Tomorrow, shortly before three in the afternoon, I plan on entering the door of my audiologist, a Bonnie J. Laurie. I have high hopes of eventually regaining at least enough of my once keen sense of hearing so I might never again have another evening such as the one I spent last evening. I spent the entire time at the home of a best friend sharing supper with her and another friend or hers. Both of them speak in low voices, but unwilling to keep asking them to repeat what had just been said, I was forced to guess. I left knowing I had understood little of what had been said. If hearing aids don’t alter the situation, I’ll find myself declining future invitations to suppers and the like. I’ll find myself slowly but surely becoming self-ostracized from the outside world. I’m not complaining: merely stating a fact. I’ve a good long run of it, as the saying goes.
In spite of the ever so slight depression I am in at the moment, I am delighted, joyful, elated and thankful to have another Halloween behind me and especially this year. Although I tried most valiantly to ignore the aftermath of my shingles attack, it hasn’t been easy. I depended a great deal on television for diversion, only to find almost all channels—including the History Channel—dedicated to the occult, the paranormal and the supernatural. Big Foot striding across an open space in broad daylight and obviously a man in an ape costume, keeps me puzzled as to how anyone can believe it to be anything but a hoax. I like a good ghost story as much as anybody I know, but let’s keep fact and fiction separated in our minds.
If that wasn’t enough to give me pause to consider how little I have in common with many people I meet, both in actual life and on the Internet, I came to the realization just the past week that I’ve had all I can take of over-religious zealots with “forked tongues”. With one side of their mouths they claim to believe in and love God: with the other side they take it upon themselves to be “God, Judge and Jury” of their fellow human beings, mainly homosexuals.
A few thousand years ago, some Semetic tribesmen, ignorant of all things concerning how the brain operates, condemned anyone who dared to be attracted to someone of the same sex, to be stoned to death. Because of a few scriptures in a book called a Bible, we are faced with those who, as I said, plays at being God, Judge and Jury. If such are assured of either eternal life in heaven or eternal life here on earth, I’m thankful I’m going to be … just plain dead after I’m dead.
Facts, Just Facts
November 2, 2009 by mary a. kaufman
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jckaufman on Facts, Just Facts Justin on Facts, Just Facts daisyfae on Facts, Just Facts mary a. kaufman on Facts, Just Facts daisyfae on Facts, Just Facts
I hope your audiologist can help with your hearing, Mary. They have a lot of innovative techniques to tackle hearing loss these days. I’m sure it will go well!
So, how did that hearing test go the other day? I am looking forward to hearing…ah, reading…what you learned about your hearing loss and how you plan to deal with it. Myself, I don’t hear much of anything these days. I have something like a 60% loss in both ears, which isolates me pretty well. I can usually manage to carry on a conversation with one other person, but not at all with a group (unless it is a group of Kaufmans, who never say anything quietly–which includes myself
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I’m fortunate to be a computer programmer who communicates primary with computers and–with co-workers and management–through computers. Consequently, my hearing loss has not appreciably affected my ability to make a living.
I’m also fortunate that Shelley accepts me as I am and doesn’t show impatience with my handicap, bless her (on the other hand, she is something of a recluse herself, which works out well for us). And thank goodness for Closed Captions!
Selma, glad to have you stop by. And didn’t you also have shingles while I had them? Had them? They can hang around for a long time after they are no longer visible, but you probably already know that.
Jacques, my son, my son, I’ve always been pleased that you chose the line of work you did. I don’t have to tell you what it’s like not to have an adequate income coming in. You were old enough while on the farm to remember hard times.
One of the most important people in my life is a retired officer from the military who is computer knowledgeable and who is willing to help the elderly cope with something they don’t understand about their computer. I haven’t had to rely on him very often but when I do, he’s always here to help me out.
Jacques: I won’t know how the hearing aids are going to work out, and, mostly, I don’t need them for much of the time. I have good hearing in my right ear when talking on a phone, but I sometimes realize that when listening to the television, if I had other people living in the house, they would be asking me to tone down the volume a bit.
although i joke sometimes that not being able to hear would be nice in certain situations, i know that i’d be sorry to lose my hearing. i hope the hearing aids work out – to at least help keep you connected to people and events you enjoy!
shingles? ouch. had that a couple years ago and it was miserable… take care, and thanks for stopping by ‘the trailer park’ again!
daisyfae, nice to have you visit. If you get back to this blog, mind telling me how long it took you to get over your case of the shingles?
it was a few years back, but i remember it knocked me down hard. was off work 3-4 days (i never miss work). had a few half-days after that… maybe a month before i was fully recovered… or mostly recovered.
hope you’re feeling better… hard to be patient when there’s much to be done!
Whoa whoa whoa! You don’t believe in bigfoot?
Of course, I believe in bigfoot! I just don’t buy that he made all of those big footprints in only six days.