A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

You know there was a time when I could not wait for fall and winter to get here. To have it get dark by 5pm and stay dark until after 8am. But now I really dislike this time of year for that very reason. I don't know if it is because I now find the darkness to be depressing, rather than comforting, or if I am finally growing out of something that has shrouded my life for over five years now.

I like the light, I really do. I now hate staying up all night whereas I used to thrive on it. I want to be out and about during the day rather than hiding in my cave waiting for the darkness to come.

I fear that now that the dark season is upon us, I will fall back into that pit of despair that I have literially just clawed my way out of and won't be able to get back out.

Then again it could just be that now that I want to be out and about, the darkness cuts into my day thus making it seem like there is no time to do anything except sit in front of the PC and type tangent posts.

Where I used to love the darkness, I now find myself fearing it. This is going to be an interesting next few months. (Also it was a year ago this month that I lost my best friend. I think that has to do a lot with how I feel right now.)

Momma Kitty
1992 - 2004

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Getting depressed in the darker part of the year is not uncommon. You can buy 'artificial sunlight' lamps, you know. They can be very helpful even for people who are not 'officially' diagnosed with "Seasonal Affective Disorder" as it is called.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

There is a disorder for everything now...

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

such as the "Anxiously Awaiting Anything Space Empires Disorder"

maybe we should start a support group

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

I find it getting increasingly difficult to get up in the morning because it's dark and my brain tells me that it's still night time so I should stay in bed.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

I must say, I'm kinda like you used to be. I love the darkness. Then again, I'm usually a rather anti-social person, so that just might play a part.

Winter affects people in many different ways. Most people don't like winter, mainly due to the darkness that comes with it. Personally, I like the darkness, and I absolutely love the snow, so it's kind of a win-win situation. I know, not exactly a helpful post, is this?

EDIT: I get a URL not found on that link of yours Atrocities.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

What is really nifty, is taking a room that normally has six 40 watt incandescent bulbs.
Then replacing those with 32watt dimmable flourescents. Which means a nice light level at minimum power, and the equivalent of a thousand watts incandescent when you crank it up.

Here comes the sun!

Even though its only perhaps 1/50th the brightness of a summer day, its plenty enough to get you the antidepressant effect.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Some ways of dealing with winter darkness and cold:

-It's easy to get blinkered by Christmas at this time of year: There's so much focus on it in the media and from families that you can completely forget about anything beyond it, and the autumn/winter months become a painful slog toward this one day (that you're already sick of by mid-november) with absolutely nothing on the other side.[1] Therefore, spend the next month or two making plans for fully appreciating next year's spring and summer: Get online and look up local summer festivals and events to attend. Buy tickets for gigs. Contact friends and relatives and arrange visits. Then, whenever winter gets you down, you can think about what a great 2006 you will have when it's all over. Also, watching less TV and deliberately avoiding/ ignoring all mention of Christmas until at least December 1st will help you actually appreciate it when it arrives.

-Keep busy. Nothing feeds depression like having nothing to do or to achieve. If you have nothing to keep you active, find something. Work on your cooking skills. Volunteer at your local homeless shelter. Learn to play the trumpet. It doesn't matter, as long as you feel you are getting something out of it.

-Go for long walks in the cold (even if you live in a city), to get that fantastic "coming back from the cold into a warm, cosy home" feeling when you return.

-Find yourself a local pub that contains a roaring log fire and an eccentric, talkative old man with a pipe and a wet dog. Have the old man tell you his rambling and improbable stories. [2]

-Finally, if you have the cash, cheat: Fly out somewhere hot and tropical. I know for a fact that Sri Lanka is utterly glorious at this time of year. From the US you might even be able to drive to a different season- you could go visit some of our south american shrapnellers.

[1] My local supermarkets are already selling Christmas mince pies. They have an expiry date in early november.

[2] If you find the pub but not the old man, then clearly there is a vacancy for you to become the old man. Grow some crazy whiskers, develop a taste for earthy old beers and pipe tobacco, and purchase a wet dog. Plant yourself firmly at the bar, invent some rambling and improbable stories, and inflict them upon any stranger who comes within range.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

I have to agree here! I've been a little down recently with all of my friends leaving for University and to parts unknown. I'm doing at least 10-15 hours of voluntary work a week now and it's helped, Really keeps you busy (which for me actually helps me get more than 4 hours of sleep a night), keeps your mind off things and as they say 'it's for a good cause.'

Of course, I'm starting work with the Royal British Legion in a couple of weeks doing the poppy appeal. It's going to be cold work so I'm debating about buying one of those large woolen russian hats with ear flaps and huge mittens! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

That....has to be the coolest suggestion I have ever heard. Had me laughing for ages. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Yes, I have one. Thoroughly recmomended. Be sure to wear it properly though (ie with the ear flaps sticking out, so that you have the look of a permanently perplexed spaniel. )

For cool ear-flap-hattage, download the video for Groove Armada's "Superstylin'". A truly excellent song and video and hat.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

I suffer some horrible winter depression. Took some years to figure out why my mood went south each winter.

