Hand Grenades

Me and Hand grenades

When I was in Infantry basic training in 1969, I was taught how to use a hand grenade. It was the older style grenade that looks like a pineapple and weighs a couple of pounds. Instructions were:

Straighten-out the cotter-pin (which will allow the pin to be pulled).

While holding the lever, pull the pin out.

Lob the grenade over your head towards where you want it to go (about 25 or 30 feet away).

Hit the deck! (Lie down quickly and keep your head down).

Big ka-boom and it’s all over – easy shmeezy.

When I was finished basic training and Infantry School in 1970, I was sent to my Regiment - 1st Battalion, Princes Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Calgary, Alberta “Currey Barracks.”

As soon as I got there, we all left for Wainwright, Alberta for a three day “live firing” exercise: a pretend battle - using real ammunition – not blank bullets or flash-bangs: which are fake grenades. The real deal (and deadly).

It had everything, camping-out, digging trenches, tanks, artillery, jet aircraft and riding around in armored personnel carriers and helicopters – very exciting.

It was a Gong Show!

During a staged attack, my section (9 Guys) had to assault an enemy position (no one there, but we had to pretend there was). Two guys with automatic weapons (machine guns) went off on the right to lay down suppression fire on the enemy position. Which means - they fire their machine guns at the fake enemy position to make them keep their heads down. Then the rest of us, about 5 feet apart, advance on the enemy position while firing our semi-automatic rifles. The two guys on the right are supposed to stop shooting when we get close to the enemy. NOT! Live ammunition, remember! As we got closer, live rounds were kicking-up dust on the ground three feet in front of me!
The Jets were constantly doing practice strafing runs on us. We couldn’t hear or see them until they were right on top of us going like a bat out of hell - very close – within 100 or 200 feet and incredibly noisy! One time, we had dug trenches on the top edge of a 300 foot hill. The jets were strafing us – coming straight at us, and then climbing just a little, to go over us – loud as hell. I was getting angry because I was trying to get some sleep – but the damn jets were making too much noise. Just then, I managed to see one coming. . . while swearing – I threw a rock at the jet as it passed and damn near hit it. Then I noticed that everyone was looking at me strangely. So I looked around and saw something I’d never see before: a General – not just one, but four Generals – all looking at me! I didn’t say or do anything – just turned around and looked to my front. Thinking that this whole thing had been staged to show-off to the Generals. Well, I did my part!
How to easily stay-up all night: go for night rides in a big helicopter with thirty guys, being picked-up and dropped-off at different battle positions until sun rise: which are very beautiful on the Alberta Prairie.
Sleep: during this three day exercise, there was no time-off for sleeping. We slept when we could. They were testing our stamina, I guess. The jets would not let me sleep. But I did manage to get at least one hour of sleep while riding in an armored personnel carrier (APC) going cross-country, sitting on a small stool, and holding onto a strap from the ceiling.

Artillery: there was a big artillery live firing demonstration – different types of guns using different kinds of shells and there are lots of different kinds. This was one of the scariest things I’d ever seen. Artillery killed most of the Soldiers in WW1.

Ralph’s hand grenade: two of our guys were supposed to blow-up an enemy trench with grenades. They’re supposed to walk up to the trench, throw in their grenades and run away. They did this – only Ralph forgot to straighten-out the cotter-pin. So the other guy pulled his pin, threw his grenade into the trench and ran away. Ralph is still standing there, trying to pull the pin out. It won’t come-out, of course. (We only have about five seconds here!) We all start yelling like crazy – Ralph throws the grenade in the trench without pulling the pin – dives away – and the first grenade goes off while Ralph is still in the air. He was unhurt, but our Corporals sure gave him what-for. “You look like a penguin trying to f*ck a football” comes to mind. (Ralph was a major idiot – I almost got into a fight with him once – on an airplane). Now, we couldn’t leave a live grenade in that trench. So along comes our Lieutenant, the oldest, and most calm Lieutenant ever: He had “risen through the ranks” to become a Regimental Sergeant Major (which as close to being a God that mortals can get). Then became an officer to make more money. He had a “satchel charge” with him – which is a bomb in a small pack. He calmly walked up to that trench, placed his bomb in that trench and calmly walked away. We were all about one hundred feet away when it blew-up – fairly impressive – and there was no more trench there. That was one brave Lieutenant.

