Speed bump or road block?

In my last post, I used a tsunami metaphor to describe what life was like at the time. Things have changed a little since then.

So, as a self-appointed champion of mixed and mangled metaphors (not to mention alliteration), I'm going to talk about speed bumps vs. road blocks.

On Tuesday night, my partner left to go to DC with 50 other activists from the Center for Disability Rights. I slept just fine that night and maintained my hyperfocus throughout Wednesday.

After that, complications arose. The time of Diane's return was uncertain. It would be anywhere between midnight and just about any time thereafter. Being able to pick her up in that kind of scenario takes some planning on my part. I can't just sleep, get a wake-up call and hop in the car. As an additional complication, I try to regulate my sleeping schedule to keep migraine occurrences down.

I have to wait at least two hours after sleeping before my reflexes and motor control have settled down to the point where driving is a safe activity.

Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in getting a nap in the early evening, managing no more than about 30 minutes of snooze time. At that point, it was about 10:30 pm.

At that point, I didn't dare to try any more sleep. At about 11 pm, I got a call saying that - if they made good time - they might be at CDR by 1 am.

Their eventual arrival was at about 3:00 am. By the time I picked Diane up, got home, helped her with her stuff and settled down for sleep, it was 5:00 am. I fell asleep pretty quickly, but woke up at 9:00 am.

I was functional - for shopping, reading, eating and light cleaning - but not much good for much else.

Reaching this point was inevitable. The question remained whether it was going to be a temporary speed bump, with me resuming my previous momentum, or a total roadblock - with who knows how long to struggle toward productivity again.

The fact that I'm writing this post suggests yesterday was just a speed bump after all, with last night's sleep doing what was needed to get me to resume course.

Wish me luck. --Stephen