John Burkholder

I remember the exact night my insomnia started. I remember thinking it was cool to see the TV static after the Star Spangled Banner played. I remember noticing the cable TV channels at the time were still played. But now I can tell it is finally starting to affect me. I notice my threshold for how long I can go without sleep has shortened. Going from 2 hours within 72 hours to 4 hour minimum within 72 hours. I can feel my heart beating heavily when I reach that point I need to shut down. My brain gets foggy and my physical abilities are shaky, and often miss targets. People know about it. I receive all kinds of suggestions and look for patterns of good sleep over no sleep. I have tried prescriptions, natural remedies, meditation, herbals, no blue light, no screens, no caffeine, no sugar, etc. you name it, I have tried it over the many years of fighting it. Do I ever sleep? Yes. My body will sometimes correct itself if I am sick, if I don’t sleep over a couple weeks, or even if

I decided I need a hobby. This is actually a first for me. Normally, I am so wrapped up in technology solutions and researching how to bring that into my job, I would feel my hobby is technology. But my wife is right…shh, don’t tell her. I need some sort of hobby outside my normal day to day activity. I need something interesting. So I decided I need to research this using a website: http://nextluxury.com/mens-lifestyle-advice/top-75-best-manly-hobbies-for-men/ . There are certain items in the list that interest me. Now I just need to figure out what is best for a city dweller like me in a small apartment. Some I am going to skip because “that is just ridiculous”! Cooking and grilling: I do like to cook. Grilling is a bit of a challenge, but this is an option. Chess: yes. I do like chess and I am fairly decent at it. This is an option. Rocketry: that would be cool. Wife says no. Lockpicking: ohhhhh. Never thought of that! Archery: I do like archery but I feel walking arou