Wedursday: The 42-Hour Day

I set a new record for consecutive hours without sleep! My previous record was 23 and 1/2 before passing out at the keyboard. As you can see, I demolished that record today.

It started off simply enough like any other day.... PT was weak. Then I went to class and made my way through the drudgery of it all. I was chatting with the Hooah and one of her friends throughout the evening when the Hooah reported blood in her urine. At first I freaked and recommended immediate medical evaluation but then I thought that wasn't such a good idea to leap to that conclusion and did a bit of research. I was just about to hit the rack (already in my pajamas and everything) when I received a message to the effect of, "The Hooah needs to go to the hospital and is wondering if you'd take her." Turns out my initial reaction was right as that is what the local clinic hot line told her to do.

Technically, the duty at her barracks could have given her a ride but none of them had a government license, the Army is pretty shoddy about caring for their troops, and the Hooah is terrified of needles and the hospitals they reside in. So, while goofing off and trying to downplay the whole situation, I drove the 20 minutes out to her barracks where I was questioned by the duty NCO. It was nice to see somewhere care. Honest.

We arrived at the hospital at 2200... and I did not get home again until 0400. We filled that time with a lot of waiting and talking. We were also given a show by the strapped-down drunk in the next room. The Hooah caught a bit of sleep when she could... Sleeping without my machine doesn't do anything for me anyways so I studied on my laptop. To be honest, it was an enjoyable night. It was good to talk to the Hooah for so long... It really underlined how strong our friendship is for me. Even when she was trying to break my hand while they gave her an IV.

The doctor finally showed up with a diagnostic and a prescription so we got to go home... The Hooah was the sick one so she had a no-work chit and proceeded to sleep for 12 hours. I was not so lucky. On the way home I picked up the biggest coffee 7-11 had to offer and made it back to the apartment just in time for my alarm to go off. So I showered, changed, and made some oatmeal and started to drive to school. Half-way there I decided to stop at a nearby on-post gas station to fill my water jugs from the distiller machine.... And as the door slammed shut I remembered what that dinging meant (I was very tired and thinking with a delay).

I locked my keys in my car along with all my books.

I managed to bum a ride to class from another student stopping at that gas station but I had to explain to my class leader and teachers why I didn't have any materials. They were supportive, thankfully. I also missed formation. The first thing I did upon getting to class was deflate the ball I've been sitting on because one student needed it back and, more importantly, I knew that if I sat down I would pass out. So I stood the whole day.

I was on and off the phone throughout the day trying to figure out what to do with my keys... Then in the afternoon I got a ride home after the post clean-up. My landlord had to let me in so that's $50 out of my credit. Then I couldn't find my spare car key anyways but I did find a spare insurance card and a phone book so after a dozen and a half phone calls I had a tow truck that agreed to bill my insurance en route. Then my friend dropped me off at the gas station.

I waited another hour for the tow truck to arrive and he had the door open in 5 seconds. He didn't even turn off his truck. Then there was a problem with the insurance because dispatch didn't call to confirm my out-of-state policy like they said they would... But that wasn't my fault so I dodged a fee. Finally, I was driving back home.

At this point my body had stopped caring that I was without sleep. It happened around hour 36 so I took a few hours to relax and get my life in order before hitting the rack at a decent hour...

Quite the day.