How music saved my life

I was on my way back to home from NYC to Nanuet, NY (upstate, close to NJ)..

It was late... like 12:30 pm... I had a bad day at work and screwed up with one of my projects... was stressed out and just wanted to sleep. Infact for the last 5 days, it was like that for me, with hardly 4 or 5 hours of sleep....

I was on the expressway, I was on the second lane and was gonna take the next exit... and I just lost it.... i dont know what happened.... I was extremely lucky that I was playing some Linkin Park music and one of their beats woke me up... I travelled a good deal distance as I missed 2 exits. If that music wasn't playing, I would have probably rammed into another car....

This whole experience has really shaken me up... But the work I do means a lot of long and stressfull days and I am sure this is gonna happen to me again... any advice and has anyone else dozed off before?

I am one of those suckers who have 2 jobs... one fulltime and the other part time.... I work for this local software company in NJ... from 9 am to 4:30 pm where I am a C/C++/VB programmer(I have a reduced salary of course)... then I commute to Queens, NYC where I work for a local wireless company there. I work part time till like 9 or 10 with the occasional overtime which they expect from me. I then commute all the way back to Nanuet.... Hopefully within the next 6 months I will leave the programming job and work as a full time network engineer... but till then... I am sure in for some near misses... My life truly sucks... On saturday, I work full time for the wireless company and find my Sundays occupied with some old business in India and a lot of other stuff... Sometimes I find my Sundays doing work for the wireless companies... And those sundays I am free... I probably go out to the flying field and crash a couple of models... (I fly helicopters mainly)....

When I come home during the weekdays... I find myself on the computer for atleast an hour on VBf and surfin and all... i finally got to sleep at around 12:30 or 1am.... if I am not late.... I wake up at like 5:30 or my dog would piss on my bed.... and lick my face clean.... I hardly get sleep and I has some sleepless nights.... I get these sort of "eye" headaches and of course a lot of regular ones......

And now, I got enemies on VBF! and thats one more headache I can't take... HELP!!

set an alarm for going to bed and stick to it. make sure you get a full nights sleep. If possible, avoid motorways if you feel tired. stick to quieter roads where you can pull over if you get sleepy.

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Originally posted by Behemoth
set an alarm for going to bed and stick to it. make sure you get a full nights sleep. If possible, avoid motorways if you feel tired. stick to quieter roads where you can pull over if you get sleepy.

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that surely will be a challenge... the only way back is by the expressway... i doubt I can make it home via the roads from NYC to Nanuet... even if so... it would take a long time....

Well.... I will try to change my schedule a bit.... how much sleep do I need?

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Originally posted by Yash_Kumar

And now, I got enemies on VBF! and thats one more headache I can't take... HELP!!

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re: work
Call in sick just one day, stay home watch cartoons and sleep.

re: enemies
Enjoy them for what they are....

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Originally posted by Suidae


re: work
Call in sick just one day, stay home watch cartoons and sleep.

re: enemies
Enjoy them for what they are....

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re: work
who told u i haven't done that before? But I cant do that everyday... do it once a month...

re: enemies:
yeah Mendhak...!! Time for some froggy bashing

Some advice from personal experience:

Don't ever drive when you are too tired.
There is nothing you can do to stay awake.
Maybe you'll be OK for a while but eventually you've had it.

I have a friend who piled his car into a m'way bridge at 80 mph.
No alchohol or drugs, just a couple of long hard days and a late night drive.
He gets about in a powered wheelchair now.

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Originally posted by GlenW
Some advice from personal experience:
I have a friend who piled his car into a m'way bridge at 80 mph.
No alchohol or drugs, just a couple of long hard days and a late night drive.
He gets about in a powered wheelchair now.

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Stop scaring me! I dont know anyone in NYC except a couple of friends who I doubt would put up with me... so when i am tired... I really have no choice but to make it back home... do u know any good pill that keeps u awake??... i started carrying a coke can with me.... pick it up at the gas station and drink it on my way back.... it helps but I dont know if i could really prevent me from dozing off again...

