...you'll oversleep.
Thus was the lesson learned this afternoon, when I dared lie down my head for a few minutes. I'd been up since 8, an unreasonably early hour I was set upon by the need to take my mom out to breakfast before driving her to the Oakland airport for her return flight to San Diego. Not that I didn't enjoy said activities, as much as any passage down the truck-clogged 880 freeway can be enjoyed, but I was a bit tired, after getting less than 6 hours of sleep 6 days running (and less than 3 on a couple of those days), thanks to various visiting-relative/graduation-related activities.
I'm much better at getting up in the morning and functioning on too-little sleep than I am at going to bed at a reasonable hour. I'm even worse at falling promptly to sleep on the rare occasions when I manage to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Pity there's no reverse-alarm yet. I want a device that is capable of using its stridency to force instant sleep. Oh, and while you're at it, whip up reverse-microwave that cools food instantly. I'm forever overheating soup and leftover Chinese, thus forcing myself to waste valuable seconds heating food, and then more seconds pawing at it and blowing ineffectually over it, in hopes that the issuance of my lungs will work a chilling magic upon it.
(On that topic, that's always bothered me about the second Superman movie, when he fought the 3 Krypton criminals, clad in their black plastic trash bags, in Times Square. I can buy Kryptonians possessing laser vision, by somehow not just seeing into the infrared band, but emitting those waves as well, but how did Kal-El blow cold air to freeze the truck's gas tank? Super powerful breath, okay. But how does he make it colder? Can he modify his internal temperature at will? Can he piss icicles or shit Chipwiches, if need be?)
So, Mom and me enjoyed a lovely breakfast, during which I encountered (and devoured) the novelty that was raspberry pancakes, and she got to the airport on time and returned safely home. And since I was way down in the East Bay already, I ran a few errands, then dropped by Malaya's work and took her out to lunch. By the time I returned home it was well into the afternoon, and my energy was flagging. I wanted to get in a bike ride though, and didn't think that would be a problem. It wasn't yet 4pm, its light here until well after 8 this time of year, and Jinx was in a blitz of activity (she got a lot of rest over the weekend, hiding from my various visitors), racing furiously from room to room (which is less impressive when you remember that my apt only has two rooms), leaping up onto the bed, running out onto the back patio, etc. I waited until she was not actually cavorting on the duvet, then took the opening to stretch out. I didn't close the blinds or windows since the wind was keeping the temperature from feeling oppressive, and since I figured the light would keep me from sleeping too long, even if Jinx somehow didn't manage that herself.
Predictably enough, the next thing I knew it was a quarter til 7, the sun was descending in the sky, it was way too late to go for a proper bike ride, and Jinx was curled up on the bed beside me, snurring away.
I've experienced the awesome alarm clock abilities of cats in the past, but 1) not with Jinx, and 2) not during an afternoon nap. Mercifully, the Jingles has never been one of those cats that share a dawn-calibrated chronometer with various forms of barnyard fowl, and cleverly, I've never gotten her into the habit of being fed at any particular hour. She's got unlimited access to crunchies, but she only gets wet food on special occasions, and never at dawn, so daybreak means nothing to her, and wandering around yowling to be fed is equally foreign behavior. She's good at begging for tidbits on the fairly-rare occasions when I'm cooking or eating something flesh-based, but she's best at sleeping for long hours, propped against one of my hips, in bed. And that's a talent she'll get to put to use fairly soon, since even with my long afternoon nap and the first two sodas (and first doses of caffeine) I've "enjoyed" since last week, I'm about ready to return to the scene of her earlier non-crime.
It's been a largely pointless night, with only minimal work accomplished, but it was enjoyable to spend some time alone and on the computer, after several days of nearly constant human interaction. As a friend remarked to me upon being appraised of my situation and hearing my relief that I hadn't forgotten how to use the Internet. "It's like riding a bike." To which I replied, "But with more porn."
Not that I was actually partaking of the flesh-based format that has done so much to shape the Internet we all know and love, but like most humans of my gender, I find it useful to drop in allusions to and jokes about porn whenever possible, especially when speaking about the Internet. No wonder they had female speakers at my graduation ceremony.
Labels: cats, jinx