My Grenade: we were doing another attack on a enemy position – only this time I had to throw a grenade at a certain point in the exercise. So I was given a grenade, with a stern warning about "straighten-out the cotter-pin" (this was after the Ralph CF event). Now this grenade was very different: it was smooth and weighed about half a pound – about the same as a baseball. So the time comes for me to do my stuff. I pulled the pin and lobbed that grenade over my head, as I had been trained to do. IT ONLY WENT ABOUT TEN FEET. All I could do was loudly yell, “everyone down!” and bury my face in the ground. It went off with a big bang and a piece of shrapnel glanced off my helmet. There were nine guys very close, but no one got hurt. I was quite shaky, but then, you know what, hit the fan. I had to explain what happened, in this order: my Corporal, my Sergeant, my Lieutenant, and then to the highest of the high: the Colonel of the Regiment. Through all this, I learned that I was supposed to throw this newer type grenade like a baseball. The Colonel gave me another grenade! He told me to throw is as far as I could. I had a good arm – that thing was in the air for about four seconds and went off as soon as it hit the ground. The Colonel said, “very good. Off you go now.” I was somewhat famous for a while because of this incident.

World-wide Family

Family World-wide! After only one year of me starting my involvement in Genealogy, I've learned that my Family spans the globe and has many names though many generations: Andres, Dagenais, Allaire, Barette, Bedard, Blais, Boyer, Brady, Bray, Brewer, Brewer, Charpentier, Chapman, Dagenais, Davis, Didier, Dignard, Downey, Drouin, Droze, Ewart, Dill, Goulet, Groulx, Hains, Hicks, Hope, Johnson, Kerr, Lafleur, Lang, Levert, Levesque, Loveland, Mainguy, Maki, Manca, Masse, Mathieu, Menard, Mercer, Miley, Nadeau, Nash, Noble, Paquette, Paras, Parent, Ploumelle, Ponce De Leon, Ponio, Poulin, Puri, Rowley, Sanford, Serry, Sinclair, Sirard-Girard, Spillner, Sy, Therrien, Thompson, Tiedemann, Trotier, Vadauskas, Vane, Velsink-brady, Vervoort and Yoheswarn. There's 282 people in my Family Tree - going back 15 generations. These are just the one's I know of, that I've recorded - there are many, many more. Yet, I have many Friends also and often think to myself, "they should be in my Family Tree too."

Always With Us (from Facebook Feb. 28, 2016)

Remember, all our Ancestors and all our Loved Ones that have passed away - every atom, every molecule of them and every breath they took, is still with us - here on Earth. As for their Spirit or Soul, it is as you believe. It may be that they're with you when you go to the Beach.

Sentiment and Computers

I get attached to some of the computers I own. I bought my first computer in 1986 - an Atari 520 ST. It was a marvel, but primitive when compared to today's PC's. I helped my Nephew Jason and my Nieces Chantal and Michelle by getting them Atari ST computers in the early 1990`s. I sold my Atari many years ago. But, about seven years ago, I bought someone else’s entire Atari 520 ST collection on ebay for $200 and I still have this.

 In 2007, I bought a brand new HP DV9000 Laptop. By far, the best PC I’ve ever owned. It did everything I wanted, just the way I wanted. But this laptop went kaput two years ago – a defective motherboard. There was a re-call, but I missed this.

 

A month ago, I bought another DV9000 on Craigslist with a cracked case – still in working condition for $100 - it had the motherboard factory repaired – I gave everything to Techmeister James Charlton. He took all the guts out of this laptop and installed everything into my original laptop, which is still in mint condition.

 

James also installed a SSD (replacing the original hard drive) for me.

 

I’ve spent two day installing Windows 7, all my programs, my iTunes, my photos and doing updates. It does everything I want, just the way I want, more quickly than ever. I’m happy – sentiment fulfilled. (Thanks James!)

Bobby - Grade 7.

There's my Boy!

John Charlton Passed Away

He was a good Friend, a great Boss and an outstanding Mentor to me. A few large Salmon breathed a sigh of relief when hearing this news, but I'm sure John will be there in spirit when his Family and Friends catch a big fish. . . I can still hear John say, GET THE NET! There will be a few bad drivers out there that will not know that they are butt-heads, because John won't be around to let them know what they are. John was quite ill for a couple of years and it was finally just his time to go. I'm going to miss him.

