CHannel fever has set in

A couple of days ago I had a case of channel fever which happens out here. It is when a sailor can't sleep for some reason or another. Genterally it is because he is excited about something, often it happens near the end of a tour because a guy is keyed up about getting off.

I'm an old salt. Getting off of this slab doesn't key me up at all. It's just a part of things. If I get it at all, and it is rare, it is generally because I have a load or discharge I am sweating because of some problem or another.

Anyway, I got hit with it for the first time in quite a while and I am now officially over it.

What gets you over it is when you finally go under and sleep it off.

Yesterday I laid down for a brief nap and went down like Ihad been shot. A nap turned into a full eight hour sleep session which is OK except for the timing.

I am now up at midnight and wide awake and my schedule is frigged up to a fare-thee-well. At home this generally isn't any kind of real problem as about four ounces of Jameson's is enough to knock me out for another eight hours and get me back on schedule.

Jameson's is not an option out here as we are under zero tolorance and it looks like I am just going to have to make something to eat and see if I can force some more sleep.

I have to get back on schedule or I'll get beat up further on down the line. Another part of the problem is that I tend to be nocturnal by nature. Years ago I was called the Prince of Darkness because of that.

I used to work a 12 hour on, 12 off schedule and when I did that in the winter I would seldom see daylight which was fine by me at the time. It suited me well.

Now that I am running this slab I have to be up pretty much during business hours because I have to be available to answer to the office when needed. Over the past few years I have gotten used to that schedule.

We'll see what is going to happen next. I figure there is a leftover steak in the refrigerator and a shrimp ring so I can have a major fry up and in an hour or two I'll be able to sack out for a bit nd get back on schedule.

Anyway, that's what is going on in the ancient mind of an old sailor in the middle of the night.

To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html