Me First Part 2

I don't know about you, but it seems that people are more in a hurry to get where they are going that they just expect you to slow down or put the brakes on.

I am not talking about drivers.

I am talking about walking. In the mall or in a hallway or in a grocery store.

Picture this scenario. (The "you" refers to the "in a hurry" person. You know who you are.)

I am walking along an aisle, reach the end. Before I can turn into another aisle, you suddenly cut in front of me. I have to immediately put the brakes on so I don't collide (with or without a cart) into you. (See a picture of two cars at a four-way intersection. One is southbound and the other is eastbound. The eastbound car makes a rolling stop (not really coming to a full stop) and suddenly crosses the intersection, leaving the southbound car to brake, though it was the southbound car's right-of-way. Now picture it with people crossing in front of you.)

What? Do you, the person who crossed my path, expect me to roll out the red carpet? Maybe I didn't see you. Maybe you thought that I did. Does that give you the right to cut in front of me? What law gives you the right to cross my path like that? I am doing my best to scan the ever-moving shopping area or the doorways and steady stream of traffic of people in the hallways.

I don't care how much of a hurry you are. I don't care if you think, "Ha, ha. I beat you. I am faster than you." This is not a race. If you want to cut in front of me, then time it better.

Thank you.

There. I vented. I feel a little better.

I am normally easy-going. I let things slide. (Maybe too much.) If I had normal vision, that "in the hurry" person could be me. I have seen this happen to sighted people. though.

More Updates

Well, I am surprised that it's taking longer to get used to the hearing aids (HAs).

I am, for the most part, used to the environmental sounds. They are still somewhat tinny.

The voices are still lower to me with that funny "echo." I can't wait to go back to get them tweaked a bit to listen to things better.

As for the bad ear (the left side), I can hear the "ding, ding" as soon as I turn it on. I didn't mention this before. The HAs have this feature that when you first turn it on, it goes "ding, ding" then the sounds kick in. There's also a new feature that will "ding" when the battery's low. Kind of like when the smoke alarm battery gets low. Then you are more prepared to change the batteries. I like that.

Anyway, as I was saying, I can hear that start-up "ding, ding" and some sort of static, but I don't get any useful sound out of it. Sometimes that staticky (is that a word? If not, why not?) sound stays with me. Again, it's probably as good as it's gonna get. I will see what the audiologist has to say about it. Like I asid before, maybe there's another hearing aid I can try. Or maybe there's always the cochlear implant (CI).

I am always hearing sounds more, but I am not getting the location. I cannot tell which direction the sound(s) is/are coming from.

Yesterday, I made a concious note to listen to sounds as I walked to the school yesterday to walk my youngest home.

I can hear a car. I still have to look for it. It's a lot clearer, though. As usual, the newer models are quieter. (Is that better to have a quieter car if no one can hear you?)

Voices are still the hardest to understand. If they are too deep or low, I don't understand them too well. If they are too high, I don't understand them. I can't expect everyone to talk in monotonous voices, either (Snore, snore).

It makes me wish I could get the HAs adjusted earlier. I have to wait till next Monday for the tweaking.

Will keep you posted on more updates.