"Sleeping in" for me is now 6:00 AM

I have almost always been an early riser.

When I was in 3rd grade, my mom was still making me go to bed at 9:00 PM even though I usually needed no more than 7-8 hours of sleep. So it was common for me to be wide awake by 4:30 in the morning, just looking for something to do in my room until it was time to get ready for school.

Often I would listen to the old WWWE 1100AM radio station, which back then featured music on its overnight show (something that may have been unusual for an AM station even then). The hosts were local, and I would sometimes call in to request a song.

Having this little 8- or 9-year-old kid calling to request a song in what was essentially still the middle of the night for most people must have been hilarious, but they usually humored me...as long as the song I requested fit their mostly mellow format.

One time I asked for "Rock Around the Clock." It was the first song I could think of. The DJ, whose name I believe was Vicky, laughed and told me she couldn't play that one, but she would play the theme from "The Goodbye Girl" and dedicate it to me.

And she did! All 17 people listening at the time heard it.

Anyway, other than a stretch during my teen years when I would stay in bed until nearly noon on the weekends, I've continued my early-rising ways for decades. On the mornings when I exercise, I'm awake before 5:00 AM.

On the days like today when I "sleep in," I roll my lazy bones out of bed at the advanced hour of 5:30 AM.

I am a wild man, I know.

You tend to need less sleep as you age. So if I'm like this at 51, I figure I'll be waking up around 3 in the morning by the time I hit my 70s.

No wonder old people want dinner at 4 in the afternoon.