Things That Go Bump in the Night...

I started using one of those cpap machines. I think I've mentioned before that I snore loudly and according to my brother I did so as a child and I don't mean to infer that I've slept with everyone in town but a lot of people know about the snoring. A few months ago on a doc visit he put two and two together and asked me if I snored. When I said yes he asked if I would do a sleep study. He's a nice guy, he askes if you will do things as opposed to when I was practicing as a physical therapist assistant and I would tell patients that if they did not do what I said they were going to die. Smart patients already knew on arrival that to get through the situation they were going to have to do hard things and people that either were not so smart or had a resistance to doing hard things died in piles. I told my doc I would do a sleep study.  

Sure enough the sleep study showed I had what they termed mild apnea. I mean I know people who play gigs with guitars mildly out of tune without ever addressing the issue but they went ahead and ordered my machine. Apparently anyone who takes a sleep study has mild apnea because those machines are in short supply and it takes a bit to get one. 

The deal is that if you use the machine three months for at least 4 hours a night my insurance, Medicare, pays the rent and then I own the machine. They know if I'm using it because I scan it with my phone ever so often. I have driven the machine across the country, flown it on an airplane, slept in the camper under the east Texas pines and used it while cooled by gentle ocean breezes to fulfill my obligation.      

When I check in person with the rental company or my doctor with an occasional issue they check the reports from the phone and say "oh, you are doing so good." Then they write a note in my chart that says "PATIENT TOLERATED TREATMENT WELL CONTIUE TO FOLLOW MD ORDERS AS MEDICALLY INDICATED" and Medicare says , "well good, here's the money." I'm not complaining about this because I did the same thing, got that money and retired early and comfortably. 

I am complaining that I have not consistently slept well for several months now. I look at the clock and do some quick tuba player math on when four hours is up and then if I awaken and I've done my time the mask comes off.  Usually it's by then what Chuck Berry called the "Wee Wee Hours" which for me is between 2 and 6 am. I often have trouble going back to sleep so I get on up. Cathy, who has her own sleep problem of not being able to go to sleep says that the machine does keep me from snoring. A gag probably would also and might actually be more comfortable and a possibly a little bit sexy.     

Finally to get around to what this is really about is while I am up during those wee wee hours I hear things bumping around on the hot tub deck right outside my bedroom door. I have heard it before usually in the cool months of the year it seems. It's a sound like running, jumping, or scampering. I went out with a flashlight as I have before and I didn't catch anything in the act. Last night after a check I came back in and the noise started again after 5 minutes. I slipped out quietly, stood in the dark waiting and eventually flicked on the light but still no sighting of the perp. 

So what is it? Possum? there have been some sightings lately. Coon? Occasionally I see one out here. Rats? There is evidence that the cat is controlling this population. Cats? He does have friends. Aliens? I'm not saying it's aliens but it could be. 

So I don't know what goes bump in the night out on my deck. If I stay awake enough maybe I'll see it. The doc did ask if I thought the machine was helping me, making a difference. I am not sure at this time. I guess helping could be helping to catch a critter of some kind.

There is a show business story about the great singer song writer Roger Miller. When a band member was asked how long Roger had been awake he replied "I don't know, I've only been in the band a year."  

When I retired I thought about how life would be if I just slept when tired and got up when awake. Since I babysit grand kids who take an afternoon nap I usually join them so I guess I am kind of doing that.  

 

He Will Live...

We went to the Astros game last night. They lost but it was ok. Cathy got a giveaway Yuli Gurriell jersey. He's her favorite. The Star Spangle Banner was played by a youth orchestra with impressive musicianship and amplification. There were fireworks. It was a good time.   

Today I woke up with an hour of exercise and after that I began a bit of music rehearsal. After 30 minutes or so I was shivering cold, achy and the thermometer revealed 100 degrees of fever. Cathy returned from a swim at the pool and I took a covid test. It was negative. Seemed to be just plain old garden variety flu of which I had took the latest greatest double strength recommended for those over 65 shot along with a covid booster 5 days ago. 

I guess a delayed reaction. It did mess up plans for church activity, swing dancing with the Old Town Brass tonight and a planned trip with my son to the Big Slough Wilderness Area tomorrow. A couple doses of ibu, a couple of glasses of tea and a four hour nap and besides some aches and pains I think with a bit of rest I will live. 

