Insomniac Ramblings

(Current Song: Sleeping Beauty - Michael Giacchino (Alias OST)


Yawn. It's been a good month and a half since I last got a decent nights sleep. The routine is always similar - I'll either go to bed and spend hours trying to fall asleep, before finally falling into a fitfull, restless doze, or I'll fall asleep fairly quickly, and then wake constantly throughout the night.

It doesn't matter what I try - cutting out caffeine, all manner of herbal remedies, teas etc, a nightcap, anything, the process always ends up the same.

Frustrated with it, I finally visited the GP on Tuesday. I was pretty sure that this recent bout of Insomnia was down to the medication I've been taken, as it's listed as one of the side effects. It's had a big improvement on my mood, but I've had to weigh that up against barely sleeping. Eventually sleep won out - but at the same time, I was adamant I didn't want to take sleeping pills.

(Current Song: Mean Low Water - 65DaysofStatic)

The GP pretty much agreed, and stopped me taking the meds on the spot - apparently the one I'm on has more of a stimulating effect than most others, hence the Insomnia. I now need to wait for them to get out of my system for a week before moving onto the next alternative. This will be my second day without the meds, and I haven't noticed an improvement yet. I can only hope with a 4 day weekend coming up that the improvement comes soon, because I desperately need a good night's kip.

(Current Song: The Lair Part 2 - Danny Elfman (Batman Returns OST))


My mood has definitely been on the up - I've taken more enjoyment in doing things, I've been enjoying my interests (including Gaming, I finally cracked Ocarina of Time, and after completing Metal Gear Solid 2 I've finally started Metal Gear Solid 4) a lot more recently, but I've had practically no energy to do anything - going out, seeing people, anything like that.

So I have to apologise to my friends (especially Joe, who's been pretty resilient in asking me frequently to meet up, and been turned down at every attempt). I've wanted to get out and see you, I've wanted to visit the Moonlet gigs, I've wanted to be sociable. I just don't have the energy at the moment - I'm pretty much using all of it to get through the day (to the point where I've frequently fallen asleep when I've gotten home for an hour). I'll make it up to you all. Promise. I just need a few good lie ins first.

(Current Song: Carol of the Bells - August Turns Red)

I didn't want this post to turn into a diatribe against my lack of sleep. but it seems to have taken that turn. For those who've stuck with the self indulgent tripe, I talked a while ago about a driverless car being tested in America. Well, Volvo, not to be outdone, have been testing their own - in this case a self drive convoy (made up of 3 cars and a lorry),  completing a 125 Mile journey through Spain.

The cars are wirelessly linked to a lead vehicle, driven by a professional driver. They then effectively mimic that lead vehicle, driving at around 52mph with about 6m separating each vehicle.

It's interesting (and exciting) stuff, and definitely could herald the possibility of driverless cars in the future. I can't wait.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18248841

I'll leave it there for now. Take care all.

Wow, whereya bin?

(Current Song: The Final Confrontation (Part 1) - Danny Elfman/Batman Returns)

I'm shocked and appalled that it's well over a month ago that I last posted. Shocked and appalled.

Truth is, I've been busy, and yet not so much. Work has been incredibly hectic and busy the last few weeks as we approach the deadline for getting a brilliant new system in for one of our projects, so that's been taking up a lot of my time.

Outside of work, I haven't had a great deal of energy. I've been able to get out and do more recently (partly in line with my "experiences" declaration in my last post), and the Fluoxetine is definitely having an impact on my mood, where the Citalopram had kind of lost it's effectiveness. I've been in a much better mood the last 6 weeks, which is great, I'd forgotten how much I missed it.

But there's a side effect. I'm not sleeping as well. Insomnia is listed as one of the side effects, and it's certainly the case with me - frequently waking up, sleeping lightly and tossing and turning a lot. I've mitigated it a little with occasional naps(!) during the day when I need them, but it's not great, and a tad frustrating. I don't want to go back to the GP to get something extra to help me sleep, as I feel it's a bit of a slippery slope, so I'm trying a few different remedies. Herbal tea seems to work well, so I think I'll stick with that for the moment.

(Current Song: Feudal Society - Shiro Sagisu (Bleach - Diamond Dust Rebellion OST)

I've managed to get out and see more people recently - a great film night with Paul, Kristian and a few others last Saturday, a pool evening with Ben and Elle a few weeks ago, The Avengers with Elle and Gareth, more meetups with the group, and a quick round of pitch and putt a few weeks ago with Elle, which was a good larf. The weather's not really been up for much recently though, and most of the good days seem to fall when I'm working, which is a bit crap. Still, I have a week off in June, maybe the weather'll improve for that.

Avengers Review

Speaking of the Avengers, if you haven't gone to see it yet but you're a fan of the genre, GO. It is absolutely fantastic. I was a bit concerned that with that many characters, it would struggle (despite the long run time), but Joss Whedon has masterfully directed, managing to get a good amount of story to all the heroes and villains, and making it well worth a watch. There's a lot of action, some great comedic moments (a lot of this coming from the Hulk), and some brilliant dialogue. Watching the heroes get the measure of each other as they try and work together was excellent.

Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk) was a great choice as well, and played the character nicely. Gone was the somewhat mind numbing tragedy of the previous Hulk films, replaced with a more mature (if slightly unconfident) character who undoubtedly stole the show for me.

As always, Robert Downey Jr was great, I love the Iron Man films. And this has been one of the few 2 and a half hour films that I didn't find myself checking my watch during at all - the pacing was spot on.

So yeah, go see it before it's out of the cinema. Next up, The Dark Knight Rises ^_^

******

(Current Song: The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Easter European Dance Parties - 65DaysofStatic (The Destruction of Small Ideas))

My last post came from a conversation I had with Paul some time ago. He'd played The Game of Life with a few friends, and didn't win at the end. Why? Because he didn't end up with the most money. He'd had a lot of experiences during the game - Bungie Jumping, Hand Gliding etc, but since he spent money on them, he wasn't classed as the winner.

Which for me, seemed a bit off. You can't do anything with all that money if you make it to the end, and you may have lost out on some of the best experiences in life because you saved every single penny. I remembered it recently and it made me think about things in a bit of a new light, no doubt helped somewhat by my improved mood. I want to experience a lot more this Summer. And write about it here, probably.

(Current Song: This Cat is a Landmine - 65DaysofStatic (The Fall of Math))

Also to do somewhat with my improved mood, I've rediscovered my love of gaming recently. Portal 2 is what I'm finally working on now - having played through the Coop with Elle and having great fun - but before that it was Assassins Creed II.

Oh my. This was a series I'd looked at in the past, but skipped over for some reason. I avoided the first game due its unfavourable reviews, and picked up the second for a tenner. And what a ride it's been.

It's been a long time since I spent ages running around a game, investigating, playing around and trying new things. Free Running around the game, Running over rooftops and quietly assassinating guards kept me entertained for ages. Oh look! A new viewpoint. Hmmm...how could I find my way up there? 

It's much longer than I thought it would be, but it's been well paced and is great fun. I spent literally hours just free running around the game, finding all the collectables. Each mission only worked out at 10 odd minutes, and there were plenty of checkpoints if it went wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will be looking to play the others at some near point in the future.

I think I'll leave it there for now. Going to see Spamalot tonight at the Hall for Cornwall, which should be good fun.

Until next time!