It’s a gift and a curse being a deep sleeper. I know plenty of people who have a really hard time falling asleep or staying asleep every night. I truly wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy because it sounds terrible to me. At the same time, I don’t think that people understand how difficult it can be when you chronically fall asleep and can’t be stirred. Apparently, I am the sort of person who can be literally shaken without ever waking up. My bigger problem is how easily I can fall asleep as long as I’m in the right air conditions. Literally. Since I was a kid, I have always slept in the room that was closest to the central cooling system. I remember many hot and humid summer nights when I would lie in my bed and listen to the air conditioning equipment turn on and off until I fell asleep. Apparently, this association between sleep and air conditioning effectively rooted itself in my brain and body. To this day, I struggle to fall asleep unless I have a large HVAC device nearby. The background sound that it provides immediately lulls me into a deep and restful slumber. The only issue is, I can’t turn off my sleep response when I hear a central HVAC system chugging along in the background. The moment that I get home each day, I’m almost guaranteed to pass out on the couch when the AC system kicks into gear. For the rest of the night, my family can’t seem to wake me up… Unless they turn off the central cooling system and torture themselves with hot indoor air.