Jerk brain
Our brains can be real jerks sometimes. Sure, they are great for, you know, solving math and painting and keeping our bodies functioning, but they can also totally mess with us. Sometimes they’ll make us forget what we were doing and make us get distracted by something else, or make us say something immediately (triggered by some random memory/experience) that we would never say if we paused for a minute. And sometimes they can try to make us solve stupid problems when we should be sleeping, problems that they decide are SUPER URGENT!!!! right then and there.
Case in point: last night in the middle of the night, I noticed that the nightlight I have plugged into a power strip in the bathroom so I don’t stumble around in the dark, wasn’t on. Half asleep, I got up and tried to fumble with it. Taking it out of the strip and plugging it back in? No dice. Flipping the power strip switch? Nada. The light wasn’t turning on.
I go back to bed and of course now my brain is in problem solving mode. Is it a flipped fuse in the fuse box? Did all the recent rain fry something in the bathroom and now I need to call an electrician? How much will that cost and will that interfere with any meetings I have today and do I just need to replace the night light entirely and where did I buy it from and how old is it and maybe I need a different color one to sleep better but it has to be bright enough to see and on and on and on.
Tossing and turning, I finally manage to get some vestige of sleep for a few hours, waking up on and off and of course see that the light isn’t on before falling back asleep again. Finally, I get up about 30 minutes earlier than usual, groggy but now ready to wake up. I glare at the stupid night light and, with the benefit of slightly more sleep, examine it again.
The power strip the night light was plugged into, was unplugged from the wall. Plug it back in and everything works fine, of course.
Jerk brain I tell you. Jerk brain.