OK sorry I've been away since 5 am Tuesday. Drove up country with rented van and spent the day engine testing near Cambridge and then drove over to Pulloxhill near Bedford to stay with an old driver from way back. His wife drove us out to dinner and of course whilst putting the world to rights we seemed to get through a bottle of rather nice red wine with our meal. Went back to his place and I was billeted in the attic room under the thatch where the rats and bats were having their version of the Commonwealth Games by the noise above my head. Now I have often been slightly puzzled by people talking about "STRONG" heat beat but as I lay there distended stomach pointing skywards and trying to ignore the goings on above I became fixated on my heart beat which was nicely regular but seemed to be vibrating the bed with each thump. Ah thought I this is what they mean.
Now as you probably guessed by now I have been at this game more years than I can remember so was quite sure there was nothing wrong. Pulse regular and about 65 just felt like my whole being was focussed on the beat and so it was. It didn't help that it was in time with the Frank Sinatra ear worm that was going round and round so I had to take myself in hand (NO not like that) and do something about it. I was tired. very tired and I had another day of engine testing today and trust me when you have spent weeks building a race engine no matter how many you have built you always worry till it comes off the test-bed with it's data sheet and a clean bill of health.
SO I lay back and did some deep breathing trying to remember to breath from the diaphragm rather than heaving my shoulders up and down like I usually do. LOL I tried to go to my special place, a lovely field of corn in the sunshine and within a few minutes the bloke in the next field revving the nuts off an engine had gone home, everything smoothed out and I dropped off to sleep and unlike normal nights only had to get up once about 2.30 before my alarm went off at 6.30. The point of the story I hope is that we AFers do tend to focus rather too much on our hearts especially when we are worried about things. I don't know why we feel this sort of thing but it isn't palpitations in the normal sense and all pointers seem to say it is in our heads. So for those others out there do try to work out a relaxation routine you can work through and above all DON'T WORRY about what is working fine. Maybe it wants you to know that!
And in case you are interested today went fine. Total mileage 568,@ 34.6 MPG & 50MPH average speed. (64 plate VW van). Three engines tested all OK and making all the right noises and horse power. Seven hours sleep in the last 40 hours but very happy. Isn't ablation wonderful?
PS Don't wake me in the morning. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
Bob
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Sounds like you have had a great and productive time. The poor old heart was probably worn out with excitement. Great to have you back. Promise not to wake you up tomorrow morning.x
One of my favourites. I used to do some work for a very rich rather large and rotund chap with round glasses who amongst many other things had a 1922 Bentley and I and the other mechanic always called him Mr Toad behind his back. I do not think he would have seen the joke.
Pleased to hear your trip went well! Thought you might like to try FlapJack's version of counting sheep. I run through the alphabet and try to name as many cars, both current and historic as I can for each letter. Apart from the more obvious ones, "E", "G" and "I" can be a bit of a challenge!!
You just woke me up!!.....Alfa Romeo, Armstrong Siddley, Allard, Avis, Austin, AC Cobra, Amphicar (bet u never thought of that one) AMC.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I really enjoyed reading this post...glad to hear you had a successful trip and all went well in the end. I try and go to my special place too if I can't sleep - it is a beautiful terrace overlooking white sands and the gulf of Mexico (where we go on holiday every year!). Keep well and thank you for all your great advice. Patricia.
Bob So pleased all is well. Yes I too, have a Relaxation place and find concentrating on breathing is so helpful in dealing with a thumping heart regular or irregular. Its fascinating how the mattress seems to
amplify heartbeats. Good advice as usual from you Mary C
What a lovely story. I think you are a wonderful person to have on this AF site and I always always trust everything you say as it is so sensible. I will try you relaxation techniques.We do a similar thing at our cardiac group called "Artful Dodgers".
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