Hi All & fellow Night Owls!

I'm just catching up on the war and watching a Ukrainian patriot missile battery operator talk aout the systems capabilty and limitations. 

One thing that leapt out of the conversation was the sheer number of these systems (and reloads) that a country needs to protect it's critical infrastructure and even people.

I've always been critical of this countries ability and expertise to manufacture effective weapons, and export them around the world, but there's a real apparent virtue to missle defence that I think I can get behind. 

Certainly the first country to make a superior air defence system that uses the cheaper ammo, is going to "clean up" after this war is ended. BIG EXPORT MONEY to be made there, doing what we are best at.

We are (for those who do not already know) offically no longer "at peace" with the Russian Federation, as far as THEY are concerned, which I find personally annoying.

I also find the situation as dangerous as driving with a bald tyre, where for some insane reason I have no power whatsoever to get the situation rectified, outside of running away alone, because no-one else I know seems to see the current U.K. situation & course of action as in any way, wrong!

Still there is an upside to nuclear war.

If it breaks out, for just one infinitesimally short space of time, my DIY solar installation (whch is at last steadily contributing to a tiny reduction in our energy bill) will actually supply more power than my house is using...   

One of the benefits of DIY "grid tie" is that every KW/h I wrest frrom the overcast skies I actually benefit fully from  and each KW/h therefore saves us 36p.

Until I get it efficent enough to overcome our basic draw, when upon a smart meter would throw a wobbly, and inform the electric company of our non approved installation, but I am hoping that our hard won old style mechancial meter will run backwards during periods of peak sun, but it'll need us to have an indian summer if I am to get an answer to that question. 

I've also worked at that the huge difference in price between a KW/h of natural gas and a KW/H of electricty would allow a truly brave operator to disconnect from the mains electricty supply altogther and use a combination of LPG generator, large battery and a huge invertor to complelety power ones home AND recoup all costs in a very short period of tiime.PARTICULARLY if one used a "Bladon Jets" small self contained gas turbine generator which has a remarkably long service life compared to a petrol engine's which is about 2000 hours. The battery and inverter combo is there to ensure that the generator only consumes those 2000 hours when it's full output is required. and that electricity to the home is uninterrupted.  

I am 12 hrs from you in the pacific so I always  see you night owls on the forum.

I like being up at night, but my body is less tolerant of it; as I get older.

Hi!

I love gaming too, all sorts.

as a kid I loved little big adventure 1&2 (PC) they are making a new one which is due to come out autumn 2024 I’m so excited.

around Christmas I found myself very overstimulated and quite emotionally dysregulated and angry so started playing evil within 1&2 (which are quite violent) I played both and realised that while I enjoyed it, the aggression of it all wasn’t helping me at all and was very counter productive and overstimulating me further before bed. 

my brother bought me stardew valley for PC for my birthday which I find very calming - although i do occasionally get a bit bored of it and hve a break. 

i also enjoy police procedural and psychological thriller novels.

p️ls note I am not yet diagnosed but have approached my GP for assessment and possible referral which is on 15th July x

Wow, I'm sure your brother-in-law will cherish that jumper for the rest of his life! What an amazing and thoughtful person you are. 

Yeah I'm having a lot of fun on the guitar. I see minor improvements every day, so hopefully I'll be able to play songs eventually, but I'm not too worried about that just yet.

It's cool that you can play the drums. I'm sure it is difficult to coordinate everything you must do for it, but it's an amazing instrument as well. 

Creativity leads into all kinds of interesting venues, and it's fun to try and explore them all! 

Hey Hullabaloo
Hey yeah, I'll take a pic once I'm done. I've not used the stepping method before so wanted to have a go!
I bought wool from once of the islands north from me which is specifically for this kind of work & it's so beautiful. The colours are wonderful!

I've just finished a jumper for my brother-in-law in which I tried to duplicate the stripy jumper Mick Aston the Archaeologist used to wear. He was one of his heroes.

Have fun learning the guitar. I used to play drums & found it very therapeutic after a long day at work 

Fair isle knitting is so neat. It would be great to see your jumper once it's finished. I knitted a lot in the previous year. I gave a few people cable knitted hats and scarves. But when spring started to roll around, I put the knitting stuff away. I also enjoy weaving because of the interesting patterns it creates as well. 

I enjoy playing games too, and my laptop that was meant to be for study, is now filled with games on it. I even found a pc controller that works on my laptop.

