Perpetual Ruminations

Head Full of Cobwebs

Yes, I'm here physically, but mentally I'm not so sure. I have a head full of cobwebs and so far the coffee hasn't cleared any of them. How did they get there? Well, there's a few ways to get cobwebs in one's head.

One most of us are aware of is drinking too much. The alcohol creates them but often we don't even realize it until we wake the following day. This often is a very painful way to get a head full of cobwebs. Of course, there are other substances that can do the same thing and have the same results or even worse ones. For instance, I know a few people who smoke something that creates these cobwebs, and they have done it so much that even when they don't smoke anything, they continue to have a head full of cobwebs that never go away. I've heard of this phrased as perma-fried.

Another way is just talking to some people, they don't make any sense and trying to figure out what they are even talking about can create cobwebs in the head. More often, however, it just results in a headache and sometimes a stomach ache as well. I learned of this years ago when the Peanuts Cartoon was popular. Charlie Brown often got a stomach ache when talking with Lucy. I've also experienced this myself, numerous times.

Other times cobwebs form in the head from medical conditions and or the medications used to treat them. Fevers can create them, severe pain, and even a sharp blow to the head. In fact, having a bad cold often no only stuffs up a persons head, but stuffs it up with cobwebs as well. I'm sure many of you have suffered this form of cobwebs in the head from time to time.

Mine are a combination of two things, one being lack of sleep. Again, not sleeping forms many cobwebs in a person's head, and the longer you go without sleeping the worse they get. Other times you manage through many hours of not sleeping without letting the cobwebs develop to much, then sleep for a few hours, but not enough, and wake with a head full of the nasty things. That's partly how I got mine. I was up fairly early yesterday, had a pretty good day, and was looking forward to a nice relaxing evening and getting to bed a little earlier than normal, since I was pretty tired.

But, that all changed when I got a call requesting someone to come in and work through the night, from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am. Well, there was only one person who was available to do this, me. So, instead of relaxing and getting to bed early, I had my supper, visited with my wife for a short time and then headed in to work all night. I got home about 6:00 am, had a bite to eat and relaxed a bit, then headed off to bed felling very exhausted.

But, wouldn't you know, sleep just wouldn't come. I was too tired to get to sleep. I did finally fall off into slumber about the time the alarm went off for my wife to get up and get ready for work at 7:00 am. Yes, blissful sleep, finally. At 11:30 am, I woke up. Yes, only 4 1/2 hours of sleep, but i was awake and there was no going back to sleep. So, I got my retched carcass out of bed and poured some coffee to get myself jump-started. after three cups of coffee, I was jump-started and ready to start my day, but unfortunately, the coffee wasn't able to burn through those dreaded cobwebs.

To top it all off, I have been dealing with a new employee who is taking excessive time off. On Tuesday she was given a firm talk to and it was explained that she needed to work her shifts or face more serious consequences. Later, Tuesday evening, I received 3 requests for more time off for her. I was tired and frustrated, somewhat stressed over it, so I ignored it, deciding to put it off till the next day. Wednesday, before I can even address this with her, she texts and needs to take Thursday off to go to the dentist. I was literally dumbstruck by this. It was like the talk had never happened, or if it did she completely miss understood the part of not taking any more time off to mean she was suppose to take even more time off.

My head hurt and I was getting a stomach ache; I know how you felt Charlie Brown.

Well, to wrap it all up. I got home this morning, slept for a few hours and then got up to start my day. My wife is working today because the other person took the day off to go to the dentist. So, with a head full of sleep deprived cobwebs, I look on the company web site and find another three requests for time off from this person... As Charlie Brown used to say, "My stomach hurts..."