Sleep, or lack thereof

So, it's noon and I've already put away a Rockstar, 5 coffees and a Diet Coke. Following my usual January (70-90 hour workweeks, 7 days a week, often at night) I've stumbled into February cranky and sleep deprived. Last night my son was sick and I ended up going to the couch to catch a few hours of sleep before work.

What's amazing to me is that I seem to need as much "downtime" as I do sleep. Downtime can be gaming, watching TV or movies, or reading. As a rule, downtime doesn't usually count if the kids are up, mainly because they need too much right now. At 5 1/2 and 18 months, it's not like they can just be left to their own devices that often. Occasionally, I'll play Lego Star Wars with my son, but it's gotten frustrating lately as he does the occasional team kill or "force push Daddy off a ledge." Still, at 5 1/2 he has more of an excuse than the Timmies I see on XBL.

In gaming news, I really spent some time on Oblivion this weekend, getting a lot of stuff done. I tried some "targeted" leveling, but found it too tedious. Maybe if I rearrange how I put my Major and minor skills, which I apparently didn't do "right" to maximize bonuses as I level. I'll do that next time around. I felt better yesterday as I had my 4th, 5th and 6th days off this year, all in a row, yeah! Seriously, Since Jan. 1, I had 3 1/2 days off this year comprising one weekend and 1 1/2 Vacation days I took (look at a calendar, it's not much time off in 6 weeks). It wouldn't be so bad if I were hourly, but as a salaried employee, I'm feeling taken advantage of in that "Afterschool Special" way. Sometimes it seems like salaried employees get the shaft b/c they don't get paid overtime, so it doesn't "cost anything" to bring them out. I swear I'm going to start a salaried persons union. Let me know if you want to join the Salaried Wage Slaves of America (tm).