The Inkwell

In the past few days I’ve had a lot of trouble coming up with anything to write about here at The Inkwell. That’s pretty unusual for me as there’s always something- a headline, a billboard, a random thought – that sparks my imagination. I just haven’t been able to come up with anything though.

I can only attribute it to lack of sleep. My three month old son, who previously was a great sleeper, has taken to waking up four or more times each night. It isn’t because he’s hungry or wet, he just wants to be held (fueling my suspicion that he’ll be teething early).

So I decided to look into some facts about sleep deprivation. Here’s what I learned.

According to the Mayo Clinic, women who sleep only 6 hours a night compared to those who sleep 7 are 42% more likely to develop high blood pressure.

In an interview with CBS News, sleep scientist David Dinges says, “A single night at four hours or five hours or even six, can in most people, begin to show affects in your attention and your memory and the speed with which you think. A second night it gets worse. A third night worse. Each day adds an additional burden or deficit to your cognitive ability.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that sleepy drivers are responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that first year doctors in two Boston ICUs reduced their rates of serious medical errors when their work weeks was reduced to 16 consecutive hours from 30.

According to the VA Nurses Union, the brain will actually shut itself down if you don’t voluntarily shut it down by going to sleep.

It’s no wonder I can’t remember my own address!

Read more:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleep-deprivation/AN01344
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/14/60minutes/main3939721.shtml
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/important-sleep-habits
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-10-28-04.html
http://r3-19.org/study_shows_lack_of_sleep_causes_the_brain_to_shutdown

Sure, home foreclosures are at levels we’ve never seen before. Banks are now having to reap what they sowed. People who were ready to retire suddenly have worthless 401k’s. Bennigan’s restaurants are now closed forever. (RIP Monte Cristo!) I wonder, though, how many Americans are really, truly feeling the pinch.

My husband and I went to the mall yesterday. It’s a pretty upscale place with valet parking and a concierge. I’m sure Christian Dior would rise up from the grave if he heard the mall managers were bringing in a Claire’s or Spencer Gifts. It’s the kind of mall where the teenagers have nicer cell phones than I could ever dream of having. And all the women were wearing gold or silver sandals, did I miss the memo about metallic shoes being trendy? I must have.

So here come these hillbillies from East Orlando (sweetie, Hammy and me), rolling through the parking lot in our 9 year old Dodge. There isn’t a parking spot to be found. The mall was packed with people - elbow to elbow. Everyone had shopping bags, so clearly people aren’t too worried about overspending. After cruising around the mall for a while, I started to feel self conscious. I was wearing an outfit that was purchased entirely from Target, minus the bra and shoes. The sunglasses, t shirt, undershirt, jeans, socks, belt and purse all came from Target. The stroller I was pushing Hammy in was used, I paid a neighbor $50 for it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled about the financial path we’ve chosen for our family. Wearing $12 Target jeans got us to a very stable place in our finances. And buying a used travel system for $50 not only saved us about $120, it’s good for the environment because it didn’t end up in a landfill. Maybe it’s even good for the economy because we put money in the pockets of our neighbors.

We feel pretty recession proof in our family, even when the media and the presidential candidates are telling us how horrible everything is. So if we are the exception, everyone else must be the ones struggling, right? Then how can the crowds at the mall be explained? I had to pick up a cable at the Apple Store and the place was mobbed, I actually had to wait in line to pay for my stuff. Is that the sign of a sluggish economy?

I certainly don’t have the answers. But I can tell you that “millennia” is spelled wrong at the “Mall of Millenia”.

Here are some photos I took on my cell phone. I couldn’t believe the crowds.

I’m so sorry to do this. I have a pile of guilt in my heart for doing this. It’s all because I don’t like talking politics. It makes people mad and sometimes you end up learning things about people you wish you never knew. Then your good friend becomes someone you don’t really want to hang out with anymore and suddenly you have drama in your life that you never invited in.

I feel this weight of guilt because in my inaugural post at Unsent Letters , I wrote my letter to John McCain . Two politically minded posts in one day is a lot for me.

