Sleeping

[Edwin]

Well, it is past midnight, and tomorrow is Sunday, so I must get to bed, so that I will get enough sleep, so that I will not sleep in church tomorrow. Actually now that I have finished my digging I am not getting as tired, and I can stay awake better. I was just so over worked that I was tired all the time. I did most of the driving yesterday, a total of about 3 hours, and I did not get sleepy like I did when I was digging. I got so I would fall asleep anywhere driving, and they got so they went with me everywhere to try to keep me awake. I would fall asleep driving right in town down main street, or I would fall asleep driving out on the highway 60 miles per hour, and I am thankful that my kids went along with me to wake me up when I would fall asleep. So now it is off to bed for me!!

[Edwin]

Well, tomorrow is one of those days that we need to go to town and do a number of things, so I better get to bed, so that I can feel rested tomorrow. We need to pick up Carol's insulin, and I need to get some parts so that I can replace the rotors and pads on the front wheel brakes. We need to go by the school to eat with our granddaughter who is having her 14th birthday. Then we may have to go out of town with our daughter if there is enough time. So tomorrow is going to be run here, run there, do this, and do that, and I think I need to be rested for that!

[Edwin]

Well, it is time for me to sleep. Did you know that if you short yourself on sleep it can make you gain body fat? That is true! You burn mostly fat when you are sleeping, and if you don't sleep enough you will retain more body fat than you need to. Today I cut a few blocks so that we can pour a 4 foot section of concrete before moving on to the next section. I also put some rocks within the forms to displace the concrete, so that I won't use as much concrete, and it will still be good strong concrete with rebar in it to keep it from cracking. I did enough bending to the ground that my lower back muscles hurt! I will be okay, but my lower back is tight, and hurts a little while I sit here at the computer too long! I laid down earlier today because of my back feeling that way, and because of that I went to sleep for a while. I normally never lay down during the day. If I am tired I sit in my chair, and if I go to sleep, the chair will not allow me to relax enough to sleep for hours, so I will sleep what time I need to, and then wake up. My back actually feels better sitting at the piano than it does sitting in this computer chair. I am wondering if my back will relax enough to allow me to sleep all night, and time will tell. I did enough work the last couple of days with my hands, that after I play the piano for a long period of time, I lose feeling in my right hand, but it is better than when I was using the sledge hammer, and the rock bar. They were killers on my right hand, and I am very happy that work is done. I almost completely stopped playing the piano while I was digging in the cellar, because I would rather play the piano than dig in the cellar, and I knew if I allowed myself I would play the piano instead of digging. Well, the digging is finished for this project anyway. I waited until I was 66 years old to work the hardest that I have ever worked in my life! But now that is behind me. Now my hand has recovered, and most of the time I can play the piano hour after hour! If I do anything with my right hand, then I do lose feeling after I play the piano for an extended period of time. I love to play the piano, because I am playing songs about God and our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, and it ministers to my soul. But for now I better see if I will be sleeping! If I am not able to sleep a lot of the time I pray during the night then my non sleeping time is not wasted, and God is glorified. Maybe sometimes He keeps me awake so that I will pray!

[Edwin]

Well, here we go again. I slept good until about an hour or so ago, and now I am wide awake! I don't know why I am awake like this because I worked hard yesterday from 9 until 2 p.m. carrying and dumping buckets of concrete for the footing for my cellar, so I worked hard! Then after I played the piano for a few hours I walked with the doggies for our 6.5 miles and a little over 2 hours! I don't have any obligations in my coming day, so I am not really upset that I am not sleeping. I just decided to get up and do some things, and here I am! I will sleep a while longer after I am finished here! If I had obligations for my coming day I would probably force myself to stay in bed and sleep if and when I can! You in the Philippines are into your evening, but I am here before my day normally would begin. They tell me that if I miss sleep I am apt to put on body fat, and I don't need that, but perhaps I will work and walk it off! I'm not really too worried about that!

[Edwin]

Well, I am going to be working with my son-in-law, and we are going to lay some blocks on the footing that we poured last Monday, this is Saturday early morning, just to see how they will fit! This type of work is nothing compared with the hard work I did digging out for this mini basement, but it is still hard work, so I decided I should go to bed early, so into bed I went at 11:30 p.m, which is early for me! I woke up at 1:30 a.m. feeling like the night must be finished and I should get up. Well, here I am!!!!

I booted up this computer after laying in bed for more than 30 minutes not sleeping, as it doesn't make sense to lay in bed for hours not sleeping, so I have a habit of getting up for a few hours, and then I feel tired again, after which I sleep.

While the computer was booting up, I decided to turn the living room lights on and play the piano. It seemed strange, like I shouldn't be playing the piano in the middle of the night! Carol is not here, so I am not disturbing her from sleeping, otherwise I would probably resist the urge! Urge, that is like wanting to have sex, huh? Very funny! That reminded me of a story about Duke Ellington. He was an early jazz band leader, and he was a pianist. There was a story about him getting up in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep, and playing the piano without any clothes on!!!! Well, I do have my shorts/briefs and a tee shirt on, the way I sleep every night. That reminds me of a girlfriend that I had when I was in Bible College. She told some of us that, that afternoon before supper she had taken a bath, and she said, "You should have seen me!" Then she got really embarrassed because, her saying that really wasn't her style as she was a very nice girl. Well, she and I didn't last long, but that is another story!

Anyway the story goes that Duke Ellington was quite religious, a black person with some white blood in him, and hugely talented. I love his playing which is mosty percusive. I also love the music of his band! In his later years he wrote church cantata music about God, so I am sure that God loved him, and he loved God.