Golden Pork Medalions

For the 3rd time, one of my recipes, Golden Pork Medallions, was selected to be included in a "KCTS9 Cooks" cookbook: Kitchen Classics. KCTS9 is the local PBS station in Seattle, Washington. There's a link on my website to this recipe.

How I Spent My Summer Holidays In 2013.

On June 6, 2013, I had a heart attack at work. Strange indications that would come and go: Headache, sore jaw, sweating and weak feeling in my arms - but no chest pains. Went to see my Family Doctor and was told to go Lions Gate Hospital Emergency right away - I drove there (duh!) In the ER, I was told that I had a heart attack. On June 10th, at St. Paul's Hospital, a coronary angioplasty procedure was performed and a stent was placed in my heart - this was not fun at all - very painful at the beginning and the end of the procedure. I got to go home the next day with a very fine set of bruises in places I can't show you and a Mohawk haircut that's not on my head. The medical care I received was excellent from all Doctors and Nurses. My Wife Catherine showed that she has the "right stuff" - she was my Supergirl during and after "My 2013 Summer Holidays."

Angela's Grade 11 French Project

Click to view Angela's Project

Bobby got his Green Belt

It was a tough year for Bobby - he wanted to quit taking Karate lessons after the Summer. But he stuck with it and just got his Green Belt. Well done Bobby!

Ham by Dale

Hickory smoked, honey, mustard & brown sugar glazed ham. Fresh leg of pork, brine cured in a bucket for 9 days. Then hot smoked on my barbeque for 10 hours. Finished off glazing in the oven for two hours. First time I’ve done this. . . but it looks like ham and tastes very good – tender and juicy. Much better than store bought ham and that’s why I did it. Click on the link to see all photos


https://picasaweb.google.com/100205874675010503972/HamByDale?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Angela - Grade 11

Nice photo of our Angela at the start of Grade 11. After viewing this photo, Angela said, "there's dimples that I didn't know I had."

My Dad and the Hummingbird

My Dad and the Hummingbird
Back in about 1979, I was living in Vanderhoof, B.C. – Rick Hooper and I were sharing/renting a house from Rick’s Parents. The house was on about 4000 acres of land they owned. We were having a great time, working hard, drinking a lot and buying more ammunition than groceries each week.

After a long and damn cold winter, my Dad came up in May or June for a visit. He rode up with Don and Karen Charlton. They stayed for only a few days, but many legends were made during that visit. (Some of which I may tell you about later) My Dad and Rick’s Dad hit it off and they were like peas & carrots right away. They were going all over the countryside having a great time together. I think they were both glad to be hanging out with someone roughly their same age and a little alcohol may have been involved too.

Anyway, about the hummingbird - My Dad used to keep pet birds. He really liked them and he had quite a few over the years in the 1960’s – singing canaries mostly – until he had an accident with a pair of finches; he put them beside a window and draped the curtains over their cage, to give them some fresh air. After a while the Sun came around and they died in the hot Oliver, B.C. Summer Sun. Dad felt badly about this and he never kept any pet birds after that.

Hummingbirds used to come in the house in Vanderhoof. They couldn’t find their way out and would buzz up against the windows like a big bug. I would put my finger under them and they would sit there looking at me and huffing and puffing because they were very tired from buzzing on the window. If I walked away to take the hummingbird out the door, they would always fly off my finger back to the window. To take the little birds outside to set them free, I would have to catch them “cupped” with both hands, then go outside and let them go.

One of these hummingbirds came in while my Dad was visiting, so I showed him how they would rest on my finger. Then Dad tried this and sure enough, the little bird just sat there with its little chest heaving, staring at my Dad. Dad looked at me and smiled just a little. Then the hummingbird flew back onto the window and started buzzing around again. I told Dad to catch the hummingbird in his cupped hands; which he did. Dad then slowly walked outside and opened his hands to let the bird go. But it didn’t fly away – it just laid there, on its side, looking at my Dad. Dad brought his hand closer to have a good look at the colourful little hummingbird.

The hummingbird stayed on my Dad’s for 5 or 6 seconds, with the bird and my Dad looking each other in the eye from about a foot away from each other. Then it took off – buzzing away so quickly that it was out of sight in about a second. Dad turned around, look at me and he had the biggest smile I had ever seen. His face was just beaming when he said to me, “I liked that.” I’m certain my Dad felt some redemption for those little finches that fried in the Sun all those years ago. I was only happy to see my Father, who I loved more than any other man, so happy about freeing that little hummingbird.

