Disadvantages....

I'm still not fully there with being able to watch tv without closed captioning. I don't think i'll ever get there.

afterall, 29 years of watching tv with captioning. that's gonna be a hard habit to break.

I used to complain that i couldn't go to the movie theater cuz it wasn't captioned. So I would wait til it came out on video (back then) now DVD. But these days, stuff comes out on DVD pretty quickly that it doesn't bother me. Granted there are several different ways of captioned movies in the theater-- Rear window captioning (which you have to pick up a mirror device that you stick in your drink cup holder & you have to position it just right and it'll reflect the captioning right there) but if you move to make yourself even more comfortable, you have to adjust the RW device. annoying.

Then we've got open captioning. which is fine, doesn't bother me. I've been in theaters where people have left because they didn't realize it was a Open captioned film. WTF. it's just words on the screen!

Other times.. it just doesn't work all that great.. half the time you have to hope it'll work, if it doesn't then they reimburse you for the movie. So annoying.

What was the last movie i saw in the theater? I think it was Sex and the City. Yes, that long ago!

But in my defense, I'm not a big movie person. so it doesn't bother me quite as much these days. half the time, I'll see a movie and say ooh i wanna see that. By the time it comes out on DVD i've completely forgotten about it.

now, TV's a whole 'nother world. Up until this past February or March, I never had a DVR. I was still using a VCR. Drove boyfriend nuts! But there's been quite a few shows online that have been captioned.

NBC and ABC pretty much stepped up their game. Then Hulu came on board. and i love them! they captioned a lot of fox shows..so i didn't have to worry so much about taping stuff...but I still do!

CBS -- seriously you're a HUGE network! and you can't even have captioning online! something's wrong with this picture!

CW -- you too! but i only watch 2 shows.. Gossip Girl and 90210 (unfortunately... i can't drag myself away from it.)

Those are my gripes! but abc, nbc, fox, keep rockin' my world. the other networks sure need to get with the program. i know it might be difficult to do so, but there's gotta be some kind of media law. Though I don't watch youtube hardly ever cuz how much am i likely to understand it. and i honestly dont expect every video to be captioned, but I'm also not one that wants to go through all the hassle of getting something or someone to caption something for me. I just want it to be a point, click, and watch. =)

I'm just sayin'.

Work Out Zone.

I think i go through my identity crisis about 2 times a year. September is when one of them usually happens.

then I think somewhere around January/February is when the other one happens (when you're cooped up inside all the time, it's bound to happen!) and last week was one of them, I'm still trying to figure things out though.

One of the things that I struggle is actually making a decision. I think in the back of my head i have a decision made. but I go back and forth all the time! Although someone else I know might say different cuz i'm the one who has to make her to make her decisions!

Anyway -- i'm back on my working out streak. I've been doing pretty good. Especially with the half marathon coming up in 3 short weeks!

I did my 6.5 (actually 6.9 mile) run on sunday, and hit about 72 minutes. I was somewhat disappointed with the time. mostly because I truly felt like that was one of my stronger runs that i've had in a long time. and I wans't even hitting 10 minute miles. and my goal is to hit my half marathon in 2:!5! (that's lookin' mighty slim!)

then this morning, since it's STILL pitch black out when I get up. and our neighborhood, uhm, yeah I don't feel comfortable running outside by myself. so I hit the treadmill  & did 5 miles on that. HOLY crazy! but I did pretty darn good... I did 5 miles in 45:50. so i shaved off just about 4 minutes. I took my time on the first 2 miles, then pushed it to alternate between 7.3 mph to 6.3 mph every 2 minutes. whewww.. I was soakin' wet!

I really want to find someone to run with locally! at least someone that can push me to run faster. My goal for now is to try to average out 9 minute miles. Anyone know anyone in the silver spring, MD area?

I would've run outside this afternoon, since it is mighty gorgeous, but i've got a date with Audrey, my niece. maybe on Wednesday. i've got to do 5 miles wednesday, and 4 miles Friday, then a LONG run on Saturday. I really need to pick up some clif shots -- those do wonders for me! and of course some form of strength training on Tuesday and thursday. Then I think we want to also go for a bike ride Saturday afternoon. or maybe we'll do it sunday morning before we head over to my parents. We'll figure it out.

STUCK.

I feel STUCK.

Who doesn't come across those moments?

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my job. It's something i don't mind doing, i love the whole template, layout stuff, but i also want more. but with a corporate job, it's near impossible to move up at a pace that I want to move up. they move at SNAIL pace. and it's most aggravating to me.

There's been a lot of restructuring which doesn't affect my team, but it does affect how our work is being done, and in order for us to have stuff, we have to change the way we do things.. and well....that takes a good bit of time. Like i said-- snail pace.

and my boss always says, that's how corporations work.

I hate that.

We also haven't had a team meeting in MONTHS.. well no, that's not true, there was a team meeting the day after i got back from Barcelona, and i was jet lagged, so there was no way I was gonna go to the meeting. so thus.. i haven't seen a team meeting since maybe July?

