Intro: Why, oh Why

What Exactly

Instead of the normal week of 7 24-hour days, I will be trying 6 28-hour days. 19 hours awake with luxurious 9 hours sleeping. I'll post a schedule. After a week, my schedule will be back in sync with the world.

Why

I find it comforting that the first question most people ask me is "Why?" That seems like the right question.

Vacationer's Dream - You remember during summer vacations when you would stay up late finishing a book and sleep in late the next morning. Then the next day you would stay up even later, sleep in later .... and so on until usually you either 1) decided you were missing the day, 2) had to be awake for an early dentist appointment, or 3) your parents complained. Well I'm doing just that, but pushing through to the other side. My parents are already complaining.

Extra Time - What would you give up to have an extra hour each day? With this crazy schedule I get an extra hour of sleep and 3 extra hours of awake time each day. (But minus the lost 7th day, actually only net 2 extra hours awake, just less transition time.) For such a lovely benefit, it seems to me at least worth exploring the bargain.

#tripdigits - I want to know more about myself: what makes my energy surge or dip? is it lack of sleep or too long awake that finally makes me drag? if I need to stay awake, what are the costs? Because I am young and plan on living to a ripe old age with at least 3 digits (#tripdigits), the earlier I know these things, the longer I will reap the benefits.

Out of the Rut - every day will be different during dark week. I will get to see the streets of San Francisco at 5am. I will see Sunrises. I will have swaths of time with no distractions. I will be with my friends as they go through their morning routines. This will be an adventure.

Other People's Dark Weeks:
xkcd

dbeat - these people are big fans

Instructables

Tracy Osborn - seems to be a blogger

Schedule

Sol 1: Benchmarks

Awake: Thursday, 18th 9am - Friday 4am
Sleep: Friday 4am - Friday 1pm

I'm going to call my 28 hour days "Sols" even though a sol on mars is only 24 hours, 40 minutes. Me and Matt Damon.

Mostly, today was normal, but I wanted to set up some benchmarks. In comes humanbenchmark.com.

Reaction Time Avg	283
Reaction Time Best	250
Spacial Memory Score	27447
Numerical Memory	10
Verbal	58

(don't worry, I'll post graphs at the end)

I'm also going to take a selfie each day:

Oh, and spelling/grammatical errors will be a benchmark. Leave comments for all that you find! And let me know if you have ideas for other benchmarks. (Grant suggested the 100 yard dash.)

Other activities: stocked up on food, and worked out techniques for clapping really loudly with Grant (the techniques work for anyone, Grant just helped). Yah kinda cup one palm a little and then pop the other hand's fingers on the pocket all at once. Just the sort of thing I shouldn't be doing at 2am in the morning. #sorryJeff

Predictions for the week: I foresee having bloodshot eyes, making at least 3 new things, getting a cold by sol 5, wishing Cole Hardware was open 24/7 (aka 28/6), and having lots of fun.

Sol 2: Friday Night

Awake: 1pm Friday afternoon - 8am Saturday morning
Sleep: 8am Saturday morning - 5pm Saturday afternoon

Sleeping in late this morning was not a problem. I woke up a few times at 9am when I normally would, but then jumped back to dream land till the afternoon.

Activities

Tosol (hmm, that word doesn't work very well. I think I'll stick to 'today') was dominated by lunch with friends (dinner for them) and then Purdy's Birthday/House Warming Party. I also prepared some of brochures on How To People Watch (created by our friend Hannah Brown with 100 copies complements of my roommate using his tech company's printer)(prepaired meaning I folded them and put them in my backpack), which I am planning on distributing widely later in the week.

Signature Move

I spent the long night working on a new signature. My original just-the-ol'-name-in-cursive won't cut it once I'm famous. I also incorporated three tips for making signatures harder to forge:

• Lots of lines crossing
• Long strokes
• Changes of direction

I considered posting pictures of the signature, but decided it was too much like posting a password. "But Obama's signature is on the internet." Yeah, good luck impersonating Obama.

Systems Report

I woke up feeling great. Around mid-sol, my head felt like it was a little too big for my skull (okay, okay, simmer down with the ego jokes). Slight head-ache late in the sol; though considering it was after a party, it's hard to blame sleep-cycling for that one. I didn't feel particularly sleepy, though my bed did sound enticing for a long time.

