Tuesday, 3/12

Some people just don’t understand how hard it is to wake up by 8 in the morning.

Believe it or not, whenever I utter that statement to someone I often get a look that I imagine I’d also get if I were to walk up to that someone, stick out my hand, and say something along the lines of “Hi, I’m Jim, and I’m from Mars”. It’s often accompanied by a snort of derision and a rolling of eyes, and then the person to whom I’m saying it responding with the time at which they have to wake up, a time that is usually several hours before mine.

All that being said, though, it IS hard to wake up by 8am. At least it is for me. And that's why I wrote yesterday's blog about being a fan of Daylight Savings Time, even if you a few of you thought I was insane.

Well, I may be, but not for that reason.

You know how everyone has an internal body clock, a clock that regulates when they’re at their peak and when it’s time to shut down for the night? Well, for as long as I can remember, mine’s been set on, oh, Hawaii Standard Time. For whatever reason (and this goes back to when I was a teenager) I’ve always had trouble waking up in the morning. Even if I get to bed at a reasonable hour (and living with someone who has to get up much earlier than I I usually DO get to bed at a reasonable hour) I’ll just stagger out from under the covers in the morning, stare limply at the wall for several hours, and go about my business with the lowest expenditure of energy possible. Believe it or not, this can last until noon or so, until something kicks in (probably sunrise in Hawaii), my batteries finally turn on, and I join the land of the living.

It’s weird.

Even if I’m out running or skiing in the morning, it always starts off as a listless crawl until the endorphins (or whatever they are) kick in and I actually seem to develop a burst of energy. But even then there have been a few mornings where, when I’m finished, I don’t remember a thing about the run (or the ski). Like many people, my mind tends to wander when exercising; unlike many people, my mind doesn’t always come back from its meanderings when I’m done.

Luckily, I work at a time of the day when I can take advantage of the fact that my batteries kick in later than for most people. On those rare occasions when I’ve had to do something on the air early, it just hasn’t worked out. Oh, I’ve tried, but after several instances of going home after an early morning, taking a nap, and waking up in total disorientation, not knowing where I was or when I was, I gave that up. I’ll stick to afternoons, thank you very much.

So if you ever see me early in the morning, and happen to notice I’m not my usual manic self, you now know why. Because it really IS hard waking up before 8 am!

(jim@wmqt.com)