The Blood Embargo has finally been lifted. The last time I was able to donate blood was in May of last year, right before my trip to the malaria-risk zone that is the Amazon, which landed me on the donation deferral list. I was eligible to start donating blood again on July 8th, but when July 8th rolled around I had a freshly broken arm. I figured that it would be a good idea to have at least one functional arm at all times, so I planned to wait until my arm went back to normal before donating again. But once my arm got back to normal I started working with Seth at the Art Center, and all of that heavy lifting day after day precluded blood donation. But on Saturday, none of the aforementioned obstacles could stand in my way any longer and I got back in the blood donation game. It's good to be back.
In other health-related news, Seth and I are both participating in a study about how alcohol affects sleeping patterns. No, we're not going to start drinking to be a part of the study. They needed healthy, non-drinking males as part of the control group, and midway through my initial interview the researcher said, "Man, you Mormons make really great control group members!" Today I went back for a second visit to have a physical and pick up my stylish new wristwear that will record my motion and exposure to light for the next week. I have to keep a sleeping journal for six nights and then I have to spend three nights in the sleep clinic with electrodes glued to my head. After the last night in the lab, they'll hand me a check on the way out the door. Making money for sleeping sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.
But this sweet deal comes with one big asterisk: I have to maintain a strict sleeping schedule of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from now until next Wednesday night. If I don't keep the sleep schedule, my wrist monitor will give me away and I may be ineligible to continue in the study and pick up my money. However, I am actually somewhat looking forward to this week because for years I have been both going to bed and getting up far too late (after hitting snooze a half dozen times). This could be like sleeping lessons to help jumpstart a lifestyle change for the better. I know I'm capable of it - during the two years of my mission I went to bed at 10:30 every night and I would cheerily pop right out of bed the second my alarm went off at 6:30. But today I can't even remember the last time I was up that early, so my question is: what on earth is there to do at 6 a.m.? I guess I could go running or read or learn to put little wooden ships into bottles, but after that I'm out of ideas. If you have any suggestions for early morning activities, let me know because I've got a week and a half worth of early mornings coming up.
6 comments:
I highly recommend my morning routine of read, check email, get ready for the day, watch the last 10 minutes of the local news and the first 25 minutes of Good Morning America. You'll begin every day as a centered and well informed individual who is ready for anything the day might choose to throw their way.
My biggest problem wouldn't be getting up early, it would be falling asleep at 11:00. How strict is this? Do you have to fall asleep at 11:00 on the dot? I'd be so focused on falling asleep on time, I'd probably develop insomnia.
Oh, and congratulations on being able to give blood again! :)
Ooooo...I bet you could be a part of a lot of great studies there, seems like I'm always reading about new health research coming out of the U of M.
I'm writing this comment past your bedtime. I think that's funny.
When I was a study participant a few years ago I had the opposite problem. I had to restrict the number of hours I slept, and I decided it would be a lot easier to go to bed later than to get up earlier, but it turned out I didn't know what to do with myself that late at night. I was too tired to read, I didn't have a TV, and I wasn't thinking clearly enough to do homework. One night I went to a late night movie with a couple friends, but that doesn't help you because there are no 6 a.m. movies at the movie theater. I also made a lot of phone calls to people back west, but unless you have family and friends in, I don't know, Paris, or Dubai, that's not going to help you much either.
6 a.m. is a good time for running.
You're more than welcome to come running with me at 6 am. I'm trying your schedule (actually it's supposed to be a little earlier than 11pm, but usually ends up being about 11pm.) So far so good, except for the humidity these last few days. Let me know if'n you're interested
Those early morning hours would be a great time to write up all of the Sesame Street Tuesdays for the next several months!! You'll be set!
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