	Sol 1 Thus 11:45pm (15 hours awake)	Sol 2 Sat 4:52am (16 hours awake)
Reaction Time Avg	283	279
Reaction Time Best	250	266
Spacial Memory Score	27447	18601
Numerical Memory	10	11
Verbal	58	32

Notes

Other people's tiredness around midnight felt weird. And I was quite surprised late in the sol when I got out of the shower and the sun had risen!

I'm excited for a trip to the beach tomorrow (in part to collect sea water) ...

Sol 3: Salt Water

Sleep: 8am Saturday morning - 5pm Saturday afternoon
Awake: 5pm Saturday afternoon - 1pm Sunday afternoon (I'll be up a little extra for frisbee practice)
Sleep: 1pm Sunday afternoon - 10pm Sunday night

I woke up in time to spend a relaxed Saturday evening with Grant, cooking, reading, chatting, punning. Once he turned in, (and I'd turned the last page of my book) I headed out into the welcoming night....

Baker Beach

...and pedaled over to Baker Beach: a classic San Francisco spot that I had never seen. You wouldn't believe the crowds; there were none. Pretty sweet place: waves crashing, soft sand, touch of moonlight, and the golden gate looking majestically electrified. Let's see how this picture does...

I then wrote a big message in the sand, which didn't come out at all in the pictures, oh well.

What did turn out well was the collection of salt water. Only my feet got wet, and I bottled all I needed to try some desalination.

Solar Desalinator

So it has always seemed to me that to desalinate water, you could just put it in the sun to evaporate and have it condense back into a different container. Maybe they already do that on boats, but it seems like cities should do it on a huge scale. Instead of spending the few seconds to google for the answer, I decided to make a little desalinator. It was eerily easy, but it hasn't worked yet, so I'll hold my tongue. The setup is a large glass bowl holding salt water, a smaller glass in the middle (empty for now), saran wrap over the top, and a small weight to direct the condensation drops (ocean themed because why-the-shell-not?). I put it outside, and we'll sea what happens. 

Systems Report

All good. Woke up feeling great again. No head-aches today. A little sleepy but nothing abnormal. I have been eating one or two big meals and then usually about 3 other smaller meals of leftovers. Seems to work just fine. 

	Sol 1 Thus 11:45pm (15 hours awake)	Sol 2 Sat 4:52am (16 hours awake)	Sol 3 Sunday 6:25 am (13.5 hours awake)
Reaction Time Avg	283	279	304
Reaction Time Best	250	266	290
Spacial Memory Score	27447	18601	26234
Numerical Memory	10	11	12
Verbal	58	32	63

For Whom it May Concern

While biking around this sol, I was thinking about when people may benefit from trying a dark week. 

Teams of people who need to have 24/7 coverage, like Emergency Room workers or police. People who have to work during low traffic times, like highway maintenance people, but still want to have normal(ish) weekends. Hikers in Iceland's summer-of-constant-light. Vigilantes. Or anyone that has trouble falling asleep, but no trouble staying asleep. 

Also, in the middle of the night, traffic is great, and Wifi is fast. 

Sol 4: Sew & On The Go

Sleep: 1:30pm Sunday afternoon - 10:30pm Sunday night (a little later than scheduled for fris practice)
Awake: 10:30pm Sunday night - 4pm Monday afternoon
Sleep: 4pm Monday afternoon - 1am Tuesday morning

Edit: I must note that yestersol (ooh, that word works quite well) I was quite sleepy around 7-8am.

Post-Sunset Streets

I spent the hours of about 2am to 4am walking around the streets of the Sunset District. As you would expect, there were not many people about on a cold, drizzly Monday morning. Just a guy power-washing the sidewalk, another leaving a dentist's office (strange). Of the four or five people that I saw in the Sunset District, they all appeared to be latino/a. Too small a sample size to draw any conclusions. I also saw a group of three hyppsies on the edge of the park. (hyppsies is my terms to describe the of style of many people living in Golden Gate Park; seem to take influences from hippies and gypsies.)

