of thumb for MBZ is that if you can’t tell what a picture I post is at first glance, it’s probably a cat.
“It’s probably a cat” is a good rule of thumb for any pic on the internet 🙂
“Apparently this counterintuitive approach can be more effective at resetting circadian rhythms than trying to push a schedule back 5 or 6 hours. ”
That’s what I’ve always done and people called me crazy for it!
… well, no one actually called me crazy, but I’m pretty sure some thought it…
So I took my cat to the vet yesterday. He had been fighting and had a whopping great abcess making him miserable. It burst while the vet was examining him. She kept puss there last night so she could drain it properly under general anaesthetic. Then I have to give him antibiotics and pain med for a while. Does anyone think the vet is overdoing it? My friend says with a cat abcess you only need to bust it and let the air get to it.
My kitten had an abscess in her mouth, and we had to give her two courses of antibiotics (or courses of two different antibiotics, maybe is more accurate) before it really healed. I don’t think the antibiotics are overdoing it, personally, but IANAV. Hope your kitty has a speedy recovery!
An abscess in the mouth sounds horrible, poor little thing wouldn’t be able to eat! Did she need two antibiotics because the first one didn’t work?
I think the antibiotics for my little fella are not a bad idea – it was a bloody huge abscess. It was knocking him out that seemed odd – maybe it’s my attitude to how much medical care is appropriate to cats that is out of whack.
(Rereading my comment I really shouldn’t have said “puss”, it looks too much like “pus”)
And thanks for the correct spelling of abscess – neither way looked right when I was typing 🙂
It was on the inside of her lip. It didn’t seem to affect her appetite, but suddenly she looked like a lopsided chipmunk because of the swelling. The first antibiotic didn’t seem to work so we had to give her something stronger.
I think the general anesthesia might have been over the top, but it depends how docile the cat is. Even with my scrawny kitten they were talking about having to give her a general in order to really examine her if the antibiotics didn’t clear things up. Luckily, course #2 worked!
I see what you mean about the anaesthesia. They have anaesthetics for animals down to a fine art these days, so I suppose it’s better for cat and vet to knock ’em out and get it done in 2 minutes, instead of fighting the animal for 10 minutes.
It takes a lot to affect a kitten’s appetite, eh!
Funny cat video for insomniacs:
Finally got onto a computer that can do video, thinking Yay! Now I can watch Cloudiah’s funny cat video!
And this is NOT what I was expecting XD
I thought the page pic was a llama, too.
Good morning, everybody! I’m up! Have been for several hours!
My schedule rotation continues apace!
Magpie, hope your kitty gets better!
My kitty came home this afternoon with 5 stitches and a drain. But yes, he is feeling much much better (and hungry!)
Glad kittie is home and feeling better!
Urgh. I’ve been sleeping twelve hours a day, exhausted most of the day, then feeling wired at night. Not good when I have to get up at half seven. (Also, it actually takes a significant chunk of time out of my day when I’m sleeping ALL THE GODDAMN TIME.)
I don’t know WHY, either. Usually it’s a warning of impending malnutrition crash, but I’ve been eating properly, I think. It better not be stress, if it’s stress I’ll be so pissed…
Beh. Mentally ill LBT is mentally ill.
I have a strange relationship to sleep. I like it. I don’t do enough of it. I am better suited to night waking than not. When I was in my teens, I was about 14 on, 10 off, if given the chance to set my own schedule.
Lately (i.e. since about 2003) I’ve been sleeping less. This causes a bit of the same sorts of problems as Noadi mentions, in different manifestations. I’ll go to bed with my partner and want to read, which keeps her up; and she needs a lot more sleep than I do.
When I’m not sleeping with her I tend to get to bet about 0200-0300, and wake about 0830-1000, depending.
if my sleep falls below about 6 hours for long (esp. if I have to be active) I start to slow down; but I can run on about four hours a night for about seven weeks; though I get a bit stuporous after about three.