Scared of the dark!

"Sarah Whitney" wrote in message
...

I'm not scared of the dark.

Great story! We need to know more, go out there and give us a report!
Hehe. I find that I rely on my hearing much more at night. When the wind
blows the signal to noise ratio falls dramaticly, obscuring perception of
impending (or so I imagine) horrors.

Ed T.

"Dennis Woos" wrote in message
...
This is what I worry about most - sleepiness on the drive home. I try and
keep a little coffee in reserve, but it doesn't always seem to do the
trick.
Anyone have any tips?


Sleep in the truck, leave in the morning.

peace,
jon

Sleep in the truck, leave in the morning.

Not bad advice, except that my sons and I often find ourselves observing
till morning! Thanks.

Dennis

It might have been a lost or troubled child; shoulda looked.

Mike



"Sarah Whitney" wrote in message
...

I'm not scared of the dark. To the contrary it's pretty peaceful sitting
out for hours in the quiet, dark. I've only been freaked out a couple
times by animals appearing next to me. They were just as surprised
as I was.

Our house is 700+ feet from anyone else in the direction I observe.
The other day I was sitting out observing, and the trees were blowing
and cracking in the wind. The wind chimes were chiming. Out of the
blue I start hearing a childs toy playing in the wind, nursery rhyme type
music like "the farmer and the dell" played on bells, coming from the
woods adjacent to me, and close! Keep in mind it's 1 AM, totally dark,
windy, and there is nobody nearby for an eighth of a mile minimum.

After a few minutes of this I couldn't relax any more. I am looking around
in the dark shining my flashlight in non sensical directions looking for
intruders I would easily hear approaching.

I walked up into the woods about 40 feet to the top of the hill and looked
down the other side into a slight depression and saw some color lights
flickering in the bushes, the sound is coming from it.

OK, by this time, I'm full on in Kubricks THE SHINING mindset. If I go
investigate this glowing, out of place, suddenly playing childs toy,
when I turn around those little twin girls are going to be standing
at the hilltop between my telescope and I. Play On! Says I, and I
turn on all the floodlights around the house and pack all my stuff up
for the night!!!

I guess my pysche is a bit of a slippery slope in the dark.

SW

"Dennis Woos" wrote in message ...
That was the end of my observing session for that night but I didn't have
any
trouble being sleepy for that 1 hour late night drive home.

This is what I worry about most - sleepiness on the drive home. I try and
keep a little coffee in reserve, but it doesn't always seem to do the trick.
Anyone have any tips?

Dennis, If it is cold, do not turn on your heater & get the car toasty
warm. A warm car is a recipe for getting sleepy. Just get it a little
less warm than what makes you comfortable. You may have to fiddle with
it a bit. If you find yourself getting sleepy turn it down a notch.
The trick is to just not get comfortable enough to get sleepy.

If it's hot, I have found that turning the A/C vent to blow cold air
on my hand holding the steering wheel, keeps me awake. Again the trick
is to just make your hand "slightly" uncomfortable, not to make
yourself miserable. You'll find yourself almost inadvertantly wanting
to move your hand away from the air flow. Just remind yourself to hold
it there. DR

Critters (except snakes) are one thing. Human cyotes and their cargo are
another. I would never observe in that place!
Jerry



Jon Isaacs wrote:

I guess my pysche is a bit of a slippery slope in the dark.

SW

How about "scared in the dark."

I have been there.. Observing alone in the mountains near the
California-Mexico border. The forest ranger once told me that when I am there,
it forces the guys who smuggle drugs/people to move their drop off point
somewhere else.

Totally engrossed in the eyepiece, a loud noise startles me, the adrenaline
pumps and I have the shakes. It was probably just a branch falling or a animal
in the bushes, but the effect is the same as if it had been smuggler laying in
wait....

That was the end of my observing session for that night but I didn't have any
trouble being sleepy for that 1 hour late night drive home.

Jon

"Dennis Woos" wrote in message ...
That was the end of my observing session for that night but I didn't have
any
trouble being sleepy for that 1 hour late night drive home.

This is what I worry about most - sleepiness on the drive home. I try and
keep a little coffee in reserve, but it doesn't always seem to do the trick.
Anyone have any tips?

Water works for me. Lots of water; keeps you hydrated, too. Discovered this
decades ago and it still works when I need to pull all-nighters.

"Dennis Woos" wrote:
That was the end of my observing session for that night but I didn't have
any
trouble being sleepy for that 1 hour late night drive home.

This is what I worry about most - sleepiness on the drive home. I try and
keep a little coffee in reserve, but it doesn't always seem to do the trick.
Anyone have any tips?



Once I fell asleep, when working 80 hour weeks, and drove onto a 4 foot
rise between the different lanes of a road. Woke right up.

Later, I once fell alseep and drove straight at a guard rail on a cliff about 400
feet over a river. Closest I ever came to dying! My friend grabbed the wheel
and said "YOU GOING TO DRIVE?" and he was mad.

Every time I feel sleepy driving now, I think about that guardrail. I haven't
fell asleep at the wheel in 10 years since, just remembering that wakes
me up every time.

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 00:58:52 -0500, Smack Dab
wrote:

Every time I feel sleepy driving now, I think about that guardrail. I haven't
fell asleep at the wheel in 10 years since, just remembering that wakes
me up every time.

A similar experience is why I don't drink and drive for the last 25
years. In my case, the guardrail was at the edge of a 400-foot cliff,
at the bottom of which were several fish canneries. The thought of
being indistinguishable from and included in a can of fish fillet...

I still drink, but I'm a lot more careful about when and where.


--------------
Beady's Corollary to Occam's Razor: "The likeliest explanation of any phenomenon is almost always the most boring one imaginable."


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On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 00:26:25 -0500, jerry warner
wrote:

Critters (except snakes) are one thing. Human cyotes and their cargo are
another. I would never observe in that place!

I wouldn't worry *excessively*. Smugglers don't want trouble, they
don't want to call attention to themselves, and they certainly don't
want to do anything that would cause a dozen or so cops to crawl all
over one of their favorite routes.

If they see you before you see them, they'll go around.

--------------
Beady's Corollary to Occam's Razor: "The likeliest explanation of any phenomenon is almost always the most boring one imaginable."


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