On the other hand, I saw lots of user activity on Pokemon Go. (Okay, okay, my primary purpose was testing the night air, and making the streets safer by my presence. If I happen to have a certain app open to also gauge local activity, and if I happened to walk wherever I saw a squirtle, then it was all in the name of science. No need to make such a fuss.) Gyms rising an falling every few minutes. I would estimate a lower bound of 12 people awake and on-the-Go from their homes, and they would have to have been within a half-block of the gyms.  

Sewing

Despite not receiving any clothes that needed sewing from San Francisco friends (the offer is still open), I did small repairs/alterations on a few of my articles. Closed a tear, added a button, added a pocket. I was reminded of the perspective from sewing that I love.
Before I learned to sew, I would see a shirt or pants a finished product: "hmm, would I like to wear that?" But once I got a handle of sewing machines, then articles of clothing were no longer just a single stable object. Instead they were a foundation upon which I could augment, customize, taylor, and change. "Cool pants but too long. Could I hem it? Could I cut the sleeves off that evening gown so it's like a knight's tunic? Ooh, leather; I could make moccasins!"
This difference is one of the main reasons I also wanted to try Dark Week (though it's hard to explain to people straight off). The 24-hour day is a inherited structure, but it is not just a single stable option. Anyone can push, pull, extend, and change the 24-cycle. The same goes for traditions, exceptions, governments, anything. This whole world in the present is just a foundation, a foundation just waiting for changes. We are capable of making little augmentations to make it a better world in the future. I love that possibility. Whuo, okay, those were big jumps. Back to your regular programming....

Breakfast at Purdy's

Today was the first weekday when I could join a friend for their breakfest. It was particularly exciting because I was making food for Purdy in his new apartment, which has no kitchen stuff. So I had to bring butter to grease the pan, a knife to cut the butter, even the pan! We ate our egg-sausage toasts on paper towels, but he did have orange juice, yum!

Systems Report

All good again. Amazingly my eyes are not blood shot. I usually get the most tired around 4 to 2 hours before sleeping (so 15 - 17 hours awake.) That didn't happen as much today. My hypotheses are

• a 20 minute nap at around 6:15am, the first nap I have tried
• the sun was up this sol for that time
• I starting re-reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rational, which has enthralled me once again
• my body has gotten totally onboard with 28/6. Just kidding, I don't think that is what happened.

	Sol 1 Thus 11:45pm (15 hours awake)	Sol 2 Sat 4:52am (16 hours awake)	Sol 3 Sunday 6:25 am (13.5 hours awake)	Sol 4 Monday 2pm (16 hours awake)
Reaction Time Avg	283	279	304	301
Reaction Time Best	250	266	290	270
Spacial Memory Score	27447	18601	26234	47098
Numerical Memory	10	11	12	7
Verbal	58	32	63	46

Note on the desalinator - absolutely zero water in the collection cup. Maybe because it was never sunny, so I moved the bowl to catch more rays. There was condensation on the saran wrap but it wasn't dripping to the cup.

Sol 5: Following the Narrative

Sleep: 4:30pm Monday afternoon - 1:45am Tuesday morning
Awake: 1:45am Tuesday morning - 8pm Tuesday evening
Sleep: 8pm Tuesday evening - 5am Wednesday morning

A short blot post this sol. Most of my time was spent reading. Tomorrow is the final sol, so it will be a longer post. I did have a lovely breakfast out in the last Homely House with Claire, but for most of the sol I read. It's hard for me to tell if the sleep change is causing me to be less seize-the-sol or if I'm just draw into the narrative.

Grant did comment that I seemed normal to him, expect when I went scooting across the ground like a worm while he brushed his teeth. I disagree; I think that was pretty typical method of morning greeting for Grant and me. And I was only scooting because he didn't notice me at first. Maybe I'll be able to gauge better later on.

Systems Report

	Sol 1 Thus 11:45pm (15 hours awake)	Sol 2 Sat 4:52am (16 hours awake)	Sol 3 Sunday 6:25 am (13.5 hours awake)	Sol 4 Monday 2pm (16 hours awake)	Sol 5 Tuesday 6pm (16 hours awake)
Reaction Time Avg (5 trials)	283	279	304	301	306
Reaction Time Best	250	266	290	270	288
Spacial Memory Score	27447	18601	26234	47098	73612
Numerical Memory	10	11	12	7	5
Verbal	58	32	63	46	69

Desalinator - Still bone dry. But check out this cool article about an MITer that got one to work. (Thanks for the link, Alli Sherris!)