I sure envy cafeenman... exchanged a couple of emails with him and doesn't he have the life u would want.....

btw cafeenman. that company I told u about (on the answering machine) isn't looking for new employees anymore... i guess I made it back too late.. sorry :rolleyes:

If you fall asleep and crash and seriously injure yourself then it's a shame but you're a dick for doing it. If you fall asleep, crash and wipe out a bus load of nuns then you're a bigger dick and should be shot.

Couple of alternatives are:
Take the train.
Stay over in a cheap hotel.
Get a couple of hours kip in the car.

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Originally posted by Arbiter
If you fall asleep and crash and seriously injure yourself then it's a shame but you're a dick for doing it. If you fall asleep, crash and wipe out a bus load of nuns then you're a bigger dick and should be shot.

Couple of alternatives are:
Take the train.
Stay over in a cheap hotel.
Get a couple of hours kip in the car.

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Take A Train:
U are kidding me.... Nanuet cant be accessed by subway or train

Stay over in a cheap hotel:
I'd probably end up staying there everyday... and I need to get back home anyway... what would happen to my dog....

Get a couple of hours of kip in the car:
not practical if I have undertsoof what u mean

A trick for staying awake while driving.


Keep ice in the car and hold it in your hand if your getting tired. Before you laugh just give it a try, I've made it through many a trip.

pull over at a service station or whatever. Getting tired when driving once in a while is no biggie. Pull over, get some coffee or 10 minutes snooze, then carry on. If it happens regularly you NEED to change your lifestyle and circumstances. This can potentially kill you (and other people) every time you get into the car. Its as irresponsible as drink-driving.

The Selby rail crash here in England (I think it was Selby) was caused by some guy falling asleep at the wheel because he'd spent all night on the internet instead of in bed. I can't remember how many were killed, but he survived. Probably a worse punishment than death :(.

Sleep is far more valuable than you realise.

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Originally posted by Behemoth
pull over at a service station or whatever. Getting tired when driving once in a while is no biggie. Pull over, get some coffee or 10 minutes snooze, then carry on. If it happens regularly you NEED to change your lifestyle and circumstances. This can potentially kill you (and other people) every time you get into the car. Its as irresponsible as drink-driving.

The Selby rail crash here in England (I think it was Selby) was caused by some guy falling asleep at the wheel because he'd spent all night on the internet instead of in bed. I can't remember how many were killed, but he survived. Probably a worse punishment than death :(.

Sleep is far more valuable than you realise.

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Well yeah... pulling over to a service station would be a good idea... in fact I think I should pull over to Burger King before I leave... have a big burger and cofee/coke or whathever I feel is good and then head back home... maybe that dinner would help.... but wouldn't I get bored of eating there... have u cafeenman?

Well I am normally a very safe driver... i do everything right.... got my license at the first go.... I really dont know how I lost it.... well I have got that odd ticket... I was driving from Florida to NY and I took my car upto 110, got a ticket and the police officer called me crazy... when I look back at that incident... I now know why he did... and please dont ask me why I took it to that speed

some background reading for ya.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_...sh/default.stm

hope everything works itself out.

Why do you need two jobs?

You said something about reduced salary, of course.
...of course?

If the NY/NJ area is too expensive to live and/or it smells like urine
it may be a good time to think about moving to someplace where
houseing is cheaper.

I hear that you can get a crackhouse in Florida for about $30,000.
:D

he was put behind bars for 5 years!! thats crazy.... i feel so bad for that man... his license could be revoked or something buty 5 years is crazy... he fell asleep... i mean 10 seconds of him not knowing and his life totally changed..... fine... such people are a threat but there are better ways to deal with it.... I am glad that doesn't happen in the US

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Originally posted by Yash_Kumar
And now, I got enemies on VBF! and thats one more headache I can't take... HELP!!

