Some people complain about losing that hour of sleep when one advances the clock ahead to begin Daylight Savings Time each year.

Usually, the time changes does not affect my sleeping or work habits.  My body adapts to the change and I still wake up around 5 a.m. each morning.  Been the same way even during the days when I traveled and moved between time zones.

As the old cliche goes: that was then, this is now.

Since the changeover last weekend, I have overslept each morning.  On this Friday morning, I did not wake up until 9:14 a.m. — more than five hours after the normal wake up time.

I don’t use an alarm clock.  Never have. My body’s internal clock has always adjusted and forced open my eyes each morning at 5 a.m. — even if I have gone to bed very late.

Not so since this change to DST.  I went to bed at midnight and should have been up at 0500.  Not so this past week.

Normally, for a 70-year-old man who should be at least semi-retired at this point in life, getting up late would not be a problem but I own a political news site that begins updates at 5 a.m. and I have a reporting/photography gig with the Floyd Press (BH Media) that requires daytime coverage of court and meetings of the board of supervisors (among other assignments).

Morning updates to Blue Ridge Muse (this site) and other tasks are normally performed in the first three hours of so.  This morning.  I’m writing this update after 10 a.m. — very late for a normal day.

Is this fifth straight day of oversleeping a sign of age?  Probably.  Does it mean I need to slow down?  God, I hope not.

I began working full-time for The Floyd Press as a high school student.  I worked at least 40 hours a week (often more) while studying at the University of Virginia Roanoke Center. When I left The Telegraph in Alton, Illinois, after 12 years of service in 1981, I had more than 55 weeks of unused vacation time and had never missed a day of work.

While working full-time for Congressmen in the 80s, I spent weekends jetting around the country as a political operative for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and other political employers.

While serving as senior communications associate for The Eddie Mahe Company in the 1990s, I could spend a week in faraway places like Manila, then arrive in Los Angeles after more than 20 hours of flight time and be diverted to someplace else for an emergency for another client.

I’ve been fortunate enough to witness history in America and around the world. I’ve covered presidents, Congress, international conflicts and other newsworthy events over more than a half-century of uninterrupted service to companies, governments, newspapers and other employers.

In other words, I’ve been a workaholic since high school and have known no other way of life.  Didn’t need one.  For the most part, I’m blessed with doing what I love to do in life.

I own and, continue to edit and write for, the oldest political news website on the world wide web (Capitol Hill Blue), photograph sports and cover news the The Floyd Press and other news organizations who call with assignments, write at least one story a day for Blue Ridge Muse and have written more than a half-dozen Op-Ed pieces for national newspapers and magazines so far this year.

My work weeks run to at least 70 hours and, frankly, doing so is what helps keep me enjoying life.  Wife and partner Amy accepts our work-dominated lifestyle and she often assists in video projects.  They are part of what we are.

Amy says my internal body clock “went on vacation and didn’t tell you about it.”  If it doesn’t get back to work, I will replace it with an alarm clock.

The news never sleeps.  So, hopefully, I will stop oversleeping and miss some of it.