Tag Archives: life experiences

Generation X, the Awesome Generation…

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Hands up if you were born between the years of 1965 – 1980… you are well and truly my people, the Generation X people. My generation.

As a Gen X myself, born in 1971, I love being a Gen X. I love how we know a lot of things to do with the generations that precedes us, The Greatest Generation – those born between 1901 – 1927, The Silent Generation – those born between 1928 – 1945 and The Baby Boomers – those born between 1965 – 1980 as they are our great grandparents, grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, parents, uncles, aunties but we also know a lot of stuff from the generations that succeeded us as well. We know about things to do with The Millennials or Generation Y – those born between 1981 – 1996, Generation Z – those born between 1997 – 2012 and the latest generation, Generation Alpha – those born between 2013 – 2025, as these are our children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, great nieces, great nephews, our friends children.

We just have a lot of cross generational knowledge with being a Gen X.

Generation X was the last generation who played in the streets, we were the last generation to record songs from the radio onto a cassette tape, we were the first generation to play video games, we were the first generation to use personal computers, we could walk over a kilometre without complaining about not being driven to our destination, we were the last generation to go to our friends homes to see them, remember having to be home as soon as the streetlights came on? We learned how to work the VCR before anyone else, we lived without mobile (cell) phones, we were the first generation who had Sony Walkman’s, we were before the internet, we were the last generation to drive in cars without seatbelts, we were the first generation to use chatrooms, we only had 4 TV stations to choose from and TV stations closed at midnight, we didn’t have social media, the music was also the best.

Generation X is absolutely the best generation in my books.

Until next time

Kaye

Making the most out of it…

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Recently I had to do a sleep study… I had no actual symptoms but the doctor I see thought it would be a good idea after I marked high as a candidate for sleep apnoea on a check list… the questions asked could have covered basically anyone as having sleep apnoea as most people would fit into the categories asked but hey, the questionnaire said I had symptoms of sleep apnoea, so I had to undergo a sleep study.

I saw the sleep specialist a couple of weeks after being referred by the GP and they arranged for me to take an at home sleep study. I booked a date and time to pick up a sleep study kit for the at home sleep study.

The day of the sleep study, I went to the medical centre and picked up the kit and took it home.

That night, I followed the instructions on how to place all the wires and electrodes on my body before going to bed. I looked and felt like a lab rat once all the wires, electrodes and electronic devices were attached and ready to collect the data from my night of sleep.

I am no stranger in doing a sleep study as I’ve done one previously a few years ago, a hospital sleep study, which involved a night sleeping on the narrowest and hardest hospital bed I think that they could find for me to sleep on. There were more wires and electrodes attached that time and the wires were connected to a bigger box I had to wear but the memory is still in my mind like it was yesterday.

The following morning before 9am, I had to return the sleep study kit back to the sleep specialist centre, then wait for the results which were given several days later by the sleep specialist.

At the appointment with the sleep specialist, I was diagnosed with having severe sleep apnoea and I would need to have a CPAP machine. Oh joy… not.

I then had to book another appointment with another person who would help me choose a suitable face mask and CPAP machine for me to use.

I went home with a CPAP machine, an Airsense 10 Autoset and a full face mask. The first night using the face mask, a Resmed Airfit F20, I couldn’t stand it… I couldn’t stand the air blowing straight on my face, the feel of the full face mask on my face. That night was a interrupted night of sleep. In fact, I hated the mask so much, I took it off, turned off the machine in the very early hours of the morning and left it off to sleep.

That first night while struggling to get used to the machine and battling with the full face mask, which was a losing battle, I thought of giving my machine a name as something fun. Since this machine was going to be my new sleeping companion I have to sleep with, I had better get used to it. I also decided that the machine was a He as well as it looks like a male. After much thought, not really, I came up with the name “Colin” for my CPAP machine… call me weird for naming a machine if you must… but Colin is named after the inventor of the CPAP machine, an Australian by the name of Colin Sullivan in 1980, a fitting name I thought. Here’s the funny thing, now I can talk about Colin, my machine and have people think he’s my partner haha.

After having a word with the company I obtained the CPAP machine from, they provided me with 3 other masks to try in the hopes that one of them is more suitable for me.

