The saga continues. I’m using blog posts to keep track of how long my CPAP machine takes to go through a bottle of distilled water. The first two jugs I tracked took 18 days. The current jug is almost empty. There isn’t enough to fill the tank tonight so I’ll be opening another bottle.
How long did it last? Was it 18 days again? Nope. Today is day 20.
18
18
20
How long will the next guy last? Let’s find out together.
Two things.
First. On Wednesday the dietician told me to wait an hour after eating before having anything to drink. Three hours later I am sitting at my desk having lunch and the minute I was done eating I was guzzling a water bottle. I was still gulping water when I realized what I was doing. Like… dude… she just told me! Yeah, that one is going to take some getting used to. I managed to do it right all day yesterday, but come on. The first day!
Second. I’ve been using the CPAP machine every night since, what… early 2019? Years. Literally years, plural. Like… multiple years! Every night! The only exceptions being nights where I was sleeping in a room that the CPAP machine wasn’t in. I can probably count them on one hand. Last night at 11:00ish, I put down my iPad and curled up in bed and went to sleep. I woke up an hour and a half later and thought that it was weird to wake up that quickly. I woke up again at a little before 3:00am and realized I never put the damn CPAP machine on. It was sitting on the table next to the bed looking all lonely and dejected and ignored. Years! I’ve been doing it for years and I just plain forgot last night. I even woke up without it on and it didn’t register! What the hell, Robert? Years!
In other news, February is continuing its theme of being a dick. I think we’re up to three instances where a super warm day was followed a day or two later by a legitimate snow storm. It was in the mid 60’s on Wednesday and today, two days later, we’re getting a foot of snow. Nice. Way to be a dick, February.
In other news that is actually important to the future of human civilization, I am sad to realize how little I know about Ukraine. They were a Soviet Republic and an American fascist tried to use them to rig the 2020 election and got off scot free because the United States government is broken and getting close to the point where it’s not worth saving anymore. I thought they were to the South of Russia but when I looked at a map I realized everything I thought I knew about Ukraine was probably actually about Georgia. Wikipedia just confirmed that. I thought Eduard Shevardnadze was the first post-Soviet president of Ukraine, but he was president of Georgia. Shit.
I keep reading stories about heroic stands by the Ukrainian army. They took back a city, they took back the airport in Kyiv. Things like that. Every time I read something good I try to find reports to back it up and I always find one report confirming and one report confirming the opposite. In the age of instant knowledge, I really hate not knowing what’s going on.
I have a huge confirmation bias regarding this war. It’s Russia. The superpower that stood against us for all of those years. The only nation that could match our massive military machine. How can Ukraine fight them off? It’s impossible, right? Then I try to convince myself otherwise. The Soviet Union I was so afraid of is gone. Sure, Russia retains most of that might, but Ukraine was a Soviet state too. They were part of that military. Who knows, maybe they were a bigger part of it than I realize. I’m wrong about everything else so why not that too? Then I read that the US government expects that Ukraine will fall within days. Damn it. Sometimes, not often, I hate being right.
Last month I decided to use this here ol’ bloggerino to keep track of how long a gallon jug of distilled water lasts through regular CPAP machine use.
The first bottle lasted 18 days. I just emptied the second bottle. Care to guess how long it lasted?
18 days. Woah! Sounds like a trend!
Dude, I should make a spreadsheet!
YES!
I mentioned over the weekend that we were planning on trying to do a little electrical work in the dining room but once we opened things up it was more involved than we expected so we punted. There are a handful of other electrical things we want to do around the house as well so we put out a call for quotes from electricians. One is coming today and they said they’d be here between 7:00 and 9:00… 7:00am? Really? Most days I don’t wake up until after 7:00am. Okay, whatever. I got up at 5:30 and was dressed and ready to go by 6:30. The electrician said he’d text when he was on his way. It’s 6:56… no text yet. Oh well.
The sad thing is, I am going to do it again tomorrow. My company is back into in-the-office-once-a-week mode again like we were during the summer. I’ve decided that tomorrow is the day this week. I really don’t want to. I don’t want to run the Covid risk, I don’t want to spend a chunk of the day wearing a mask, I don’t want to find out how my back is going to feel when I walk from the parking lot to my desk, I don’t want to use the shitty little monitor on my desk when I have a massively gigantic monitor on my home desk. Mostly, and this cannot be overstated, I don’t want the friggin’ commute.
We have to do it though, it’s the law now, so tomorrow is going to be my first day back. I will have to get up a ton earlier than the work-from-home normal, though not quite as early as today. I can do it. It’s okay. I just don’t really want to.
It’ll be okay. I can hack it.