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Now you are starting to get some more. What I see is a self-centered person who is not willing to adjust his own lifestyle to make sure he does not risk the lives of others around him.

I am sorry but you need to make some changes so that you can get some sleep. If that means sleep some before you drive then so be it. If this also means that you can't be home in time for your dog are you really being fair to you dog in the first place by leaving it in the house by itself for so long?

By the way it is my understanding that when you eat a big meal you actually cause yourself to become more sleepy because your body has to work now digest the food.

Just my opinion.

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Originally posted by Yash_Kumar
he was put behind bars for 5 years!! thats crazy.... i feel so bad for that man... his license could be revoked or something buty 5 years is crazy... he fell asleep... i mean 10 seconds of him not knowing and his life totally changed..... fine... such people are a threat but there are better ways to deal with it.... I am glad that doesn't happen in the US

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You're a dick aren't you? He should have been shot for being a menace to society. Innocent people can be killed because of one persons self centred thinking, these people should be removed from society.

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Originally posted by Yash_Kumar
he was put behind bars for 5 years!! thats crazy.... i feel so bad for that man... his license could be revoked or something buty 5 years is crazy... he fell asleep... i mean 10 seconds of him not knowing and his life totally changed..... fine... such people are a threat but there are better ways to deal with it.... I am glad that doesn't happen in the US

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10 people are dead because of what he did. He got off too lightly. That man knew what he was doing before he took control of that train. Just like you do when you get in your car and you know with only 4 hours of sleep you run a great risk of falling asleep, losing control of your car and then hurting yourself and worst yet some one else. The effects of lack of sleep are just as bad as being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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Originally posted by steve65


Now you are starting to get some more. What I see is a self-centered person who is not willing to adjust his own lifestyle to make sure he does not risk the lives of others around him.

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If I was such a self centered person, I wouldn't be brave enough to put my problem here... gee.... u truly do hate me

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Originally posted by Yash_Kumar
If I was such a self centered person, I wouldn't be brave enough to put my problem here... gee.... u truly do hate me

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I give you credit about posting it but you are losing credit for not seeing how serious the situation is with yourself or with the driver from Selby.

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Originally posted by Yash_Kumar


If I was such a self centered person, I wouldn't be brave enough to put my problem here... gee.... u truly do hate me

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I'm not here for Yash bashing, but it certainly appears that
the only reason you posted was so that people could
feel sorry for the situation that you put yourslef in.

The answer to your problem: more sleep, less work.
I'd suggest either moving, or finding another job closer to home.

and that's all I have to say about that.

Sorry to burst your bubble but they do put people behind bars if they kill someone in their car and it is due to neglegence on the part of the driver. 5 years is too lenient if you ask me!!!!!

I had an "incident" in september last year, involving me going into the back of stopped traffic.

The reason? I was tired and lost concentration for maybe 2 seconds at the most. Luckily I was only doing about 30 at the time, and was able to slam on the brakes.

Unluckily for me, reflex reactions like that don't work too well on a wet road, and I happily skidded into the back of the (stopped) car in front, doing about 20-25.

Was it my fault? Definitely.

Am I more careful now? You bet your backside I am ;)

The good thing here was that the only damage was to physical property, which insurance can take care of. The danger of doing that at greater speeds (80mph is a common UK motorway speed) is obvious.

If I connect the scanner up I might post the pic of what I did, and when you consider the damage in relation to the speed, going just a little faster can be very serious.

My first year in the Army I was on driver duty. They make you stay up 24 hours straight and expect you to be alert. So much for Army Intelligence.

Anway, I had been up since around 5:30 the previous morning and had to drive around post checking things out at about 4 am. I fell asleep behind the wheel of a HUMMWV and woke up when I jumped a curb heading into the MP parking lot. Another 100 feet and I would have gone straight down a ravine.

