And Then......He Died

Well tonight is the night of the year that I am forcibly denied sleep. That's right, Cedarmania! I am going to give you more or less bi-hourly updates of how I am doing like last year. Not that I think anyone is reading in real time, I just want to capture the night as it happens. I will also be drinking the annual 12+ Mountain Dews in one night to keep me alive/kill me immediately along with some fun facts about the Dew...so here we go...

6.00pm - Already Dead
Already 1 Dew down and I'm already beat. I was up late last night working and I didn't get to take a nap this afternoon as I planned (doing laundry). I am the video slave tonight so I am currently working with the poorly formatted lyrics (church media guys know what I'm talking about) getting them ready to show for worship. A pretty boring task yet necessary. As soon I have this done I have to start learning the video switcher and getting ready for 4 hours of shows. I will be up till 7 or 8 am...so media team will be fun! Click the can to see our first, and slightly racy, bit of info about the Dew.

8.00pm - Pizza and More Dew
Yes, already on #3 and feeling good. The band is running through their songs (all 500 of them) and we're about ready to rock. The kids will be coming in soon and I will be fighting the effects of sleep deprivation. Rob and the junior high kids should be here and I'm expecting to see them at some point. No real exciting stuff happening yet though...just doing my taxes for FAFSA with my mom over instant messenger. So that was fun. I should probably get back to work now!

10.00pm - On Pace
Slowed down a little on the dew but still going strong. Still haven't had to break into my own supply yet. The first session out of 2 in the chapel is over so we're on a little break now. The lyrics went well...almost perfect...pretty good considering there was no real rehearsal. Anyway, I found some more cool Dew facts here which may look like MD is only third on the list of the caffeine buffs but with some research, I found otherwise. First of all, Surge no longer exists so that's out. Secondly, Afri-Cola has since changed it's formula so it now only contains 53mgs per 12oz can (see Wiki article above). So Dew tops the scales on the soft drink end and is still the best drink in the world!

12.00am - Old Rivalries Renewed
Session 2 worship just ended...therefore my job is done here...till like 1am... But I was talking to Anthony (the aussie I met in Guatemala) online and had a little debate just like old times (Bobby can tell you about those). So yeah, that was a really refreshing good ol' OT/NT debate. My lyrics admittedly got a little sloppy though, which I could blame on others but I have to admit Every Day really got me. My belly is sluggish with MD so I should probably take it easy here for a while lest I lose it. I did see the WFFC group already and Larry came up to "Video Land" to visit me, so that was nice...until later...

2.00am - Number Nine With My Head on the Bar
I'm actually at ten as you see but number nine, I would say, was a pivotal one. I used it to chase down a shot of pizza sauce. I usually don't get all crazy and wired up until about 3am but it seems to be happening earlier this year. I am back at my old spot in the gym (like last year) and I pretty much rule the world from atop my throne of lies. They forgot to give me a CD of music as always...should have known...and I get to use the fridge up here to keep my Dew cold for the rest of the night. Which brings me to my latest Dew fact...did you know Canadians haven't had "real" Mountain Dew until just recently when health related Dew was released? Those Nazis!

3:00am - Dual Display Baby
Well it looks like I have already reached my goal of 12 MD's with 3-4 hours still left. I might lighten the pace a little so maybe I can catch a wink or two before media team. I'm feeling pretty good except my back is killing me right now but the pain is subdued by the little glimmer of joy I have found. Up in my little tower I found an extra LCD monitor for me to use the rest of the night so I can rock it out on dual display! Pretty much the best Cedarmania of all time as I rock it out up here with my music, 2 monitors, a nearly unlimited Dew supply and hundreds of little kids screaming endlessly. I wish every day of my life could be this sweet...

5:00am - And the Rest Will Follow
I have noticed that my insanity is growing while my ability to spell is inversely proportionate. Things are beginning to wind down around here. Only an hour left of events and then clean-up begins. While my will to stay awake is waning, I have decided that the rest of today is going to suck bad. My eyes burn with want of sleep and my brain is just tired of thinking. I do have a confession though. Last year while I was up here, I was hungry something awful, so I borrowed some Wheat Thins from the adjacent room. This year, I found another box of Wheat Thins...I ate some...I think it was the same box...

6:00am - And Now....I Will Soon Be Dead
Well, the good news is that it will take 235.77 cans of Mountain Dew to kill me...so only 219.77 to go. I have consumed about 192oz of MD and 880mg of caffeine (the equivalent of 4.4 average caffeine pills) all in exactly 12 hours. My heart rate is 112bpm as I sit hereAs for the rest of my 40 hour day, I will not be consuming any more Mountain Dew...I'll just have to stay awake the old fashion way. All I know is that this next paycheck is going to be pretty nice and that I am going to bed as soon as I can...