Sometimes I wonder if I hear things the way everyone else does, even with my hearing aids. Once, I made someone wear one of my hearing aids and asked if it sounded different than normal hearing, and of course the answer was yes. Granted, this is probably because I hear worst at high frequencies and thus the aids turn up the sounds on those more than low ones, hence to a normal hearing person, they would sound pretty atrocious. I have enough “real” hearing to be able to listen to my radio in my car at a medium high volume (sans hearing aids) and actually hear it. And headphones (for which I remove the aids) sound basically the same as music from a radio with the hearing aids in. But I still wonder if I process the sound in the same way, if it sounds different to hearing people, and if I'm missing some wonderful sounds, or if other people are missing wonderful sounds--maybe the things that sound like pure heaven to me are just sounds to others...I will never know. The only time it really irritates me is when I am not wearing my hearing aids and desperately want to hear what someone is saying (swimming and immediately upon waking or showering).
There are, however, numerous advantages.
Anytime I don't want to hear something, I simply press a button and the hearing aids "go dark" while also acting as earplugs. This is very beneficial when it comes to sirens, squealing brakes, unruly children, etc. It also greatly reduces the urge to smack said children, which is good considering they aren't mine and I’m usually in public and don’t even know the kids.
When I press the button once, it goes to "telephone" mode, during which I can talk on a (land) line without having to remove them. I don't usually use it for phone conversations (I can hear well on phones and usually just take one out); HOWEVER, I recently discovered that with them on this setting, they pick up various electromagnetic (I'm assuming it's EM, anyway) noise, and I can hear motors and equipment--even if they are fairly far away. It's neat. Random thought: I wonder if, because of their electrical nature, they'd be wiped out in the event of large EM radiation or nuclear radiation? Maybe I should avoid the power plants....
I sleep REALLY WELL. I don't hear the bus going by every ten minutes or the loud cars or the rumblings of my elephant-like cats. I love sleep, so this is also a very good thing, unless I'm home alone and afraid of robbers (which, of course, is even worse now with the second break-in). Then I'm faced with the choice of leaving them in and sleeping like crap or taking them out and not hearing the potential thieves breaking in. I choose sleep and potential thieves most of the time, though I keep various weaponry and my handy alarm key fob with panic button basically under me while I sleep if the hubby isn’t there. Just in case.
My ears are never cold. In fact, I didn't realize how cold one's ears could get until I (for whatever unknown reason) was outside in the winter without the aids. I hightailed it back inside and put them in and was warmed. Whew.
Nothing is ever too loud. Most new digital hearing aids have compression built in, which is a fancy term for not transmitting loud noises beyond a certain loudness (i.e. they don't just magnify noise linearly. Yes I'm a dork). At first, this was bad, because the "loudness tolerance" for this particular brand was set extremely low, and anytime there was anything even resembling noise I would hear them actually masking it. It drove me nuts. So we adjusted some stuff and now they're great! *Note: this feature comes in extreme handy at concerts--my mom and sister's ears rang for three days after the last one and mine didn't at all.
The drawbacks, though...they are plentiful as well. 22 years with them has produced some doozies.
Somehow I always run out of batteries when on a trip somewhere when I'm not driving. This means I have to ask our hostess or whoever is driving to hightail it to a drugstore or Wal Mart ASAP, politely. But desperately. Because otherwise I WON'T BE ABLE TO HEAR ANYTHING.
Once, I flushed BOTH of them down the toilet accidentally. Don't ask. I dropped one into the (clean, empty) toilet once, too, prompting my mother to disallow them from the bathroom forevermore. Probably a smart policy given my...well...let’s just euphemistically say, “tendency toward blonde moments.”
Another time, I forgot them at home when going to school and my mom had to bring them to me. I was in kindergarten and had been wearing them for two years at that point. I'm still not sure how one manages to leave the house without being able to hear...
At a friend's house after a sleepover in fourth grade, we were playing with water guns. You guessed it, friend scored a direct hit to the ear and it wouldn't work anymore! I freaked, my mom arrived later to pick me up and instructed me to hold it in front of the A/C vent for a while and it was good as new. I think I thought that my friend did it on purpose (even though most of my friends didn't even know I had hearing aids, and if they did, probably wouldn’t have realized that water + hearing aids = very bad. And that was the very first time I had spent any time at that person’s house…she probably forgot they were even there). Apparently I was a little conspiracy theorist or something.
