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Ed Garrett
08-08-2007, 9:29 PM
Does anybody else do something this insane?

When I'm making a piece of furniture (remember I take months per piece), I generally get so excited that I'll frequently wake up at 4 or 5 AM (Even 3AM sometimes), bypass the coffee and head straight to the shed. I'll work like crazy for a couple of hours and then head back inside to make breakfast.

Am I the oddball here? Or is this common behavior among woodworkers?

Sincerely,
Ed Garrett
Tallahassee

Gary Keedwell
08-08-2007, 9:33 PM
Hi Ed... Little lady still out of town?:) I don't have a shed:rolleyes: ;)

Gary K.

Jason Beam
08-08-2007, 9:55 PM
With woodworking, no i don't, yet. I may eventually, though, if history is any indication.

When i was first getting started in programming, i would do exactly that. Ideas would come and I'd sacrifice far more than a sane amount of time to continue the thought. It has gotten so bad that i'd caused personal problems like ... being late for work, missing appointments ... because i'd get so caught up in it that I'd forget teh basics ... even eating!

Hopefully i've matured since then and the woodworking bug won't bite quite as hard as the computer geek bug did :P

Earl Reid
08-08-2007, 10:42 PM
When we lived in the Chicago area, my shop was in the basement. There were many times I went down stairs to work on a project in the middle of the night.
Earl:)

Jim Becker
08-09-2007, 7:28 AM
I'm lucky if I get in the shop by 10:30-11:00a on a weekend. You will vary rarely find me awake at oh-dark-thirty unless I'm forced to catch an early plane or train...

Mitchell Andrus
08-09-2007, 8:09 AM
Hi. My name is Mitch, and I'm a wood-a-haul-ick.

<Hi, Mitch>

I've been doing this for a living for over 11 years.

YES. I do forget to eat breakfast sometimes, and I've gone til 2:00am just so I can get one more thing "done" that day. I've allowed my favorite TV show go unwatched.... My shop is my favorite place to be.

Ed, I feel your joy!

Mark Pruitt
08-09-2007, 8:52 AM
I get close to what you do sometimes. I've been known to brew coffee and take it with me into the shop, failing to eat breakfast. Then around 10-ish I start to wonder why I'm hungry.:confused: :rolleyes:

Mark Singer
08-09-2007, 9:03 AM
I will never start a highly skilled aspect late in the day. Its the morning for me as well....usually about 6:00 or a bit latter. I never will try a challenging part like joinery late in the day....wait until you are fresh in the morning. Early there are no phone calls or interruptions.....its just you and the work! Then I work till about 4:00 sometimes 5:00 and thats it.

Al Willits
08-09-2007, 9:04 AM
I commonly wake up at 3-4or 5 am now, ....go to the bathroom and then go back to bed.:D

I get excited about projects I'm doing, but the early am thing is a bit more excitement than I can muster, especially at that time of the morning.

Al...who's definitely not a morning kinda guy

Greg Cole
08-09-2007, 9:42 AM
Unfortunately when I awake in the middle of the night or early am its either from a thunderstorm (like last night here in KC :( )... and I complain about the noise keeping me up and that's usually when I remember something I forgot to do for the day job! I deal with Euro based manufacturers so the odd time works out well at least as I can make a call or send an e-mail & get immediate response-action.
I do obsess on projects and toil more hours a day on my "off" days than a "work" day. Perfect example... last fall putting the hip & ridge shingles on my roof after work & dragging flood lights up on the roof to finish that night. Not sure what the neighbors thought.... ah well.
I've been known to be found in the "apartment" (aka the shop according to LOML) at midnight & I very much agree with Mark about the early am hours being the best time of the day (then again Dad grew up on a farm & and I was raised hunting-fishing etc... so I've heard that all my life). I love the early am coffee in the shop and looking over what I have done the day before and planning the days progress.

Greg

Lee DeRaud
08-09-2007, 10:06 AM
"Bypass the coffee"?!? :eek:

Yup, that qualifies as "insane" regardless of how early in the morning (or late at night) you're awake. :p

Ken Fitzgerald
08-09-2007, 10:13 AM
I'm an early morning person for sure........but bypass the coffee.....UH....You might want to get some treatment for that....(slurping coffee in the background).