Nonetheless, I was listening to Neal Boortz this morning and I laughed right out loud when he said there was a cut-out available on his website that listeners could print and use at their own discretion. It reads,
JUST TRYING TO HELP THE CHOSEN ONE

Here, just cut out this nifty little box and have a bunch of these printed up:

There is no need to visit fancy haunts this Halloween. Skip the haunted houses, corn mazes and hay rides and come on over to my house. It is truly, truly frightening.

The mood is set, you see. Three out of the four cats who live here are black. One of them only has one eye, that makes her really scary. Even though we’re just around the corner from Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights and Disney’s Tower of Terror, we have ‘em beat.

One of the black cats decided to barf on the blanket he likes to sleep on. He then proceeded to eat his own vomit. Wait for it…. here comes the scary part…. then he threw it up again. And another cat ate it.

Seriously, people, this is the scariest house on the block. Dare I say the scariest on the eastern seaboard. Be glad you don’t live here, you might not survive.

Ruh-roh, Orlando politicians are shaking in their boots. Looks like in just a few short years Dubai will surpass her in number of theme parks, mega malls and medical centers. City planners are starting to flip out over sagging tourism in Orlando and the boom of tourism to the UAE.

Sea Word already has plans to open four parks in Dubai by 2015. Dubai plans to have 26 theme parks by then, squashing Orlando’s measly seven theme parks.

Orlando spokesholes are concerned that European travelers will opt for the cheaper, shorter flights to Dubai so they’ve come up with a strategy. Let tourists know just how much it will cost them for a latte at Starbucks. I wish I was kidding! They’re trying to detract from the real life Emerald City by reminding the Euros that it will cost $16 for coffee in Dubai when they can get it for $3 in Orlando.

We’ll see if that works. Crime on tourists is bad and only increasing in Orlando. Outside the resort areas, this place is ghetto-not-so-fabulous. Dubai is sparkling clean and new and they’re actually trying to bring people in instead of relying on the Mouse to do all the work.

Next time I want to ride a waterslide, I’m going to Dubai. At least I won’t get shot there.

My darling husband was in need of a typewriter to fill out an application. So he went to the Goodwill across the street (kinda says something about the neighborhood we live in, huh?) and picked one up for $20. Only thing was, it needed a new ribbon. But where the heck do you find typewriter ribbons in the 21st century?

eBay of course. I logged in there and spent just about as much on the ribbon as he did on the typewriter. It shipped, like, space shuttle fast and we got it yesterday. When I went to leave feedback for it this morning a pop-up appeared and said:

Buyers, you can no longer receive negative or neutral Feedback from sellers.

You should leave honest and accurate Feedback without the fear of receiving negative or neutral ratings.

What the heck is that all about? If I’m a crappy buyer, the world deserves to know about it. I don’t like this at all. Why even bother having buyer feedback if it is required to be good feedback? It’s like not keeping score at the little league game or something.

Getting the carpet cleaned is a necessary evil with a baby in the house. Even though we just had our carpets cleaned in July or August, we decided to re-do them today. Our water heater sort of blew up on Saturday so as it was being hauled away it dribbled rusty water on the carpet.

That was the excuse for getting them cleaned again. But really it’s because we have four filthy cats. I hate seeing balls of molted cat hair and regurgitated hairballs and who knows whatever other excretions I step in during my early morning feedings. I don’t want to walk in it and I certainly don’t want my baby laying near it.

There’s just something about writing on Sundays. The e mail isn’t pouring in, the online forums are devoid of their normal chatter, there isn’t any pressure to get queries out. Outside the air feels fresher and I feel like I can write from my heart, not for my paycheck. It just feels better.

Getting up at 5 am to feed my 9 week old son doesn’t feel like such a chore. Sipping coffee is a relaxing experience and not a kick in the pants. And I certainly don’t feel any guilt about taking a nap (or two) on Sundays. Normally the television stays turned off in my house. But it is comforting to have the Sunday morning shows like Meet the Press and CBS Sunday Morning rolling in the background.

There’s just something about Sundays.