This afternoon, near the end of my work day, we had the lights flicker, go out briefly, then come back on but dimmer. Lisa got out the voltmeter and measured our house current at around 110V, rather than 117V nominal normal voltage. We shut off a bunch of things, including the refrigerator, which gets cranky under low voltage and will stay cool (if ( Read more... )

Today I replaced the filter on my CPAP unit. It was interesting seeing how much smoke the machine was preventing me from breathing.

( New and Old Filter )

The customer service people at Direct Home Medical wrote back and told me that they could indeed issue a separate order for the DC cord for my CPAP machine and toss it in with the original order, so that I wouldn't have to pay additional shipping charges. I had feared that the system was so automated that an order couldn't be modified in any way ( Read more... )

I've been needing supplies for my CPAP machine for a while now. I was stretching out the last few disposable filters, and I was down to one washable one that should have been replaced months ago. Unfortunately, I'd used up the balance of my Flexible Spending Account, so I needed to wait until the first of the year when it reset (with more money in ( Read more... )

Although I tried to take most of the material I will need to stage Match Game SF up to Oregon the last time I drove there, I unfortunately forgot the poster tube full of the large posters for the wall and for the front of the contestants' tables. I also meant to leave my folding luggage cart up there in Oregon so that Lisa could bring it along to ( Read more... )

The straps that hold my CPAP mask onto my head have been wearing out for some months now. Fortunately, the most expensive parts of the mask assembly aren't worn; even so, replacement straps cost more than $40 including shipping. But I did need it, as the Velcro had worn out and I had been holding the straps together with safety pins. My mask was ( Read more... )

This morning, while putting my pedometer on, I fumbled it and it rolled under the bed. Far under the bed. While rummaging around under the bed with a flashlight, I not only found the pedometer, but also the missing headgear clip that I thought had fallen off in New Jersey. Sigh.

Last night I put on my CPAP mask and started to fall asleep normally. A few minutes later, I was back up, coughing like crazy. I tried again; same result. I then examined my CPAP machine more closely. Although there may be another explanation, I found a whole lot more dust than usual inside the machine, and the rear cover of the air intake ( Read more... )

I was so tired yesterday that I nearly slept all day; however, there were errands to be run, so Cheryl and I went down to the Fremont Hub and did some shopping chores. I was still pretty tired, however, so our ambitions went no further than the four stores there. I was so zonked that I skipped posting at least a token LJ entry for the first time ( Read more... )

With the loaner CPAP machine in place, I was able to get eight glorious, uninterrupted hours of sleep last night. Hooray for technology! (And thank goodness my machine didn't break down while we were in Japan. I got little enough sleep during the trip as it was.)