Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I was just browsing their website and found these Light Dims, which is a product for me: I hate the bright LEDs most electronic devices come with nowadays (I can't use my bigger Bluetooth headphones in the dark, because of the blinky LED, which either lights up the room or reflects in my tablet screen).

I've seen those before (those exact ones even ended up on my Amazon wish list) but ended up going the low-tech route and used a hole-punch to get round, black circles of electrical tape. I use that to cover the camera on my work laptop too. A friend of mine did the same using some leftover black touch-up paint for a car he used to own. Effective but more permanent than I like.

[badgoodDeb]

I wear a sleep mask when I sleep. I find that even slight amounts of light, from the street or wherever, make my eyes tense up, and I cannot rest. Voila: eye mask. For the last 20+ years.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I've seen those before (those exact ones even ended up on my Amazon wish list) but ended up going the low-tech route and used a hole-punch to get round, black circles of electrical tape. I use that to cover the camera on my work laptop too. A friend of mine did the same using some leftover black touch-up paint for a car he used to own. Effective but more permanent than I like.

I generally use black electrical tape, too. But sometimes I want a more elegant solution. Also, sometimes I don't want to black it out completely, just dim it. I think these stickers dim, though I need to do more research.

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I wear a sleep mask when I sleep. I find that even slight amounts of light, from the street or wherever, make my eyes tense up, and I cannot rest. Voila: eye mask. For the last 20+ years.

I don't mind light as such. Living in the city center I can deal with the security lights and streetlights (unless the bulb needs replacing and it's literally on the blink). I can also deal with red LEDs. I hate the green or, even worse, blue LEDs. They are too bright and I think it's a design fault to use them on electronics that are often used in the bedroom, such as chargers or alarm clocks. I once got a new digital alarm clock with cd player for Christmas. And the manufacturer, Philips, had made the display light up in bright blue with black numbers. It did have three lighting settings: light-up-the-room bright, 1000W-halogen bright and search-light bright. I could read a book on the lowest light setting. I put a small towel over the display to be able to sleep.

I find noise being much more of a problem for me at night. More and more so over the last couple of years. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and sometimes Sunday, there's some noise from nearby restaurants. Especially in summer when the doors and windows are open. When it rains somewhere nearby it drips loudly on, I think, an empty wheelie bin. My mind just locks on to that sound and lets not get started on the museum's airco when it's really warm. Luckily that wasn't a problem this year, since the museum has closed. Occasionally the anti squatters people had the airco on, but not the one with the annoying cycle. So I've been using a white noise app since earlier this year on the recommendation of a forum member. Which works great, but now I just need good headphones.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Looking into Sleephones. I've been considering getting a special headphone or earbuds for in bed. I like to listen to podcasts before going to sleep and to a white noise app whilst falling asleep. But I sleep on my side, and my regular earbuds are uncomfortable.

There seem to be a lot of different ones available. But if I get one I want a good one, preferably one that's got Bluetooth, since I tend to move around in my sleep. The latest model's got wireless charging, so I have to decide whether or not it's worth the extra money. The SleepPhones Effortless are €135 at Amazon Germany. Not cheap by any means, but if they work it'll be worth the money.

My wife has old corded sleep phones. Even these are excellent. The new models are probably even better. Highly recommended.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

My wife has old corded sleep phones. Even these are excellent. The new models are probably even better. Highly recommended.

Y'know, I use a sleep mask, to block light--when we moved to our new home a decade ago, the bedroom was very, very light. So, sleep mask. I've become accustomed to it, but I can't imagine putting headsets on! Yowza.

Hitch

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Hitch

So, sleep mask. I've become accustomed to it, but I can't imagine putting headsets on! Yowza.

I suppose if one had very prominent ears it might not be comfortable. But my wife loves the sleepphones. As do I - while she needs to listen to something to go to sleep, I need silence. And the sleepphones satisfy both of us.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I suppose if one had very prominent ears it might not be comfortable. But my wife loves the sleepphones. As do I - while she needs to listen to something to go to sleep, I need silence. And the sleepphones satisfy both of us.

I'm with you on the silence. For a long time, due to my insomnia, I preferred some type of white noise. But over the years, I've come to prefer as much quietude as possible.

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

My wife has old corded sleep phones. Even these are excellent. The new models are probably even better. Highly recommended.

I've decided to go for the cheaper (but apparently equally good) wired headphones from CozyPhones. They're only €20, so a good price for trying it out. If I like it I'll invest in the SleepPhones wireless with wireless charging.

Originally Posted by Hitch

Y'know, I use a sleep mask, to block light--when we moved to our new home a decade ago, the bedroom was very, very light. So, sleep mask. I've become accustomed to it, but I can't imagine putting headsets on! Yowza.

Hitch

It's noisy in the city center. There are only two times a year when it's really quiet: the night and morning of the December 25 and between 6am and 10am on January 1.

I usually listen to a podcast for a while, I like to do that with earphones. If I don't get sleepy from that I put on either my white noise app on my iPod on it's little speaker or classical music on my Sonos speaker. But on some nights it's too noisy outside and I get annoyed, then I put my earplugs in. So I want to use the headphones for listening to podcasts without hurting my ears and, for when it's noisy outside, to listen to music or white noise.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

So I've been using a white noise app since earlier this year on the recommendation of a forum member. Which works great, but now I just need good headphones.

I use a white noise generator too. Except, I call mine a CPAP. It solves two problems at once.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I use a white noise generator too. Except, I call mine a CPAP. It solves two problems at once.

We use an air purifier that also doubles as a white noise generator. Never fails - when the power goes out, it is the absence of sound that wakes me up.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

We use an air purifier that also doubles as a white noise generator. Never fails - when the power goes out, it is the absence of sound that wakes me up.

I'll just repost yours since that's exactly the same as our situation.

[trichobezoar]

Trying to watch The Purge online.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

We use an air purifier that also doubles as a white noise generator. Never fails - when the power goes out, it is the absence of sound that wakes me up.

I used to have one that I loved, for that purpose, but it drove Mr. Hitch insane. He couldn't abide blocking out potential noises that we should hear. He's not wrong, of course--if a felon is breaking into your house, or the place catches on fire, you'd want to hear that, wouldn't you?--but it's hard to give up, when your sleep hygiene is brutally out of whack. (sigh).

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

Our utility room isn't that big. Next to it is the boiler room, which isn't used for anything anymore, so when we got a dryer my father made a hole in the wooden wall between the two room and the dryer is standing in the boiler room through the opening. The hole was made bigger when my parents added a small freezer on top of the dryer. The freezer has gone and my father put the dryer on an old coffee table so you don't have to bend down to load it.

The only problem now is that through the boiler room cats can get into the upstairs front room, which is basically where my parents store a lot of stuff and we don't want the kittens to get in there (yet). I just spend almost half an hour with cardboard, tape and clips to shield off the access to the boiler room around the dryer from the kittens. Later this week they'll be allowed out of the livingroom and into the rest of the house.

I also cleared the stairs next to my bed; one of Nikita's favourite games was to run up the stairs and jump from the top onto my bed, preferably onto me when I was sleeping. I expect something similar to happen with the kittens.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I used to have one that I loved, for that purpose, but it drove Mr. Hitch insane. He couldn't abide blocking out potential noises that we should hear. He's not wrong, of course--if a felon is breaking into your house, or the place catches on fire, you'd want to hear that, wouldn't you?--but it's hard to give up, when your sleep hygiene is brutally out of whack. (sigh).

Hitch

Amusing thing - when our cat was ill a few months back, I could still hear her if she was wretching or coughing. As for the felon, we have a good alarm system for that.