There are precious few occasions when I’ve had to pull all-nighters.
During university, I think there was two or three times when I had to stay up late to finish a project. Once for a civil engineering course bridge. (Boy that was challenging.) Once for design lab (we built a voice recognition controller). Once for a computer program (which in the end didn’t work but my mark was okay.) All of which, at the end of the day, it was worth the sacrifice in sleep as the projects got done, this was school.
During the work years, there was many times where I had to stay up late, got awoken from sleep, sacrificed a social life to be up late baby-sitting, fixing, releasing systems. This was the bane of being on call 24×7. For a while, it was worth it. The managers did recognize your work and appreciated your time. After a while, new managers took it for granted and expected you to happily give up sleep. Then it was not worth it.
Well, what about those times when you are so excited about something that you stay up all night to finish it?
For me, this really falls into just three categories.
- I’m so deep reading a book that I’d give up sleeping to finish it. I am almost always fully satisfied with the result.
- I’m in the midst of
Just one more stitch
,Let me finish this thread
,Let me finish this section
… This is when I’ve been burned more times than I’d like to admit. After all my manic need to stitch, it will always mean that, when in the light of the morning, even with my puffy eyes, I’d see errors that needs to be ripped. Often just what you’ve stayed up to stitch in the first place. Meaning that after all the time you stayed up stitching, the time you’ve spent ripping, you’re back where you started! - I’m so keen on what I’m knitting that I feel physically unable to stop. This is often followed by dropped stitches, mistakes, fixing of mistakes accompanied by a soundtrack of swearing and
Don’t talk to me, I’m fixing something.
while I hunch over the piece in a tight ball anxiously fixing like a mad scientist working in a black and white horror classic. Then later, I’d suffer pains in arms, shoulders, back. So much so that you can’t pick up needles for days on end. Fun times!
Last night, I was feeling that I was this close to finishing the first sock in the boyfriend socks pair, and I believed the cross stitch piece could have been finished last night. I still removed myself from them after 11:30pm. I did not want a set back.
With age, a little wisdom comes with my wrinkles. I’m much better off trying to get some sleep after application of anti-wrinkle cream, and leave the stitching and knitting to the next day.
Yes friends, this means I’ll have so finishes to show off real soon.
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Yes, I suppose that does explain the “don’t bother me, I’m trying to fix the sock” followed up with a Flour like snarl. Like a mother wolf shielding the pup.
Of course there’s also video game playing, don’t see it on the list, just one more level for Shion, …or DW5…must finish mission or I can’t get special 5th level weapon…
G confuses his reasons to stay up late with mine. I’ve not stayed up all night to get levels.
I think the last time I stayed up all night was while on vacation. I stayed up all night going from dinner party to salsa clubs, to view Washington monuments. I thought it was worth it.