Still another time, my mom's cat decided that earwax was her absolute most favorite thing in the entire world, and I woke up and found that one of my “ears” was missing. It took my parents and me an hour of frantic we’re-gonna-be-late-for-school! searching to find it (on the floor, in the back of the closet)...and when I picked it up I realized it had been licked clean. GROSS. To this day I cannot leave them out at my parents' house or the cat will take them.
So there. Everything you never wanted to ask your friends who have hearing aids, in one (rather lengthy) post!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Smells
The new year came in with a vengeance--I had a week and a half off work, and then class and work both started up again on the fifth. I'm still trying to recover.
Anyway.
So I'm sitting in class last week (maybe the third day of class?) and all of a sudden, I'm sneezing. And I'm afraid I can't stop. During a lull, I am conscious enough to realize that I think it's the girl's perfume who is sitting beside me. Yikes. I inch to the left in my chair, hoping to escape the nostril-tingling fumes. No dice. I sneeze. My nose runs. My eyes water. Everyone else in the room is doing an EXCELLENT job of not noticing, including the professor, who is very carefully not looking at me. Or anyone, actually. Finally, I just turn my head. Ahhhhhhh, sweet relief. Eventually I inch far enough away to stop sneezing. I hope she didn't think she smelled bad...I have no idea how it actually smelled, only that it invaded my nose like an explosion of those little things you blow off dandelions in the summer. Fired into the nostrils via jet stream. That's never happened to me before. I hope it doesn't become a common occurence-- "Oh, hi, Mrs. X, it's nice to meet you!" (lean in for handshake, perfume causes nostril tingling, and Mrs. X now has snot all over her.....hmmm...this could be problematic).
So I resolve that I can't sit beside this girl anymore. Which in and of itself is problematic because she is the girlfriend of a friend of mine, and I don't want her to think I don't like her. But there are plenty of other seats, right?
Fast forward five days, same class. I get there late and have to take the remaining seat near the front. It's next to a guy I don't know. As soon as I sit down, I almost gag. My brain is going, "BODY ODOR BODY ODOR BODY ODOR BODY ODOR YOU HAVE TO MOVE. NOW, WOMAN!" I (stealthily, and without expressing the panic I feel, I hope) glance around and realize unless I want to cause a semi-major disruption, I can't change seats. So I practice the inching away technique some more and breathe through my mouth. (Seriously, people, it was the sour sweaty BO that you only get from BOTH exercising rigorously AND not showering for a few days). Then I sort of do this weird head tilt thing to aim my nostrils to my left while pretending I'm just trying to understand the professor (same one as before) better. I resolve not to sit next to this guy anymore either.
Then today, I get to class (late, again--well, late enough to not have much seat choice) and have to sit beside him again. I instinctively hold my breath. But then I (reluctantly, while breathing through my mouth) sit down and take a tentative whiff. Apparently, he has showered, though not recently, recently enough to not reek. I breathe a (small) sigh of relief and resolve to be very, very early to that class from now on.
Is there a "Supersmellers Anonymous?" Because I totally need that. This is just a small sample of what my poor poor nose goes through on a fairly regular basis. Based on this, I have decided when I get pregnant (in five or maybe ten years), I'm going to just have to hole up at home, not cook bacon, not wear perfume, not poop or have to smell it, and have something that still smells good to my pregnant, odor-revulsed selfnext to me at all times so that if I catch a whiff of something untoward, I can just smother my face with the smelly-good thing and NOT PUKE.
However, I would venture to guess that because I smell what most people don't (or smell it long before they do) I'm a supertaster and therefore food tastes better to me than most people. Which is good if you are my taste buds, but bad if you are my weight. Bad with the good, though, right?
Anyway.