Sol 6: Sol-iloquy

Sleep: 8pm Tuesday evening - 5am Wednesday morning
Awake: 5am Wednesday morning - 11:59am Wednesday night
Next: Just a normal night's sleep followed by a normal day.

When I woke up this morning, I had the age-old feeling of "ah drat so soon"? It was noteworthy because I had not felt that reluctance any of the other sols. In general, waking up has been fairly pleasant, like my waiting for the day is finally over. The same is true with going to bed; I have usually been waiting.

Systems Report

Totally unscathed.

	Sol 1 Thus 11:45pm (15 hours awake)	Sol 2 Sat 4:52am (16 hours awake)	Sol 3 Sunday 6:25 am (13.5 hours awake)	Sol 4 Monday 2pm (16 hours awake)	Sol 5 Tuesday 6pm (16 hours awake)	Sol 6 Wednesday 10:30pm (17 hours awake)
Reaction Time Avg (5 trials)	283	279	304	301	306	288
Reaction Time Best	250	266	290	270	288	277
Spacial Memory Score	27447	18601	26234	47098	73612	16703
Numerical Memory	10	11	12	7	5	9
Verbal	58	32	63	46	69	46

I think Reaction Time, Average is the only test I performed that should be considered descriptive. The scoring of the spacial memory is wildly variant compared to what I did, the numerical memory goes until you make a single error instead of repeatedly testing the user at his or her limit, and well maybe the verbal memory one is okay. I would also guess that the differences seen here are not statistically significant, but Jake, please feel free to comment. 

And here is a graph, in case you like them (but it's not particularly meaningful):

Thoughts

Success. I would call Dark Week a success. Not a great success and not a waste. 

I tried doing something significantly differently from the normal person, from everyone I know and everyone I have talked to. The natural circadian rhythm has been studied and the nearly 24 hour (about 30 minutes more) is built into human bodies.  So changing that pattern - that established rhythm - turned out, well... fine. Nothing major happened to my body nor brain. 

I feel like Dark Week was a walk through a forest where people warned me of bad spirits, quicksand, and little gnomes that nibble at your ankles. But when I made it through, it turned out to be just a slightly longer trail than the main road. I did not have any moments of brilliance or extra clarity. I got a little more tired than normal, but the week was mostly like most weeks. I still prefer the 24-hour cycle, so I will go back to being a normal(ish) Abe. Buuuuut now I have re-enforced confidence in my own energy, a familiarity with wee hours, and a keener lookout for other limitations that just appear to be solid. If nothing else, I hope I have been able to share that feeling with this blog: that the 24 hour day is a rule that can be easily bent. 

Checking Predictions

bloodshot eyes? Nope, clear as crystals. 

made at least 3 new things? Nope darn. Maybe two if you count a signature

a cold by sol 5? It was chillier than expected during the nights, no no, the other kind of cold. I may be a little more sneezy than normal. I'll give that one a "possibly" 

wished Cole Hardware was open 24/7 (aka 28/6)? Yup, wanted to see how many copies I could buy of Grant's new flexi-spatula . 

lots of fun? For sure. Theorizing beforehand, wandering around at 3am in the morn, the beach after dark, pretending with Grant to have gone bonkers,...

Suggestions for Next Time

• From Sol 2, go gentler at parties where you are not planning on sleeping directly after. 
• My parents suggested traveling 4 time-zones over each day for a whole week and linking it up that way. If you can, sure. 
• Cooking pre-work breakfasts with friends was probably the best part of Dark week.
• Trying it with another person would be a big commitment, but other blogs have suggested it. 
• A 26 hour day seems closer to ideal. 

Thanks

Hey look at you! You got all the way to the end of this blog! Thanks for reading! If you also are one of the people who had to work your schedule around my nonsense or had to restrain yourself to let me try something wild, then double thank you. 

Please tell me what limits you go and test out there! I hope you do not fear long periods of darkness. And to all, I wish you .... goodnight.