I took the day off from work yesterday (Friday), so I had 2 appointments with my eye doctor and the audiologist. :)
     I went to the eye doctor first to get new glasses....so I had an eye examination, and then to check which is best vision for me using a tool that tests so people can get new glasses. He also did my eye pressure check and looked in the back of my eyes. :)
      So far, here's the results: The eye doctor said my pressure is good so keep using the eye drops....everything else looks great in my eyes. He said I am a little bit better in my nearsightness...and went on to explain that people in their 30s and 40s, their eyes gets better a little bit. :) So after he finished, he gave me a prescription for new glasses....which I picked out a pair in the same office. :) The new glasses are a bit smaller than the one I am wearing now, and will have anti-glare material, plus the lens being made lighter for my frames. :) I should get my new glasses in a week from now. :)
      Then I went to lunch at Arby's and then went home.

       At 2 pm, I went to the audiologist for the new hearing aid. I got a hearing test, which the results are consistent with all my old ones: severe to profound hearing loss. He said I can wear a hearing aid in my left ear but I will hear only sounds (voices sounded muffled in this ear). He then found out which aids is the best for me (Oticon -- just like my current one), by choosing a super power programmable aid or a super power digital aid...the audie said those aids are as strong as the one I am wearing now....I chose the Oticon programmable aid. The digital aid is expensive and may not have enough power for my kind of hearing loss...so I didn't choose that one.
      So, the final outcome is that I will be receiving a new Oticon powerful programmable BTE for my right ear. He made earmold impressions for both ears, so I will be using my current Oticon analog BTE for my left ear (it's still very good aid). He said if I wore in both ears, the volume controls won't be so high and other reasons. :) After a lifetime of analog hearing aids, I will be getting my first programmable aid! :) I don't know when I will be getting the hearing aid, perhaps next week or so....and then having the computer to set up the aid so I can use it...but I can't wait! :)

      The new earmolds will be soft material and full shell. :) This is the kind I had before my other audie switched it to the canal type earmold shell....I didn't like this kind because it didn't give a very good seal....so I prefer the full shell better, since I wore these kinds for many years and it stays in better. :)

      Well, that's how my day went! :)

    If you want to find a cool online painting program, look no further! :)  You can go directly to Art.com ArtPad to paint your heart's desire.  You can choose from a small paintbrush to a very large painter's brush to paint your picture online.  After you are done, you can replay (actually, watch you paint) your painting from "slow" to "fast". :)  You can even view other people's paintings in a gallery from this program. :)

Enjoy painting in the link below! :)

Go here:
http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter

Nancy

     One of the most interesting famous people is Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind since infancy.  I have her autobiography "Story of My Life" which is a good read, and it is edited by John Macy, whom her teacher, Anne Sullivan had married once.

     There was a 1960s movie called "The Miracle Worker" that starred Patty Duke (as Helen) and Anne Bancroft (as Anne Sullivan).  It is one of my favorite movies because I loved some of the scenes (such as "feeling the facial expressions"), and it showed fingerspelling to help teach Helen new words.  I also like the fact that the nightmares Anne had in the movies were "grainy images", which is sort of like what the blind and visually-impaired people see first hand.

    In Amazon.com, I had written a review about this movie from "My Reviews", so here it is:

I enjoyed watching this movie because it is entertaining and I never got bored throughout the movie. I am deaf and I really enjoy the fingerspelling scenes, plus Annie Sullivan did wonders for Hellen by portraying her as a hard worker to help Hellen get a life from a soundless, sightless world. Both Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft did a great job on their parts. This is a good movie, both funny and heart-wrenching, and it is worth it to watch!

    Also, did you know that Helen had a Boston Terrier?  She also owned several other kinds of dogs in her lifetime.

From URL:  http://www.afb.org/braillebug/askkeller.asp?issueid=20051

One day, several girls invited Helen to go with them to Brookline to see some friends. This was all that they would tell Helen, and when they reached their destination, the girls were very mysterious. As Helen began to sniff, she realized that she was entering a kennel, the home of many Boston Terriers. Imagine Helen's surprise when the girls gave her one of the terriers named Sir Thomas Belvedere to take home.

Here's a picture of Helen with her BT -- photo from this link:  http://www.ioeba.net/ioebaobbhistory.htm

   Helen has written other books, including "Story of My Life".  It was said she had been typing (with a Braille typewriter) a book titled "Teacher" (concerning Anne Sullivan), but it was destroyed by a house fire.

   I think Helen is well-deserved in showing the world that people with disabilities can do anything they put their mind to it in an era when people were sent away to asylums and special schools.  Anne Sullivan is the true "Miracle Worker" since she had helped Helen to succeed in a world full of ignorance for those with special needs.

