imsomniacs

[Nieuweboer]

This is just out of curiosity. I'm sitting behind my PC and its 2.00 pm over here. There is a time difference of 7 hours between the forumtime and my time. Looking at the threads I see a great many submittedin the time period between 2.00 aqnd 4.00 am your time and I started to wonder what going on over there that so many of you sit behind your PC in the middle of the night. Are you all insomaniacs or just early risers.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Yes, some of us here in North America are night owls. Remember we span 6 time zones, and the time listed on the forum is the time in Milwaukee. That is the time zone that is in the middle of the continent.

It looks as if Bill (Darth9x9) had a long night last night. I understand that he injured his knee in an automobile accident a short while back, and has been at home recovering. I think he was climbing the walls last night, judging from the number of topics he plowed through.

As for me, I normally go to bed around 2 AM, but not always. I have posted at every different hour of the day.[swg]

[cjcrescent]

I am retired and can stay up late if I want. Also I worked 11pm to 7am for almost 12 straight years. Even though I haven't worked that shift in 15 years I still find it hard to have a "normal" cicadian rhythm, and still prefer to be awake late.

[cwclark]

Between the Navy and my last two jobs I worked shift work for 23 years and the company I've worked for for the past 20 years finally put me on a straight day job about 5 years ago...and to this day i have trouble sleeping all night long...soooo...time to break out the styrene plastic or some woodland scenic stuff and build trees from the wee hours of the morning until dawn...it's going to take a long time before i get a regular sleeping pattern down...hope some day it will happen..i have big bags under my eyes and stay tired all the time..sheez!....Chuck[:D]

[Anonymous]

Typically I average 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. Have ever since I was a young'n. Lots of great modeling gets done in the wee hours. Its quiet and I think better.
Besides, like Sam Elliotts charachter in Roadhouse said, " I'll get all the sleep I need, when I'm dead."[;)]

[railman]

At least I know that I'm not the only poster that goes on at late late hours. Being that I live in Minnesota, I am in the same time zone as the forum, so if you see a post from me at 2AM, it's really posted at 2AM.

[Anonymous]

I'm another one that spent most of his life working crazy hours, that were always changing. And it is also just about impossible for me to go to bed at a certain hour and sleep for 6 or 7 or 8 hours.

So, there I am, bottle of Bud in hand, doing all sorts of strange things in the middle of the night.

Maybe its time to try that Ambien sleep stuff I see on TV!

Jim Lederer

[darth9x9]

Yeah, I'm home trying to heal a fractured knee cap. I woke up last night around 12:30am and decided that if I read and posted on the fourms for an hour or so, i would get tired and go to bed. The next thing I know, it's 7:00 am and I have to go to the doctors for a checkup. Don't worry, this won't become a habit.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Yeah Bill, this forum stuff can be habit forming. I figured it was something like that. I didn't think you had turned into a star hound, even though it looks like you stumbled onto another during your long sleepless night. Congrats.[swg]

It was funny waking up to see a string of about 20 topics in a row with you as the last poster. At least your "shovel" isn't as big as On30francisco's.[:D][:o)][:-,][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[cisco1]

I'm in the same time zone as railman but I work a rotating shift. One week of nights, one week of days , then one week of graveyard followed by five to seven days off. So, yes, its usually late (or early) when i'm lurking about on MR forum. Chris
[|)][;)]

[Anonymous]

since I have school , I go to bed at 10:00 PM. on weekends you may see me around mid-night.

[Anonymous]

When I left the 9 to 5 world to move up into the mountains and work from home, I never expected to fall into the trap that says, since I'm home, I must be at work. Well I did. So some nights I'm working to 4 or 5 am. Other times I wake up and start work at 4 or 5 am.

And since every lick of my work is done on this computer, and with a cable modem, I'm always online, I usually have a window open to several train and other topic forums.

Wayne

[Anonymous]

I am currently working 8:30 to 4:00 -- AM. Yes, that 's right, 12 hours off a normal schedule. Makes it hard to hold down a second job without the day job being rather flexible. The 2nd job is necessary as my job at the post office as a temporary only pays $10.80. It's enforced poverty.

[Jetrock]

I work nights twice a week (and the swing shift twice, and the day shift once--I haven't had a regular sleep cycle for about eight or nine years) and late at night there is a lot of downtime, and, well, I have Internet access. So I do check the forum late at night quite a bit (heck, tonight is actually a bit early, 10:40 PM PST) when I'm working. I have considered bringing in some models to work on, but that might be a bit too much (although a couple of my co-workers bring in knitting and leatherwork to work on during the slow parts of their shifts.)

I do the majority of my track planning at work--especially during staff meetings!

[robengland]

hey don't assume. not all of us are in America. it's still morning for me. :-D

[Anonymous]

In South Africa all landline telephones are under the control of one single company that belongs to the State. This means that they get to call the shots 100% and no correspondence will be entered into .....

The shots they call are that a local telephone call which is what we use to connect to the internet is charged per second with costs that are something like $2.00 per minute. But this only applies in what they call "prime time" which is from 7am to 7pm. After 7pm it goes into "callmore time" which is 1/3 of the price ($0.67 per minute) for the first hour, i.e. $40.20 and thereafter it is free (provided you don't hang up or the first hour will apply again) until 7am, at which point prime time kicks in again.

