Blackjack and Health Impacts (including Sleep)

[Freightman]

+1 firewalker.

A Cautionary Commentary:

What I would add is that firewalker's projection
of time in this profession is spot on. The first
year (full-time) is crazy. You travel and play
to a manic degree. The second year is generally
good (emotionally) as your obsessive behavior
hides itself ~ but financially, you have learned
how to deal with the Casino sub-culture.
The 3rd (full-time) year is the 'make-it or break-it'
year where you are powerfully conflicted and tense
Re: what you are doing with your life. you are living
a "Death of a Salesman" existence and as a Willie
Lomanesque character you are facing inner demons.
Hopefully you are not alone. You may be haunted by
thoughts and dreams about your self-worth and how
YOU measure it. An "identity crisis" may be growing
behind your eyes and between your ears. Obsession
and a depressive outlook are ego defenses. We cannot
think deeply Re: ourselves, as long as our brains are
over-active and playing BJ at a high level which involves
our being immersed in eyes-closed thinking about our
numerical minutiae, opportunity, problem-solving,
computations, acting (for camo') and both short-term
and long-term memorial functions. After many years
of living on the fringes of society and financially sup-
porting yourself (and others) all you can think about
is how you produce nothing, you create nothing, you
exist within a framework that only an "outlaw" can
empathize with. More and more, over time, money
will mean less and less and satisfaction in life will gain
increasing value.

Sounds like the existence of most people. Fortunately, I do not count myself in as a part of that group. It's like anything else - what you make of it.

[ZenMaster_Flash]

This Zen_Master has already given away every dollar,
every asset, federal bonds, and anything of value, e.g.
home, cars, etc. Everything has been given to my wife.
I do not have any need for a will. I have absolutely
nothing left that is 'in my name' I am an oldster with
a much younger wife and she is rather pleased with
this development.

If I could find a Zen Monastery where I could live out
my days with my beautiful dogs, I would, in essence,
leave this world.

My only goal then would be to mentor zennists
who are seeking the path to enlightenment.

In retrospect, I regret having ever played blackjack.

[chucky baby]

The best and most interesting current book about sleep is titled Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker...available in paperback. I follow the advice therein and recommend it to everyone...including Donald Trump if he ever learns to read!!
Regards to all...Chucky Baby

[Freightman]

This Zen_Master has already given away every dollar,
every asset, federal bonds, and anything of value, e.g.
home, cars, etc. Everything has been given to my wife.
I do not have any need for a will. I have absolutely
nothing left that is 'in my name' I am an oldster with
a much younger wife and she is rather pleased with
this development.

If I could find a Zen Monastery where I could live out
my days with my beautiful dogs, I would, in essence,
leave this world.

My only goal then would be to mentor zennists
who are seeking the path to enlightenment.

In retrospect, I regret having ever played blackjack.

This is actually a good post, especially for those who trust their wives, husbands, significant others - beating the tax man. My wife could virtually clean me out, no problem. I've protected myself against many things, except her. I'm likely to go first - my older boy has specific instruction on how to help his mother. There is also a file that both of them know the location of - the clear roadmap to everything.

On the other hand, if you don't trust your spouse, then watch your ass.

Now Flash, as for inner peace flowing to your Zennists, teach them the joy and tranquility of the FBM ASC.

[Freightman]

This is actually a good post, especially for those who trust their wives, husbands, significant others - beating the tax man. My wife could virtually clean me out, no problem. I've protected myself against many things, except her. I'm likely to go first - my older boy has specific instruction on how to help his mother. There is also a file that both of them know the location of - the clear roadmap to everything.

On the other hand, if you don't trust your spouse, then watch your ass.

Now Flash, as for inner peace flowing to your Zennists, teach them the joy and tranquility of the FBM ASC.

An important that I missed commenting on, intimated by Flash, but not really articulated.
Flash is preparing for a final journey, hopefully not to soon. He will leave this world the same way he entered - with nothing.

We spend a good portion of our lives, first to survive, then to accumulate, finally to disperse. Some wait till death to disperse, which involves probate, legal fees etc. Others, and Flash seems to be in that category, dispersing assets prior to death, which can be planned in a better tax efficient manner.

Philosophical stuff which can be debated in countless ways.

[BoSox]

This Zen_Master has already given away every dollar,
every asset, federal bonds, and anything of value, e.g.
home, cars, etc. Everything has been given to my wife.
I do not have any need for a will. I have absolutely
nothing left that is 'in my name' I am an oldster with
a much younger wife and she is rather pleased with
this development.

If I could find a Zen Monastery where I could live out
my days with my beautiful dogs, I would, in essence,
leave this world.

My only goal then would be to mentor zennists
who are seeking the path to enlightenment.

In retrospect, I regret having ever played blackjack.

ZMF, you better find that Zen Monastery quickly, otherwise the board may get to watch your life story on Investigation Discovery. Sorry for the bad jokes.

[ZenMaster_Flash]

Sleep is an absolute necessity.

If you stay awake for a prolonged
period, [i.e. 3 or more days], you
will be hallucinating, though your
eyes may remain open, (with your
feet on the floor), you will be almost
completely disoriented in time, place,
and situation. Speech will be mostly
incoherent. In other words, you are
slightly psychotic.

