response 51 of 85:

Jun 6 13:51 UTC 2002

Slynne slipped in.

So far I have been pretty pleased with the quality of students this time
around.  The worst noisy time was graduation night.  Some idiot was out back
beating on a metal garbage can with a machette.  I opened the back door and
told them I had a sleeping child (didn't warn them that if they woke her up
she would probably march over and treat them the same as she does Damon when
she thinks he gets too far out of line, not pretty at all :-)

I told them that if they didn't knock it off I would be calling the police.
One of them yelled at the guy making the noise to stop before he woke the kid,
apologized to me and stated that if "the jerk didn't stop I will call them
myself".  I thanked him, closed the door and that was the last of it.  No real
noise from there since and we exchange hellos whenever we see each other. 
This is the way I prefer to handle it.  Unfortunately some of these guys are
jocks and think that they are above ordinary people and it doesn't work. 
These guys get one polite request and cops called every time after if they
don't co-operate.  

We don't make much noise and I dislike excess daytime noise just as much as
I do nighttime noise.  I do tolerate it better.  On weekends I don't even
approach them about loud parties until well after 10, closer to 1 or so unless
one of us is sick or has to be out and about early.  Weeknights I don't bother
until just before Staci or I go to bed.  Usually sometime after 10.  I don't
think that this is unreasonable.  And I do try talking with them first even
though the police said not too.  I know that most of the time they don't
realized how loud they are and how far the noise carries.

We figure that the value of the house will increase about 3-4 times what we
will have to put into it to fix it up.  Yeah, it is worth it.  Even if we fix
it up, move somewhere quiet (yeah, right, STeve can be convinced of this) and
rent it out.  Since the house next door is going for $2500/month...

response 53 of 85:

Jun 6 16:10 UTC 2002

CPAP is a continuous pressure machine that helps him breath at night.  He has
severe sleep apnea.

response 55 of 85:

Jun 6 17:40 UTC 2002

It seems the only way to get one in a reasonable amount of time is to have
a stroke that can't be atributed to anything and to have the only physical
problem they can find you have is possible sleep apnea.  STeve had to get the
neurologist to send over urgent orders for the sleep study test.  When the
results came back showing that yes he did have it she had to send over further
urgent orders for the CPAP trial study to be done.  If she hadn't it would
have taken 8 months to get the study done and another 6-8 before the trial
would be done.

response 57 of 85:

Jun 6 18:11 UTC 2002

Yeah, if you stop breathing for long enough during the night.

response 59 of 85:

Jun 6 20:40 UTC 2002

Dang. I never knew that. 

response 61 of 85:

Jun 7 01:40 UTC 2002

You said he is losing weight.  That is supposed to help sleep apnea.

response 63 of 85:

Jun 7 14:16 UTC 2002

Sleeping on one's side might also help with the snoring problem as it can be
due to a flap of some sort which is affected by gravity.  Jim only snores on
his back.  He tried once to use a voice activated tape recorder while sleeping
to see if he had sleep apnea.

response 65 of 85:

Jun 7 15:39 UTC 2002

Sounds like a more extreme case of my mother.  Jim offered to replace her
original (forties) floor tile (whatever they used before vinyl) but she
declined and kept scotch taping down the curling edges.  It sounds like your
roof might not have anything under the edges to keep the ice that backs up
in the gutters from melting through. Nowadays you need 3' of something
waterproof under the shingles.  So the ice backs up, then melts near the roof
edge, which is above the wall.  In my apartment it used to rain in between
the upstairs storm and regular windows when both were closed, and then drip
through their floor and my ceiling.  The 3' strip of waterproof stuff along
the roof edge is to deal with 'ice dams' - I forget what they call it.  We
had a long argument with the city to convince them it was not needed under
a crimped metal roof.  In New England metal edge strips are put over the
asphalt shingles to keep the snow out.

response 67 of 85:

Jun 7 17:29 UTC 2002

Through UM.  You can't call and make your own appointment, it must come from
a Drs office.

The problem isn't ice.  As I stated before, there are NO gutters on the
overhanging attic roof.  The water comes off its corners straight onto the
second floor roof and, over the years, through the roof.  When the plaster
started coming loose she duct taped it to keep it from falling.  Unfortunately
that just allowed the water to back up more and do further damage.

We would like to keep it plaster, but plasterers are rare and expensive so
will probably have to replace those parts with thin wallboard and float a
layer of plaster to match neighboring walls and ceilings.

response 69 of 85:

Jun 10 17:47 UTC 2002

I waited the 8 months for an appointment with the sleep center at St. Joes.
Not long afterwards, I happened across a private ENT who runs his own sleep
clinic with wait times around 1-2 weeks.  Shop around.  

response 71 of 85:

Jun 10 18:22 UTC 2002

Hello all... been a while since I've had time to read, much less 
respond to any of the discussions....

My last year has been a rough one.  My sister died on Memorial day last 
year (from cancer).  The roof of my house and a skylight were damaged 
to the point of needing replacement due to a hailstorm.  We've all had 
to deal with the shock of 9/11 and the changes to our comfort levels - 
both good and bad (Complacency is bad, but the nervousness over what 
may be next is tiring).  I lost my job in December, but found out I had 
a new job (with better pay) a few weeks before Christmas.  I am now 
looking at new employment, because this new job has more pressure than 
I care for.  I have worked a few shifts that lasted more than 24 hours 
and went for three months without a single day off including weekends 
and holidays.  My next door neighbor and friend died in a car wreck two 
weeks ago leaving a wife and two sons behind.

It's a lot of hard stuff to cope with, but I have to weigh in the 
positive... things that are not as easily perceived unless you actually 
look for them for instance....

I still have good health despite not taking the best care of myself.  I 
still have my family.  I am lucky to still have both of my parents.  
Despite some severe odds, my son is growing into a healthy little boy 
(he was born at 2.25 pounds).  I'm not happy with my job, but I am 
gainfully employed, and working MUCH closer to home than before (about 
a 50 mile difference).  I have the support of many great friends and 
relatives (you should have seen them all when we were working on my 
roof last summer).

I guess I am saying that I can't let the events of the year determine 
whether it was a good year or not.  

response 73 of 85:

Jun 10 21:51 UTC 2002

is this something that happens from too much computing, or with age? cal (38)
seems to be getting worse and worse - i have to roll him over sometimes it
sounds like he's about to inhale his uvula (<--?)