I learned about this health condition from my doctor not too long after the winter of my junior year. I remember how cold that winter was and the record number of consecutive days without seeing the sun. The sky always had a grayish glow, always looking like it was about to snow, but never making it quite that far. Sometimes I would think that I would get a glimpse of the sun, like a mirage in the desert, only to see it fade away moments later. I stayed indoors for most of that winter, and so did Tim.

   Tim had just moved next door in my apartment complex and his door was only feet away from mine. We had what we later called "An Open Door Policy" where unless we were leaving the apartment, we left it unlocked for the other to enjoy the space, this way, we could share our resources instead of investing our money into our own individual needs. If he wants to borrow DVD's, he could. If I wanted a can of soda, then I could. Most of that season was spent indoors in the comfort of my own apartment.

   Needless to say, Tim and I had a lot of interesting conversations, most of them completely unrelated to each other. He would rant and rave about football and homework, and I would complain about my love life, or lack there of.

   Until one day...

  We were sitting there talking and Tim kept telling me how tired he felt. He told me about how lately he has been missing class because the alarm would not wake him up in the morning. Now, I know Tim. I know that he has always been a morning person. His mom was always up early, and dad too. Tim was usually the one waking me up because I was sleeping in. So he went on talking about how the past few weeks he just hasn't been able to get up.

   Then he started complaining about other ailments. His legs always felt heavy, his back hurt, he would fall asleep in the middle of class. All of these symptoms began to sound familiar. I had been finding myself falling asleep earlier at night and waking up later in the morning too. I was also falling asleep in class. I was dragging my feet as I walked, just like he was too.

   As spring time came around and it started to get warmer, Tim and I continued to sleep more and more everyday. We began sleeping over twelve hours and eventually had to withdrawl out of every class we had before noon. I began to carry a blanket with me to class instead of my books. It went as far as me going to the store to buy a bigger backpack that would fit both a blanket and a small pillow. Tim did the same. In fact, we went to Wal-Mart together to figure out how we could get through this unusual condition we had. We came home with two small recliner chairs, blankets, pillows, coffee grinds, and three cases of Jolt Cola.

   We went to class everyday carrying our chairs. We rode the elevators on campus in our chairs, trying to catch a quick 10-second shut-eye. We even brought our chairs out the bars when we would go out, just in case we had to wait in line. Many times we went to class and would fall asleep only to wake up later to an empty lecture hall and a class that ended an hour earlier. When we would go out, our friends with pick up trucks would have to drive so that we could fit our chairs in the back. Most of the time, we actually slept in the chairs as our friends would drive us to and from our destinations.

   We went to the doctor that summer after our daily sleep time was well above fifteen hours a day.

      "You boys have a condition known as SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder," the doctor said.

   I was always unclear as to what SAD really was because I kept nodding off as the doctor was talking to me, but I heard the words 'winter', 'cold', and 'lack of sun', so putting two and two together, I thought he was telling me I needed to go tanning.

   Tim slept through the whole conversation, so I filled him in when he woke up a few hours later.

     "The doctor thinks we just need a tan," I said, sounding like I just found the cure to cancer.

     "That's it?" he replied?

     "Sure is." I answered.

   Actually, I wasn't sure. I was pretty sure though. I was sure enough that I wasn't going to go pay another hundred dollars for a guy in a white jacket to tell me we need to go tanning.

   Tim's mom called days later, telling me that Tim went to another doctor and got a second opinion. She went with him and was awake for the consultation.

     "He told me to give you guys these pills. They will help keep you awake," she said. "I'll mail them to you."

   I got the pills two days later and we both began taking them. I was always suspicious of the symptoms that caused. I read them off outloud.

     "May cause headaches, stomach aches, backache, sleeplessness, nausea, diaherra, sleep apnea, dry mouth, loss or appetite, spontaneous combustion..."

   I always thought that having sleep apnea must be kind of unusual. Narcalepsy became completely normal to me by then.

