h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

How about plain old-fashioned rain? Or wind (the outdoors stuff, not the vindaloo you had for dinner)?

Rain on the outside of a tent. Perfect.

A ticking clock. Even the chimes from our clock downstairs don't bother me. Unless I've been lying awake for a long time, in which case they let me know how long I've been awake!

Seriously though, 'unfocussed noise' is the only kind I can cope with when I'm trying to get to sleep. Music or speech, even if it's the TV on in the living room, keep me awake.

Another advantage to using your computer's hard drive as a "cure" for insomnia is that if perchance the cure doesn't immediately work then you can get up and check your emails and have a quick look at who's on h2g2.

Four hours later you are so tired that sleep always comes rapidly. Trust me.

After the water heater exploded and I came home to find my house literally awash, I had great difficulty sleeping for many months because any random noise the house made -- and houses in tropical climes make many random noises -- would engender a subacute panic attack. I had lost all confidence in the house as a protective structure, and a cracking sound from the fridge or some joist up in the attic had me convinced that a sinkhole was about to open up and swallow the whole property. I would lie there, senses straining, trying to remember where all the important documents were and whether I ought to get up and put all the valuables in the car, you know, just in case.

Noise was the only cure. I have one of those $50 humidifiers in the corner of the room, whirring softly through the night. Not only does it give me sleep but it's good for my sinuses, too.

Lil

Did you know that about 99% of all problems with a house are caused by water in one form or another?