What's making you happy today?

[orthodoc]

Congratulations to Limey and Mr. Limey! Fabulous!

Re hearing impairment and asking someone to repeat ... at some point you have to give up. Sometimes a person can repeat him/herself more than three times and my brain just won't interpret, even though I know he/she is making noises. It's much easier when people look at me but lip-reading isn't perfect either. Noisy places are impossible. Hearing aids aren't a lot of help in those situations, because they amplify noise across the frequency spectrum but don't help with speech discrimination.

If hearing aids were cheaper, I'd look into some of those colorful ones though - they'd be fun to wear on weekends! Or maybe I'll just get a colorful pair anyway when my current ones bite the dust. At $5000/pair I can't have a wardrobe of them.

[xoxoxoBruce]

A friend went to be tested and buy her first hearing aids. They were throwing around numbers like $5,000 to $7,000 EACH. Bandit bastards.

[orthodoc]

Whoa! Time to do some comparison shopping. The damned things aren't particularly technologically advanced, which adds insult to injury.

There's an engineer out there (I'm lousy at posting links - I suspect some astute dwellar has likely already posted his story here) who has designed a number of different hearing aids for himself to use in different situations. They aren't pretty, and some require the person you're having dinner with to wear a microphone, but they work better than the stuff being sold commercially.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The last time I had my ears tested, she said I have good news and bad news.
(Paraphrasing)
Bad News, you can't hear for shit.
Good News, you don't have to spend a fortune of expensive aids when the cheap ones will help just as much.

[Lamplighter]

Today may have been something of a milestone with our bird-feeding...

For the past few weeks we've been feeding squirrels, blue jays, nuthatches,
house finches, woodpeckers, and occasional robins, and sparrows.

The squirrels and jays have become very territorial, driving off all the other critters.
So, I called in our Lab Retriever, Vicky.
She cut off the squirrels' escape route up into the trees, and the jays followed suite.
I had her lay down at the base of the feeders for a while to establish her command of the territory.
After about an hour, we called her in the house and waited to see what was to ensue.
Here they came, first the female (left) then the male (right)... "Northern flickers"


(not my pic)

These are my favorite birds of the Pacific Northwest, I think they are gorgeous
in their black and red markings, and individual feathers are blends of browns, tans, and orange.

It's a milestone because they are also the most wary of birds around us.
If they can see you, they fly away.

Some people (justifiably) say they are nuisances with their pecking and drumming behaviors,
but for so much beauty you have to pay at least a small price.

[Griff]

They are gorgeous. We have the yellow shafted on this coast.

[nowhereman]

I have had 2 of my "Farm Series" images accepted into "What's Old is New Again - Alternative Photographic Processes" at Gallery136-1/2, Manchester, CT. These are gold toned Van Dyke prints from 4x5 and 8x10 b/w negatives. The show runs from June 13 to July 11 and was juried by Jill Enfield, one of the best alternative process photographers working today.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Cool, I'd like to see them.

[nowhereman]

Here they are -

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ah, nice. Very nice.

[nowhereman]

Thanks !

[infinite monkey]

After 50 hours of work this week, half of those on seriously painful feet, and getting all my laundry done today...I'm chillin' at b-dubs. Wings, beer and trivia. It's the simple things, ya know?

[Sundae]

I'm sure I've shared this story before, but for the benefit of any latecomers...
When I was at school our English textbook had an exercise showing how italics worked and how stressing a certain word changed the meaning of a sentence.

The sentence they chose was "I like your red shoes".
This passed into (schoolgirl humour) legend for my friends and me, but I'm sure it has affected my brain. Infected it, if you like. Because I always like red shoes.

Went to the carboot sale today.
Managed to get there at the time the independent sellers were facing a weary trek home with unsold items, so were selling at silly prices.
I bought a pair of red shoes for 50p.
Leather.
And leather lined with "comfort soles".
They're the sort of shoes my Mum has in her expensive shoe catalogues. Probably cost £40+ new. And from the soles they can only have been worn once or twice outside.

FIFTY PENCE!
They bridge the gap between flip-flops and rainy day shoes perfectly.
I can climb Jacobs Ladder in these shoes.

Say it with me now:
I like your red shoes.

[Clodfobble]

I do like your red shoes. Do you have Pete the Cat in the UK?

[Sundae]

Never seen or heard that before, thank you!
But as I'm not as sanguine as Pete I shall be looking out for large piles of... anything.