   So Tim and I became pill poppers, armed with prescriptions.

   We slowly began to regain some of the energy that we lost over the past few months. As it began to get warmer, our routines were almost back to normal. We began to cook out, making our famous meaty hamburgers again. The weatherman on the news said that it was going to be a hot summer, much hotter than the past few...

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   Thank you to everyone who left me comments about my photography and sent feedback about vacationing ideas! Keep the feedback coming!

   Well first off, I want to start by telling everyone Happy Valentine's Day! I think that it would be wrong of me to tell all of you to be extra nice to that special someone for today because really, that's something that you should do everyday. So, to all of those with a significant other, enjoy the day and make the most of it. Create memories and take pictures! Don't be selfish and petty. Don't worry about where you are going to go out to eat, or what he or she bought you. Enjoy the time that you have together. Be spontaneous! Do something that you've never done!

   This past weekend was great! My friend Brian Aldridge from high school and college is a stand-up comic traveling the country and he made a stop back through NW Indiana to do a show in Dyer. So I went there on Saturday night with some friends and had a great time.

   My biggest news of all is that I have a big vacation planned! For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to take a road trip by myself (yes, I said by myself) and go across the country. As I mentioned in my last blog, I like to travel and I try to do as much of it as I can. My plan is to travel to the east coast, then north, then come back through Canada. Now, because of the fact that I will be going by myself, I want to make sure that I plan every single detail out accordingly. I'm not an 'itinerary' kind of guy and I like to do things on the spot, so I'm not planning out the details of the day, just the details of the drive. I want to make sure that I know about how long I will be on the road each day, about what time I should arrive, if it will be light outside, about what time will it be when I pass through each city, etc. Because I'll be doing a lot of photography, I basically want to time it out right. I will be going on this vacation the week before Memorial Day. So, the following is the research that I have done so far:

VACATION - SPRING 2006!!!

• Friday, May 19, 2006 - Drive from Hammond, IN to Washington, DC taking the 'southern route'. (11 hrs 30 min)
• Saturday, May 20, 2006 - Spend time in Washington, DC, see the White House, Capitol Building, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, National Archives, etc. Stay one more night.
• Sunday, May 21, 2006 - Leave early, drive through Baltimore, Philadelphia, stay in Atlantic City. (3 hrs 30 min)
• Monday, May 22, 2006 - Leave Atlantic City, drive through New Jersey to New York, NY. Spend time in NYC. (2 hrs 30 min)
• Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - Spend time in NYC, see Times Square, Ground Zero, Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, etc. Stay one more night.
• Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - Leave NYC, drive to Boston, MA. (2 hrs 45 min)
• Thursday, May 25, 2006 - Spend time in Boston, try and catch a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Stay one more night.
• Friday, May 26, 2006 - Leave Boston, drive through lower Maine and then beginning heading west into New Hampshire and Vermont and staying the night somewhere in upper New York State. Most of this day will be spent observing nature and taking pictures. (8 hrs 30 min)
• Saturday, May 27, 2006 - Leave New York early, cross over the US/Canada border north of Lake Ontario and head southwest toward Toronto. Stay the night in or just outside of Toronto. (4 hrs 30 min)
• Sunday, May 28, 2006 - Leave Toronto heading west back home. Pass through Winsor, Canada and then crossing the US/Canada border again in Detroit. From there, heading west on I-94 back home to Hammond, Indiana. (9 hrs 5 min)

   The map on the right shows in good detail my driving route. So for any of you reading this who have been out east, if there are any recommendations of places to see, things to do, please feel free to send me some feedback. Nothing is ever set in stone, but what I have shown you is intend to be a guideline for myself.

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jlaxsalinas@robertmorris.edu

   If you are new to looking at the student blogs, feel free to browse through my archives. The blogs that are posted remain up there as the weeks pass.

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NOTE: The pictures that I have posted for this blog were NOT taken by me. I do intend to take many, many pictures that I will post when I have them.