Night (Jeff)

Hi,
We have an 8:30 am staff meeting on Monday which resulted in my being very tired yesterday. I was at home waiting for Two and a Half Men to come on at 7:30 (American television is a rare treat, even if it's crap) when I decided to get in bed for a second. Predictably, I feel asleep. I woke up at about 8:30 to be sad for a second that I missed tv, then went back to sleep. I woke up again, unsure of what time it was. It was probably late enough that I should accept that I was not going to be awake any more tonight and I could take off the polo shirt and sweater I was currently wearing and get under the covers. I turned my cell phone on to check the time. 3:30 am. That's not good. I hope I haven't ruined my internal clock too badly. I've been going to sleep between 11 and 12 because there is nothing to do at night here and taking baths has made me sleepy. I can stay awake until bed time tommorow (as in tonight now, but last night I was considering it the next day) and restore my schedule. That should be -

BANG!

Shit. Was that a gunshot? I think it was. It was close too. Not on campus, but not terribly far away on the road. I heard a siren about ten minutes later, which probably confirmed it was a gun. I live near a hospital so it isn't totally conclusive.

I think in SF I could hear gunfire from the Mission while in Diamond Heights (and once while I was actually in the Mission) but it's a lot more scary when I am alone in a strange country. I knew people that lived close to or in areas with gun fire in SF and Oakland so it is not completely crazy to be hearing a shot (http://rhubarbpie.typepad.com/rhubarb/2008/08/it-matters-to-u.html). And I'm a compound controlled by guards. Still it was pretty scary at the time. Listening to all of the sounds that my cottage makes at night, thinking, is that someone trying to break in, is that someone trying to break in? It feels a little silly in the light of day.

Jeff