So I'm sitting in class last week (maybe the third day of class?) and all of a sudden, I'm sneezing. And I'm afraid I can't stop. During a lull, I am conscious enough to realize that I think it's the girl's perfume who is sitting beside me. Yikes. I inch to the left in my chair, hoping to escape the nostril-tingling fumes. No dice. I sneeze. My nose runs. My eyes water. Everyone else in the room is doing an EXCELLENT job of not noticing, including the professor, who is very carefully not looking at me. Or anyone, actually. Finally, I just turn my head. Ahhhhhhh, sweet relief. Eventually I inch far enough away to stop sneezing. I hope she didn't think she smelled bad...I have no idea how it actually smelled, only that it invaded my nose like an explosion of those little things you blow off dandelions in the summer. Fired into the nostrils via jet stream. That's never happened to me before. I hope it doesn't become a common occurence-- "Oh, hi, Mrs. X, it's nice to meet you!" (lean in for handshake, perfume causes nostril tingling, and Mrs. X now has snot all over her.....hmmm...this could be problematic).
So I resolve that I can't sit beside this girl anymore. Which in and of itself is problematic because she is the girlfriend of a friend of mine, and I don't want her to think I don't like her. But there are plenty of other seats, right?
Fast forward five days, same class. I get there late and have to take the remaining seat near the front. It's next to a guy I don't know. As soon as I sit down, I almost gag. My brain is going, "BODY ODOR BODY ODOR BODY ODOR BODY ODOR YOU HAVE TO MOVE. NOW, WOMAN!" I (stealthily, and without expressing the panic I feel, I hope) glance around and realize unless I want to cause a semi-major disruption, I can't change seats. So I practice the inching away technique some more and breathe through my mouth. (Seriously, people, it was the sour sweaty BO that you only get from BOTH exercising rigorously AND not showering for a few days). Then I sort of do this weird head tilt thing to aim my nostrils to my left while pretending I'm just trying to understand the professor (same one as before) better. I resolve not to sit next to this guy anymore either.
Then today, I get to class (late, again--well, late enough to not have much seat choice) and have to sit beside him again. I instinctively hold my breath. But then I (reluctantly, while breathing through my mouth) sit down and take a tentative whiff. Apparently, he has showered, though not recently, recently enough to not reek. I breathe a (small) sigh of relief and resolve to be very, very early to that class from now on.
Is there a "Supersmellers Anonymous?" Because I totally need that. This is just a small sample of what my poor poor nose goes through on a fairly regular basis. Based on this, I have decided when I get pregnant (in five or maybe ten years), I'm going to just have to hole up at home, not cook bacon, not wear perfume, not poop or have to smell it, and have something that still smells good to my pregnant, odor-revulsed selfnext to me at all times so that if I catch a whiff of something untoward, I can just smother my face with the smelly-good thing and NOT PUKE.
However, I would venture to guess that because I smell what most people don't (or smell it long before they do) I'm a supertaster and therefore food tastes better to me than most people. Which is good if you are my taste buds, but bad if you are my weight. Bad with the good, though, right?
Monday, December 22, 2008
I Need a Constant Reminder
Whenever I want to spend money, which is pretty often, I get this weird feeling--I get excited, soon followed by guilt over spending (especially now, with our budget stretched to the breaking point), then I have an internal argument over whether to actually do it or not. I usually have about a 50/50 chance of spending or not.
But I read this today: "You don't cut out things that you value," Rob said. "The most important thing (about spending money) is can you remember it? I vividly remember those trips years later." (from an interesting article on MSN Money). And it stuck...I am going to add this to my repertoire of things to say to myself when I think I want something. Because usually, purchases aren't memorable. Yay another step to Financial Independence!! Or something. We still have an astronomically long way to go, but I'm chugging along.
But I read this today: "You don't cut out things that you value," Rob said. "The most important thing (about spending money) is can you remember it? I vividly remember those trips years later." (from an interesting article on MSN Money). And it stuck...I am going to add this to my repertoire of things to say to myself when I think I want something. Because usually, purchases aren't memorable. Yay another step to Financial Independence!! Or something. We still have an astronomically long way to go, but I'm chugging along.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Awkward Question
A detective from the Police Department called me today, to ask if I could think of any reasons why I'd been burglarized twice in as many months...I said no.....
Because, how do I say, well, it's probably because I'm white (living in a very much non-white neighborhood) and because my house is the only rehabbed one on my block...?
And I don't have anyone home all day like most of my neighbors (they are either retired or have parents living with them or something)...
Argh.