Nancy

Nancy is a Florida Native (born and raised in Florida), and she is a never-married lady. She currently works at a local courthouse as a Support Specialst, and loves her job. She also interprets for deaf defendants who comes to the front counter in her department. She lived in the SE area of Florida for 31 years, and moved to Central Florida since January 2001.

Nancy's hobbies and interests are computers (and the Internet), watching good movies on VCR (with them closed captioned, of course!).  She also enjoys going to the movie theaters even though the area did not have closed captioning in their theaters...even though she didn't understand a lot of the conversations, she enjoyed the action and the plot of the movies. She also enjoys listening to older music/1980s music and gospel music (the lyrics to the songs helps Nancy understand what the songs are about). Nancy enjoyed going to deaf retreats in the past such as St. Augustine School for Deaf and Blind's "Total Immersion Silent Weekends".

Hearing Loss

Nancy was born with Congenital Rubella in 1969, but at the time she was born, she either could hear well or had a mild hearing loss. They didn't test newborns' hearing back then. She was born with a severe heart defect because of the condition which was corrected by surgery when she was a month old.

Nancy had several ear infections before 1 year old, and in October 1971 (almost 2 years old), she contracted bacterial meningitis. Her parents realized that Nancy could say only 1 or 2 words (most kids that age could say simple sentences), also not responding when called, took her to get a hearing test, which revealed a severe hearing loss in both ears. Today, Nancy's hearing loss is severe to profound.

Overcoming Hearing Loss

Nancy started wearing a binuaral body worn hearing aid from age 2 up to 3rd grade. In 3rd grade, she started wearing the BTEs up to present day...but lost some more hearing in the left ear at age 14. Since then, she did not wear a BTE in the left ear anymore but still wears one on the right ear.

Nancy grew up oral, but learned sign language in 4 years of high school with other deaf/HOH students. Nancy had speech therapy from age 2 to around 5th grade. She attended a preschool for handicapped children which included the deaf and hard-of-hearing kids. Nancy knew how to lipread, and in middle school, she used a tape recorder for a notetaker so she can study her lessons. In high school, she had an interpreter in her classes, plus being mainstreamed in both deaf and hearing classes. When Nancy takes off her hearing aid, she depends on lipreading and sign language at home because she could not hear any voices or most sounds.

URL: http://www.ebrew.com/Jess/amusement/how_did_we_survive.htm

They called us Tonka Kids. If you don't know what that means then you must not be one.

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40s, 50s, 60s or 70s, probably shouldn't have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking). As kids, we would be carted around in cars with no seat belts or air bags, and riding in the back of a truck, on a warm day was always a special treat.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps, and then rode down a steep hill, only to find out, we forgot brakes. We would leave home in the morning, and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on, and no one was able to reach us, because cell phones hadn't been invented yet. We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents! No one was to blame, but us! Remember accidents? Some of us even had fights, punched each other, and got black and blue.....but we learned to get over it.

We drank water from the garden hose, and not from a bottle. We ate cakes, and bread with lots of butter, drank sugar cordials, but we were hardly ever overweight.....because we were always outside playing, and although we shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, no one actually died.

We did not have Playstations, Gameboys, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, or for that matter, any video games at all. We did not have 99 channels on cable,  videotape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends. We went outside and found them. We rode bikes, roller skated, or walked to their homes and stood out in front, and yelled for them to come out to play, or knocked on the door, rang the bell or just walked in to visit them. Can you imagine doing such a thing today? Without even asking a parent? By ourselves? Out there? In the cold cruel world? How did we do it?

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls, we ate worms. And although we were told it could happen, we did not put out very many eyes with our Red Ryder BB Guns, (nor did the worms live inside us forever, like our parents said they would!)

Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Some students weren't as smart as others so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat it. And the next time, they usually passed.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected, and there was no one to hide behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of ? they actually sided with the law.

And despite, or perhaps, because of all this, this generation has produced some of the most outstanding risk-takers, problem solvers, innovators and inventors, ever. The past 50 years has seen an explosion of advancement and new ideas. Why? Because we were given freedom and responsibility ? the chance to succeed and to fail. And we learned how to make the most of what we were given.

If you were one of us, congratulations! If you weren't, too bad ? You missed some really good times!!!!!

It's a Guy's Life

1) Phone Conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.

2) You know stuff about tanks.

3) A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.

4) You can open all your own jars.

5) Dry cleaners and hair cutters don't rob you blind.

6) You can go to the bathroom without a support group.

7) You don't have to learn to spell a new last name.

8) You can leave the motel bed unmade.

9) You can kill your own food.

