MUFFLED, MUMBLING, MASKED MAN

I am SO tired !  When I am tired it takes all my energy to remain calm when dealing with "4M" (aka The Man). On a good day he drains my strength but this past month I have been exhausted for some unknown reason so I am always dragging my butt.  I am probably so tired because of all the "happy drugs" I am taking to remain calm.  Calm is good, catatonic is something else.  But that's a blog for another day.

Back to "4M".   I have mentioned in previous blogs that The Man and I are both blessed with having to wear sleep apnea head gear.  It drives me NUTS !!!!!  I hate the damn mask and hose. I wake up multiple times a night with the mask half off and/or the hose wrapped around my neck. Sleep apnea will not be the cause of my death but the mask and hose will!  It is a royal pain in the arse !

The Man on the other hand has no trouble at all sleeping with his mask and hose.  His machine is actually a BiPap machine.  It forces air into his lungs to push the excess Co2 out. According to The Man it makes him fall asleep instantly and deeply as soon as he puts it on.  This is a wonderful thing for him and I am very happy that it helps him to feel so good.  Unfortunately once he puts his mask on he thinks he can still carry on a conversation with me. 

Let me set the stage for you . . . It's 11 PM at night and I am now totally wiped out from a long day of doing nothing.  "4M" and I have had dinner, moved to the couch to watch some TV, taken showers and gotten ready for bed.  I drag my butt into the bedroom, brush my teeth, set up my machine, take my pills, turn on the fan, turn down the AC so I can sleep and then crawl into bed.  "4M" and I have spent the ENTIRE day together but it is NOW when The Man decides he wants to chat!  

This happens EVERY night so I stall getting into bed by sitting on the bed to put on lotion, make small talk, whatever, to see if he has anything he wants to chat about.  I get NOTHING because his focus is still on the TV.  As soon as I crawl into the bed and take out my hearing aids . . . THAT . . . is when he decides he has to tell me something crucial to the future of the universe.  I take off my mask, put in my ears and ask, "WHAT?"  He then tells me it's not important, we can talk about it in the morning.  I take out my hearing aids, put my mask back on, lie down and attempt to get comfortable.  It is at this point that "4M" decides to put on his mask and turn off the TV.   I think Ahhhhhhhh, sleep at last.   NOT !!!!!

The room is dark, my ears are out and my mask is on so I can hear virtually nothing . . .  except somewhere in the distance I hear mumbling coming from the other side of the bed. If I don't respond I get a poke and a question which I assume is saying, "Did you hear me?"    

Now in the past I have been very patient with this nightly routine but I have reached the limit of my patience.  The response "4M" now gets is me pulling off my mask and shouting, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR MASK ON !!!!!!!!!"  Which naturally sends him into a snit because I am pissed.  

So much for a good nights sleep when my blood pressure is now up to on thousand !

And yet I guarantee that tonight and every night until I murder him the game will continue.