This simple story is for you and my family – so you will know a little about my Father. There are none alive now, but me, who will remember this. If I don’t write this down, it’s gone forever. Think about this. . . what stories should you write about?

Poulin Family Vacation 2012

In August 2012, we drove down the Washington, Oregon and Northern California Coast. This is the slide show I made - turn your sound up.

Poulin Family Vacation 2012

Happy Birthday Alan

Slide show of my Brother Alan - we miss him always. Watch in full screen and turn your sound up. Why The Rolling Stones? Because Alan was a bodyguard at the Stones concert in Vancouver, B.C. in 1972. (He had some good stories about this too).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhi5mjfmJDw

Red Tiger 2011

Bobby's 2011 photo from Red Tiger Martial Arts.

Pantry Re-Done

What a nasty job this was! But we had the most disorganized pantry in the known Universe. First three photos are "before" and last five photos are "after" - now we just have to keep it clean.

Poulin Family Website

Published our new Website today: www.lottomars.com - created on our new iMac using Sandvox. It's a little simplistic right now, but there's links to our old Site. More stuff to be added soon.

Merry Christmas 2011

We wish you a very groovy Christmas and a far out New Year.

My Gold story: There’s gold in “them thar hills!”

In about 1980, my friend Don and I were exploring some old “Turn of the Century” gold mining sites in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. We came across where a small stream had eroded a way through the mines “tailings” area. The stream had exposed different coloured layers of sandy clay dirt. The coloured layers were in multiple layers 2 or 3 inches thick going dowm about 8 feet and the small area looked like a mini Grand Canyon – very cool looking. One of the layers was a bright blue colour – very unique. Don and I were playing with this “blue clay” throwing it at each other and molding shapes with it. It was incredibly sticky, like touching wet plaster. We went home and I mostly forgot all about this blue clay.

About 5 years later I was reading a fiction book about The Comstock Lode in Nevada by Louis L'Amour. In one part of the story, he tells a problem the miners are having with “sticky bright blue mud.” It’s getting stuck to all their equipment, hard to move in or even walk through. Then, just for the hell of it, one of the miners has the blue mud asseyed – it came out 60% gold & 40% silver. In the story, the miners made a fortune with this “sticky blue mud.”

Aha! I then remembered the sticky, bright blue clay that Don and I found years before. A few Months later, I went up in the hills again to the old mining site and grabbed a tupperware container of the blue clay – about a couple of pounds. I took this into Acme Analytical Laboratories on Hastings Street in Vancouver, B.C. and asked them to check for silver and gold. They looked at me like I was a little crazy because they usually get a bunch of rock core samples from mining companies that they have to grind-up to analyze – I told them they should charge me less, because my sample was already ground-up! They wouldn’t go for it and I paid about $100.00 for the testing (Don paid half latter).

The test came back; no silver – but .68 OUNCES PER TON FOR GOLD – which is good!

I next went to Dominion Maps on Granvile Street to find out about the site – to see if it was already claimed. It was interesting going through the maps – each one narrowing in closer and closer. . . until I saw that the whole area was covered in mining claims!

One day I may look into this further as I’ve been told that mining claims can expire. At a little over $1,700 per ounce for gold today. . . “one day” might be sooner that later. But what the heck will I do with gold bearing ore “sticky blue mud/clay” after I’ve found it? Is there a gold refinery around here someplace? We’ll see. . .

Dale Poulin

Orange Belt for Bobby Today

Bobby got his Orange Belt today. He's doing well at Karate and likes going every week. We are all very proud of our Little Man!

Angela Grade 9

Bobby Grade 3

Bobby passed Grade 3 with a good report card. He had fun all year long we are all very pleased with our Big Guy. WAY TO GO BOB!

Angela Grade 8

Angela finished Grade 8 with a very good report card. We're very proud of her, as Angela did a good job in school all year long. WELL DONE ANGELA!

Olympic Torch & Bobby

Someone brought a torch that was used in our 2010 Olympic relay to Bobby's School and Bobby got to hold it.

No More Daylight

After talking with my Nephew Chris, I signed-up on Facebook. Synced with my Yahoo contacts and had about 45 Friends to link with. Plus I invited about 75 more to join Facebook. My God! I'll never see daylight again!

