Pre-Christmas Greetings and CPAP Dreams

I am so ready for Christmas this year mainly because I'm looking forward to having some time off from my day job. I don't know how I screwed things up, but I only left myself with 2 vacation days so I'm working more than I normally would over the holidays. I don't normally travel during the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because it's a hassle, but I do normally leave myself about 4-5 vacation days to use around the holidays. Not this year! I burned through just about all of them. I won't make that mistake again.

I was recently diagnosed with having sleep apnea, so my doctor recommended I get a CPAP machine. I figured I would hate it because the thought of having some contraption strapped across my face like the monster from Alien while I slept freaked me out. However, since I've been using the CPAP for a few weeks now, I've found it to be pretty soothing. I did have to change face masks because the original one I was given (shown below) kept leaking and leaving marks on my face, so I switched to one that covers your nose and mouth and it's a lot better. My only complaint is that I can't really wear the new mask with my glasses, so I only put it on when it's time for lights out. No more watching TV with it on before I go to bed (like I did with the old mask). I knew I snored so I wasn't surprised to find out I had sleep apnea. But the CPAP has really helped the problem. When I was initially tested, I was having around 24 epsiodes a night. Now I'm down to single digits (around 1-6). It's great and I'm glad my insurance helped to pay for the machine. I still have to pay out of pocket for part of it (and the accessories), but I appreciate the insurance help. With so many people struggling these days to have health insurance (or going without it at all), I'm always grateful that I do have it through my employer. Too bad we have idiots in the government who don't understand (or don't care) that high insurance costs can significantly impact a person's income. 

Why Didn't This Happen?

I was reading a thread on Datalounge earlier about why the metric system was never adopted in the United States. I remember being in grade school in the 1970s and being told that we would convert to the metric system soon. Alas, it never happened. Why not? For a variety of reasons: it's too "foreign" for Americans, we're too lazy to learn an entirely different measurement system, it's unnecessary at this point. I read somewhere that the US and one other country (that I can't remember) are the only ones who still don't use the metric system. Wow. Actually, metric measurements are used on labeling in the US for items like soda pop and included (usually in parentheses) on other goods like lotion bottles, milk containers, etc. 

Aside from the metrics push in the 1970s, I recall a push to make Europe and Asia into one continent: Eurasia. What happened to that? Nothing, apparently. I can't even imagine now European and Asian countries agreeing to align as one continent but, back in the 70s, this was a thing. It was a different time...