In addition to the good advice from others, I also found this device:

http://www.sleepwellbaby.com/index.a...&ProdID=47

Can't get out of bed without it in the winter time.

I also recommend heavy cardio exercise. Like 20 - 25 miles a week of jogging.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

I used to love winter for the snow and the darkness as well. That was when I worked nights, and the sun was a cursed thing.

I still enjoy the snow, except when I have to dig my car out of the plowed up snowbank. But since last spring when I moved to working day shift, I find I enjoy the sunlight alot more. This will be my first winter working days, so it will be rather odd for a bit I'n sure.

I just thought my changes in attitude about winter were me getting older, so I try to find anything I can to enjoy about it, and ignore the rest (like the three month christmas season, 1 month = good, that's enough).

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

In this case I can advise AT to never visit Finland in Autumn. I did like the nights drawing in, not so much I wished away summers, but I liked the change. Then I spent September/November just outside Helsinki. That was depressingly bleak. After that I understood the high suicide rates and chronic alcohol problems in Scandanavia. It was so bad it made British weather seem cheerful. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

It's always a little odd when sunrise is sunset, isn't it? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif The wonders of the cold white north.

Personally, during the winter months I like long drives in the dark. It gives time to think about things uninterrupted for as long as you're on the road, and sometimes taking the time to thouroughly think through things can be a very good thing.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Apparently Atrocities' vampire bite is wearing off...

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

I find that going to bed about 10 and waking up early leaves me more energetic.

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I've noticed that 6-8 hours of sleep at night is better than 10-12 during the day, though an hour in the afternoon is nice sometimes.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

It probably doesn't help that we live in a rainy temperate climate. I happen to like the rain, so the rainy nites don't really bother me. Cold cloudy days do though. It's the grey that gets to me. I'm thankful that at nite I can't see those grey clouds. You should probably drink more. Two negative make a positive!

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Only when subtracting.

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Multiplying works to. 1 drink for every cloud in the sky? I can live with that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Or squaring.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Which is multiplying.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Which techincally could be a form of addition.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

It only resembles addition. It is in fact grouping by a *determinant.

* Word made up on the spot by me. I dunno if it's actually a word.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Determinant is a mathematical term, but it is used with matrices, not multiplication.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

The other number in a multiplication determines how many groups there are, and wether it is positive or negative interacts with wether the other number is positive or negative to determine wether the answer is positive or negative.

'Determinant' fits until someone tells me a better word.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Technically, the numbers in a multiplication operation are 'multiplicand' and 'multiplier'.

And also technically, a determinant involves multiplication (the summation of 2n products of n terms, with n of those products being added, and n being subtracted, in a matrix of n by n terms; determinant is only meaningful in a square matrix).

And finally, back on topic. I tend to like it when the days get shorter, because it's cooler outside, and I don't feel like I need to be urgently doing something as much when it's dark. It gives me more time to relax, which I think is a good thing. Maybe I'll begin thinking differently when I'm not a full-time student with two part-time jobs.

--edit: spelling mistake.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Oddly I like the rain too, but I think its the change from sunny long days to rainy dark ones that triggers the mood swing toward feeling blue. At least the coast was semi-nice last sunday. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

It's raining more and more now. The last few days it's wet and dark when I leave my house to go to work. I pass a school on the way and teachers on strike are standing around in the rain.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

I noticed too that we didn't get our Indian Summer this time. Oops I mean "our indigenous population post autumnal equinox." Usually it's very nice in October and it slowly get colder and cloudier right up to the predictable drizzly cold Halloween. Time for another shot of Jaegger and a bottle of Spaaten. Only 63 more days and and the days will get longer again.

I guess you wouldn't like my plan for the metric 10 hour day!

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

So I'm not the only crazy one in that regard. I was thinking 10 hours, 100 minutes, 100 seconds. Each second is 0.864 of our current second. I can't dicideon time zones though. If there are 10 of them they would be huge, and the light differance from one side to another would be too much I think. If there were 20 they would be offset by only 1/2 hour, which could get confusing, but I think it would be better this way. The whole process would work great for space if commercialization ever takes off.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Or we could do away with time zones all together http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

...The world is round, Wildcard. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Yeah, let's get rid of time zones. May I suggest that the whole world use Pacific Standard Time? Then we won't have to change our watches when we travel. Let's eliminate Daylight Savings Time, too! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Who needs timezones anyways?

The sun will peak at different times in different places, and everybody will get used to getting up and going to bet at whatever time the sun rises and sets locally.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Yeah. After all, we don't have "season zones" to compensate for the fact that the Australians have snow in June and bbqs in December...

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

I tried, I really tried to sleep during the night but I just cannot. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif I think its because I hate being up during the day and not having anything to look forward to except dealing with RL [censored] that I stresses me out to no end. Its just easier to sleep during the day and be up during the night when there is no stress.

Re: A Tangent: There Was A Time
 

Twenty day months? or ten? 10 months for a year. Hey this metric life is really funny. Right up to the point that my wife told me she saw a skit about it on Saturday Night Live back about 1979! Dang, I thought we were going somewhere with this. I think it's shallow grave time!