On a normal work day I get up at 1:30 a.m. so I can get to the gym and then off to work. I live about 80 to 90 minutes from work, so arriving that early gives me two advantages: I miss the morning rush hour traffic, and I leave before the afternoon rush hour traffic.

This arrangement is best for everyone. I dislike sharing the road so the fewer people I have to interact with, the better for my blood pressure.

But for reasons I'll never know, this morning I was up a full half hour before the alarm would have sounded. I just woke up. First I was asleep having a very surreal dream about large-format scanners, then I was wide awake. Even the dogs were grumpy I was up so soon, and they never complain about going outside.

So I got up, thinking I'd hit the gym a little early and get that extra strong workout I've been craving. I did get to the gym early. I even worked out a little harder than usual. By the time I got to work, though, I was feeling that missed half hour of sleep. Thirty minutes of sleep doesn't sound all that important, but boy when you don't have it, you know it.

My eyes feel like sandpaper and I just know my patience is going to be short. I don't really have enough to keep me occupied today, but I have to stay in town. All I really want to do is sleep or get back to work on a little novel project I have on my laptop.

Yep, going to be a rough day.