Why must you sleep? Very current
research via P.E.T. scans, etc. reveals
that there are actually neurotoxins
that your brain generates continually.
Only during sleep can one detoxify
themselves The toxins are not affected
by the "blood-brain barrier. " That is all
that I recall from what I had read. It has
good "face validity" and the researchers
had no "hidden agenda" as far as I know.
It also explains to me why a 'siesta', a
'power nap', or whatever you wish to call it,
always refreshes me (mentally). I believe that
the R.E.M.Cycle is 45 minutes and I generally
seek a sleep session that long to refresh me.
In the past I found that I could visit a city with
a few casinos and I could hit them all, once or
twice per session in a pseudo-rotation that
focuses on frequent naps.

As an approximation, I would divide
each day into three thirds. I could have
two 3/4 hr. naps and a regular sleep
of 3 to 4 hrs. I have found that the more
naps that I take, the less sleep I need.
If there are 3 or 4 naps, I can do entirely
without the normal 7 to 9 hrs of daily sleep

I assume that an individual (long) sleep
period would probably be needed every
few days.

Pssst. Am I the only AP that uses a full spectrum
natural light to "jump start" myself upon awakening?

It is close to amazing how well these lights work.
Caffeine (via beverage) takes an hour to stimulate
your brain. This is actually instant. I am a first-class
skeptic and I was surprised at how well these lights
work.

[sbrugby]

Pssst. Am I the only AP that uses a full spectrum
natural light to "jump start" myself upon awakening.

It is close to amazing how well these lights work.
Caffeine (via beverage) takes an hour to stimulate
your brain.

Not the only. I highly recommend too. My routine is Breakfast + Stims, then cardio for 10-40 min followed by shower, stims now have kicked in, finally 15 min blue light therapy once I begin work.

From https://www.reddit.com/r/nootropics/...ness_enhancers

Our bodies have evolved to use blue light (~480nm) as a signal that it's daytime.^[239] Blue light is a key master regulator of our circadian rhythm and wakefulness. Blue light, in addition to repressing melatonin levels also increases our metabolic rate and alertness.^[240][241] Exposure to blue light seems to have significant cognitive effects. In randomized controlled trials bright blue light seems to be able to improve attention, working memory, verbal memory and mood.^{[241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248]} Blue light in combination with caffeine seems to increase alertness and mood more than caffeine alone.^[241][243] Interestingly, blue exposure duringtheday actually seems to increase sleep quality.^[247]Whereas blue light exposure at night has the opposite effect. The current theory for blue light's cognitive effects has to do with ultimately increasing norepinephrine release, which is associated with alertness and mood, but it's a complex process that may involve other important factors including the modulation of orexin (hypocretin) neurons. Blue light seems to have positive effects at intensities as low as 40 lux (which is function of the distance and the intensity of a light source), but lower intensities are not as fast acting as higher intensities of blue light. Given its low risk profile and the substantial benefits, blue light devices should be considered a cognitive enhancer with one of the best risk to reward ratios.
Standard Dose: 40-200+ lux of blue light (~480±20nm) for 10-60 minutes in the morning.

In regards to the sleep, I know that bi-phasic and poly-phasic sleep cycles are kind of a thing. I remember reading about polyphasic in this blog:
https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/20...yphasic-sleep/
TLDR; He did it for a while but the transition was brutal and he eventually reverted back to a normal sleep schedule. *EDIT* Nvm this polyphasic stuff just looks like pseudoscience after further review.

[stopgambling]

As an approximation, I would divide
each day into three thirds. I could have
two 3/4 hr. naps and a regular sleep
of 3 to 4 hrs. I have found that the more
naps that I take, the less sleep I need.
If there are 3 or 4 naps, I can do entirely
without the normal 7 to 9 hrs of daily sleep

interesting , i did a few times and i can say from personal experience that i only sleep 6,7 hours and an hour nap . It makes me refresh for a much longer period of time than just a 8,9 hour of sleep.

[Freightman]

interesting , i did a few times and i can say from personal experience that i only sleep 6,7 hours and an hour nap . It makes me refresh for a much longer period of time than just a 8,9 hour of sleep.

That mid afternoon nap is a huge recharge.

[ZenMaster_Flash]

"Flash. How long can a person go without sleep?"

After a while a person may be considered awake because
s/he is standing or sitting, eyes (partially) open, seemingly
responsive and/or mumbling something ~ but is that "awake"
if the person is really hallucinating and disoriented ["out of
touch with reality?"]? If you do not have to slap him in the face
for him to say "ouch" does that mean he is awake? If he knows
his name but he looks a bit confused ... You can see where this
is going. Between comatose and conscious there are some fine
degrees of difference. If you stick a pin in someone's hand
and he doesn't react he may be comatose but what if he just
mumbles a whisper. Asleep? Have you ever seen someone
who is a "sleepwalker" deliberately making himself a ham and
swiss on rye, without even splattering the mustard?

Ahh! A lightbulb moment? He looks to be awake but ...

[sbrugby]

4 days?

My record is like 52 hours. Somehow I managed to stay awake through the last fours hours while watching a theatre film. Think it was one of those Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Have you guys seen those things? They are great.

[Fire Walker]

HA! Unfortunately, he only reads Twitter posts:
The ones he writes, and replies that stroke his ego.
Thanks for the book suggestion. I will check it out.