Jedi mind tricks

No, I can't influence minds or read minds or even feel the Force, but I can do some things that a girlfriend once referred to as "Jedi mind tricks" (and if you're not a Star Wars follower, that reference is lost so just accept it as a funny name). These are not talents, which I define as things one is real good at doing naturally better than most others; these are things I've taught myself and so therefore could probably be done by anyone. "But just what", you ask, "are these tricks?" Well, I'm glad you asked.

First, while I get hiccups just like everyone else, I never keep them. Once I start, I can make them stop. It requires that I have a moment to relax and close my eyes, so I can't just make it happen any old place - like while I'm driving - but with about 30 seconds of effort, I can stop my hiccups. I've even managed to kinda/sorta teach some others, including my 11 year-old son, how to do it. But it's a hands-on process that has to be done when one actually has the hiccups, so don't ask me to show you how here.

Second, I can go to sleep. Yeah, I know - everybody goes to sleep, but I can go to sleep in no more than a few minutes, often a lot less than that. In addition, I can go to sleep just about anywhere, regardless of noise and/or light levels. Yes, I've gone to sleep standing up but I had to lean against a wall to do it. And I am not chronically sleep-deprived (although there are times when I am), so that's not the reason. This is something I learned to do when I was in the Navy but despite my best efforts, I've never managed to convey to anyone else how I do it. Also, on the other side of the coin, I can also wake up quickly. While I do NOT bounce out of bed all chipper and ready to face the day, I do wake up and get up when I have to. I can sleep for as little as 10 minutes if I'm tired so I'm very good at naps. And unlike what I've read in science magazines and the like, I start dreaming almost immediately upon falling asleep. Just another weirdness, I guess.

Finally, I can make my headaches stop. However, this is something that requires all my attention and therefore isn't very practical. When I get a headache, as long as I'm not trying to do anything except lie still, I can get my brain to ignore any pains I might have in my head. But if I have to do anything else, I'll do it with a headache. So far, I haven't managed to get this trick to work anywhere else on my body, much less on anyone else's body. It would be really nice if I could make my wrist/arm/shoulder stop hurting now, but for that I'll have to resort to ibuprofen. Or tequila.

Anybody else got any tricks they can do? Mind tricks, that is. We don't need to delve into those other tricks ... right now, anyway. But if you want to write me and tell me about them, I guess I can't stop you.