10) You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.

11) Wedding plans take care of themselves.

12) If someone forgets to invite you to something, he or she can still be your friend.

13) Your underwear is 10$ for a three-pack.

14) If you are 34 and single, nobody notices.

15) Everything on your face stays its original color.

16) You can quietly enjoy a car ride from the passenger's seat.

17) Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.

18) You don't have to clean your apartment if the meter reader is coming.

19) Car mechanics tell you the truth.

20) You can quietly watch a game with your buddy for hours without ever thinking: "He must be mad at me."

21) Same work... more pay.

22) Gray hair and wrinkles only add character.

23) Wedding dress - $2,000. Tuxedo rental – 75 bucks.

24) You don't mooch off other's desserts.

25) You can drop by to see a friend without having to bring a little gift.

26) If another guy shows up at the party in the same outfit, you just might become lifelong friends.

27) You pals can be trusted never to trap you with. "So, notice anything different?"

28) You are not expected to know the names of more than five colors.

29) You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.

30) You almost never have strap problems in public.

31) You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

32) The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.

33) You don't have to shave below your neck.

34) At least a few belches are expected and tolerated.

35) Your belly usually hides your big hips.

36) One wallet and one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.

37) You can "do" your nails with a pocketknife.

38) You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

39) Christmas shopping can be accomplished for 25 relatives, on December 24th, in 45 minutes.

Any time you feel dumb, don't worry. Check out the following excerpts from a "Wall Street Journal" article by Jim Carlton. Lots of people are dumber than you.

From URL:  http://www.ahajokes.com/dum09.html

1. Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press Return Key" because of the many calls asking where the "Any" key is.

2. AST technical support had a caller complaining that her mouse was hard to control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the plastic bag the mouse was packaged in.

3. Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that the system wouldn't read word processing files from his old diskettes. After trouble-shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the problem, it was found that the customer labeled the diskettes by rolling them into a typewriter to type on them.

4. Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes. A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along with Xeroxed copies of the floppies.

5. A Dell technician advised his customer to put his troubled floppy back in the drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold on, and was then heard putting the phone down, getting up and crossing the room to close the door to his room.

6. Another Dell customer called to say he couldn't get his computer to fax anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the monitor screen and hitting the "send" key.

7. Another Dell customer needed help setting up a new program, so a Dell tech suggested he go to the local Egghead. "Yeah, I got me a couple of friends," the customer replied. When told "Egghead" was a software store, the man said, "Oh, I thought you meant for me to find a couple of geeks."

8. Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer worked. He had cleaned it by filling up his tub with soap and water and soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys and washing them individually.

9. A Dell technician received a call from a customer who was enraged because his computer had told him he was "bad and an invalid". The tech explained that the computer's "bad command" and "invalid" responses shouldn't be taken personally.

10. An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support couldn't get her new Dell Computer to turn on. After ensuring that the computer was plugged in, the technician asked her what happened when she pushed the power button. Her response, "I pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and nothing happens." The "foot pedal" turned out to be the computer's mouse.

11. Another customer called Compaq tech support to say her brand-new computer wouldn't work. She said she unpacked the unit, plugged it in, and sat there for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened when she pressed the power switch, she asked "What power switch?"

12. True story from a Novell NetWire SysOp: Caller: "Hello, is this Tech Support?"

Tech: "Yes, it is. How may I help you?" Caller: "The cup holder on my PC is broken and I am within my warranty period. How do I go about getting that fixed?" Tech: "I'm sorry, but did you say a "cup holder"?" Caller: "Yes, it's attached to the front of my computer." Tech: "Please excuse me if I seem a bit stumped; it's because I am. Did you receive this as part of a promotion, like at a trade show? How did you get this cup holder? Does it have any trademark on it?" Caller: "It came with my computer, I don't know anything about a promotional. It just has '4X' on it."

At this point the Tech Rep had to mute the caller, because he couldn't stand it. The caller had been using the load drawer of the CD-ROM drive as a cup holder, and snapped it off the drive!

Another well-known one that I can add is the true tale of the user who called up complaining that the instructions said to load the four diskettes into "Drive A" but he couldn't possibly get more than two in.