Because, how do I say, well, it's probably because I'm white (living in a very much non-white neighborhood) and because my house is the only rehabbed one on my block...?
And I don't have anyone home all day like most of my neighbors (they are either retired or have parents living with them or something)...
Argh.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
I Live in the Ghetto
Got broken into. Again.
Creep factor: I only just OPENED the donated laptop on Thursday night for about ten minutes, and then stowed it away again (NOT in front of any windows).
Creep factor #2: It's possible they knew 1) there was only a glass break sensor on the master bedroom window, no contact sensor and 2) we didn't have the motion sensors on because we don't know if the cats will set it off--because the window was carefully (and quietly, I assume) pried open, and they left using the same window rather than walking out a door.
(Of course, it is possible that all those things are pure coincidence and I'm not really being spied on, but geez).
I am so angry. I feel violated. All my shit was rifled through. Again, the laptop was the only thing taken. But ugh. They were much more thorough this time--drawers opened and rifled through, mattress moved, stuff in the closet thrown around...however, they didn't really make that much of a mess though because my house is SO messy right now. Which is both sad and funny.
Anyway. Back to work.
Creep factor: I only just OPENED the donated laptop on Thursday night for about ten minutes, and then stowed it away again (NOT in front of any windows).
Creep factor #2: It's possible they knew 1) there was only a glass break sensor on the master bedroom window, no contact sensor and 2) we didn't have the motion sensors on because we don't know if the cats will set it off--because the window was carefully (and quietly, I assume) pried open, and they left using the same window rather than walking out a door.
(Of course, it is possible that all those things are pure coincidence and I'm not really being spied on, but geez).
I am so angry. I feel violated. All my shit was rifled through. Again, the laptop was the only thing taken. But ugh. They were much more thorough this time--drawers opened and rifled through, mattress moved, stuff in the closet thrown around...however, they didn't really make that much of a mess though because my house is SO messy right now. Which is both sad and funny.
Anyway. Back to work.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
More Saving Tips from the 30-Day Challenge
Tip #25: Earn more money using your God-given skills.
Basically, use the skills you have either freelancing, being a tutor, babysitting, whatever. Just DO it instead of thinking that you can't. I will try to tutor...I'm great at math and good with kids, and I like the "aha!" moments...Ramit suggests looking on Craigslist for tutors needed. I'll do that in a minute while still on lunch break!
Tip #26: Gardener? Cleaning lady? DIY instead.
We don't have any of these services...I guess the closest thing that might apply is that I sometimes get my car washed and vacuumed at one of the cheap $20 places. But that's because a) I have very little time and I'm so anal it takes me about six hours to get my car the way I want it and b) I live in Atlanta and WE CAN'T USE WATER RIGHT NOW. I may sneak and do it anyway.
OOH! I know what applies! Shaving my cat! I use a groomer! I think I might get husband to help me with that this weekend. She needs it and it's $45 bucks and I think we might be able to do it ourselves....
Tip #27: Use barriers to prevent yourself from spending money.
(i.e., remove yourself from shopping related email lists, force yourself to eat the food in the fridge before it goes bad, etc.)
I get e-mails from Overstock, Target, Banana Republic, Gap, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel...those are just the ones I can think of offhand. I don't even usually look at them, so why not just unsubscribe, period? That's a GREAT idea. Off to check my e-mail and start unsubscribing!
Basically, use the skills you have either freelancing, being a tutor, babysitting, whatever. Just DO it instead of thinking that you can't. I will try to tutor...I'm great at math and good with kids, and I like the "aha!" moments...Ramit suggests looking on Craigslist for tutors needed. I'll do that in a minute while still on lunch break!
Tip #26: Gardener? Cleaning lady? DIY instead.
We don't have any of these services...I guess the closest thing that might apply is that I sometimes get my car washed and vacuumed at one of the cheap $20 places. But that's because a) I have very little time and I'm so anal it takes me about six hours to get my car the way I want it and b) I live in Atlanta and WE CAN'T USE WATER RIGHT NOW. I may sneak and do it anyway.
OOH! I know what applies! Shaving my cat! I use a groomer! I think I might get husband to help me with that this weekend. She needs it and it's $45 bucks and I think we might be able to do it ourselves....
