# a bunch of old guys awake before dawn



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

birds chirping and us old farts are in the dark staring at screens


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, yes, but I've already been out in the back yard to retrieve my trail camera. That's one of our little morning rituals. We live near a beautiful river (The Grand) and we have lots of little visitors. We like to see who's coming and going.

But yes, I rise at 5:30 every day. It's a nice time of day.

Edit:

I just realized, it's 5:15, never 5:30. By 5:30 I'm staring at the Keurig.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Yeah, was up a couple of times in the night to pee, then the dogs wanted fed at 4:50. I'm often into my second coffee by 6. It rained and was hot. I will nap later.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

Up at 4:15. At work for 5:45. Finish at 19:20. Rise, rinse, repeat Tuesday-Thursday. The other days I sleep in whether my body agrees or not.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

4:55am alarm mon-fri and every other saturday (used to be every saturday). But im not that old lol.


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## JethroTech (Dec 8, 2015)

Other people get up early too?  I thought I was the only one that realized this is the absolute BEST time of day


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Budda said:


> 4:55am alarm mon-fri and every other saturday (used to be every saturday). But im not that old lol.


Alarm?


LOL, I remember one of those went off once and I didn't know what the fuck was going on. I had never heard it before and somehow it got turned on. Scared the shit out of me.

Now the only time I set an alarm is when I have to go to the airport in the middle of stupid (leave at 2:00 or something like that).


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Randy Bachman had it right...

I'd like you to know at four in the morning
Things are coming mine
All I've seen, all I've done
And those I hope to find
I'd like to remind you at four in the morning
My world is very still
The air is fresh under diamond skies
Makes me glad to be alive.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

It's nice to get up at 5:30am now to daylight...take the hound out without extra clothing and a flashlight.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Paul Running said:


> It's nice to get up at 5:30am now to daylight...take the hound out without extra clothing and a flashlight.


Just keep your eyes peeled for mosquitoes the size of turkey vultures.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

I’m up for work at 3:30am. Nice time to be up and avoid a lot of the 401 nonsense into GTA.
Which means the weekends I’m up by 5:30-6:00. For me it’s a big sleep in!
When we borrow friends cabin, I’m up and on my second cup (at least) of percolated coffee before the next one stirs.
I love that time to myself.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Once it gets to the warmer months I often have my first cup of coffee in one of these chairs. This is my house by the Lake. That's the "Lake" just right of center.


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## ZeroGravity (Mar 25, 2016)

I thought you were on your way to the golf course. I’m regularly awake 5’ish these days but it takes me a while to get active.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

ZeroGravity said:


> I thought you were on your way to the golf course. I’m regularly awake 5’ish these days but it takes me a while to get active.


I used to be up that early for golf, but a back injury put a grinding halt on my golf "career". Not worth the risk of what _could_ happen, so I've hung up the clubs. But ya, I loved those crack-of-dawn rounds. Being the first group out, no one in front. I miss that.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Geez. I'm dragging my ass out of bed at 6:30 sometimes 6:45 to be at work sometime between 7:30 and 8. Weekends for the most part in bed till 8-9. I thought that was being an early riser.


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

Wake up almost every day at 4:30 involuntary, I need time to sit and think before I drive into the city for work.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I went to sleep around 10:30 PM last night. I generally sleep in short periods of an hour or so and that makes it hard to know how much actual sleep I get, but by 4:00 AM I'm generally awake and waiting for the time to pass until 5:15.

That's 5 and a half hours, more or less.

Seems to be enough.

Naps are good.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Milkman said:


> Naps are good.


Naps are like payday loans (for me). They feel like the right thing at the time, but long term they screw me! Up at 3:30, in bed by 8-8:30. 7+hrs is good. If I nap when I get home (3:00-ish), even for 10min, I will have trouble falling asleep at bedtime.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

SWLABR said:


> Naps are like payday loans (for me). They feel like the right thing at the time, but long term they screw me! Up at 3:30, in bed by 8-8:30. 7+hrs is good. If I nap when I get home (3:00-ish), even for 10min, I will have trouble falling asleep at bedtime.


I've more or less given up on ever having an uninterrupted sleep. I have to get up at least three or four times every night anyway. The naps are likely what keeps me on my feet.


