(Written earlier. I fell asleep.)

I’m not a fan of sleep-deprived nights. The last six hours when you’re just endlessly discussing patients and writing notes and ordering studies are the most painful, torturous time imaginable.

But there are some nice perks to having a post-call day. Especially one where you got sleep the night before (in bed by 1 am, slept until 7:30 with no pages. Excellent) and when your coresident is willing to cover your patients for the morning, which means you can leave before 9 am.

1. The post-call nap. Depending on how much sleep I’ve gotten, this ranges from an afternoon doze to an 18 hour passout when I only wake up because bodily functions demand it. But there’s something so wonderful of sliding in between sheets and snuggling into blankets when the sun is filtered through the blinds.

2. Brushing teeth. 30+ hours without brushing your teeth leaves an extremely grimy sensation and horrible breath. My electric toothbrush takes that all away and leaves me clean and shiny.

3. Turning off my pager and shoving it under piles so I don’t hear it.

4. Being away from the hospital for 18 hours.

5. Breakfast. Historically, I used to treat myself to waffles with strawberries and real whipped cream. Now I usually go for a omelet with spinach and mushrooms. But if I’m really really lucky, the cafeteria will serve cream of wheat and I’ll load it with brown sugar, raisins and strawberries. Mmmm.

I wish I could say that I was productive on my post-call days. But I’m not. As I stepped out of the hospital this morning, I contemplated finding a fancy stationery store, raking my leaves (but thank you rain for making that impossible!), doing dishes, etc. I researched afternoon tea parties and went to bed instead. I may do dishes later tonight, but that’s it. I honestly don’t know how my friends with kids do it, as they have all of this demand on their time when they go home and they’re lucky to get a nap in.

Random recommendation: White Collar on USA is a fun show. I really enjoyed the free download from iTunes. It may get me watching tv again (how weird would that be?). Did anybody check out V?