March - Finally
Back to my old Sunday night posting habits.
I am appalled that it has been 2 months since I've posted. Biggest reason, haven't felt much like writing. Been very lazy. I'm going to blame SAD.
This week has been all about water and plumbing. Issues started on Wednesday when a water main broke a block 'upstream' from us. That day we were without water from 2pm until 8pm. They needed to fix the break and replace a bad valve. Work continued on Thurs, and Friday, and since they still have cones up and a lane closed on Bluemound Rd., and 3 poorly patched holes, I believe wok will continue on the morrow. So water has been turned off for 4-6 hours each day. Concurrently starting Wednesday night the upstairs toilet started leaking at one of the screws that holds the tank to the base. Anticipating a multi-hour fixing project, we simply shut the water off to the toilet and used large pitchers to manually flush, until we could work on it over the weekend. Everyone take a moment to appreciate your correctly flushing toilet. Truly a godsend of civilized engineering. It did take 3 attempts to get it fixed, and we still have one more adjustment to make, but at least no more pitchers in the bathroom.
What else? R & C are here this weekend. We rented 3 movies from Red Box: The Martian (4 out of 5 stars), Everest (2.5 out pf 5 stars) and The Intern (3.5 warm & fuzzy stars).
Last week mom got a new CPAP machine, and a new style of mask. She needed one without straps, because she can't get the straps over her head anymore. (Warning to everyone to take care of your rotator cuffs.) Her sleeping as greatly improved since 1. the new machine delivers the right pressure, and 2. she knows where the air filter is on this one and how to change it. Something she did NOT know about her previous machine. If you want to see something that would turn your stomach, try an air filter that hasn't been changed for 4 years (that should be changed every 30 days). It looked like the contents of the inside of an overly full vacuum cleaner bag. It should be about 1/8th of an inch thick and white, it was well oven inch thick and BLACK. (Gag!)
Mom's new mask:
This is my current mask, and all of my tubes are very delicate an spring leaks after a relatively short time, so they end up wrapped in white paper medical tape. I'm thinking about switching over to the other mask because it looks much sturdier.
My only concern is that my current mask, is also kept in place by a nice sturdy mouthpiece. In fact I've got a custom made mouth guard, it doubles as a bite-guard, to keep me from grinding & clenching at night. Just recently I had to have the bite-guard reformed, because I had worn it down to the point where I was clenching hard enough at night to cause bruising to my upper jawbone, including a major toothache. I even went to the dentist and he said no cavities or other issues. Apparently I have some unresolved stress in my life and take it out on my teeth! Thankfully, the dentist who originally customized my bite-guard, showed my how to do it myself. So now I can maintain it. Anyway, the new mask is also held in place by a mouthpiece, but this guard is very thin and would in no way double as a bite-guard. I'll be checking out if there is a way to modify the thing mouthpiece so that it could function as my night guard.
Also of note, Lycan is adjusting well to her upped puppy-prosac dose. She is now sleeping through the night unless there is nearby construction (like the stuff that requires closing our freeway) or weather that brigs out the late night snow plows.
And now I am turning into a pumpkin. I won't let it be another month before I post again.
I am appalled that it has been 2 months since I've posted. Biggest reason, haven't felt much like writing. Been very lazy. I'm going to blame SAD.
This week has been all about water and plumbing. Issues started on Wednesday when a water main broke a block 'upstream' from us. That day we were without water from 2pm until 8pm. They needed to fix the break and replace a bad valve. Work continued on Thurs, and Friday, and since they still have cones up and a lane closed on Bluemound Rd., and 3 poorly patched holes, I believe wok will continue on the morrow. So water has been turned off for 4-6 hours each day. Concurrently starting Wednesday night the upstairs toilet started leaking at one of the screws that holds the tank to the base. Anticipating a multi-hour fixing project, we simply shut the water off to the toilet and used large pitchers to manually flush, until we could work on it over the weekend. Everyone take a moment to appreciate your correctly flushing toilet. Truly a godsend of civilized engineering. It did take 3 attempts to get it fixed, and we still have one more adjustment to make, but at least no more pitchers in the bathroom.
What else? R & C are here this weekend. We rented 3 movies from Red Box: The Martian (4 out of 5 stars), Everest (2.5 out pf 5 stars) and The Intern (3.5 warm & fuzzy stars).
Last week mom got a new CPAP machine, and a new style of mask. She needed one without straps, because she can't get the straps over her head anymore. (Warning to everyone to take care of your rotator cuffs.) Her sleeping as greatly improved since 1. the new machine delivers the right pressure, and 2. she knows where the air filter is on this one and how to change it. Something she did NOT know about her previous machine. If you want to see something that would turn your stomach, try an air filter that hasn't been changed for 4 years (that should be changed every 30 days). It looked like the contents of the inside of an overly full vacuum cleaner bag. It should be about 1/8th of an inch thick and white, it was well oven inch thick and BLACK. (Gag!)
Mom's new mask:
This is my current mask, and all of my tubes are very delicate an spring leaks after a relatively short time, so they end up wrapped in white paper medical tape. I'm thinking about switching over to the other mask because it looks much sturdier.
My only concern is that my current mask, is also kept in place by a nice sturdy mouthpiece. In fact I've got a custom made mouth guard, it doubles as a bite-guard, to keep me from grinding & clenching at night. Just recently I had to have the bite-guard reformed, because I had worn it down to the point where I was clenching hard enough at night to cause bruising to my upper jawbone, including a major toothache. I even went to the dentist and he said no cavities or other issues. Apparently I have some unresolved stress in my life and take it out on my teeth! Thankfully, the dentist who originally customized my bite-guard, showed my how to do it myself. So now I can maintain it. Anyway, the new mask is also held in place by a mouthpiece, but this guard is very thin and would in no way double as a bite-guard. I'll be checking out if there is a way to modify the thing mouthpiece so that it could function as my night guard.
Also of note, Lycan is adjusting well to her upped puppy-prosac dose. She is now sleeping through the night unless there is nearby construction (like the stuff that requires closing our freeway) or weather that brigs out the late night snow plows.
And now I am turning into a pumpkin. I won't let it be another month before I post again.