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

I'm up at 5:30 am, and out on the bike for a 35km to 40 km ride. Home by 8 am, showered and at work for 9.


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

guitarman2 said:


> Geez. I'm dragging my ass out of bed at 6:30 sometimes 6:45 to be at work sometime between 7:30 and 8. Weekends for the most part in bed till 8-9. I thought that was being an early riser.


Me too! I feel like lazy bum next to all these guys...
But with the last 10 years or so having 3 kids in various sports activities that often meant getting home after 10 or 11pm there's no way I'd be up at 5am routinely. Might change in a year or 2 when they've moved out ... I could give it a try.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

tomee2 said:


> Me too! I feel like lazy bum next to all these guys...
> But with the last 10 years or so having 3 kids in various sports activities that often meant getting home after 10 or 11pm there's no way I'd be up at 5am routinely. Might change in a year or 2 when they've moved out ... I could give it a try.



Since I've retired from gigging I'm up much earlier on weekends, between 8 and 9. Some weekends I may get up earlier. I thought that was early rising. 4 or 5 is like the middle of the night. I used to go to bed about that time.


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## John123 (Jul 22, 2020)

My internal clock wakes me up between 3:30-4:00am. I'm out for a run with Luci, my giant schnauzer, by 5:00. We do between 5-7k. Shower, shave and prepare the lunches...then get everyone off to school or work...Repeat!!


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## slag banal (May 4, 2020)

If I am regularly awake from four a.m. to six-thirty a.m. but then finally fall asleep from six-thirty to seven-thirty, is that a nap?


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## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

Paul M said:


> I'm up at 5:30 am, and out on the bike for a 35km to 40 km ride. Home by 8 am, showered and at work for 9.


that sounds like crazy talk


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## Stephenlouis (Jun 24, 2019)

4:15 to 5:05 is my get up, but in my case I'm driving over the Malahat daily for work. If I were allowed the luxury of letting my body decide it would be 5: 15.


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Alan Small said:


> that sounds like crazy talk


I rode 120 km on Monday to Port Dover and back. No big deal for me at 55, but my 90 yr old father made the trip too.

_THAT'S _crazy talk.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

tomee2 said:


> Me too! I feel like lazy bum next to all these guys...
> But with the last 10 years or so having 3 kids in various sports activities that often meant getting home after 10 or 11pm there's no way I'd be up at 5am routinely. Might change in a year or 2 when they've moved out ... I could give it a try.


Many of us old geezers who never sleep have also been through the period you find yourself in. I spent a lot of time driving back and forth to soccer, Judo et cetera.

We're past that point now, but those were great years.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Paul M said:


> I rode 120 km on Monday to Port Dover and back. No big deal for me at 55, but my 90 yr old father made the trip too.
> 
> _THAT'S _crazy talk.


Must have took you all day and half the night. If you went the whole way with no stops at an average of 15km hour and came back immediately it would have been 8 hours. I would have to say thats more than impressive for a 90 year old.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> Must have took you all day and half the night. If you went the whole way with no stops at an average of 15km hour and came back immediately it would have been 8 hours. I would have to say thats more than impressive for a 90 year old.



You would have to know more about Paul's dad to realize how mundane that might be for him, LOL.

Not your average geriatric that's for sure.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

Alarm goes off at 6:00 AM weekdays. Up by 6:10 with a cup of coffee remoting into client's servers to check on backups and general network health. Breakfast around 7:30 then out for a walk. Before COVID I would have had several service calls scheduled for the morning but now on site work is pretty rare. Now I usually scan the local Craig's List then play my guitar for a couple of hours. After lunch it is back to remote work. Today it's different. BC relaxed COVID restrictions yesterday so we are going to the city to visit with my step daughter and grandchildren.


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

Paul M said:


> I'm up at 5:30 am, and out on the bike for a 35km to 40 km ride. Home by 8 am, showered and at work for 9.


I was once the same as you. Now it's the 9 month old getting me up at 5:30. It's just as much fun but certainly different


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## EADG (Apr 22, 2021)

Last time I saw a dawn was about 25 years ago when I had a gig from 2-5am!!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Milkman said:


> Once it gets to the warmer months I often have my first cup of coffee in one of these chairs. This is my house by the Lake. That's the "Lake" just right of center.
> 
> View attachment 367049


I should add, the house by the Lake is also an ocean view property.

