November 26, 2009

Well, it's been a long time since I posted, but it's been busy.

First off, WOO HOO! :



Yeah, that would be a house key. OUR house key. Mrs. splorp! and I are officially homeowners (well, once they record at the county recorders office on Friday). We hope to get bunches of pictures uploaded for viewing soon. We actually got the approval from the seller's bank on October 30, so our closing only took 26 days (and that included getting the appraisal, the inspection and getting the termite repairs done). We just need to get new locks, replace the 18 year old rusty water heater, clean the carpets and then start moving stuff in. Yay!

On a more annoying note, I had to go back for another sleep study on Sunday night (November 22). This time, it was for a VPAP . Well, the pressure wasn't as horrific as last time, but the technician didn't get me wired up until 10:30PM (I normally crash at 10:00PM during the week because I get up at 5:35AM for work). I crashed hard and woke up around 2:00AM. The mask kept slipping and leaking air. I determined that if my head was at a specific angle, it wouldn't leak. I balled my hand into a fist and put it under my head beneath the pillow. Then, I experienced something I've read about but never thought would happen to me: sleep paralysis .

Thankfully, I had read about it and seen references on the Discovery channel, so I knew what was happening. Essentially, your brain turns off muscle control when you go into REM sleep to prevent your body from thrashing around while you're sleeping. When you wake up, that muscle control is returned to you. Well, I woke up and tried to move my arm. No go. I tried to open my eyes. Again, no luck. My heart rate began to climb rapidly as I struggled to make my body respond to anything. My eyes flickered open for a second, long enough to catch a brief glimpse of the face mask from the VPAP machine. That started a hallucination (common with sleep paralysis), but by this time I had figured out what was going on and just kept trying to move. Eventually, I regained motor control and moved my arm down and checked my pulse. I did the 10 second count and multiplied buy 6. 25 beats in 10 seconds equals 150 BMP. I may be out of running shape, but my heart rate is typically in the 70s-80s. Believe it or not, I managed to get back to sleep for a bit more time. I woke up at what I thought was much later, wide awake. I called out to the technician "What time is it?" and he answered "About 2:45" I was wide awake and asked him to come in and unhook me, as I was more awake than I was after a full night of sleep. I went home, showered to get the waxy crap they use to attach the electrodes to my head and went to bed. Mrs splorp! was very patient, seeing as this was 3:30am. We went to sleep and then woke up at 6:30AM to sign the loan documents referenced above. w00t!

Below is Harley Quinn, our Green-Cheeked Conure


Harley Quinn in November 2005

To the left, you’ll see Drusilla,
the Vampire Parakeet, named after
a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
because she bit like a vampire.
She passed away on 12/20/04.