Thought for the day

Why should a glass half empty be the sign of a pessimist?

To me it says I'm ripe for a refill!

Cheers!

An Ethical Question

So my goal today was to pack at least one box.

My un-goals (necessary but not very exciting) was to do the work jobs allocated, 3 loads of washing, change a light-bulb, put the dish-washer on, prepare dinner, stock up on cat vet-food etc, etc.

So during a lull in the work and after the first load of washing was on the line (yes - external-line! - wow! {I've been too tired for an eon or two to be bothered hanging stuff outside to dry}) and the second load in, I taped up the bottom of a box and started packing. I'm still coughing from a bout of bronchitis, so there were additional frequent rest breaks.
This box had been planned out in advance - after all there really isn't that much you can pack a month in advance.... But I thought all of my dodads could be safely packed away - the statutes I'd brought back from travels and various carved wooden bowls and more statues, and presents of the artistic kind (not to mention those three little cute cats in my "About Me" box up there on the left)... So I'm wrapping up these delicate items in swathes of newspaper and wanting to pad out the spaces inbetween to allow for some extra cushioning - which brings me to my ethical question of the moment...

Is it wrong to use stuffed animals as a soft packing item?

I also collect stuffed elephants (no, no idea how / why / where I started - I just have a thing for elephants), and there's also a few other animal shapes in there from memorable moments in my hmmm... adult... life. These are now safely packed away, guarding the fine wooden carvings and bowls and glassware and soap-stone carvings...

No problem really, I just have this niggling feeling that there is something inherently wrong in treating them as fancy bubble-wrap.

CPAP Scarf Pattern

Well, my CPAP scarf is finished, and I'm so happy with it I thought I should post the pattern I used.

CPAP Scarf

Yarn: 2 x 180 m 8 ply
- double stranded knitting, so 2 yarns with complementary colourways.
Needles - Size 7 / 8 - something pretty chunky.
Ribbon: 2.5m 3mm ribbon in matching or contrasting colour.
Or if you are feeling particularly insane - 2.5m of i-cord!

Hold two strands together and ...
CO: 17

Cuff:
RS: Purl
WS: Knit
RS: Purl
WS: Purl
RS: Knit
WS: Purl
RS: Purl
WS: Knit
RS: Purl

Main section:
WS: slip 1 purlwise, P2, YO, P2tog, P6, P2tog, YO, P3
RS: slip 1 knitwise, K15
Repeat until it is long enough (approx 1.8 metres)
end on a WS

Cuff:
RS: Purl
WS: Knit
RS: Purl
WS: Purl
RS: Knit
WS: Purl
RS: Purl
WS: Knit
RS: Purl

You now have a very long scarf with a row of eyelet holes down the edge.
Wrap it lengthwise around the CPAP hose and thread the ribbon through the holes to join it. Knot the ribbon back on itself at each end to hold.

Use more ribbon at the cuffs to hold it firmly on, or elastic bands / scrunchies etc.
I just used the tail at each end to tie it back to itself - but I'm inherently lazy!

Detail:


Hanging around:


No copyright reserved - feel free it pass it on, use it, abuse it, even send people back here to look at it....

It's reduced my humidifier heat down by 2 notches and using lots less water too.
It's also much nicer to snuggle up to than a plastic tube. :)

Woo Hoo! I'm knitting again!

Yeah! My wrist is fully flexible and I have enough risidual energy at the end of the day to knit again!

My first project is a fitting one...

The CPAP machine delivers me humidified (heated, moist) air via a 6-7' tube about 1" in diameter. The tube is not insulated, so the air loses it's warmth (and associated moisture) on the way to my personal intake valves (mouth, nose). So I'm making a narrow scarf to wrap around the tube.

I have chosen an appropriately branded wool - Sean Sheep (so I can count them as I'm drifting off). It was on special from BigW, 6 balls which I think should do it for only $2 each.

I'm still trying out patterns, and thinking about double or single stranded...
I've got 3 balls each of Napier in eggplant and ruby twist Armytage.
Yeah! I'm knitting again!

Tonight's the Night!

Woo Hoo!
The two weeks of hell is over, today I get my CPAP machine.
I just checked with the pharmacy where I can rent before I buy, and they are open until 9pm, so that won't be a problem, even if the Sleep Doc is running really late, as opposed to just standard late...
And there is a gluten-free pizza place - "Town & Country Pizza" just around the corner from the pharmacy, so I think I'll have to try them for dinner.

And you may not have noticed :), but I'm typing much faster too!
Yep - I'm officially two-handed again. The Wrist Doc is amazed at how fast I have progressed back towards full movement and strength, but then I mentioned the knitting and he nodded sagely. Spinning the wrist (the movement you would do if swinging a cat by its tail..) still hurts a little - and this is what I need for knitting. But I think it is good enough now to start the my self-funded knitting therapy - once I'm not so tired anymore that I'd drop stitches and get frustrated - so that'll be tomorrow!
Amazing how it has all come together at once!

In house news, all the valuations got done and the bank agrees we *can* actually afford the new house :) I fear there are still many, many signatures needed, however, before we actually get to the moving in part...

That's all for now, move along... :)

Medical Issues as a Dr Who episode

It appears I've started something....

OK - the CPAP mask doesn't quite look like this - but if you are trying to give me nightmares.....



And in case you're interested in the stats - Severity of my sleep apnea - 31 episodes an hour, stopping breathing for up to 32 seconds, with oxygen levels falling to 74%. And they confirmed I snore - Dah!

Three Nights in Heaven, Two Weeks in Hell

So I got to keep the CPAP machine for 3 nights. During this time it sat beside my bed like a reverse vacuum cleaner and I slept with a mask like a fighter pilot's. Meanwhile the machine varied its pressure up and down as it thought I needed, and recorded everything, so that the nice people at the Sleep Unit can analyse it and recommend the ideal pressure for me, not to mention getting a baseline.

I had to hand it back yesterday. I considered running off with it, but that just wouldn't have been right. So now I wait for 2 weeks until I see the Doc again and get a prescription for my own machine.
Today the tiredness kicked in ten-fold. Now that I know what I can be like after just a few days (and not even used to the machine yet), it was hard to function today and so depressing realising just how tired I was, and there wasn't anything I could do about it....

Roll on the fortnight.