The upside to this is my appetite is gone. Other than a bowl of corn grits this morning for breakfast I can't recommend a not eating diet to anyone but I will be a slick looking old man walking the Hipster Highway in Logan Square in my skinny legged jeans when I visit Chicago late next week. 

I still recommend the flu shot. Instead of a four hour nap I could have been in room 4 of ICU. It makes a difference.      

 

When the First World Gets Too Much Take a Nap...

They say that in the USA alone over the past few years there has been over a million people die from Covid. You and I both know some of them. May the Eternal Light shine on them. I have Covid right now and thanks to science, doctors, nurses, vaccines, medicines, the government and many others it's pretty mild. A first world problem and inconvenience that mostly makes me want to take a nap. I like to take a nap. 

Given a bad case of the FOMO I'll skip that nap but I guess years of late nights playing music, shift work at the mill and early morning rises to drive all over East Texas to treat rural nursing home patients has left me the ability to sleep pretty much when or where I want to. Probably one thing you should know is that if I'm sleeping and you are not you might not because I snore loudly.

 I don't recall what the event was but 40 years or so ago I went somewhere with a group of folks, some married to each other, some brothers and sisters, some unattached and one girl's mom. Now that I think back that mom was probably 20 years younger than I am now. We gathered around a campfire, there was some beer drinking and at the end of the evening there was something like an old military barracks or summer camp bunk house with the kind of beds you might expect in a facility like that and we all claimed one and went to sleep and I slept well. 

Next morning several people mentioned how loud I snored. Maybe those unattached women were kind of sizing me up to decide if I was a keeper or not. I guess I got thrown back maybe because of the snoring but the mom did tell them, "ladies, at least you will know he's in the house at night." Sounds like the voice of experience. 

When me and Cathy were first married we slept intertwined and very close. We were young, in love, skinny and once when an overnight guest peeked in our room to see if we were up he thought one of us was out and about because the huddle under the covers seemed so small as to be one person. Now we look like two big skint mules each on our side of the bed. If you don't know how big a skint mule is you have never skint one. 

We are still in love, skinny enough but Cathy does not want that snoring in the ear anymore. You know how it is. After time everyone needs all the sleep you can get because of the job, the kids, the money and so on so nobody wants to be wakened to start worrying about all that stuff and a poor night of sleep just means another nap.

And nap I will. If the grandkids nap. I nap. On Sunday afternoon I might nap. Basically if I have nothing to do I will nap and with this mild case of covid I feel a bit achy, have decreased activity tolerance and a nap is about the best remedy available. For my physical therapy peeps in case you are worried about the old man staying in bed too much and blood clots and stuff like that I am doing my ankle pumps so when recovered I'll be in fine shape.  

So I'm back here in the back bedroom quarantine suite. It was effective a few months ago when Cathy staked it out and I never got Covid from her. It's quiet, cool and has a bathroom. I can sprawl out taking up all the room in the bed like she says I do anyway and if I nap for two hours then sit on the side of the bed for 5 minutes and then nap two more hours no one is the wiser and it does feel good at this point though I think I'm in for a boring week. 

I doubt anyone can hear me snoring but I'm not sure about that. 

 

Christmas Catfish...

 Me, Cathy, Mary and Brother in law Matt went cat fishing today. The action was not fiery but steady enough to catch 19 that are now swimming in our bellies.

How many pictures do I have of Cathy and Mary in these two boat seats? Guess and you might win a big screen for Christmas. 








Mudbelly yells as he sets the hook. 

Some fished so hard they had to take a big ugly nap. 

It's Super Bowl Week...

Despite my long affiliation with the city of New Orleans some one names their dog after the opposing quarterback, Peyton Manning. So happens the little crumb hustler, seen here taking a big ugly nap, has an Indianapolis Colts horseshoe (it's just aft of the white spot that looks like bird poo) right on top of his head.

Get thee to ebay fast before the Colts lose and the dog dies from eating too much steak.

Go Saints.

Girls in Galveston....

