Resetting my circadian rhythm

Here we go again.

Right now my work schedule is 6-2 on Friday, 9-6 on Saturday (that's 9 pm to 6 am), and 8-4 on Sunday. Monday mornings we have exams. That's every Monday for the rest of the semester. So basically, I only sleep six nights a week. On Fridays I wake up at a quarter to six (a.m.) and stay up until 3 or 4, effectively setting my circadian rhythm to the graveyard shift. On Sundays I wake up no earlier than 4 p.m. and stay up all night, doing my best to make it to 8 p.m. and set the rhythm back to that of a normal human being. And this is the routine I'll work on for the rest of the term.

As a result, I fell asleep on the bus this morning and in the foggy haze between clear, coherent thought and some crazy dream I invented the word "faculcade." I'm pretty sure that's a portmanteau of "faculty" and "cavalcade," but I'm open to suggestions. I've no idea what the context of that word is, but it fit seamlessly with my nonsensical train of thought.

If you like the Oscars and you like gambling, I have the perfect event for you: My annual Oscar pool! Shoot me an email if you want in on some of that action.

My wife and I had a night out with no baby. We went to Breckenridge, saw a comedy show, and stayed at our friends' parents' condo. It was fantastic. That was the first night that Xander's been home without one or both of us there. My wonderful sister and brother-in-law stayed over, and it actually went pretty well. I was a little worried that I would be too worried about him to enjoy myself (Wow; when I say it that way I sound neurotic) but for one night it wasn't so bad. I don't know if we could do more than that, but it was really nice to go out like adults and not have to worry about getting home to relieve the babysitter or anything like that. (Kyle and Nicole, if you're reading this, THANK YOU.)

The downside to all that fun weekend having is that I was severely underprepared for my exam today. I still passed (I think) but my chances at an A in this class are getting slimmer by the week. That's OK. I'm not going to school for the grades, am I?

In sporting news, pitchers and catchers have reported to spring training (with position players not far behind) and the New Jersey Nets are the worst sports team of the young century with a winning percentage of .089. I think that's even more impressive than the Lions' 0-16 season because basketball is less predictable a game. I mean, even a bad team can win against a good team in basketball once in a while (you know, like 5 times out of 56, if you're the Nets) but a bad football team will probably never beat a good one.

I guess that's all I've got for this week. I'm probably forgetting something but I'm pretty tired since I've been awake for 22 hours.

New reasons to hate Boulder

Last night, I took my family to Pearl Street in downtown Boulder for some shopping and dinner. That sounded like a pretty good idea, right? Not so much.

First, the temperature dropped ten degrees or more on our way (we left as the sun was setting, so that's partly on us). An outdoor mall is not so cool when you can't feel your toes. But that wasn't terrible. A lot of the shops were either closed or lame, but that was something we could deal with. We ended up eating at Old Chicago, which was great. Just getting to spend some relaxed time with my wife and son was worth all those hassles, including the crazy lady that was yelling at the cops in front of one of the bars. (Actually, that was pretty entertaining, aside from feeling a little concerned for Xander's safety.) Then we went to Starbucks and things got ugly.

After we got our drinks, Xander was tootling around the store (Cafe? What do you call a Starbucks?), tripped on his scarf and fell right onto the sharp corner of the door frame. Ouch. He falls a lot, because he's a toddler, but this time he was bleeding, badly. Don't worry; he's going to live. We stopped the blood right there in the bathroom and got it bandaged up. I don't know about scarring yet, but I don't think there's any brain damage or skull fracture or any of that serious stuff. It was just a scary, stressful moment.

Then I couldn't find my way out of Boulder. After a couple of missed turns we finally got onto a good route (with the help of my wife's GPS) only to drive past a guy lying on the ground next to his bike. My first thought was, Wow, that guy's so drunk he can't stay on his bike. Then my thought was, Wait, it's eight o'clock. He's probably dead! Then my thought was, I really should stop because I know CPR. And very quickly, I don't really want to give CPR right now. We ended up driving in a couple of loops to get back to the guy only to find that he was just fine. I don't know if he was drunk, high, or terribly uncoordinated, but we saw him walking next to his bike (Excellent idea, sir!) and figured he was in good enough shape to get home.

So I hate Boulder even more than I used to. I probably won't be going back there ever again. Well, that's an exaggeration, but not likely to go on family dates to Pearl Street any more.

