Adrafinil Adventures, part one

Ideally, I'd have written this at three in the morning, but it never occurred to me to do so. Instead, I was either asleep, or freaking out about not being asleep, and not having any good reason. Well, aside from the fact that I took an anti-narcoleptic substance at 2100, as a test.

Ever since I'd heard of modafinil a few years ago, I'd become enamored with it, especially with the tests the United States Army conducted on pilots. Days awake in a row, with no ridiculous side effects, like leprosy or a taste for dirt. Intriguing. Plus, for those of you that have watched me, you know how easy it is for me to drift off, whether in a car or past 2200. I needed a supply.

Of course, one of the big issues was how to acquire it. This is a controlled substance, and I'm not about to fly out of the country just to try to figure out a way to get a supply.

Random stranger: Can I help you?
K.T.: Yes, I was wondering if you could help me. I'm, uh, I'm looking to purchase something.
R.S.: Marijuana? I know several bars.
K.T.: Uh, not quite.
R.S.: Women? No need to be shy, this is Amsterdam.
K.T.: Um, well, we'll come back to that. But, uh, I was...
R.S.: You cannot surprise me. What is it you want?
K.T.: I'm looking for modafinil. It's an anti-narcoleptic drug.
[SILENCE]
R.S.: You flew to Amsterdam to stay awake.
K.T.: For several days in a row, yes.
[SILENCE]
R.S.: So, about those women...

I'd let the dream go, hoping one of my friends would eventually get a scrip pad (by hook or by crook) and I could abuse my friendship with them by forcing them to write me an illegal prescription. Am I proud that this would be my plan? No, but pride goeth before a fall (and that statement has nothing to do with this). Besides, A.A. and T.K. would have understood. No, they wouldn't have, but I would've found a way.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago, when I looked up modafinil on Wikipedia, and found a link to adrafinil. Oh, no way. Five minutes later, I'd ordered a box off a website I'd never heard of before, then left for work. Things like this are why I need to stop using the intarwebs before work. And, really, despite the emails, I'd hardly expected the supply to come in the mail. When I opened the mailbox that fateful Tuesday, and pulled out the nondescript white padded mailer, with no return address, but "Royal Mail" all over it, my hands started shaking.