Monthly Archives: April 2011

New jacket project

I got a new jean jacket for Christmas, since my last one was falling apart at the seams. I wondered what to put on this new blank canvas. I tweeted Captian Robert^ from the steampunk band Abney Park and asked if I could put their logo on it, and I got his blessing! (I’d post a link to it, but as of this moment, I can’t go more than a week back in twitter’s archives.)

So I found a pair of jeans too small for the kids to wear any more, and finally had something to test my new metallic fabric paints on. My experiment came out looking like this:

Photo_on_2011-04-28_at_01

So I think I’ll be good to go full-scale this weekend. I’m planning on shiny gears around the edges for accents, with the logo the main piece in the center of the back. I’ve gotta make sure it’s ready before the World Steam Expo, when they’ll be there in concert!

^ No, that is not a typo. He spells it that way.

Sleep apnea relief?

In case you’ve missed it, a quick review:

I have sleep apnea. This means I stop breathing while I sleep. This is bad. For the last two years, I have had a CPAP machine, which blows air up my nose when I sleep to prevent my airway from collapsing and stopping my breathing. This is good.

For the past several months, my sleep has been getting worse and worse; more and more like I don’t have the machine in use at all. It’s gotten to the point where even with the machine in use, I was back to consuming tons of caffeine and junk food to stay awake during the day, while trying my best not to nod off while at stop lights… or at other points in the drive. Or at my desk. Or on the couch. Or at the dinner table…

Over a month ago, I went in to get re-tested, and then back again to get the tests refined. The final results finally came back in today. I need an increase in the air pressure, which wasn’t a surprise. The surprise was that, thanks to changing to a different insurance provider, that I can get a new CPAP machine with added features. The OTHER surprise was that I found the manual for my current machine online, so I have re-programmed it with the settings for the new machine.

I won’t be able to get my new machine until next Thursday. However, I get to see how the new settings feel thanks to the old machine. On top of that, one the new machine arrives. I’ll have a second machine available – either for traveling, or for the missuz to try out, to seeif it takes care of her snoring and sleeping problems. (Doc’s wanted her in for a sleep study as well, you see.)

So with any luck, I’ll be able to get off the caffeine wagon again soon. Hopefully very soon, as I’m getting tired of having to manage my mood swings (too much caffeine makes me cranky).