So here I am up doing this instead of sleeping, and tomorrow I will be sorry, but for now I can't help it! But that is okay!

[m&m]

I can sleep now but I do have chest muscle pain yesterday and I need to lay down and have some rest. This is hard for me when I am alone because I might faint. I do not know why or maybe I work a lot yesterday after a long week out of work . My mother keep on texting me to rest and drink more water. I am thankful that she is so much concerned about me.

[Edwin]

Your are blessed, M&M to have a mother who cares about you! It is not good to be alone when something might go wrong with you! Most of the time I feel about 19 years old! I have a weak back that I have to be careful with, but normally I can do anything, but I just have to be aware that I have limitations. Once in a great while my back goes out for some reason, and then I feel about 200 years old! I aways think, "what if I am this way for the rest of my life!" My mother worried about her kids until she died, and I think she still might be in heaven worrying about us!!!!

[Edwin]

Well, here I am again to complain! What about? I should be very happy with the progress I am making, and I am, but here it is at least 4 hours before I should be up for the day, and I am not sleeping! I have a number of things to complain about. For one thing I bought some gloves to wear when I do concrete because the concrete is so hard on the skin on my hands! I think it is the lye in the concrete, or is it the lime? Someone please help me out with my lack of information. Anyway it dries my skin on my hands out, and my hands feel like they have been stung with a hundred bees! The skin is stretched tight, and I have breaks in the skin, especially one on my thumb that does not want me to touch anything! As sore as my hands are I don't think that is keeping me from sleeping, but I used my hands enough the last few days that I am loosing feeling/sensation in the right hand, and that is what is waking me up! I am one of these guys who can hardly do anything with gloves on! The place where we worked for 10 years furnished us with food service type gloves from Cysco. They were powdered I think, and they had small, medium, and large. My size hand takes a large, and I used to carry pockets full of them when I worked as part of my job was garbage and maintenance, so I was always in the filth, the garbage, and the grease! If I was working on a motor, or anything mechanical with a vehicle I would simply put on a pair of those gloves, and I think they were powdered, so I never had trouble getting them on even when my hands were damp or wet!

I bought a box of these gloves that the doctors and nurses wear when they examine patients. They were a one size fits all non powdered, and boy did I make a mistake! Don't do that! One size fits all does not work on my large hands! Also, non powdered does not work after my hands have become wet/damp. Even though they are a pain I have been trying to wear them because I am aware of the consequences of getting concrete on my skin! But yesterday I had a lot of concrete to pour, and after a while they broke apart, then I got concrete on my skin of my hand. Then my hands were wet so I couldn't get the next pair on correctly, so they broke up right away. I had so much trouble with them that I finally just finished working with the concrete without gloves and now I am paying for that! Well, I have to do some concrete pouring tomorrow, so I will try again hard to keep it off my skin and time will tell if I will be successful. If not I will be here again complaining about how badly my hands hurt, and I won't be sleeping because I don't have feeling/sensaton in my rght hand!

[jadegil6]

Edwin,
I can relate to your physical problems because I have worked in the construction industry for most of the past 45 years. My hands get so dry and cracked during the winter, cooler weather. I think some of that has to do with the heat inside the house since air is heated through the removal of it's moisture, and that means dryer skin. I also get pain in my right hand that keeps me from sleeping when it gets too bad. That usually happens when I have to use it so much in activity like hammering or putting steady pressure on it by cutting materials with a utility knife or using a trowel during the course of a day. Then after I stop using it in construction activity for a day or two, then the pains subside. I can sit at a desk, and type all day, and I have no problems with pain, but using it in doing hard, physical work is a different level of stress. I have come to the conclusion that arthritis is a part of my pain problems.
I think that it is the lime in concrete that you are asking about. Many years ago I worked for a large company called Granite Construction Company that was putting a main underground sewage tunnel under the city, and the tunnel, after pouring the concrete, was 12 foot in interior diameter. We would have to walk in water at times that was 2 foot deep, and that water was saturated with the lime from the concrete pours. So many of us got lime burns on our legs at the top of the boots because our pants would be soaked, and as the boots rubbed back and forth when we walked, that would rub the lime into our skin. I remember having to go to the company doctor onsite before and after each shift, and get my legs treated and bandaged. I still have scars today from that experience.
I think you need a few days of rest where you don't need to use your hands for such difficult and stressful activities. Best wishes for you, Sir.

[Edwin]

Thank you, Sir Michael, for sharing your experiences with me on that! Carol has been telling me the same that I need to rest and recuperate as I have been going at it too hard, many times until 2 and 3 a.m. in the morning before finishing working, and then back up and at it at 7 a.m. in the morning! I feel tired all the time, and I have been falling asleep just sitting watching a movie, or whatever I am doing, so I think it is time for rest, and I am about ready for winter, and that was what the rush was all about. My son-in-law has been good to help me!

I can't even imagine you guys having to walk through lime loaked water! That company didn't have everything figured out for the safely of their employees, huh?

I think the lime has been drying out my skin, making bleeding cracks in fingers, thumbs, and hands, and the skin gets tight on my hands, they are swollen, and they do look burned at well, so you confirmed what I have been thinking. I am now all finished with the concrete work, so I am happy about that. Next time I need to work with concrete I need to wear a better pair of gloves. One size fits all, and the medical type gloves just did not hold up well enough.

Thank you for your kind words, Sir Michael, and Best wishes for you as well!