I'll sleep when I'm dead

I can't sleep a wink tonight. I was going to try and catch forty winks but I'd settle for one. The phrase "to catch forty winks" means to take a short nap or simply get some sleep. A person that didn't sleep a wink is someone who got almost no sleep at all, and to catch 40 winks is to catch a very brief but refreshing nap. The number 40 has a wide range of citations in the Bible and may have some application to this expression. The rains (in Noah's day) fell for 40 days and nights (Genesis 7:4).Israel ate Manna for 40 years (Exodus 16:35). Moses was with God in the mount, 40 days and nights (Exodus 24:18). Moses was again with God 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 34:28). Moses led Israel from Egypt at age 80 (2 times 40), and after 40 years in the wilderness, died at 120 (3 times 40; Deuteronomy 34:7). The spies searched the land of Canaan for 40 days (Numbers 13:25). Therefore, God made Israel wander for 40 years (Numbers 14:33-34). 40 stripes was the maximum whipping penalty (Deuteronomy 25:3). God allowed the land to rest for 40 years (Judges 3:11). Solomon reigned same length as his father; 40 years (1 Kings 11:42). Elijah had one meal that gave him strength 40 days (1 Kings 19:8). Jesus fasted 40 days and nights (Matthew 4:2). Jesus was tempted 40 days (Luke 4:2, Mark 1:13). Jesus remained on earth 40 days after resurrection (Acts 1:3). Right now you're thinking motherfucker! how's he know all this? I don't. I looked it up. Like I said, I can't sleep. Maybe just a cat nap would help. We use this phrase today to refer to a short nap, the idea coming from the fact that cats appear to sleep most of the day, but generally not for long periods of time. The phrase actually originates from thieves' cant, and referred to a practice of feigning sleep to allay suspicion. The practice was generally done on stagecoaches: the thief would pretend to fall asleep, which would cause the target to feel it was safe to do so as well. Once the target was actually asleep, the thief would remove whatever items of value he desired from the target and then get off the coach at the next stop. By the time the target awoke to find he had been robbed, the thief was generally long gone. The practice got its name from the action of cats (I like cats), which occasionally pretend sleep to lure out prey. At least that guy got some rest. I'll just try to sleep tight. Before the days of mattresses, beds were square frames elevated from the ground, with ropes tied across in a sort of weave. Anyway, in order to sleep well, the "mattress" couldn't sag, so the bed had to be "tight". I won't get in to not letting the bed bugs bite. That would be more appropriate if I was gong to hit the sack. Before the "invention" of the modern bed, mattresses where sacks stuffed with hay, therefore you had to "hit the sack" to make sure you had no bugs or other critters trying to make a home in your bed. I suppose you could hit the hay also. Maybe then I could sleep like a log. I would like to sleep like a baby, but if you consider that babies usually wake up crying in the middle of the night I would prefer to sleep like a log. At least the log won't cry. But let's just keep that between you, me and the bedpost. I suppose I could try counting sheep. A group of sheep is called a flock. I need to count a lot of sheep. A large group of sheep is called a mob. Maybe I could count a mob. That would be a riot.

I still can't sleep