I recently got into playing guitar about two weeks ago. I'm just practicing the basic chords and learning some basic music theory on my own. Since there's a steep learning curve, I'm just getting the fundamentals down, and trying to keep my spirits up. 

Anyways, the morse code name you have is pretty neat. The tap code is pretty neat too. I also tried using an keyboard that would type letters by using different combos of finger tapping, but it quickly lead to fatigue, so even though it was cool looking, it was tiring and caused my hand to get sore.. Another code I learned was braille, which I eventually got certified for.

Having pets is awesome. Maybe your alone time creates more opportunities for you to focus on yourself, and the this you enjoy.

I gave it 10 minutes before going “nope, I ain’t falling asleep” lol. I’ve not had the best of days tbf so it’s probably because I have some things playing on my mind. I’m sure I’ll zonk out at some point… well hopefully! Also I got a rather heavy cat of mine sleeping on my chest and snoring, and that’s certainly not helping lol, but she’s too cute to move.

The audio books are a good idea, it does have that effect. I’ve tried relaxation audio apps before and I just end up laughing, I can’t take them seriously .. but if it’s a podcast about anything other than relaxation I end up falling asleep after half hour lol. 

I’m curious to know what your morse code username spells out? I never paid attention in scouts when they taught it lol.

Are you actually trying to go to sleep? 

I tend not to bother, but go to bed when I'm tired enough. The I put on an audio book. My head never wants to switch off but the sound of someone talking seems to make me relax, focus on the voice & fall asleep.
.... Or it could be just boredom as I am still on the first chapter lol! I have to keep rewinding every night as I fall asleep & never hear the actual story. It's like a light switch for me now. It's a technique I've been using for a while now.

Nor me! We shall be Night Owls together

Can’t switch off tonight 

AspBea said:

I've tried explaining it to my therapist but she doesn't really get it

It may be worth considering hypnosis to see if this can get you to explain it to your therapist as we often find our subconcious brains will stop us talking about something that we may be terrified of (eg do you fear that you may never wake up, fear you will be vulnerable to attack when asleep etc).

You could also try working in keeping a dream journal by writing down what you can recall of your dreams as soon as you wake (they fade in seconds sometimes so best to catch them as soon as your eyes open). This will help dispel the myth that the lights are off when sleeping - they are just on in a different place.

I tend to think of it as a way for the brain to process all the stuff from my day - clear down the cache of thoughts and think through some challenges subconciously so I can revisit the challenge from a fresh perspective the next day.

Developing ways to calm your mind before sleep is a great way to switch it off - there are ways to focus on your body and work from the toes upwards, forcing the muscles to relax while thinking of yourself in a comfortable, pleasant location. By the time you have done this a few times you will probably be able to fall asleep by the time you pass the stomach muscles and with practice can switch off in seconds (an ability that used to annoy my wife who never could do it).

I didn't realise people stayed online at night to. Know where I'll be tonight lol! For whatever reason I struggle with sleeping, I either can't get off to sleep or I keep waking up through the night... really irritating and then I still get up at the ungodly hour of 5AM! 

Desmond79 said:

Worried about Hope, as she still hasn't come back in; yet.

Resiliant creatures cats.

I had one that dissapeared for 2 weeks and then turned up as if nothing had happened. I'm convinced he found a neighbour that was willing to give him treats and it was only when they got too clingy that he came back.

I've got the advantage of time zones here - when it is midnight in the UK it is only 8pm here

I'm up later, than normal. Worried about Hope, as she still hasn't come back in; yet.

However, I'm relieved that my car got through the MOT today.

I used to be a night owl, until Lockdown. Then I couldn't hack late nights, like I used to.

I love to be alone too. I enjoy sci fi and the arts. Currently I am trying on the writers life. I have some coping strategies, picked up over the years and some areas where I am still clueless, like everyone I suppose.

Used to play angry birds and candy crush. Ill have a look on playstore for games.

I've played Theme Hospital, lol, that was a funny game :D

I'm actually play Elder Scrolls Online just now & I've just started with Enshrouded.

Do you play any other games online?

Used to play sim town and theme hospital. 

I created a beaded bracelet for my neighbour's birthday recently. I love to design stuff & am currently working on a Fair Isle jumper. have also recently finished a crochet throw.

I also love games in which you can create cool structure & buildings