I now understand, through direct experience, why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture.

Four hours into a flight that departed at 1am, it occurred to me that I had been awake for 24 hours straight, adrenalin coursing through my veins, leading me to do silly things like cleaning the gutters and the fridge. But I had a magic bullet: diphenhydramine. I'd tried this many years ago returning from Korea, and I was pleased to get about 20 minutes of sleep. I took the pill. I tossed and turned in my seat. Next thing I know, I'm grasping for leverage to lift myself from the aisle floor. Not sure how I got there, but I had just enough wherewithal to crawl to the bathroom. I sat there for a few minutes, completely wiped out. I slowly returned to consciousness as my eyes adjusted to the light.

After this harrowing experience, I returned to my seat and dared to recline it. I'm used to airplane seats that have so little give that it's not even worth the trouble to try. But this one kept giving and giving and giving. I probably could've crushed the passenger behind me if I hadn't exercised a little restraint. I suspect it was broken. Anyway, this improved things considerably, and if I didn't sleep, I at least got a very solid and semiconscious rest.

We're at our connection point in Taipei. It's literally the start of a new day. We feel like this is the halfway point between our permanent home and our temporary quarters in Chitose. Hence the silly title.

Heart

1

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Speaking of titles, I want my dear readers to know that the journal's name is a blatant ripoff from the Zucker Brothers' big screen debut, The Kentucky Fried Movie. The movie-within-this-movie is a sendup of Enter the Dragon. My dear wife and I bonded over the villain's pep talk to his henchmen, which is absolutely hilarious if you happen to know Korean. I feel like the other-Easterly references in a parody of Hong Kong martial arts films are appropriate for the adventure we've just embarked on. We're comforted by the broader culture, but I know there's going to be a lot of Japan-specific stuff that's going to catch me by surprise.

More tomorrow or even later today, depending on how hard we crash once we've finished running the gauntlet of tasks ahead of us.