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Dave's just a wee bit nocturnal, so he asked for some advice on regulating Sleep Cycles. slgorman had the following to say:

Force yourself to conform to the sleep cycle you want. It's kind of like dealing with jet lag. No matter how badly you want to be asleep, force yourself to stay up because you feel you should be. Same with sleep. Even if you are just laying in bed, do it because you should be asleep. It is horrid for about 3-4 days, but you will adjust. Just don't try this during an important 3-4 days.

Alternatively, only do "sleep" things in your bed or bedroom, if you can help it. [Stop snickering, I can hear you and I don't mean it like that.] Don't watch TV in bed, don't read in bed (unless you're reading a totally boring book that will cause you to fall asleep in record time), don't snack in bed, you getting the picture here? This way you avoid associating other activities besides sleep with the bed and the bedroom. I tried this in college and it worked wonders. It also got me out of my room to study, read, watch TV, etc.

Lastly, if you play the "oh gosh, I forgot I need to do blah dee bling blah" list-making-nightmare-thing before you fall asleep, try getting a cheap little notebook and a pen with a light on it and keep them by the bed. That way, you can jot all the nagging lists your head is creating down, forget about them, and hopefully start snoring. I was famous for this when I was planning my wedding, and it helped a lot.

Oh yeah, and good luck.

Dave had some Fun with Bureaucracy:

OK, so Dave's wife is gonna have a baby. Dave figures it's time get off his butt and get his driver's license. Downloads the application forms from the Web, sets off to take the permit test.

Trip 1: The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation takes only checks or money orders. Dave left his checkbook at home. Dave goes home.

Trip 2: Dave goes to Center City DMV, waits in line, takes permit test, passes permit test, sits down to wait for permit. Guy at desk tells Dave that the physician who signed the application, affirming that Dave has no medical problems to prevent his driving, left off her phone number and address. Dave will have to come back, but he won't have to take the test again.

Trip 3: With a snowstorm on the way, Pattie offers to take Dave to a closer DMV branch. (The Center City one is easier to get to via mass transit.) Dave waits in line, explains situation, is told that he has to go back to the branch where he took the test.

Trip 4: After a brief conversation with the front desk attendant who does not quite grasp what I'm trying to ask him, Dave goes back to the desk where he was told to come back, explains situation, hands over check, receives permit.

I can't wait to try and take the driving test, once I feel ready for that. All this said, however, I'd still rather deal with the DMV than the folks in charge of my university funding sometimes . . .