In other news, someone told me to include more baseball and more pictures of my son in my posts. With that in mind, pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in six days. I'm very excited about it. My favorite non-Rockie, non-Cub players, Tim Lincecum, was offered a three-year deal today by the Giants. That's sort of a big deal to baseball fans. Lincecum has requested a record salary for his upcoming arbitration hearing. He's going to make a crazy amount of money for a player in his third year. The kid is a year younger than I am and will probably make ten million dollars this year. That's ridiculous. I wish I did something that well that I could demand top dollar for my services. I'm not even talking about millions. I'd just like to be able to go to my employer and say, "Hey, you know how you pay everybody this much? Yeah, I really think I should get double that." Anyway, that's my baseball news. Here's a bonus picture of Xander.

The Nuggets are playing extremely well right now, and they're fully healthy. Watch out for this team in the playoffs. They've beaten the Lakers twice, once in each city, once without Carmelo Anthony. Only one other team has beaten Kobe twice this year, and that's the Eastern Conference favorite Cleveland Cavaliers. LA will face the Nuggets twice more this year - February 28 in LA and April 8 in Denver. If the Nuggets can win both of these, it gives them a ridiculous psychological edge come playoff time. Remember the chant last year to the Dallas Mavericks? "You can't beat us..."

That's all I got for this week. Sorry it's later than normal. I'll try to get back on schedule this week. It should be easier with Monday being a holiday. Thanks for stopping by.

Super Bowl

I'm on a quick study break but I wanted to get this on the record in case it turns out to be right. A lot of people are picked the Colts to win the Super Bowl going away, saying that Peyton Manning is some kind of football computer and nobody can stop him. I don't think this Super Bowl is about Peyton at all. I think it boils down to Dwight Freeney. If Freeney is able to play at full strength, the Colts will win handily and the Saints will have trouble scoring. But I think Freeney will be out, or even worse, will try to play despite being severely hampered by his injury. And if that happens, I don't know that the Saints will punt at any point during the game. Yeah, Peyton Manning will dissect the Saints' defense, and yeah, he can drive down the field and score at will, but so can Drew Brees. If the Saints can protect him, he will go right back down the field and match Peyton score for score. All it takes is one stop, and one stop is not so hard. So that's my prediction. With Freeney out, the Saints and the over is a LOCK. If Freeney can play, then the Colts and probably under (but not probable enough to be it). I just want to be able to say I told you so.

This feels like a trick

So far, this semester has been much more manageable than the fall. We just had our first exam yesterday, and I figure to make a high B on it. Even if it went disastrously wrong I still made a low B/high C. I've spent less time studying and it feels like I'm in class for less of the day. What's the catch? I think Integrated Organ Systems II (and all subsequent IOS classes - we have these for the next four semesters) is harder than IOS I. And at the end of March we get an interdisciplinary ethics course that runs for the last month of the semester. My gut tells me that April will be hell month. But until then, I'm going to enjoy a lighter load.

Xander got sick in Texas. I think he's finally better, but he was an absolute terror for a week. My wife's been dealing with this largely on her own, which is the part I hate the most. This is what I have to give up in order to be both a full-time student and the household provider. All that stress of dealing with a non-stop crying baby who can't be consoled falls on her. I got a good taste of what that was like yesterday, and after an hour I was losing my mind. I'm not sure how she does it. Sometimes I think I won the marriage lottery.

I'm excited for baseball to start. I know, it's a long way off, but I'm still getting excited about it. Both of my teams have made some moves in the off season. I'm not terribly optimistic about the Cubbies because I think last year is roughly indicative of their abilities as a team and I don't think they got any better. The Rockies, on the other hand, flipped the World's Luckiest Pitcher, Jason Marquis, for a more promising arm in Tim Redding. And they re-signed the most crucial piece in Jason Giambi. I used to think their general manager Dan O'Dowd was an idiot, but I'm starting to see that he does, in fact, know what he's doing and he's getting remarkable things done with cheap ownership. I'm sure the Rox will end up with 70 wins or something now that I've jinxed them, but I like their chances at the NL West or another Wild Card this year. Especially with Jeff Francis finally healthy.

OK, enough baseball. It's February. I just couldn't think of much else to talk about. I guess I'll just see you next week. Thanks for stopping by.