Well, I managed to snatch an almost-normal night of sleep last night.
This does, of course, need to be put into context of what an 'almost-normal night' is - which I shall later - however it is the first night I have had this week where I have gotten more than a couple of hours.
On Monday night I hadn't quite dropped off to sleep when the riot passed the top of the road. So I didn't get any sleep for the rest of the night because they could come back and cause more trouble. It's very difficult to drop off, even just snatch a couple of hours sleep when you are worried that your home or even your own well-being is at risk.
And that's the same reason I hardly got any on Tuesday night as well. Worse still on Tuesday night I had blown-off a date purely to go back and ensure the security of my property. It's bad form when rioting starts interfering with your romantic life.
Tuesday evening was a very strange evening. I don't think I have ever experienced anything quite like it. The early part of the evening was spent very "spirit of the blitz" - I was out chatting with the neighbours, securing gates and making sure that anything that could be smashed or thrown was put round the back and locked-up. Then - as the sun set, casting long auburn shadow over the green and leafy neighbourhood - we went into lock-down and light-up. There was a single moment when everyone knew: it was time to go indoors. No excuses were needed, we just said cheerio and went.
The doors were shut, locked, checked and double-checked. I closed and locked windows I wasn't even aware I had a key for. Blinds were drawn, curtains closed, lights turned on throughout the house to ensure that the house looked occupied and not ripe for the pickings. And then I tried to maintain a normal evening. I started cooking and washed up and cleaned the bathroom and it was odd. It was eerie. The lack of cars driving past outside was distinctly noticeable. No-one walked past. It wasn't helped either with having all the windows closed and it being quite a warm night, but even the birds seemed quiet. It really was spooky. And this was even with my usual background music on.
Around 2:30 am I decided I would try going to sleep, but when you are so wired, so on edge of any noise, it is impossible. I did eventually - out of sheer exhaustion - nod off for an hour or so, but it wasn't good sleep.
Nothing happened.
Absolutely nothing.
Not even a branch falling off a tree.
But that was good. Even if nothing happened Tuesday night, it meant that the likelihood of anything happening last night was considerably reduced. And nothing did happen last night. Normality - whilst not entirely present - was at least in the room by conference call. And so I could sleep.
Like I say, a relatively normal night's worth of sleep - around 4 1/2 hours. I don't get much more. I have conditioned myself to operate on very little sleep. When I first started work, I would be getting up around 7am; which allowed me to go to bed around midnight and still get a good night of sleep. My lack of discipline means that the midnight curfew got pushed back and back and before I knew it my regular bedtime had turned towards 1:30am. Then I got a different job, which meant the 7am crept towards 6:30am instead; though with no correction in the evening. Then another change of job meant that the alarm started getting set for 5:45am. A combination of sensibility and exhaution meant that I did start to strictly impose the midnight withdrawal, however that still means that I don't actually usually drop off until close to 1am. So that is a normal night sleep.
All in all I need this holiday that I am going on tomorrow, so you won't hear from me again until probably Tuesday.
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