Nancy's Time Travel to the 1950s

It is 2004, and I just got home from work. I ate my supper, and then decided to take a nap after a hard day of work. I removed my behind-the-ear hearing aid and glasses on the table, and then lie in bed for the nap.
When I drifted off to sleep, I felt myself drifting into a world of no color...all black and white. It was very strange seeing the world in black and white. I opened my eyes while sitting up in bed, and looked around in the room. In one section, I saw a wooden desk with papers on it and an inkwell pen. I noticed my computer is gone. In other corner, I saw a mirror on the back of my door, and in another area, I saw a small dresser, with a window next to it. I got off the bed, and then looked outside the window....I saw a car parked outside, but this isn't a car that you see in 2004! It has tail-like fins on the back and its headlights are big! I realized that the car looks like from the 1950s. I went over to the mirror, and noticed a startlingly discovery!
As I looked myself over in the mirror, I saw myself wearing a dress, a short wavy hair that is a telltale style of the Eisenhower era, and a body-worn hearing aid on, complete with the cord attached to a button in my ear. I even had on "cat" framed glasses. I had this complete realization than before that I was definitely in the 1950s!
I opened the door, and went to the front door outside. I realized it is unlocked! Of course....there weren't many crimes in the 1950s as much as it is in my time, I thought. It was a sunny day, and the wind was blowing lightly. I thought to myself, I got to get back to 2004! Then I had an idea! Across the street from me was a sign that says, "St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind", and I decided to ask a deaf minister in that school if he could help me. I have met him before in my time, during a "Silent Weekend" trip. His name is Dr. Tucelli.
I walked across the street to the front office of the deaf school, and in my voice (in the 1950s, deaf schools forbid students to use sign language but to talk orally, or they will be punished severely. In my time, sign language is now accepted), I asked for Dr. Tucelli. The secretary said he's in his office and I will see him, so I waited for his arrival. Dr. Tucelli came over and saw me. I said to him, “I have a big problem here....I was napping in my bed in 2004, and woke up in the 1950s!”
Dr. Tucelli then said, "Oh dear.... Ok, I will find a solution for you. Meanwhile, see that restaurant over there? Go get a soda from the soda jerk...I'll pay for your drink...and I'll meet you there." I told him "Thank you so much!" and then I walked over to the restaurant, past the drive in waitresses tending to the cars outside. As I walked inside the restaurant, I saw a jukebox next to me playing a song. A guy in his 30s, wearing a business suit, smiled at me as he passed by, tipped his fedora hat, and said, "How'da like that song, Rock Around the Clock?" I told him it was "swell" (I knew this is a 50s term for "good"), and he smiled as he went outside to leave.
I walked over to a booth, and a waitress came over to me. Forgetting that I was in 1950s, I told her I wanted a Diet Coke. She had this strange look on her face, then I corrected myself, "Oh, um. I mean just Coke" and smiled. She then said, "Ok, Coke it is!" and then left. I was a little embarrassed. As I waited for my soda, I saw Dr. Tucelli walking over to the restaurant through the window. I couldn't contain my glee, as he arrived to my booth. The waitress came over and set my soda on the table as he started to talk. Tucelli said, "I found out the only way to get back is to go back to where you were, turn off your hearing aid, and you will go back to 2004. I found out from a friend on the phone over there." I looked over and saw the black-boxed phone with rotary dials, and then looked back at him. I smiled as I said, "Dr. Tucelli, what would I ever do without you. Thank you so much! Now I can go home to where I came from." He said, "Good luck, kiddo. This place isn‘t dullsville, ya know", smiled, paid the waitress for my drink, and left.
I finished my soda and then ran home to the front door, straight to the bed where it started. As I sat on the bed, I turned off the dial-like control on my hearing aid that is sitting inside my pocket. All of a sudden, I saw the whole world turn into glorious color! Then I opened my eyes...I noticed I was lying down instead of sitting up. I got off the bed, and looked at myself...I am in my 2004 attire, and my behind the ear aid is on my table. I thought to myself, "I'm back!" and smiled.
There's no place like home.

 1. If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several
times, does he become disoriented?

2. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't
people from Holland called Holes?

3. Why do we say something is out of whack? What's a whack?

4. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

5. When someone asks you, "A penny for your thoughts"
and you put your two cents in . . . what happens to the other
penny?

6. Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

7. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? Aren't they just
stale bread to begin with?

8. When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

9. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a
person who drives a race car not called a racist?

10. Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?

11. Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

12. Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety one?

13. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English
language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?

14. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it
follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted,
cowboys
deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners
depressed?

15. If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?

16. Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?

17. What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald
men?

18. I was thinking about how people seem to read the
Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me . .
they're cramming for their final exam.

19. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with
tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered what do Chinese mothers
use? Toothpicks?

20. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office?
What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don't they just put their
pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them
while they deliver the mail?

21. If it's true that we are here to help others, then what
exactly are the others here for?

22. How come no one ever says, "It's only a game" when
their team is winning?

23. Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if
it didn't zigzag?

24. Last night I played a blank tape at full blast. The
mime next door went nuts.

25. If a cow laughed, would milk come out her nose?

26. Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?