Missed it by that much

The longest time that I have ever been awake is 36 straight hours. I'm sure that pales next to what others have accomplished, doctors and soldiers and even me old Grandpa Joe. But it was a long time for me, and I nearly bested it yesterday.

I was awake at 6 AM Tuesday. I worked, then played my curling match that night. We won, demonstrating the importance of a solid third in a curling lineup. I immediately left on a sales trip, figuring I could catch a few power naps along the way.

That didn't happen. The two times I tried I never came close to falling off into dreamland. The first time I was at a truck stop, but the chairs in the rec room were simply too uncomfortable to sleep in. So after an hour I gave up and went back to driving, to try to catch a nap later. That didn't work either, rental van seats being equally unconducive to sleep, so I just went about my day.

It's a funny feeling when, after being up and about for around 30 hours, in my case Noonish yesterday, that you realize you're tired but don't actually feel like sleeping. I felt profoundly fatigued yet was wide awake and very aware of what I was doing. My eyes weren't drooping shut; I was not nodding off in the least. I was driving well, and dealing with customers quite normally, chit-chatting and answering questions as though I knew what I was talking about. Indeed, I felt I could go another thirty hours. If anything, I had anxiety. I was anxious to keep going, to prove that I was up to my unintentionally imposed challenge.

Arriving home just after 4, I unloaded my own order at the Shop, returned the rental van, and on getting home I got on the computer. You know, to catch up on e-mails, not play games or anything (how could you think that?). I soon thought I'd stay up until 7, to break my record by an hour. Why not? And surely lying in bed with a book would seal the deal.

I woke up at 7:25 this morning with a book crunched under me. I think I made it til 5:30, or 35-1/2 hours. I missed it by that much, as Maxwell Smart would say.