Tip #27: Use barriers to prevent yourself from spending money.
(i.e., remove yourself from shopping related email lists, force yourself to eat the food in the fridge before it goes bad, etc.)
I get e-mails from Overstock, Target, Banana Republic, Gap, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel...those are just the ones I can think of offhand. I don't even usually look at them, so why not just unsubscribe, period? That's a GREAT idea. Off to check my e-mail and start unsubscribing!
Safe to Dream
I think, now that the light at the end of the school tunnel is finally visible, my "dreaming" mode has kicked into gear.
I want to learn calligraphy and drawing. If there are no summer classes offered, I will take a calligraphy class, and maybe a drawing class too.
I want to clean and decorate my house. This will be a continual balancing act between not spending much money, but making my space the way I want it.
I want to cook something most days. I have TONS of recipes waiting that I want to try. (Pioneer Woman's recipes so far have all been foolproof and DELICIOUS).
I want to walk for exercise most days, and have time to hang out in the village that I moved to be near and love so much but don't get to see much of lately.
I think I have to limit myself to just a few at a time though. But I absolutely cannot wait until my life is my own again. The feeling is delicious even now.
I want to learn calligraphy and drawing. If there are no summer classes offered, I will take a calligraphy class, and maybe a drawing class too.
I want to clean and decorate my house. This will be a continual balancing act between not spending much money, but making my space the way I want it.
I want to cook something most days. I have TONS of recipes waiting that I want to try. (Pioneer Woman's recipes so far have all been foolproof and DELICIOUS).
I want to walk for exercise most days, and have time to hang out in the village that I moved to be near and love so much but don't get to see much of lately.
I think I have to limit myself to just a few at a time though. But I absolutely cannot wait until my life is my own again. The feeling is delicious even now.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Life, Oh Life
I am almost done with this semester! Yay! Then only TWO MORE TO GO!
And I get profit share on Friday, which will go toward tuition and car insurance. (Won't cover all of them, but is a nice reprieve from paying for them lol). Sure beats having to use savings!
I cannot WAIT for school to be done this semester. It's so nice to be able to do whatever I want in the evenings...it makes me feel like cooking and cleaning and reading and stuff, unlike when I'm in school and I just come home and do homework and crash.
I also did a focus group for Focus Pointe Global (They pay for you to talk about your opinion! How perfect is that for me??) a couple weeks ago and got $100 for a 1.5 hour discussion. I have another one on Thursday that is going to net $75 for another 1.5 hour session. This freaking rocks. I've registered with a couple other focus group sites too, but so far haven't gotten to participate in anything yet.
I'm trying to think of ways to boost my income (other than asking for a raise...can't do that till April when the formal annual salary review happens)...so far all I've thought of is babysitting, dog walking, and making freezable meals for busy people to eat during the week. Haven't actually DONE anything about any of them though, because I feel so strapped for time right now. And most people want babysitters on weekends, which is the only time I have to spend with hubby (Seriously. THE ONLY TIME. I don't see him at all during the week, because he's in another town). If I did the meals thing, I'd have no idea how much to charge and what to put on the "menu". Just mulling stuff over right now.
Also, hubby and I discussed the future, and it has me all excited. (We both agree that after we've lived in the city for some years, we will move somewhere a bit more remote...like in the mountains somewhere). So I started daydreaming about the big (but not extravagantly so) mountain house we'll have, where our families will all (maybe?) come stay for thanksgiving or Christmas, and I'll drink coffee on the porch every morning and admire the scenery, and we'll hike and the blue ridge parkway will be RIGHT THERE for me to go drive on whenever I want, and we'll have a family centric life and I'll cook a lot and basically, it will rock. We will also have friends come visit for getaway weekends a few times a year--well, ok, I will....hubby may want to run screaming when he reads that sentence, but if he does he can go camp with the guys that weekend. And we'll have a garden and a fainting goat. Well, the fainting goat is a maybe, but we both think that'd be a great way to a) have goat cheese, b) not have to cut grass, and c) be entertained whenever the goat faints.
Um, also, I might want to teach high school math at whatever time we decided to move to the boonies. Amen.
And I get profit share on Friday, which will go toward tuition and car insurance. (Won't cover all of them, but is a nice reprieve from paying for them lol). Sure beats having to use savings!
