I find dead silence a little unnerving. The whir of a fan is good for nodding off, and I also frequently turn the sleep timer on the TV when I go to bed. It can't be too loud, just enough that I can just make out what they're saying. Usually helps if the program is really boring

;) This is I believe is called respondent conditioning, you know like though dogs the ones you ring the bell and they drool. ;)We're so used to background noise we are disturbed when it isn't there:-\___________Ernie of Maine_____

Usually, I must go to sleep via music. :headphone Since I can listen to just about anything, except for polka , any kind of music will normally do.

i've always had problems with falling asleep. There are days i am so wound up from work, or days when i am planning the next day's actvities that leave my brain racing and i can't sleep. Or when the ringing in my ears prevents sleep. On those nights, i willfully put on the radio, softly, with a hour timer. Usually, this works. I like neighborhood noise, too and can fall asleep listening to the occasional car or footstep on the sidewalk. Out in the country, I can also fall asleep to the noises of the woods. In fact, sometimes i can sleep hours longer and deeper in the country, especially if I know things at home are ok and the cat sitter's not having problems. The worst places for me to sleep are on planes, where I am extremely uncomfortable, and in hotel rooms, where the television temptation usually keeps me awake and where I can't open windows. At the Trump Circus(?) hotel in Atlantic City on one really bad business trip, I spent an unbelieveable three days as an insomniac. My room seemed completely soundproof and the canned air from the AC did not help. I had pills, but they just made me worse. The ringing in my ears was driving me crazy since it was the only thing I could hear after turning out the lights. As I recall, the clock radio's radio function wasn't operational. Felt like a zombie, acted like one, too.

Background noise will keep me from sleeping - especially if it is unfamiliar.

We live in the boondocks and there are no neighbors, so things get pretty quiet at night. Once I woke from hearing a strange noise and realized that I was awakened by my stomach gurgling!

Coyotes howling or an owl hooting will wake me up also.

FianceeUvBigGuy (imported) wrote: Fri Aug 15, 2008 6:56 am I turn on the Bose Wave in my BR, tuned to either a conservative talk radio station or some classical music

OMGY, I bet like me you set the alarm radio to liberal talk radio program to get the juices flowing in the morning!

Arab Nights (imported) wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:56 pm OMGY, I bet like me you set the alarm radio to liberal talk radio program to get the juices flowing in the morning!

I tried that...ONCE...but knocked the radio off my nightstand when I heard that nasty little S.O.B. Harry Reid's smarmy little voice. Yukko!

The past several AMs, a woodpecker has been drumming me awake around dawn. I've actually seen him hard at work. He's beautiful but I wish he could do "the laugh"

My dad loves Woody and imitates the laugh perfectly (and all too often) Heeeeeere's Woody!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=290w4Ec08O8

The intro music on the video is magic! It makes me want to hear BigGuy play again. He was a "king stud trumpeter" in college before he entered active service in the Army and still "keeps his chops up" by playing in a fine community concert band in the town near his current post.

He even carried a bugle in his tank during Desert Storm just to blow "Charge" for the Cavalry Troop he commanded way back then. That really spooked Saddam's guys. They thought John Wayne and the horse soldiers were coming after them.

There are several $$$ trumpets, cornets, and a flugelhorn of his stored in the Big House. Ash(leigh) 'n I take turns oiling the valves about every two months. We use up a lot of silver polish and old rags too.

I tried to self-teach myself to play one of BG's cornets...UGLY!:(

I'll stick to my major instrument...Clarinet.

Yoli