Poulin Grandparents

My Cousin Denis sent me this photo of a newspaper clipping about my Father's Parents; my Grandmother and Grandfather. It's so nice to learn a little more family history. They had 19 children, not 15. I saw them only once when I was very young, about 4 years old - but I still remember them. This is the first I've seen them when they were young and I can see in their faces a little bit of all of us. (Click on image to enlarge)

To The Wilds of Fort Langley

Yesterday, we went out overnight to the "wilds" of Fort Langley, B.C. This was to test out our motorhome. Everything went well, except November here is definitily not the best time to go camping. The sound of rain on the roof put us to sleep. I put all our camp gear in the RV, except for our tents. There's room for about 10 times more stuff. I managed to dump the black & brown water sewage tanks without creating a 40 foot fountain (Remember Robin Williams in RV?) It's kind of cool to pull in, hook up and everything works. We had a nice lunch at The Java Planet - a 50's Diner, where Angela met Elvis.

The Wrecking Crew

There's a new walk-in shower going in soon, so the Boys had a lot of fun working on the "Wrecking Crew."

1993 Itasca Suncruiser 34 Foot Class A Motorhome

I picked up our family "Adventuremobile" last Monday. It was quite an trip (See the previous post). Angela and Bobby like it a lot and we'll be heading out on adventures soon.

Marysville Speed n' Custom

I travelled down to Portland, Oregon last Monday on Amtrak, which was a nice ride. I had not been on a train in 40 years. Stayed over-night in a Hotel near Sherwood, Oregon. On early Tuesday morning, I fired-up the 1993 Itasca Suncruiser 34 Foot Class A Motorhome I bought on Ebay, and headed back for the Border. Considering that I had never driven anything bigger than a pick-up truck before and that I managed to hit morning rush-hour in three different cities along the way, I was having quite an adventure. I was about 200 miles into my journey, when trouble started. The motorhome started getting noisy and running rough with little power. Luckily, I could pull into a rest area. Problem: No power at all in the batteries - all three of them! I phoned the nearest automotive shop in the area. (Internet is helpful in these situations!) The Guys from Marysville Speed n' Custom came almost right away. Ken helped to jump-start the RV and I drove to their location close-by. They were super! Within 90 minutes, I had two new batteries and a new alternator and was back on my way back to Canada. Their bill was reasonable. Their service was excellent. They are nice friendly people. I cannot thank them enough. See; www.marysvillespeed.com

KCTS 9 and Mashed Potatoes

I sent in my recipe for Poulin Family Mashed Potatoes: http://www.lottomars.com/mashed_potatoes.htm to KCTS channel 9 in Seattle, Washington USA and it was selected to be included in the "KCTS Cooks for the Holidays" Cookbook. This is the second one of my recipes that have been published in KCTS's cookbooks. I didn't get to cook anything "on air" - maybe next time!

Little Red Tigers

Bobby and Angela attended their first Karate lesson today and had a lot of fun. Soon they will be big red tigers.

Now we just have to fill it.

We finally got a nice big (21 sq.ft.) stand-up freezer. We've wanted one for quite a long time. No more digging to the bottom of our old small chest freezer to find something.

Angela Graduates Grade Seven

In a nice ceremony at Harold Bishop Elementary, Angela graduated from Grade Seven with her Classmates today. We're very proud of our Angela and know she will do well in High School next Fall.

Life Near The Beginning

It was a pleasure to experience a little life near the beginning. Yesterday, Catherine and I attended the Christening of Zion Philip Dizon. This cute little Guy is the son of our friends Butch and Mae Dizon. It was a nice ceremony with a good Luncheon. Warm congratulations to the Dizon Family.

Tony Poulin "Heart of Gold"

It has been a sad week for the our Family. My Brother Tony passed away last Saturday, May 23, 2009. Tony was only 58 years old. This is a rare photo of me and my siblings: taken with us all together as adults. The photo was taken in 1980 at our Father's retirement party at Indian Rock (Naramata), B.C. Left to right: Michael, Alan, Tony, Dale, Kevan and Danielle.

Any one who knows Tony well will agree that he had a heart of gold. Gentle and true, always willing to help out. Tony, along with Kevan, took care of our Father for many years.

Tony fell off a ladder about a year ago and broke his ribs. He didn't see a doctor right away and developed an infection in his lungs. He went to the hospital later in bad shape and then caught that superbug infection: Staphlycoccus aureus that is highly resistant to antibiotics. He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks, treated and released. Three weeks ago, Tony had a stroke and was back in the hospital. The superbug infection had come back and had got to his heart, liver, kidneys and brain. Tony went into a coma and never came back to us. He died peacefully in his sleep late that Saturday night.

