Good morning!
I am back at my regular perch a day early, so I welcome myself back.
It has been a very busy time the past two days for me.
Let me explain.
As you know, I am a freelance editor/writer covering what is known as “military resale,” covering the multi-milloiun-dollar area that few know exists for the trade organization the American Logistics Association.
They just concluded their 75th annual convention in Norfolk, Va., and I just covered it the past two days, but not in the way I thought I would cover it.
Since I was not traveling to Norfolk—this is the first actual, physical, in-person convention that they have had since the pandemic hit—I was told that recordings of the proceedings would be sent to me through Drop Box, and that I would be able to come up with my story from these recordings.
That plan of action abruptly changed on Wednesday morning, when I was told that through Microsoft Teams, I would be able to cover the convention in real time, so for the past two days, I adjusted my schedule and did just that.
(Kudos to my wife, who picked up some of the things I was supposed to do and acted in my stead.)
Anyway, each day was long--lasting manly hours at a time—and between the various meetings and what I had to do afterward to put together two stories—one for each day—I have been working 12-hour days the past two days, and between the length of the meetings that I covered, some problems with Teams—one day I could not get on at all until someone “let me in,” the other day I was in but with no audio—it has been something of a panic for me.
The convention seemed to go as planned, with speaker after speaker, from many worlds related to military resale, including industry executives and leaders, as well as politicians and retail experts, manning the podium and dong their thing.
It was long, exhausting, but at sometime past 7:30 p.m. last night, I finally fisnished the second story and handed it in with a lot of glee mixed with grit and a lot of hard work.
I can wash my hands of this thing, and now that I know the capabilities of what they can do with a meeting in real time—I covered the convention the last few years virtually via audio only—I am prepared for next year’s convention, and it won’t be such a surprise when it comes because I will be ready for it.
So today, I can finally breathe, although after a good night’s sleep on Wednesday to Thursday—I basically slept nine hours straight—I am currently typing out this Rant at about 3:30 a.m. in the morning, as I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and have been doing nothing but tossing and turning in the bed after nearly five hours of sleep, until I decided that I might as well do this now rather than later.
No, it is not a good way to relax after the tumult of the past two days, but I am simply wide awake now, and maybe after typing this thing out, it will make me tired enough to get back to sleep.
I cannot tell you how many times that has been the case during the past many months, as writing kind of soothes my soul and makes me relax.
I know that that is not the way it is supposed to be, but I take some comfort in the fact that I have heard that the great thinkers—including Albert Einstein—never slept a full night, always got up out of bed to do things coming from a stimulated mind, and then got back to sleep like a baby.
I am not saying that I am Einstein’s heir apparent, but sometimes, that is how my mind and body works, so I have to go with the flow and do what I need to do, and then hopefully, I will be able to have a restful sleep for an hour or two.
Sometimes when this happens, I really feel it by mid-day—around 12 noon—and I end up taking a little snooze then—I guess that is one benefit of being semi-retired—but normally, I am able to get through the day without feeling that tired, or maybe a little tired but without any naps on tap for me.
I have never been a heavy sleeper throughout my life, so this is not a surprise to me as I have reached my mid-60s, and in fact, for many years, I used to get up at 4 a.m. each weekday and go to work by 6 a.m. or so, ready to start my day as soon as I could get into the office.
I guess that that is simply the way that I am, and it hasn’t changed much now that I am semi-retired … it has just adapted to my current situation and my current body clock.
I know I should be really tired after the past two days, but I simply am not as pooped as I thought I would be. I guess the good sleep I had the previous night took care of not only that night, but this night too.
I do wish my sleeping pattern was better, but I have been tested for sleep apnea some years ago, don’t have it,, and it simply continues a pattern that I have experienced for the 65-plus years that I have been on this earth, so it doesn’t alarm me and doesn’t worry me one bit.
Perhaps I will make up for the sleep I lost now over the weekend, perhaps not.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz …
Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday …
Fully rested? Who knows … ?
