I get a lot a lot of emails.  About 200 per day, 90 percent of which I delete.  The rest have something to do with the show or that I might want to look into down the road.

But, I received one the other day the really caught my eye.  You see, this Friday is not only St. Patrick’s Day, it’s “national sleep day!”  

 

Who knew??

 

But wait, there’s more.  This particular email was from someone connected with the website calm.com and was entitled, “The Strangest Insomnia Cures”

 

I enjoy reading about “the strange”, so I checked it out.

 

Back in the old, old days like around the 15th century, the big “cure” for insomnia was thought to be rubbing dog's earwax on your teeth!   

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I tried that over the weekend.  My dog would have no part in it.  The list doesn’t get much better.

 

Here’s the top 11 ancient cures for insomnia as listed on the website:

 

Rank    Insomnia Cure     

  1.     Rubbing dog's earwax on your teeth     
  2.     Eating sea slug entrails before bed     
  3.     Drinking a potion containing the bile of a castrated boar     
  4.     Rubbing dormouse/field mouse fat on the soles of your feet    
  5.     Lathering your hair in yellow soap   
  6.     Eating fried lettuce before bed
  7.     Drinking a brew of lettuce opium
  1.     Eating a raw onion before bed     
  2.     Pointing your bed northwards     
  3.    Watching a video of a crossword puzzle tournament     

    11.=    Curling and uncurling your toes     

    11.=    Drinking cinnamon and banana and tea     

 

According to calm.com, the idea that smearing your teeth with the earwax of a dog would cure insomnia is credited to Gerolamo Cardano, a 15th century doctor and mathematician in Renaissance Italy whose other credits included being a founder of probability theory.

It’s obvious people have been suffering for a long time.  Groucho Marx once said the best cure for insomnia is to get lots of sleep!  That’s what I’m going to do, the dog earwax doesn't taste good!

 

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