A long time ago, my sister’s father-in-law Monte told me a story of a year where it snowed so bad in upstate New York that he was trapped in the house for days and didn’t even know what time or what day it was. For a number of different reasons – that is exactly how I feel right now.

Since September 11th, my world has completely changed – and as a result – so has my schedule. Between my new hours, my constant demands – and my house being constantly filled with people – I am operating on a sporadic, ever-changing and unpredictable schedule and due to that schedule – it is hard to determine what time of day – or what day of the week it is.

From getting up at 3:30am every morning, to getting home from work at 2:00pm – to going from one event to the next at all hours of the day and night – I may as well throw all of my clocks away – because the idea of a normal twenty-four hour day, which was foreign to me anyway – is now a definite fantasy to me.

I’ll give you a typical day of mine: I get up at 3:30am and leave to go to work by 4:00am. I get to work by 5:00am and do my morning duties until 6:00am. Then, I either sleep or do my own thing, like write a column or do the Digest, until 8:00am. Then, I work the rest of my tour until 1:00pm. After work, I begin tending to the other things in my life, like visiting Christine at work, doing stuff for my mom, posting the Digest – and saving civilization as we know it. Then, at around 3:00pm or 4:00pm, my friends come over and I allow myself to have some fun for a while. At around 6:00pm or 7:00pm – my body begins to crash and I sleep for an hour or two. I wake up at 9:00pm or 10:00pm, hang out for another hour or so – and go to sleep for four hours and start the whole thing all over again.

It’s the waking up and going back to sleep three or four times a day that is screwing up my schedule and making me feel like I can’t figure out what day it is. For someone that is used to getting up and going to bed once a day, to not napping – and to being awake when everyone else is – this is certainly a strange experience – and one that is taking its toll.

Since this schedule change, I have not only been tired almost twenty-four hours a day – but I even have resorted to passing out at public places. The most recent – and most embarrassing time I passed out in public was when Cheryl, Matt, Christine and I went to Ember’s Steak House. I got the thirty-eight ounce porterhouse steak – and slept at the table until it came. As I was leaving, I could see everyone was looking at me – because they all saw me asleep at my table.

Despite all that I do and the fact that I am passing out both at home and in public, I am still enjoying my life and my lifestyle – except I would love to add a few extra hours of sleep to the few hours of sleep that I do get. And while this schedule is certainly an odd one – it is an interesting one – and one that I wouldn’t change.