I cannot WAIT for school to be done this semester. It's so nice to be able to do whatever I want in the evenings...it makes me feel like cooking and cleaning and reading and stuff, unlike when I'm in school and I just come home and do homework and crash.
I also did a focus group for Focus Pointe Global (They pay for you to talk about your opinion! How perfect is that for me??) a couple weeks ago and got $100 for a 1.5 hour discussion. I have another one on Thursday that is going to net $75 for another 1.5 hour session. This freaking rocks. I've registered with a couple other focus group sites too, but so far haven't gotten to participate in anything yet.
I'm trying to think of ways to boost my income (other than asking for a raise...can't do that till April when the formal annual salary review happens)...so far all I've thought of is babysitting, dog walking, and making freezable meals for busy people to eat during the week. Haven't actually DONE anything about any of them though, because I feel so strapped for time right now. And most people want babysitters on weekends, which is the only time I have to spend with hubby (Seriously. THE ONLY TIME. I don't see him at all during the week, because he's in another town). If I did the meals thing, I'd have no idea how much to charge and what to put on the "menu". Just mulling stuff over right now.
Also, hubby and I discussed the future, and it has me all excited. (We both agree that after we've lived in the city for some years, we will move somewhere a bit more remote...like in the mountains somewhere). So I started daydreaming about the big (but not extravagantly so) mountain house we'll have, where our families will all (maybe?) come stay for thanksgiving or Christmas, and I'll drink coffee on the porch every morning and admire the scenery, and we'll hike and the blue ridge parkway will be RIGHT THERE for me to go drive on whenever I want, and we'll have a family centric life and I'll cook a lot and basically, it will rock. We will also have friends come visit for getaway weekends a few times a year--well, ok, I will....hubby may want to run screaming when he reads that sentence, but if he does he can go camp with the guys that weekend. And we'll have a garden and a fainting goat. Well, the fainting goat is a maybe, but we both think that'd be a great way to a) have goat cheese, b) not have to cut grass, and c) be entertained whenever the goat faints.
Um, also, I might want to teach high school math at whatever time we decided to move to the boonies. Amen.
More Tips
Tip #23: Go Cash-Only for 15 to 30 days.
I've been meaning to do this and haven't yet. (Because my paycheck is direct deposit and getting to the bank is kind of a pain in the ass for me, and I use a debit card for everything and track it anyway)...BUT. I need to do this. I want to do this. I know it will help me THINK even more about every penny I spend. I think I'm afraid I'll run out of money halfway through. But I get paid on Friday. I will take out enough to pay everything for an entire month (except bills I pay online already) and DO IT. Stay tuned!
Tip #24: Save 40% on your commute.
We are supposed to carpool or work from home to attain this one. I know of only one person in the office who lives anywhere close to me...I will email and see if they are interested in carpooling. No one here works from home, really, so I don't feel comfortable asking about that. (Plus, I'd need a company laptop because of the software required, and I don't have one of those).
I've been meaning to do this and haven't yet. (Because my paycheck is direct deposit and getting to the bank is kind of a pain in the ass for me, and I use a debit card for everything and track it anyway)...BUT. I need to do this. I want to do this. I know it will help me THINK even more about every penny I spend. I think I'm afraid I'll run out of money halfway through. But I get paid on Friday. I will take out enough to pay everything for an entire month (except bills I pay online already) and DO IT. Stay tuned!
Tip #24: Save 40% on your commute.
We are supposed to carpool or work from home to attain this one. I know of only one person in the office who lives anywhere close to me...I will email and see if they are interested in carpooling. No one here works from home, really, so I don't feel comfortable asking about that. (Plus, I'd need a company laptop because of the software required, and I don't have one of those).
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Oh! And Exciting News!
I got my car insurance renewal notice today....and....
The coming six months is $200 cheaper than my last six months! (Because I turned 25, got married, and lost a couple tickets off the old record all in the last six months). That's even more cheap than I'd dared hope! I'm so excited!
The coming six months is $200 cheaper than my last six months! (Because I turned 25, got married, and lost a couple tickets off the old record all in the last six months). That's even more cheap than I'd dared hope! I'm so excited!
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