That would be the ocean in the background there.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Milkman said:


> I should add, the house by the Lake is also an ocean view property.
> 
> That would be the ocean in the background there.
> 
> View attachment 367069


So, yeah, I like to spend time at my Ocean-view lake house with my wife....Morgan Fairchild....yeah, that's the ticket....


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

is the early bird special at 4:30 or 4?


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## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

vadsy said:


> is the early bird special at 4:30 or 4?


i vote for 4pm dinner


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Alan Small said:


> i vote for 4pm dinner


Early Bird Special!


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## oldjoat (Apr 4, 2019)

tossed the alarm clock over 10 years ago ( never miss it )
if I wake up at dawn , I simply roll over and go back to sleep .

and please keep it clean ... no more 4 letter words ... work , city , etc.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

Keep talking guys - I'm feeling younger by the minute 😎


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Get off my GD Lawn!


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

Milkman said:


> Well, yes, but I've already been out in the back yard to retrieve my trail camera. That's one of our little morning rituals. We live near a beautiful river (The Grand) and we have lots of little visitors. We like to see who's coming and going.
> 
> But yes, I rise at 5:30 every day. It's a nice time of day.
> 
> ...


The less often you check it, the more visitors you'll have.


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

Work?


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Swervin55 said:


> Work?


Yep.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Okay Player said:


> The less often you check it, the more visitors you'll have.



In that case I'll start checking it twice a day. I mean the little creatures no harm, but the less racoon, possum and skunk traffic I have the more time the missus will spend back there with me.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Milkman said:


> possum


from google;
_eradicating ticks. They will catch and eat cockroaches, rats and mice _


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Milkman said:


> I've more or less given up on ever having an uninterrupted sleep. I have to get up at least three or four times every night anyway. The naps are likely what keeps me on my feet.


I get up at least twice a night to pee sometimes 3 times but I've gotten so used to it that I have no problem getting right back to sleep.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

laristotle said:


> from google;
> _eradicating ticks. They will catch and eat cockroaches, rats and mice _


Yes, I'm aware of that.

Also, Bats eat mosquitos.

Snakes eat mice

We tend to fear / loathe some of the critters that do us the most good.

But, there's no tall grass and I would say almost no ticks in my back yard, so, possums digging holes is not a major hardship, but I could live without it.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> I get up at least twice a night to pee sometimes 3 times but I've gotten so used to it that I have no problem getting right back to sleep.


That has improved since I moved our bedroom to the same floor as the bathroom. Climbing down and then back up the stairs to our former attic loft bedroom was inherently dangerous. You don't want to be doing that half asleep.

Still, I'm an insomniac and I'm unwilling to use chemical intervention to fix or mitigate that.

I'll suck it up and sleep when I can.


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## GuitarT (Nov 23, 2010)

I wake up at 5:15, out of bed by 5:30 and off to work by 6:00. Been doing that routine for 31 years.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

up at 4:15, out the door by 5:15. if i am later than that, i have to park at the top of a long hill. getting back up that hill after 8 hrs of climbing a ladder all day sucks donkey balls. besides, i have to prepare all the covid papers for my crew, so i have to be early every day. not that it really matters. just before the alarm goes off, i hear the dogs come to my bed to check on me every day. even on the weekends, i don't sleep in past 5. there's bass fishin, and valley cruisin' to do, so i can get back in time to do yard work before the heat gets too much. i get up, put on last nites news, make my lunch, get dressed, give out dog treats, then roll. home by 3 pm, dinner and wuxia at 6, in bed by 11. 

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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

My dad has an electric assist, he averages about 20 kph on a ride like this. On my own I'll average 35 kph to Port Dover, and 31-32 or so on the way back. It's uphill coming back, and I've got a belly full of fish.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I suffer from mild but chronic insomnia. If someone just broke into my place, just so we could watch the sunrise together,... and if I had a shotgun..........


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm up at 5:30 am. Why, I don't know.


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## polyslax (May 15, 2020)

Qualified on both fronts - old guy and early riser. Never been much for sleeping in. Rarely does an alarm actually get a chance to wake me up. I was a 4 to 6 hours a night sleeper forever, but over the last few years it's leaning closer to 6. Under Covid I'm up between 5:30 and 6:00 and roll into the office, about 20 feet away, for 7:00.


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