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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 02/09/01 -- Vol. 19, No. 32
Chair/Librarian: Mark Leeper, 732-817-5619, mleeper@avaya.com
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper, 732-332-6218, eleeper@lucent.com
Distinguished Heinlein Apologist: Rob Mitchell, robmitchell@avaya.com
HO Chair Emeritus: John Jetzt, jetzt@avaya.com
HO Librarian Emeritus: Nick Sauer, njs@lucent.com
Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the
second Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call
201-447-3652 for details. The Denver Area Science Fiction
Association meets 7:30 PM on the third Saturday of every month at
Southwest State Bank, 1380 S. Federal Blvd.
===================================================================
1. Quoting from (line wrap indicated by "\")
http://www.realage.com/Connect/healthadvisor/adulthealth/crs/\
snoring.htm: "Snoring can be a sign of a sometimes dangerous
condition called sleep apnea. Having sleep apnea means that you
have periods of no breathing, sometimes as long as 30 seconds, when
you are sleeping. This can happen many times during the night. It
often interrupts your sleep and can prevent you from getting good-
quality sleep. These episodes of no breathing cause you to get less
oxygen and can sometimes have fatal complications, such as heart
rhythm problems. Symptoms of sleep apnea include snoring, being
constantly fatigued, and frequently falling asleep during the day.
If you have these symptoms, you need to see your health care
provider promptly."
Years ago I read about sleep apnea and its symptoms. My first
thought was, gee, that's what I have. I have always snored and
occasionally felt uncomfortable trying to breathe. I remember
hearing my father snore and he would stop breathing for short
intervals. It seemed the natural way people snore. But the
treatment seemed to be taking a night in a sleep research center.
How many people go and become test subjects? I imagined myself
going to bed in a room with a large glass mirror and have a team of
scientists in white lab coats watching me from the other side of
the glass. It all had a feeling of unreality. I never expected I
would be doing that. It just did not seem the kind of treatment I
usually get for myself.
Everything I had heard about the problem told me I could be a
poster child for the problem, so I mentioned it to my doctor and
the next thing I knew I had a referral for one of these studies.
Apparently these sleep studies are done reasonably often. I have
recently found out that of about fifteen people in my work group,
at least two have been diagnosed with sleep apnea before me. I
have to check this out but it seems to be very closely associated
with snoring so that there do not seem to be a high proportion of
people who snore but do not have sleep apnea. I guess it is almost
like Alzheimer's Disease. When I was growing up senility was
considered just a normal part of some people's aging. Now it has
been separated out as a disease. Similarly, there is at least a
very strong correlation between the common problem of snoring and
the problem of sleep apnea and I wonder if almost they are now the
same thing. But I don't need anybody in a white lab coat to tell
me I snore. Evelyn does that quite frequently enough, thank you.
Nobody likes someone who snores. When Evelyn falls asleep in front
of friends the reaction is "Aw, look at that. She fell asleep."
When I do the reaction is "WAKE HIM UP, SOMEBODY," accompanied with
a sharp jab. Evelyn even dropped ice down my shirt to wake me up
once. Once.
I had been dreading the drive to the hospital all day. Outside of
actually storming this was the worst possible driving weather.
There were about four inches of melting snow on the ground and it
drizzled all day. That laid down a carpet of very thick fog. My
appointment at the sleep center at Riverview, a local hospital--why
was I expecting it would be at a university?--at 9:15 PM. It felt
unreal leaving home alone in the middle of the evening not to
return until early the next morning. And adding to the confusion
and strangeness was the thick, heavy fog.
The headlights lit a space maybe fifteen feet in front of the car
and beyond that only lights could be seen. It shut down to ten
when I got to the Holmdel, which was basically low-lying farmland.
Now the stretch of road between the Holmdel and Lincroft facilities
was part of the route to the hospital. For several years this was
part of my normal drive to work. I had driven this road in many
conditions, but never in so thick a fog at night. I had no way of
knowing where I was on the road. Basically I could see a little of
the road itself and whether it was a driveway or a road next to me,
maybe a light a little further away, but little else. My sense of
distance was all the more inaccurate for the slow speeds I was
traveling.
I told myself that I would see my left turnoff as I got near
Lincroft but as I continued to drive and drive and drive and it did
not show up. There were roads I had traveled hundreds of times,
and it was surprising how unsure of them I was in the fog. Again I
could not find the turnoff and I headed up what apparently was the
wrong road, but would lead to an alternate route. The only thing
to do was turn around and see if I could find my turnoff. But
again it was almost impossible to see side roads. Making matters
worse, there was a car behind me, impatient of my creeping. Again
I did not see my turnoff, and while nothing else would have been
familiar about the road, I should have see a road going off to my
right.
This was great. I really should not be driving in this weather.
If I did not have an appointment I would not drive at all in these
conditions. But the driving would get worse. I will continue next
week. [-mrl]
Mark Leeper
HO 1K-644 732-817-5619
mleeper@avaya.com
Intimidated people always say they are not intimidated. That is the nature of intimidation.
-- Alan Dershowitz
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