Now they require that the drivers are allowed time to sleep. Not because of what I did - no one ever knew about it but me. But I guess someone probably killed somebody and they finally figured it out. That's the way the Army works. Something that's obviously unsafe is fine until it kills someone and the press finds out about it. Then the wrong people lose their jobs in all the finger pointing and a bunch of new policies get written up that should have been common sense in the first place.

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Originally posted by Yash_Kumar
I sure envy cafeenman... exchanged a couple of emails with him and doesn't he have the life u would want.....

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That's a really bad joke, right??

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Originally posted by steve65


10 people are dead because of what he did. He got off too lightly. That man knew what he was doing before he took control of that train. Just like you do when you get in your car and you know with only 4 hours of sleep you run a great risk of falling asleep, losing control of your car and then hurting yourself and worst yet some one else. The effects of lack of sleep are just as bad as being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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I'll just correct you there - The driver was driving a car. He fell asleep at the wheel just before the car was going over a rail bridge. His car veered off the edge, went down the embankment and stopped across the train tracks. He managed to escape unhurt, but the train plowed into his car, with the tragic results detailed in the link. :(

I thought he was towing something on a trailer, like a Land Rover or something...



...or was that a different incident?

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Originally posted by Yash_Kumar


If I was such a self centered person, I wouldn't be brave enough to put my problem here... gee.... u truly do hate me

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We don't hate you. I am sympathetic to your problem - for now. However, this is your warning. It has happened once. It should never have happened, but you were lucky. You need to fix your lifestyle so it never happens again. If this means you need to move house, or get rid of your dog, or change jobs, or get rid of your car and use taxis / trains / buses whatever, then so be it. It is now your responsibility, and people will support you when you start acting responsibly.

Be reasonable, these are other people's lives you are responsible for now. Far more valuable than a part time job or a car or whatever.

I only sleep 3-4 hrs a night (I do catch up on the weekends though) but I find that a 10 minute nap is all I need to finish out the day. I would suggest crashing (pun intended, sorry) at work for a bit before you head out or at lunchtime.
Michael

http://www.starbucks.com/shop/catego...%5Fname=Coffee

:rolleyes:

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Originally posted by honeybee


How much does a driver earn in US? If it's a decent amount, you can arrenge for me to fly over there and I shall work as your driver.





[Jim Carrey]And I love to crush the frogs under the car tyres!!! [/Jim Carrey]

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Wish I could afford one...

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Originally posted by JPicasso
Why do you need two jobs?

You said something about reduced salary, of course.
...of course?

If the NY/NJ area is too expensive to live and/or it smells like urine
it may be a good time to think about moving to someplace where
houseing is cheaper.

I hear that you can get a crackhouse in Florida for about $30,000.
:D

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NY is not expensive at all... it depends where u live... I mean if u live in Manhattan, I am sure its gonna cost u a million for a 2 bedroomer (if thats a word)

Where I live in Nanuet, I got a nice comfortable house with a backyard all at a great affordable price. Before I was living in a 2 room apartment in Kew Garden Hills, Flushing Meadows (Queens, NYC).

The reason I have 2 jobs is that I want to eventually switch to network engineering which I always have loved... it involves alot of C programming, playing around with wireless equipment, setting up networks, working out security, etc. Right now I am a Engineer trainee at that company in NYC so as u might guess, I don't make that much. I of course have very little experience too (just about 6 months).. whereas the programming job I do, I am making good money there as I am have been programming in C ever since I was 14, so the experience helped me getting a great job. I would hate to leave it but thats what I plan to do when I get a promotion in the wireless job...

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Originally posted by honeybee
How much does a driver earn in US? If it's a decent amount, you can arrenge for me to fly over there and I shall work as your driver.

