Diminished Sympathy

While my political opinions are generally conservative, I fall somewhat close to the middle ground regarding my stance on numerous issues, including illegal aliens.

I can see the human sympathy side of them wanting to support their families. I also know they work hard at the mostly labor-intensive jobs that they fill, and in doing so are contributing to the economy by lowering the costs of the goods and services of the companies that they work for.

However, since my political views tend to lean in the conservative direction, I can certainly see the arguments against illegal aliens as being valid too (increased crime, use of taxpayer's resources, failure to integrate into our culture, etc).

I learned something new and interesting about the issue today though. Did you know that there is a fairly quick way for all immigrants, illegal included, to gain citizenship to the United States through service in the military?

I must admit that this diminishes the sympathy side of my opinion by a substantial amount.

You Are Getting Sleepy. Sleepy. SLEEPY.

I am chronically sleep deprived. A couple of Saturdays ago it was the first time in many months/years that I opened my eyes in the morning without forcing them.

I can't help but wonder how much smarter/stronger would I be, or how much better memory would I have if I were to get the proper sleep throughout my life? Or how many years I may have even shortened it.

==========================

I recently attended the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) in San Jose for three days. On Wednesday, the first session that I was planning on attending didn't start until around noon. So I woke up in the hotel by myself, with nowhere to go for a few hours. It was absolutely incredible to be able to just go back to bed, then when I was finished sleeping to just lie in it a little longer.

I realized that this may be the only time I get to do this for a long time, perhaps many years, or even the better part of the rest of my life. That may sound overly dramatic, but even when I have previously traveled for work, I was due at the customer's or sub-contractor's facility first thing in the morning. At home, even when my wife lets me sleep in there is noise downstairs. Also I can't seem to avoid the self-imposed pressure to not sleep in too long so I don't keep the family waiting on me for breakfast, so I can start cranking on my to-do list, and/or so I can help Amanda with the kids.

So this may be a revelation. I think that Amanda and I should be deliberate in making this happen for each other as Mother's day and Father's day gifts. 24 hours of being away from the house, kids, and even each other. It would start in the morning, then she can hang with friends, have time to herself, see a movie, or whatever. Then just go to a hotel and sleep in to her heart's desire.