BACK IN THE DAY....

I remember when I was growing up (as much as I did), there were a few career choices that I considered. The bottom line is that I was never an aggressive go-getter and would have been happy with a $10,000 annual salary (remember, that was then; this is now). 

Among my passing job considerations were police officer, long-distance truck driver, actor, and writer. Along the way, I came close - years ago, I was a security guard and, more recently, a NH Bail Commissioner, an everyday actor (aren't we all), and was a regular columnist and have had a few smaller pieces of writing accepted and published. I also have driven a pickup truck since 2006 (the longest I have driven was twelve hours in a day).

Regarding salary, my original goal came at a time when candy bars were five cents, gasoline was about thirty cents a gallon, paperback books were 25c (35c for the 'thick ones'), record albums were $3.98, and homes were around $18,000. Things obviously are a lot different now!

I miss the old days (in retrospect, they really were pretty good), but I wouldn't want to be young today. It is such a different world on so many levels, but that's for another time. I am guessing that to many, these days will be the gool old days for them. Sad.

(By the way, if there is anything you might like to read from me, just ask. I will respond to almost everything!)

I LIKED THEM SO MUCH....

You may be too young to remember, but entrepreneur Victor Kiam was known for (among other things [he was also a short-time owner of the New England Patriots]) his tagline about an electric razor: "I liked it so much, I bought the company!"

If you have been reading my blog recently, I talked about getting a new set of hearing aids. The short of it is, I liked them so much, I now represent the company. 

Not only do I represent the company, but I have also arranged to pass along a discounted price to my readers.

I waited way too long to take the first step. I finally did an "incognito" search for 'best inexpensive hearing aids.' Almost immediately, I was inundated with ads (so much for 'incognito'). For whatever reason, I picked one company and sent some questions. They were all answered almost immediately, and that's the company I bought them from.

The company is The Hearing Co. Website is: https://thehearing.co/

Most questions you may have will be answered on the site, but if you send any along, the company will answer them in a timely manner. 

The hearing aids are listed at $197 for a set. If you do want to give them a try, enter code DAVE25 and get $25 off.

Don't wait as long as I did.

(Full disclosure: if you do buy them using my code, I will receive a small compensation.)

WHAT? WHAT? PART II

A lot can happen in six days (and it did) following my last post here!

Upon my wife's urging, I finally made an appointment to have my nearly complete and sudden loss of hearing (left ear) checked out. Between my work schedule and lots of other people needing care at my doctor's office, I had to make the appointment for next Tuesday (six days away). A nurse soon called me back saying she was concerned about my waiting that long, so I went to our local Urgent Care.

I got right in and was examined. I will spare you the details, but they involved lots of flushing and digging and flushing and digging, et cetera. The verdict? Unless the doctor was kidding, there was about an inch-and-a-half of compressed/compacted wax removed (disgusting wax [I was shown each new discovery]). In spite of the prodigious amount removed, he said I set no records. They said such removal is an almost daily occurrence. Apparently, when I thought I was cleaning my ear canal, I was in fact packing it in (think a muzzleloader). Sigh.

And, yes, I could hear again! If I had listened to my wife, I would have gone at least a week ago. (Here's the part she'll love: "Yes, dear, you were right! I was wrong." [I say that a lot {and deservedly so}]).

I have turned my new hearing aids way down to 1 and am still impressed with my new hearing. I would regularly crank our main TV up to 15 so I could hear it - tonight, it was set on 8. My desk TV was usually set on 71 - tonight it's on 55. I can hear the bathroom clock ticking off the seconds. 

The only problem so far is the background music played at work. I am hearing it, and depending on where I am, it sometimes conflicts with voices, and I have to move away.

Anyhow, that was my day today.

WHAT? WHAT?

So, it's about ten months since my last post, and I am still above ground (twenty seconds or twenty years left - none of us knows).

For anyone who is interested, a few of the high points (in no particular order). When I 'retired' in 2008, I had a couple of great years off during which I did very little (not a bad thing). I ended up as a part-time assistant at a local free advertising paper the PennySaver (NH). Mostly a fun job until I was no longer needed. 