While some work, some play. My camera, whoops, our camera goes on a girl trip to Galveston that has Cathy, Mary and Rose pricelining a room at the historic Galvez Hotel.
Relax at pool side, big ugly nap time. Didn't I teach you kids to make fun of people who did this while the beach and real water are right across the street?
Cathy says we stayed at this storm tilted beach house one summer. If I remember correctly this was a second or third row location without a good unobstructed view of the beach. As they say on the Gulf Coast during hurricane season, "there goes the neighborhood."
Galveston is a popular destination for rest and relaxation. Currently trendy is getting a finger stuck up your nose on the beach. Not a lot of followers yet, but sure to catch on in your town soon.

More Rome Pictures...

I think these might be from the Vatican. I am not sure but without Mary to navigate I'll just kind of make stuff up about these pictures as I post them. As usual I will draw from daily experiences to heighten your enjoyment.

I came upon a guy today, a little older than me. He was sitting at a computer Facebooking some web site connected to a college he attended and he showed me a picture of him and his buds from the mid 70s.

Here is a picture of buds I went to college with in the mid to late 70s. Even though they appear to be ancient stone heads, they were really a lot of fun and I can't really blame them if they were so much fun that I had to take a big ugly nap and it took me till the next century to finally finish a degree.


This guy lived across the hall from me in the dorm. Very gentle and soft spoken. Spent his week nights in study and weekends quietly crying for his mom. Married a former Mrs. Texas.
This girl was in a basket weaving class I took. One of those Earth Mommas, she was caught totally off guard by the comprehensive final.

Waiting on the Rain...

Seems that my crepe myrtle is always a late bloomer. Now I guess high winds and hard rain will beat these already fading blooms down. I like the color here, not too dark, not too pink, kind of like how I eat my steak.

I guess I am thinking of meat, I do have a chicken and a small chuck roast on the grill.

Got one accidental page from the hospital today, thought might have some action up there, but they said sorry, go away.

Speaking of action and sorry, well you never know when you might have to get busy so might as well take a big ugly nap. El Guapo knows something is up, he is staying home today. With legs that short It does not take much of a rain to drown you.

I might try to keep some pictures coming today if Gustav produces anything interesting. Right now looks like those black love bugs are thick outside, maybe driven ahead of the wind. I went to Huntington this morning, several law enforcement agencies had a command post set up at the corner of Main and 69, a blue 8X8 shade cover that they might have to chase down the street before the day is out. Definitely not something that would fall under the category, shelter from the storm.

The Panther Band has marching practice scheduled tonight, to quote the director, "hurricane or no hurricane." When it rains during marching practice old superstitions with ancient meanings swirl about the band. It usually signifies the band director has done something bad.

Reasons for being sleepy...

I reported here that I was tired over the weekend and required two big ugly naps. Makes me think of something I write in my patient notes. "Patient was drowsy but arousable and participates in therapy as requested."

I think I discovered the reason for my tiredness. I had changed the type of caffeine I consume in the morning. Let me tell you the morning routine.

Alarm wakes. If I need a shower, like after an active evening of good sweaty soul purging night screaming I make sure I have two cups of coffee before I get in the shower. I kind of deal in the business of people who fall and break something, not the shower, but a bone or something so I like to be fully alert for this morning shower even though I have about 20 or so years to go before this really comes to be a concern. It may never be a concern since male members of my family seem to only live to a median age of 69. I might not fall. I think I'd like that.

But the concern I deal with here is the change in morning caffeine. Cathy requested that we do the cold brew coffee thing, where you create a concentrated coffee mix and have it in the ice box so you can just pour two fingers in a cup, add water and whatever and have a little drink. Tastes good, but I don't think that the caffeine is there. This is the beverage I was using last weekend and ended up so drowsy.

My beverage and it kept me going all yesterday is the cheapest instant coffee available, as many scoops as necessary, one pack of splenda, milk to taste and you are gone. I check the label and yes it is a good product. Comes from all Southern to us countries where we have crushed the rebels. I don't know how they do that. Make it come from all countries. I know how they crush the rebels.

Anyway you can just sort of make a power sludge out of this and eat it out of a spoon if necessary, there are no restrictions on uses. I like a product like that. So many times these days they say don't put it over your head, don't take it in the water, read the directions and so on. Kind of refreshing the coffee and the possibilities.

I am a bitter old man this morning, wide awake, hating war, restrictions on product use and wide awake. Did I say wide awake?