ONCE upon a day I could drink all night and play football the next morning. Sometimes without even vomiting.
I could manage on four hours sleep without spending the next day dreaming of a hot bath, a good book and an early night .
(Don't you love early nights? My wife suffers from insomnia but what's the problem? Wake up 2am, think fantastic! Four more hours in bed. Being awake at 2am is more fun than being awake at 7am)
But my days of long evenings and short nights are long gone.
Now it sometimes feels like a minor victory just to wake up.
And when I do - which I do most mornings - it's with a stiff neck .
Where does that comes from? What happens? Does the sleep fairy call around especially and wrench the necks of the over 45s through 90 degrees.
It doesn't hurt when I go to sleep. I doesn't hurt if I wake up at 4am but you can be sure at mustard it will hurt when I wander into our delightful en suite for the morning's ablutions.
Sleep-induced injuries are not as sexy as sport-related injuries. They just makes you seem old.
This could be a general body failure starting from the neck and heading downwards.
If so, at least I have a few years pleasure left