Then I had a couple more years off, and through a series of circumstances, I ended up as a Walmart associate in Lawn and Garden, where I have been for the past fifteen months or so. I am there three days a week, and in the early months, someone described me as a 'tourist attraction' as people (former students and friends) would hear I was there and stop by to say Hi. That's the good thing about working there: all the people I get to see. The not-so-good thing is being on my feet for eight hours. It's tough (really tough some days), but I have endured.

The other news is last week I had another skin cancer removed (squamous cell). It was on (in?) the area above my left ear lobe. It is now clear and slowly healing, but I have temporarily (I hope) lost virtually all hearing in my left ear. I am hopeful as the wound heals, the hearing, such as it was) will return, which leads me to yet another big event: after years of declining hearing, I finally ordered a pair of behind-the-ear hearing aids. Before last October, hearing aids were ridiculously overpriced costing in the thousands of dollars, which is why I never got any - way too expensive.

Long story short, with the price drop, I went into 'Incognito' searching looking for "Best Inexpensive Hearing Aids." Almost instantly, my Facebook feed was jam-packed full of ads for hearing aids (a coincidence, I am sure). I settled on one company and bought a pair for $197. I will tell you more when I have tried them. The problem is my left ear is going to take some time to heal, so I will either just try the right one or wait to use both.

Not much else to say - I am quite the homebody. I love being home doing nothing - that's where all my stuff is. I am quite happy sitting at my desk, smoking my pipe (I know; I know), and seeing where my Internet surfing takes me. 

Stay well!

CHINESE FOOD!

 

I had Chinese food tonight! By itself, that's not a big deal, except I really had a craving (it's been a while), and I am still around to enjoy it. I may not be here tomorrow, but today I still am, and because I could, I had Chinese food. 

The picture above is from 2005 following the first of numerous skin cancer surgeries; I have had several between then and now. There was an assortment of basal cells and squamous cells. The last one was a melanoma which was successfully removed as it was caught early.

I am in my 76th year and am at the point when I could have twenty seconds or twenty years left. It's not a matter of if but when. I have decided not to wait on certain things (I also bought a package of black licorice recently). 

I know my life choices are not always in my best interest, but that's okay. I have watched people around me get old, and I don't have the patience or grace to get there. There is a point I don't want to reach. I am not there yet, but there are some small signs.

At the moment, it's all good!

Anyhow, just some food for thought.

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET!

I need to know I am not the only one!

I went out today to snow blow some small piles and minor mounds of snow that were left in the driveway, which was not the problem.

Long story short, while moving around, I came an atom's-width too close to the blue plastic tarp, which had covered the blower and had been tossed off to the side. In less time than it takes to blink, the whole tarp disappeared into the machine.

When I examined the situation, the textured plastic was totally and quite tightly wrapped around the auger blades and the impeller, It was so tight, it was like it was painted on.

I started with kitchen scissors which did little. Then I tried metal snips - again to no avail. After a break, I grabbed a utility knife/box cutter with a sliding blade. Managing not to slice any bodily parts, I finally got it all off. Tomorrow, I'll see if the snow blower still works.

You've all done something like that... haven't you?

Please tell me you have.

BAN BABY, BAN!

So, banning books is back in the news again. This is nothing new; maybe the concept never left. "They" were burning books back in the 1600s.

Rather than revisit the controversy itself, I want to relate something that happened in one of my classes.

When I was teaching, many of the books we read were banned somewhere. One of my absolute favorite and important books to read is Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. It was offered in a science fiction class I taught. Overall, there were no issues with that or other books I taught, except once. I remember a girl telling me her religious family didn't want her to read it, but she said she really wanted to. 

I wasn't sure what to do. I wouldn't go against her family's wishes, but I think the book is important enough for everyone to read. I ended up leaving a copy on the corner of my desk and telling her that I wouldn't give her a copy, but I had left a copy on the corner of my desk. I left it up to her to do whatever she wanted whatever, she felt comfortable doing.

Sometime later that day, the book disappeared. It showed back up a couple of days later. 

We never spoke of it after that, and the whole thing slipped from my memory. It's probably been forty or so years after that that I recently remembered the incident and wondered about whatever happened to her and her exposure to that classic book.

Did it ruin or enhance her life? Or was the book met with a shrug.

Maybe I will look her up and ask.

Or maybe I won't.