Patrick Taylor
08-09-2007, 10:56 AM
I do the opposite... I get going and then realize it's already 3AM and I still have to get up for a day job in a few hours.:(

Matt Meiser
08-09-2007, 11:10 AM
I rarely get going early. In fact I usually get going later than I want to, whether on a Saturday morning, after work etc. I frequently end up staying out later than planned as well. Maybe I just have a problem sticking to a schedule?

Nancy Laird
08-09-2007, 11:19 AM
I'm an early morning person for sure........but bypass the coffee.....UH....You might want to get some treatment for that....(slurping coffee in the background).

I'm a night owl, which is horrible for my day job, since I have to be at work at 9:00 a.m. But coffee? Ugh! Don't touch the stuff, except on VERY rare occasions. Diet Dr. Pepper is my drink of choice--I go through the equivalent of a case a week!!

Nancy (134 days)

Belinda Barfield
08-09-2007, 11:29 AM
When I have an ongoing project I tend to work in my sleep. I plan, design, fabricate, whatever, in my dreams. It is not unusual for me to wake up at 3 a.m. with work on the brain. I'm up at 5 anyway so what's two more hours. Work starts at 7 and I am a morning worker. By 3 p.m. I'm pretty much worthless. I do, on the rare occasion, start some project after work and lose track of time. Next thing I know it is midnight. I miss lunch occasionally, and dinner occasionally. During a remodel of my house about 15 years ago I would forget to eat all day.

BUT . . . I never, ever forget my coffee! Feet hit the floor, coffee gets brewed, cup meets lips, eyes open - in that order. (Okay, I have to open my eyes a crack to fill the coffee maker, but barely!)

Jim O'Dell
08-09-2007, 12:17 PM
I get up a lot of times and head out to the shop, sit for a few minutes to survey my kingdom, make some notes then get right to it. Work for a little while, go to turn the cyclone on...that's when I wake up, turn over and go back to sleep!:D :D I'm like some Jim B., it's usually 10 to 10:30 before I get to the shop on my days off. Jim.

ps: Nancy, go ahead and by those 19.14 cases of DP now, then you won't have to keep up with the number of days that are left!

TYLER WOOD
08-09-2007, 1:02 PM
Beds should never be left unattended between the hours of 3:00 am and 7:00 am. You never know what they will do. And coffee also should never be left alone until atleast 11:30 am. Mischevious little suckers they are!

As for Nancy being to work at 9:00 WHAAAAA!!!! I only have to be at work at 8:00 but have to leave the house by 7:00 at the latest. I know there are some with worse rates than mine, but still 9:00 and still whining. Especially with only 134 days left!:D I think that may be how many months I have left, times two or three.

John Schreiber
08-09-2007, 1:09 PM
I do the opposite... I get going and then realize it's already 3AM and I still have to get up for a day job in a few hours.:(
That's me too. What's really cute is seeing my wife at the shop door in her pj's saying "do you know what time it is?"

Nancy Laird
08-09-2007, 1:10 PM
As for Nancy being to work at 9:00 WHAAAAA!!!! I only have to be at work at 8:00 but have to leave the house by 7:00 at the latest. I know there are some with worse rates than mine, but still 9:00 and still whining. Especially with only 134 days left!:D I think that may be how many months I have left, times two or three.

Tyler, in my own defense, it's hard to crawl out of bed to be at work by 9 when I've been up until 2 or 3 working on a project.:( I have to leave by 8 or 8:05 to make it, so we both have a hefty commute, looks like.

Just to rub things in a little, the 134 days is calendar days, not actual working days. I haven't calculated the working-days countdown yet, as I'm not sure exactly when I'm going to a 3-day week (I'm only working 4 days a week now). I have a VERY nice boss.

Nancy (134 days)

Hubert Carle
08-09-2007, 1:29 PM
[quote=Jason Beam;637015]

Hopefully i've matured since then /quote]

:eek::eek: Yeh right :p:p