Bickle and CRUD Were Right; There's No Way

It's going on 8:00 am. I've only slept for about an hour and a half. I've mostly been staring at the ceiling for ages. That is the third or fourth time this has happened in the last couple of weeks. I initially thought it was because I was drinking too much alcohol or drinking it too late in the evening, so I cut out most of the booze and made 8 pm last call. Then I figured it must be too much caffeine because I'm bouncing off the walls with energy. After careful accounting, I've found I'm drinking more tea than I should (about three cups a day). However, even that overindulgence should only amount to fractions of the caffeine I was drinking when the coffee shops were still open regular hours. I haven't had a coffee in over a month. I used to drink two or three large a day.

I think my insomnia may be a side-effect of a drug I take for my stomach. I'm not excited about the idea of going off the medication. It helps my digestion tremendously. I'll check into it with my doctor, but this sleeplessness wasn't happening even a few months ago. I'm inclined to believe social media is hyper-stimulating me, especially at night. Before my return to the internet, I would read a book, work on photographs, or maybe have a few drinks and fall asleep on the sofa listening to music. It was rare for me to be awake past 10 pm; 11 was a late night. Now my little brain is racing into the dawn doing nothing worthwhile.

I think Facebook has to go. I mean, yes, there is a great argument to be made that I could not visit the site so much, but evidently, I can't resist the siren call of the place. By the looks of things, I'm not alone in this regard. The site was designed by psychologists to be that way, which seems professionally unethical on their part. It was nice visiting for a while and getting back in touch with everyone, but I was a lot happier without a Facebook account, and I slept regular hours, even on my meds. I'm sorry the Plague is lurking around every corner, and that whole thing about the world economy collapsing is no good either. I think we can find a way to be in this together without my being on social media.

I'm going to drag this haunted desk chair out to the garbage, take another half of a Benadryl, and try to sleep at least a little more. Whenever I wake up, I'll shut down my account again. In the meantime, shoot me an email if you want to trade contact info or sign up to the mailing list for occasional updates about this blog. We probably can't hang out in person for some time yet, on account of the Plague, but I famously love texting and also play a little online chess if you fancy a match.