So ... using the internet while the sun is shining is out of the question in this country. Dial-up modem users can only use the internet from 7pm to 7am and even then it costs $40.20 per session. Therefore I maximise my time by working through the night and sleeping the next day. (retired, whoopee). I also only dial out twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

We would dearly like it to be otherwise, but a state monopoly is "Big Brother" and until there is a second operator in this country that can provide some healthy competition, we're stuck with it. In all fairness there have been some talks and negotiations regarding a second operator but every time some progress is made, the trade unions threaten to blow up the country.

So, until further notice, you will be seeing me post at 4.00am. The Night Ranger. [C):-)]

[rexhea]

Darn Ronnie, $40.20/session?? That must really hurt the old retirement pocket book.

I am retired, but the wife works so I usually wait until she goes to bed to make the last check on the forum. I have good intentions to only have a quick look, but then there are so many interesting topics to explore and post in that it goes on until the wee hours. Then I curse myself for doing it again and stagger to bed and feel like c__p the next morning. There isn't a doubt in my mind that this forum is addictive, but ain't it fine [^].

REX

[Anonymous]

Rex

I extrapolated the costs into dollars using our current exchange rate because I felt that quoting costs in our local currency, the Rand, would be meaningless. It is not an exact way to do it but it was the best way to convey the message.

Perhaps another more accurate way of showing how deep this hole is would be to tell you that 12% of my monthly income (pension) goes into my telephone bill using the "callmore time". If I used "prime time" I would consume my entire month's income in about 10 days. [:(][:(]

[joseph2]

Ronnie,when was steam last used in South Africa? And I thought I had a HIGH phone bill ! I work crazy hours and sleep when I am tired. At 2 AM I can be on line,running layout or walking the dog. Joe G.

[NZRMac]

When I post, like now for example 10.10pm here, it's really the wee hours over there!!!

I'm 16 hrs ahead here, Christchurch New Zealand.

[Anonymous]

I'vbe always been a light sleoer and an early riser. Recently, I started a job on the night shift ( 11:00 PM to 7:30 AM ). That's when I usually get on the internet and the various boards I belong to.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by robengland

hey don't assume. not all of us are in America. it's still morning for me. :-D

I guess the sun never sets on the model railroading empire.[swg]

[Anonymous]

Joe G

I messed up that phone costs calculation. I multiplied our costs by the exchange rate to convert it to dollars. That only works if you are importing or exporting something. The correct method should have quoted costs in our currency, the Rand. Then pro-rata, it would be the same in dollars or rupees, or whatever.

Revised calculation: cost of local phone call in prime time = 44 cents per minute therefore 10 hour internet session would cost R264.00. In callmore time you pay 1/3 of this, i.e. 15 cents per minute and only for the first hour, which comes to R9.00 thereafter it is free. So I am paying R9.00 per internet session and it was a conceptual mistake to convert this into 40 dollars as it does not apply.

Steam was phased out in South Africa in the 1990's via a steam exit plan which took until about 1996 to complete. All steam running stopped at that time except for tourist specials and a dedicated museum line between George and Knysna on the east coast. Even the tour operators and voluntary organisations are battling now because there is absolutely no infrastructure left, no coal loading facilities or water tanks.

After one or two nasty accidents on enthusiast's trains the state railway Spoornet clamped down with a very demanding set of rules for steam operation which all but wiped it out. There is still steam running here, but very little.

[krump]

I'm here for you (1:30 am) - but since I can drink coffee and fall asleep within 5 minutes, my problem is not insomnia - more correctly the factor for me is a 5 yr old "time zone", needing a potty break about now... I'm a committed nighthawk, and my wife needs the rest, so I've got night duty. Just finish my coffee, now signing off - gotta get the kid to the throne. [:I][^]

now, passing the baton to an earlybird... pour another cup of coffee, the europeans and other non-NA mrr are waking up...[^] carry on folks

[sparkingbolt]

Hi from Oregon, Pacific time. I usually work until between midnight and 3 am. But I do also have to deal with clinical insomnia occasionally. It's usually a spell of about 4 days to a week long when it strikes. Havn't had one recently, but when I do, yes I seek relief from the boredom of just laying there awake on this forum.

[Anonymous]

well im 15 with no bedtime and have unlimited acces to pop so i usually stay up late and at 12 midnight thers not much else too do than check out the forums.

Benjamin R.

[darth9x9]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

Yeah Bill, this forum stuff can be habit forming. I figured it was something like that. I didn't think you had turned into a star hound, even though it looks like you stumbled onto another during your long sleepless night. Congrats.[swg]

It was funny waking up to see a string of about 20 topics in a row with you as the last poster. At least your "shovel" isn't as big as On30francisco's.[:D][:o)][:-,][(-D][(-D][(-D]

Hey Elliot,

Nope, no star hound here. But you made me chuckle as I haven't seen anyone make 10 posts in a row on one thread with only three words per post. [(-D][}:)][(-D][}:)][(-D][}:)]

I try to stop in once a week to see what is happening. Since I have been stuck at home, I have gotten a lot of website work done as well as some eBay auctions kicked off.