Counting Sheep & The Shoe

Written by Rob Abramenko Sunday, 21 February 2010 22:22

Insomnia- the inability to obtain sufficient sleep, esp. when chronic; difficulty in falling or staying asleep; sleeplessness. I call it a nightmare. Hmm bit of an oxymoron there....since you need to be a sleep to have one of those delightful things. Last Friday I enjoyed my first real sleep in 6 days. Now, I need to tell you one thing that only a handful of people and mainly those in the station know. I only really sleep 4 to 4 1/2 hour a night. But when I go down...I am out for the count. But last week, for maybe only the second or third time in my life, I was hit with the insomnia blues. Hence today's blog...Counting Sheep and the Shoe!

ZZZZZZZ....WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?:
Its started Sunday night. Not sure what the heck happened but started to hear noises at around 2am. Just common noises...The dishwasher doing a late night cycle, cat creeping around, Some drunk dude on the way back home from a late night in town. The usual. But even though I was awake working on some stuff for the morning show...it somehow got into my head. Not a big deal, normally used to hearing the odd noise. But that night...I could not take my normal visit to snoozeville. I would drift off and wake again 15 mins later for a total of about an hours sleep. Well this pattern resumed for the rest of the week. But before you try to psycho analyze me...there is nothing stressful right now in my life. Home is good, work is good....working out...enjoying the days as they come. But sleep...sucked! However on Thursday, Lori asked listeners if they had any remedies. And boy did we get a response....seems like a few people suffer from a lack of sleep, and to those people I say 'STAY OFF THE ROADS'. But in all seriousness, I tried some of their ideas and it worked. SO I am going to pass on some of those ideas as well as a few others:

Counting Sheep: Count sleeping sheep. Imagine a beautiful green meadow stretching to infinity. Every ten feet or so, right in a row, lies a peaceful, sleeping sheep. Imagine that you're just gliding by, almost floating. And that you pass by a sheep every 3 or 4 seconds (experiment to find which time interval works best for you -- it varies from person to person). Count the sheep and glide on to the next, and the next, and so on. Apparently in the 1970s two Harvard psychologists, Richard Davidson and Gary Schwartz, researched "counting sheep" as a classic way of dealing with insomnia. They concluded that counting sheep occupied both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously, preventing the type of disturbing brain activity that is often responsible for insomnia.

Drink Warm Milk: A glass of warm milk 15 minutes before going to bed will soothe your nervous system. Milk contains calcium, which works directly on jagged nerves to make them (and you) relax.

Listen to Music: Play some soft, soothing music that will lull you to sleep. There are even cassettes and records designed for that very purpose. Some are specially composed music, others simply have sounds of waves rhythmically breaking, or the steady pattern of a heartbeat.

Deep Breathing: Lie on your back. Slowly relax your body, starting with your feet and moving through every part of your body until you have reached -- and relaxed -- your face and scalp. Do a quick check to see if you've missed any place. If so, relax it. Slowly begin to inhale, first filling your lower belly, then your stomach area, and then your chest and the top of your lungs almost up to your shoulders. Hold for a second or two, then begin to exhale. Empty the very bottom of your lungs first, then the middle, then finally the top. Continue this breathing for 4 or 5 minutes. Don't force your breathing; it's not a contest to see how much air you can take in. Just do it in a relaxed, peaceful manner.

Hot Toddy:  This one is courtesy of our Sales Manager Gord Wiens. Basically heat Rum or Brandy until warm, pour into a coffee mug and add a lemon wedge. Drink up and go to sleep. You must be of legal drinking age and ok with drinking alone.

SO YOU FINALLY FALL ASLEEP....AT THE WHEEL!!!
Ok...now that you have beaten insomnia....now you have a new problems...dozing off behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. No surprise with this equation, Vehicle doing 90 kph + closed eyes + narrow road  = A whole mess of trouble. I have drifted off twice in my life, and thankfully with the good Lord's grace both ended without incident. Once was coming back to Vernon when I was attending BCIT. A quick nod of the head was all it took...pulled over and slept at the edge of the highway (where was that insomnia when I needed it). The other time was while driving to California. My wife thought I was joking around when I nodded off. HA! Joke was on her....no crash...but thank goodness for those bumpy road thingys.
Nearly half of the men Men's Health surveyed said they've fallen asleep at the wheel. And that number may be even higher in the most sleep deprived cities. While there are lost of ways to try to stay awake en route, Swedish researchers found that most of us rely on these strategies. The most effective solution, however, is to simply take a nap:

• Take a short walk. Yes, it works. In a U.S. Army study, 10 minutes of exercise helped sleep deprived pilots stay awake for up to 30 minutes.
• Open the window. No, it does not work. When drivers in a British study were blasted with cool air, they didn't report feeling any more alert.
• Drink coffee. Yes, it works. British researchers found that drowsy drivers who consumed 200 milligrams of caffeine felt less sleepy.
• Take a passenger. No, it does not work. In a Miami University of Ohio study, chatty drivers took 16% longer to hit the breaks when stopping.
• Turn on the radio. No, it does not work. A study published in the journal Sleep found that cruisin' to tunes failed to energize sleepy drivers.

THE SHOE IS BACK:
Sometime last fall, I passed this one black shoe at the back door of the station at about 4:30am. Not sure why it was there, not sure who it belonged too, pretty sure it gave me the creeps. I hate shoes sitting in the middle of road or in a front yard. Hate it. So news nerd Glen Morrison thought he would have some fun and put it on my chair. Creepy. Fast forward 6 months and that darn shoe is back. Its haunted or something. I got rid of it...and it found its way back to my desk. Now I know its someone in the station having a laugh at my expense but I have to wonder. Whose shoe is it? Well this is my last shot at finding its owner. If you know anything about this shoe (see picture) drop me a line. In fact, I want to hear the best story about this shoe and what should happen to it. The best answer will win a prize, not sure what it will be...but guaranteed it won't be that darn shoe. EMAIL ME!

 PICTURE OF THE DAY..well, well, well, It's the SHOE!

ODDS AND ENDS:
Canada loses to the U.S. 5-3 in Men's Olympic hockey action. This is not supposed to happen! Ever! And that's why I like living in this country, we are not supposed to lose. In fact, I just love that philosophy when it comes to everything. People will say we have unrealistic expectations, that everyone has to lose sometime. But do we have to enjoy it? Take the Vernon Vipers for example...I know a lot of players love coming to play here because there is a history...nay....an expectation to win it all every season. Its an attitude we should bring into the home, the workplace everywhere...to try and be the best day in and day out. And speaking of the Snakes...congrats to the Vipers for another amazing year! 105 points, third most in BCHL history, fewest goals allowed by a team ever and just all round good guys. For example Adam Thompson who is off to Ivy League Yale. Check out his player profile piece.

EMAIL ME -Tell me what you think the back story is to the missing shoe. Do you think a robber lost it? Someone was break dancing and it flew off? Let me know you could win a prize!