Author: Paul Tomblin

Sleep study

A few weeks ago, I had a sleep study. They wire you up with a bazillion wires and tubes, put you in a sterile room on an uncomfortable bed, and then say “sleep normally”. The reason for the study is that sometimes lack of sleep, especially because of apnea, is sometimes related to sensitivity to pain.

Today, I got the results. Highlights include

  • It took me only 14 minutes to fall asleep, but over 180 minutes to first get to REM sleep, and I didn’t get very much REM sleep over the course of the night
  • I experienced “arousal” (not sexual arousal, they just mean I wasn’t properly asleep any more an average of 38 times per hour
  • The “arousals” were closely correlated to snoring and some apnea, and are the probable reason for the lack of REM sleep

Upshot is that I’m going to get a “CPAP” machine for a few weeks to see if it helps.

Out with the old, in with the new

Today I said goodbye to my Valley Canoe Products Skerray RMX, and said hello to my Necky Looksha II. I’m going to miss the Skerray, since it was a great boat and I had a lot of fun in it, but I’m looking forward to mastering this extremely light and fast boat.

First the numbers:

Kayak Length Width Weight Tracking
VCP Skerray RMX 17′ 23″ 60lbs retractable skeg
Necky Looksha II 20′ 20″ 45lbs rudder

Now the pictures:
Continue reading “Out with the old, in with the new”

Bye bye baby

I’ve accepted a down payment on the Skerray, which means I need to get in touch with Frank as soon as he’s back in town to buy the Looksha. I’m going to miss the old boat, because it was everything I needed from a kayak except fast. I’d also better get back to finishing the Arctic Tern so I have something for casual paddling.

In less exciting news, I turned down the job offer from Paychex because they would only give me 2 weeks paid vacation.