I had a less than perfect sleep last night. My CPAP mask kept losing its seal. It would start leaking air on one side of my face so I’d wiggle it back into place, and then a leak would start on the other side. It was pissing me off as well as keeping me awake. Eventually I took it off and adjusted everything and put it back and it was okay. I think I’ll be using a new mask tonight, just out of spite.
One of the weight loss appointments I booked yesterday is over Zoom. I got the meeting invite this morning. Yet another baby step. Let’s all get together and change my life, okay? Change my mindset first, then change my internal structure. Welcome to a new me and all that stuff, right? New Year, new me… literally.
I wrote my first lyrics for this year’s RPM Challenge. Are you proud of me? I am. Writing lyrics sucks and I suck at it. What is the song about? I haven’t a clue. Maybe after I sing it a few times I’ll decide what it’s about. For now it’s just a bunch of words whose syllable count matches the bad melody I wrote.
Okay. It’s time for work. Let’s be productive and have a good day, okay? Ready? Go!
My 18 year old self laughs at me when I say that we slept late today and got up at 8:00am. However, we slept late and got up at 8:00am. I slept okay after my second fully caffeine free day. I woke up a few times but my numbers looked good. The heart rate dip was really good and the restful sleep percentage was the same as the first day. I feel okay today.
Not a lot on the agenda today. Hopefully lots of guitar playing. Jen’s working on a project so I want to stay out of her way. I have five songs that need rhythm guitars. I should see if I can add to that list too. I would like to get to it, but I find myself distracted by a video on YouTube where Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick shows off some highlights from his massively gigantic guitar collection. It’s only an hour and eighteen minutes. I wonder if they’ll do a video like this with Steve Howe.
One full day without caffeine followed by one night’s sleep.
Q: Did it have any effect?
A: I don’t know.
I got eight hours of sleep last night, which is both good and rare, but it has more to do with today being Saturday than anything else. We went to bed around 11:00 last night and I was out like a light almost immediately. That is likely a side effect. The sleep numbers that my watch tracked were average, I guess. Not too different than the last couple of weeks. My restful sleep percentage might have been a touch higher but not much.
That’s one night. I wonder how things will look/feel after a few weeks/months?
Let’s find out.
I wanted to watch the Bruins game today but for some reason I thought it was an afternoon start when it was a 7:00pm. By the time the game started, Jen and I were hanging out in the living room and cleaning up cat vomit. Gross.
I kept an eye on the score though. I wish I hadn’t. They lost to Dallas, 6-1. Gross.
On an unrelated note, on January 13th I wrote a post about Tuukka Rask returning to the line up, and hat tricks on consecutive days. I also left a note to myself that I had opened a new jug of distilled water for the CPAP machine. I wanted to see how long it would last. I emptied it a minute ago. I don’t have to open a new jug tonight but I will tomorrow.
So it lasted from the 13th through the 30th. 18 nights of use. Good to know.
The Bruins beat the Coyotes 2-1. Hard to believe it was that close against a team that bad. I’ll take it though.
The question now is, why am I still awake? The game is over. Go to bed.
My Apple Watch is charged. I was waiting for that but it’s done so go to bed.
I’m listening to music, but I can do that in the morning. Go to sleep.
I’ve got a little cut on the inside of my upper lip. Now that’s a good reason to still be awake, but it’s not that good a reason. Go to sleep.
Okay already. I’ll go to sleep. Sheesh, lay off, you jerk.
Good night.
I think I hit the caffeine a little too hard today. It’s quarter to 11:00pm and I can’t sleep. I haven’t tried very hard. I’m just bright eyed and bushy tailed. I’m hoping for some car music tomorrow so a good nights sleep would be helpful. Nope. Doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Oh well.
I started watching The Peacemaker last night. It’s every bit of the foul, goofy, raunchy, goodness you’d expect from a spin off of The Suicide Squad. I started watching Yellowjackets tonight. I’ve been seeing people raving about it all over the social media universe (except for that one platform, right?) and after one episode it’s already living up to the hype. I mean, what the hell???
We re-potted the three bedroom plants last night and I watered them today. I don’t think I killed them, but knowing my gardening skills they are probably at death’s door. Sorry, bros.
I mentioned the doctor visit I have on Wednesday. Also on the agenda is a haircut, I think. We know I’m freaking out over the weight loss surgery process, but I’m also freaking out about Covid exposure. Two vaccine shots, a booster, and a kick ass mask should be enough to keep me safe, but in these insane omicron times? Who knows. If I do get it, the three shots should keep it from getting out of control, but with my weight?
No, Robert. Stay optimistic. Focus on the power of positive thinking and all of that crap.
Okay, I think I’m going to head over to the YouTubes and watch some guitar videos. Mr Dumble (I don’t know his name), the man behind Dumble amplifiers has apparently passed away. Maybe I’ll look his amps up. If I find something good I’ll share it.
Inside the Red Head's Head 