Irreversibly hooked to English-test?

[Conchita]

There’s something that has me a little puzzled. So I have to ask you this (even if it’s none of my business!): are some of you doing night shifts? Because, even taking into account the different time zones around the world, I notice that some of your posts are being sent in the darkest hour. Or maybe you suffer from insomnia? Unless you are so hooked to English-test that you are still typing away when you should be tucked up in bed – or, worse still, you get up in the middle of the night to send your posts? I'm a bit of a night owl myself, but I usually call it a day around midnight (one or two a.m. is my limit).

[Alan]

Good point! Another question - what did people do before we burst online?

Alan
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[Daniela]

Hi Conchita,
You seem to notice details such as the time when the posts have been submited:)
I myself rarely have sleepless nights. Occasioanlly, if there happens to be a full moon. And since I can't sleep and there's nothing interesting to do in the middle of the night, I surf in the internet. Instead of wasting my time I do prefer doing something useful as reading posts which will definitely add up a lot to my knowledge. But I must admit I am not a night owl, my "power" is in the day:)
If you can make it up to such late hours (1 or 2 am) I would say that you yourself have night shifts. The best time for me to go to bed is a little after my daughter who is 7 years old. I don't even dare say how early that is but it's easy to guess:)
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[Jamie (K)]

With me it's insomnia. My e-mail correspondents make the same remark about the times my messages are sent. I also have the problem that my body's natural sleeping time is from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m., and if I don't have to be anywhere early in the morning, I have a lot of trouble not waking up.

Alan, before I started posting to English-Test, I did much more destructive things online, such as shopping.

[Conchita]

Thank you all for satisfying my insatiable curiosity. It's reassuring somehow to know there is a (safe and decent!) place where you can find someone at any time of night and day.

By the way, I have another question regarding the expression 'to burn/pass the midnight hour'. Does it mean to do something at midnight? Or, perhaps, to be still working past midnight? Thank you.

[Alan]

Hi Conchita,

I wonder if you're thinking of burn the midnight oil? meaning work late into the night. Then again if you try and do too much in a day you're burning the candle at both ends.

Pardon me if I'm teaching grandmother how to suck eggs purely meant as a figure of speech as I'm sure grandmother is the last word I'd use personally for you.

The putative septuagenarian,

Alan
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[Conchita]

[Thumperfive]

I think that the phrase "burning the midnight oil" goes back before electricity when we used oil lamps to see by - and you wouldn't be using up such a resource unless you were working, so it became a phrase dealing with workaholics.

we just spend too much time online, I guess.

[Spencer]

I mostly write when I'm working and I found the dead-spot of this forum (I couldn't find a better term, sorry)
If I write something around three in the morning nobody sees it till about seven.
Jamie's in different time-zone but the rest of You should be in bed earlier I guess
Spencer

[Avant]

Hi there!

I think some of the reasons why some of us post on forums at the wee hour of the morning are as follows:
* I agree with Jamie's insomnia - I think most of us who are always on the internet are night owls. I am one of those who can work late and be able to do my work more effectively at night/midnight because of less distractions.
* Sometimes, I find myself at a loose end.
* One instance I found myself on the net when I was at my wit's end.
* Better still, my being keen as a mustard to the internet and what it can do to improve ourselves is one of the main reasons why I post at a very unholy hour of the day.

Regards to all