I am back at my regular perch a day early, so I welcome myself back.
It has been a very busy time the past two days for me.
Let me explain.
As you know, I am a freelance editor/writer covering what is known as “military resale,” covering the multi-milloiun-dollar area that few know exists for the trade organization the American Logistics Association.
They just concluded their 75th annual convention in Norfolk, Va., and I just covered it the past two days, but not in the way I thought I would cover it.
Since I was not traveling to Norfolk—this is the first actual, physical, in-person convention that they have had since the pandemic hit—I was told that recordings of the proceedings would be sent to me through Drop Box, and that I would be able to come up with my story from these recordings.
That plan of action abruptly changed on Wednesday morning, when I was told that through Microsoft Teams, I would be able to cover the convention in real time, so for the past two days, I adjusted my schedule and did just that.
(Kudos to my wife, who picked up some of the things I was supposed to do and acted in my stead.)
Anyway, each day was long--lasting manly hours at a time—and between the various meetings and what I had to do afterward to put together two stories—one for each day—I have been working 12-hour days the past two days, and between the length of the meetings that I covered, some problems with Teams—one day I could not get on at all until someone “let me in,” the other day I was in but with no audio—it has been something of a panic for me.
The convention seemed to go as planned, with speaker after speaker, from many worlds related to military resale, including industry executives and leaders, as well as politicians and retail experts, manning the podium and dong their thing.
It was long, exhausting, but at sometime past 7:30 p.m. last night, I finally fisnished the second story and handed it in with a lot of glee mixed with grit and a lot of hard work.
I can wash my hands of this thing, and now that I know the capabilities of what they can do with a meeting in real time—I covered the convention the last few years virtually via audio only—I am prepared for next year’s convention, and it won’t be such a surprise when it comes because I will be ready for it.
So today, I can finally breathe, although after a good night’s sleep on Wednesday to Thursday—I basically slept nine hours straight—I am currently typing out this Rant at about 3:30 a.m. in the morning, as I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and have been doing nothing but tossing and turning in the bed after nearly five hours of sleep, until I decided that I might as well do this now rather than later.
No, it is not a good way to relax after the tumult of the past two days, but I am simply wide awake now, and maybe after typing this thing out, it will make me tired enough to get back to sleep.
I cannot tell you how many times that has been the case during the past many months, as writing kind of soothes my soul and makes me relax.
I know that that is not the way it is supposed to be, but I take some comfort in the fact that I have heard that the great thinkers—including Albert Einstein—never slept a full night, always got up out of bed to do things coming from a stimulated mind, and then got back to sleep like a baby.
I am not saying that I am Einstein’s heir apparent, but sometimes, that is how my mind and body works, so I have to go with the flow and do what I need to do, and then hopefully, I will be able to have a restful sleep for an hour or two.
Sometimes when this happens, I really feel it by mid-day—around 12 noon—and I end up taking a little snooze then—I guess that is one benefit of being semi-retired—but normally, I am able to get through the day without feeling that tired, or maybe a little tired but without any naps on tap for me.
I have never been a heavy sleeper throughout my life, so this is not a surprise to me as I have reached my mid-60s, and in fact, for many years, I used to get up at 4 a.m. each weekday and go to work by 6 a.m. or so, ready to start my day as soon as I could get into the office.
I guess that that is simply the way that I am, and it hasn’t changed much now that I am semi-retired … it has just adapted to my current situation and my current body clock.
I know I should be really tired after the past two days, but I simply am not as pooped as I thought I would be. I guess the good sleep I had the previous night took care of not only that night, but this night too.
I do wish my sleeping pattern was better, but I have been tested for sleep apnea some years ago, don’t have it,, and it simply continues a pattern that I have experienced for the 65-plus years that I have been on this earth, so it doesn’t alarm me and doesn’t worry me one bit.
Perhaps I will make up for the sleep I lost now over the weekend, perhaps not.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz …
Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday …
Fully rested? Who knows … ?
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