The face mask I have been using is a nasal pillow which just sits under the nose, which is perfect for me as it’s not a full face mask, I don’t have air blowing on my face and I’m not feeling as though I’m suffocating. I’m also a person who sleeps with their mouth closed, so I don’t need to use a full face mask to cover both my nose and mouth.

It’s early days with using the CPAP machine but I hope the set up I have now with the face mask I am using, I hope I feel the benefits of it soon and get a better night of sleep than I was having after receiving the results from the sleep study.

Until next time

Kaye

New things in life…

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A couple of weeks ago I went to see an optometrist as a suggestion from my doctor who wanted to see if my eyes were being affected by the start of an early medical diagnosis.

I went to the optometrist and was taken into an examination room where she  checked both my eyesight and if my eyes were affected by this medical condition.

The eye test was first, with reading lines and letters on a mirror, first the right eye and then the left, then given a card to read, I was able to easily read the small print with both the right eye and then the left eye, I was told I needed glasses for distance sight and my reading sight was still good.

Then the optometrist put drops in my eyes for her to be able to see the back of my eyes… those drops as they went in, stung a little bit as they did make my sight go blurry as she said it would. I was then informed that the drops will take 10 – 15 minutes to take effect.

So with 15 minutes to wait, I went and was going to get a quote for the glasses. There were a range of glasses frames being sold for half price, so I was directed to them. After trying on several pairs, I found the frame I wanted, with flexible arms and not chunky, or frames that stick out like a dog’s hind leg. Once the frames were chosen, I sat down in the front of the store and the quote was worked out… lenses – magnification with transition tinting and digital glare free. After being told the price and knowing that I’m going to need these glasses, I decided to just get them. Lucky for me as well, I do have optical as an option with my private fund, so they paid for the bulk of the cost of these glasses, I just had to pay for the gap.

Now that the frames were chosen and what I wanted was included as well, the order was put in to be processed.

By this time, the optometrist was ready for me again. I went back into the examination room and sat back down in the chair. A machine was manoeuvred towards me that the optometrist used to look into my eyes, the lights of the room were turned down and the optometrist used this machine and a bright light shining into the parts of the eye she was looking at, she did her thing. First the right eye and then the left.

One thing she did notice, apart from my eyes not being affected by the medical condition but I do have a freckle at the back of my eye, which is something they will keep an eye on yearly.

Today, I picked up my new glasses, or as I refer to them, my new friends.

Am I bothered by the fact that I now have to wear glasses? No because if they help me to see in the distance as they are designed to do, that’s going to be something in my favour, although it is quite humorous seeing people in a particular age group in denial they do need glasses for reading lol.

So for anyone who does wear glasses, I’ve joined you all now… and I can see clearly now, so that is definitely a good thing.

Until next time

Kaye

Life lessons…

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Here’s a few things that I have learnt about life, so listen up the younger generation.

Kids, time may go slowly for you as you have to wait forever for your next birthday, or Christmas, or for some event you are eagerly awaiting but as you get older, time flies by, days just roll into one at times. I actually enjoy those days that simply drag.

Enjoy your childhood as you are only a child for such a very short time and you miss those years as an adult. I do love it when I get the chance to be a big kid though, being an adult isn’t always about being “grown up”, there is having some fun. Even when you are an adult, keep the “big kid” side of you. Just because you are an adult, doesn’t mean you have to always act like one.

Respect your elders and when the opportunity arises, ask them about their life, nothing better than a real life history lesson.

Life doesn’t revolve around those gadgets you have either. You can actually live without them. You can also live without Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Tik Tok or whatever other social media platform you use too, trust me, I grew up in a time before those things and I did okay. You can actually miss things that are actually going on around you when you are constantly looking at a screen. I definitely precede the technology you enjoy today, and I live to talk about it. Going without my smartphone is for me liberating as no one can reach me… I enjoy going off the grid and not allowing my smartphone to rule my life so when I do back to my smartphone, the messages and whatever I’ve missed will be there ready for me to see it when I’m ready to see it…

Ah, yes, if you think you know everything, believe me, you don’t. We adults may be older but we do happen to know a lot more than you. We have experience, life lessons and a vast amount of knowledge. There are some things you can teach us but we can teach you more.

Another thing, if you want to try and pull a fast one on your parents to get something, forget it. Your parents are onto you already and they have probably tried the same things on their parents growing up but I will give you points for giving it a good try though 😉

Enjoy life as a kid because those times you will never get back.

Until next time…

Kaye