waking up at 5am

Recovering from having spent the past few weeks in a time zone that is 7 hours earlier, I can't stop waking up at 5am every morning. Prior to this, I had never woken up so early on purpose. Generally 5am signifies going to the airport (which is a bad feeling--I don't like airplane travel) or possibly having stayed up all night.

Waking up on my own at this time is actually not too bad. I would actually like it if didn't also mean that at 8pm I basically fall asleep wherever I happen to be. It's nice to be able to dawdle around and then find that it's only 9am. It's nice to be up early and not to have all the anxiety of having to be somewhere before it gets light out.

In conclusion, I am torn between wanting my normal sleep schedule back and wanting to embrace this opportunity for a strange sleep schedule (one of my goals in life).

Updates

Two updates on some essential things that I have reviewed before.

1. Today while walking around in the rain, I had to take refuge in the Nassau Ave. G station for a second, and also to find out how much money is on my metrocard. Who knew? I have to correct my early review of this station, and say it is more interesting than I thought. I had only ever gone in the Norman Ave. entrance, but the Nassau Ave one is larger has a lot of stairs everywhere, and even some old mosaics reading "To Brooklyn" "To LI City and Jamaica." The station was opened in 1933. Apparently you can also see where the old wooden token booth was from back in the day. Here's a picture from this subway website of the maze-like quality of this station:


2. I think I have some evidence that some Greenpoint readers really took me up on my Earplug advice! Yesterday I went two 3 drugstores looking for the Mack's ear plug brand I previously reviewed, and they were out at both Rite Aids on Manhattan Ave! I had to go to the more expensive Duane Reade, and found a good selection, including a smaller size (Mack's Jr.) which I think will eliminate the problem I reported on earlier. Also, they are purple.

Earplug Update

To follow up on my review of Mack's Ultra Safe Sound Soft Foam Ear Plugs from March, I would like to report that the ear plugs are still quite effective, though leave my ears feeling sore if used many days in a row. I still recommend them, but I wonder, do they make them in a smaller size?

Mack's Ultra Safe Sound Soft Foam Earplugs

The other night before going to sleep, I was thinking literally about material possessions that are essential to my life. I can't think of anything more necessary to my quality of life than these ear plugs.

After the first few nights, I got used to the sensation of sleeping in earplugs, and now I am hardly bothered by the people in the apartment next to me, only separated from my bedroom by a very thin wall. (To give you an idea of the thinness of the wall, I can tell you that my neighbor watches a lot of history documentaries (about World War II and baseball) and that he does not want to have children and that he does not cover his mouth when he belches.)

Another great thing about these earplugs is the clarity of instructions on the back. I never knew how to correctly insert an earplug before.

Mack's Earplugs are available in most drugstores in packs of 32 for around $4.25.