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Why are u looking to be a chauffer, U know how to program and u are skilled, u could get a good job.... just make sure u get a degree


Thanks for all your suggestions (and lots of criticism), I guess I will try concentrating on a good nice sleep on sunday.... and take a stop at a service center and have tea (not a coffee drinker) or coke or whatever and then make my way back... I'll make it a point to make sure I cam handle the long drive or I'll just turn off the engine and take a short nap.... Are u allowed to drive into the emergency lane and take a nap? I'm not sure... Thanks a lot everyone especially JPicasso and steve65 for their constructive criticism..

I still feel that 5 years is crazy, well just my opinion...

I wanna know why you are getting a "Reduced" salary for knowing C/C++/VB..

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Originally posted by Arc
I wanna know why you are getting a "Reduced" salary for knowing C/C++/VB..

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lol.... by reduced I mean very very little... i work 2, 3 hours less than the norm...

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Originally posted by honeybee


I hate to reveal my plans, but now that you have asked:

I can work as a chauffer, so I can drive a car around all the time, which will take care of my passion about cars.

And I shall get a laptop with all the softwares loaded, and code away all day when I am not driving ;) That will give me two jobs, and maybe I shall be fetching more than the person I drive around :D
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I have heard it all

I hope yer not based in Mumbai because driving is close to suicide over there I hear ;)

Been there once. Such an overcrowded place ...

I don't post for the good of my health. as my last post been ignored, Yash?

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Originally posted by Behemoth
I don't post for the good of my health. as my last post been ignored, Yash?

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I did and I wrote what I will do from now on, did u read that? What do u think? Is snoozing off in the Emergency lane allowed?

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Originally posted by honeybee


Ever visited Pune, or Delhi for that matter? You would faint in your car!!

Yes, I have driven in Mumbai quite a few times. Although at times it's crowded like anything, at least people follow the signals ;)

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I hear Mumbai has changed... The last time I was there was like 5, 6 years a go... was in Delhi last month... heard there is this new 5 lane highway between pune and bombay... true?

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Originally posted by honeybee
Yep, it has reduced the time to travel from Mumbai to Pune (or vice versa ;) by half, to just about a little more than 2 hours, if you can manage speeds of 140 kmph in your car :rolleyes:

Has also seen quite a few horrible accidents, because although the modern cars can handle increasing speeds, the drivers can't.




Funnily enough when I first drove onto it, I took the speed limit of 80 to be the minimum limit :D

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cool.... what have u taken your car upto? in 1995, I had gone to India for a small trip and decided to go to Vaishinal Devi (sorry, dont know the correct spelling).. which is up on the himalayas.. I started from Delhi... On my way back from delhi, I had not one, but 2 major accidents... I'm basically used to driving during the night in the US and forgot how dangerous that was in India... I was at about 80 kmph and suddenly a tractor came out from the farm nearby directly in my path.... I slammed the breaks and was able to avoid major damage although my headlights and bumper were taken out... I decided to stop and repair it and continue.... I then got stuck in a traffic jam in Harayana (on the way to Delhi)... I had kept my car about 2M from the bus ahead.... It was like 2am.... and this drunk truck driver came speeding in from behind and slammed my car into the bus ahead.... My car was totally gone but luckily I wasn't.... the seat belts did save me...

Ever since then I made it a point to not drive in India during the night! Wonder how that new highway is.... safe? I just hope that tractors or cows or cattle dont roam on it... ;)

sorry, yash. I hadn't seen your post properly.

In England, it's illegal to pull over onto the hard shoulder for a nap. I suppose in an emergency it wouldn't be too bad, but if you have to do it regularly, you need to change your lifestyle.

I hope everything turns out ok for you.

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Originally posted by Behemoth
sorry, yash. I hadn't seen your post properly.

In England, it's illegal to pull over onto the hard shoulder for a nap. I suppose in an emergency it wouldn't be too bad, but if you have to do it regularly, you need to change your lifestyle.

I hope everything turns out ok for you.

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I will be in the coming 6 months.... I will be getting rid of my programming job as I already said... I cant wait for that... but in the meantime, I need a solution.... I guess getting sleep and making sure that I can pull off the drive before heading for one is the best solution