I love my Brother and will always miss him. Tony has gone to join our Mother and Father, and our Brother Alan.
Video attached January 4, 2010 "Long Ago and Far Away." This is a little video (Turn your sound up) I made with some old super-8 clips and photos of Tony and other loved ones not with us any more; Mom, Dad, Alan and my old girlfriend Holly. There's video of Jason's Mom and Dad (Before he was born). My Brother Alan... is Christopher's Dad. Some of us in the video are still around and still going strong! Some of you have seen this before and some not. It's for us to enjoy and remember.


"Good Times" Video

Lottomars is Back!

The venerable and fantastic Lottomars domain: http://www.lottomars.com/ is mine once again. I started this site back in about 1995 and had a lot of fun with it. But I had let the domain slip away. It was picked up by others who pointed it at some less than savory destinations because there are so many websites that have links to Lottomars. In fact, Lottomars was in the top 5% of the Web for having the most links that lead to it. I felt that I had lost something that belongs to me. A few days ago I noticed that the domain was free again. With the help of Tajh at Blaze Telecommunications - http://www.blaze.ca/ - I was able to acquire my old favorite website again. Thanks Tajh!

Holly McFadden

Long ago (1977) and far away from where I am now, I dated Holly McFadden. In fact, we ended up living together for a while. I let her slip away from me, as I was a bit of a rambler back in those times. I still remember her well and with affection.

I only recently learned of her terrible death and don't wish to say anything about this. I also remember Holly’s Family; Her Mother, Father and two Sisters. They were all very nice to me and treated me well. My heart goes out to them all, as I know they will miss her so much. Most of what I remember about Holly I will keep to myself. I will tell you that she was very beautiful, highly intelligent, and strong willed. She was the type of woman who makes a man out of a man. This is the only photo I have of Holly. She is with me and my Mother and Father. I cannot remember where it was taken, but I’m glad the photo includes her smile. I think that if this photo is here, somehow her Family will get to see her "back then." I will always remember Holly McFadden.

Video added January 5, 2010. Two short Super-8 movie clips from back in 1977 of Holly when we were at a Bellyflop Contest at the old Coachhouse Hotel in North Vancouver. We had a lot of fun that day.

I may have found Holly's sister Gail. I sure hope she and her sister Coral get to see this post.

Sammy on The Wall

Thanks go to the Guys from ConnectPro who installed Sammy up on the wall. An excellent job and just what I wanted.

Sammy Arrived

Our new TV arrived today. It's name is Sammy (Samsung). Sammy is beautiful, tremendous, big and fantastic. 52 inch, 1080p, 120 hertz and so real, it is freaking me out. Sammy cost a lot of money, but worth every penny. It will be mounted on the wall next Saturday.

I hooked up an older PC to it and Sammy is now effectively a 52 inch computer monitor too.

Thanks go to Gurmeet at Future Shop in Burnaby for a good deal and excellent service. The Delivery Guys were super. They moved my old TV upstairs for me (Thing weighs 248 lbs.)

Angela Egyptian

Angela likes to write her name in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Fifty-seven going on Forty-two

I was almost always tired and sleepy, especially when driving. I would fall asleep after about 30 minutes when watching TV or reading. I would get headaches almost every day and some nights. It was sometimes like I had been drugged. I snored very loudly too - I was famous for it. Also and perhaps the worst thing was that I was frequently grumpy and irritable.

I finally told my family doctor and he had me tested for sleep apnea.

"The Greek word "apnea" literally means "without breath." There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer."

The test clearly indicated that I have sleep apnea. So, for the last two months, I have a machine beside my bed that pumps air into my nose when I'm sleeping. I have to wear a mask over my nose with straps around my head. My Wife and Kids laughed when they saw me with it on. It's quite intrusive, but well worth a little discomfort.

I don't snore now. I have not had a headache in over a month. I'm not tired all the time anymore. I'm not "Mr. Grumpy" at all. If fact, I feel better than I have in the last fifteen years.

If you have the symptoms that I had, go and get tested. . . don't put it off.

Girlie's Sun Run 2008

Girlie completed the Vancouver "Sun Run" Marathon in 2008. Way to go! We're all very proud of her!