I'm a fan of team meetings - as much as everyone else moans and groans about them. I get so much valuable information out of it. it's either I do hear all the babble and talk that goes on at work, but in no way do I ever really listen to it. I haven't the slightest clue what kind of craziness they talk about. And half the time my boss does assume i'm listening to a conversation so she'll say something to me, and i'm like What?! no i wasn't even listening. I think i've so programmed myself that I don't listen to other people's conversations.

on the other hand.. I think i'm gonna start some kind of sticky note thing to get myself motivated and do things.. Sticky notes are the best way for me to maintain a list. and i can keep it with me!

one huge thing that I've done is -- (as corny and lame as it is) every single night, I, now, brush my teeth (i've always done this), scrape my tongue - hey i got a free tongue scraper, floss!!!!!!!!!!! (you have no idea how monumental this is to me!), and swish mouth wash!

My running's been pretty consistent. i'm gonna be doing 6.5 miles this saturday, so i need to pick up some gels to keep with me on my run. and the gym membership started back up today, so serious weight training begins once again!

and last sunday, hector and I went mountain biking, HOLY crazy! i probably was only on my bike 40% of the time, but wow, i was huffing and heaving, it was tough! i need to learn to jump logs. I'm so paranoid of breaking any bones in my body. You  have no idea.

so that's what i'm gonna do.. a sticky note list full of my goals.

A to do list....on going!

Just recently hector and I made a list for things we I want done around the house. I know he wants this stuff done too.

Originally before we bought this condo, we had all these sort of ideas that we wanted to do to the condo (and it was a completely renovated condo!)

The only thing we ended up doing over the past year was paint that one accent wall. Now, we both knew we wanted orange, so we found the right paint color - terra cotta (i believe it was ralph lauren). We picked it out, asked the guy for primer, and however much paint he thought we needed since we were only doing one wall. The guy sets everything up for us - 1 quart of paint, 1 quart of tinted primer. and we were off. You would think I knew better, after all, I'm not a novice to painting - I've done my parents' kitchen, bathroom, living room and my sister's kitchen. and i've helped a friend with their kitchen and dining room.

We started with the tinted primer.

then we went ahead and did the first coat, then the second coat, then the third coat. What is wrong?!

 

so we decided to go back to home depot. and we spoke to the paint manager there. she was like what?1 who? no, everything's wrong?! she said you need grey primer. Oh. the guy was the one who told us tinted primer. it wasn't as if we went and picked it ourselves. we don't know any better. So the manager ended up giving us 1 gallon of grey primer and 1 gallon of terra cotta paint. for free, we would've paid for the paint, but since she felt bad for us, we'd already done 4 coats!

back home. we started with 2 coats of grey primer to ensure it completely covered the crappy paint. Then we proceeded with 2 more coats of terra cotta (so yes, we have 8 coats of paint on 1 freakin' wall). Here is the end result. 

Voila! whew! that was a crazy amount of work. though that tv isn't there anymore. and we do have a rug down. Once we'd finish our living room. we held off....until this fall.

it took us a year to recover from doing any more painting.

Back to the list....so we I wrote a list, he provided some feedback. Granted, this list isn't gonna get done right away.

but I'm gonna post it because there's a good chance that paper will end up in the trash can one way or another.

things we want done to the condo:
– Mirror for Entrance Way  It's done! we did it the day we made this list! and it looks fabulous. Now we have no excuse for walking around with shoes on! 
– Floor lamp/side table for living room
– curtains for dining room window - Working on picking out fabric. I've got a couple picked out. then my mom can sew them when she's back in florida.
– Dining table/Chairs & probably a new rug
– Artwork for that accent wall! - i constantly change my mind what i want on that wall!
– Magnetic wall or something for us to post pictures or artwork in the kitchen*
– More storage in at least one of the bathrooms
– Paint the bedroom!
– New bed (he wants queen size)
– Paint/Stain the chair
– Sound proofing of Studio
– Cozy up balcony space
– Garbage and Recycle set up has got to be better! 


*he hates how i have pictures of the kids on the fridge!

Dream Projects:
– Knock wall down between kitchen and living area -- it's got a doorway, but I'd love if that wall wasn't there. but it's a good chance it's a loadbearing wall.
– Replace railing in entrance way to solid half wall
– Refinish floors to darker color!
– Customize all the closets!
– Built in shelves in the shower (you have no idea!) 

but the best advice i can give anyone-- when they buy a place, or even rent, live there for a while before you do anything major. That's so essential! We had all these ideas, and then as time went by, we worked with what we had, bought little things to make it really work. and there are some things we thought we wanted, but then in the end, we ended up not needing to do that. so live with what you've got for a while, then make it work for you!

a new discovery

Most people don't realize that when i first started college, uhm, say over 10 years ago.

*note* I don't feel that old. i still think I'm 25. and i'll probably stay that way until at least next year. =) cuz then you know, 30's the new 20's. =)

Back to college, I basically had to pick a major before I had even finished high school?! How does one decide that?

I was good at Math and chemistry (or so the teacher thought). I didn't head in that direction. I was really good at math. but i didn't want anything boring. In fact I even wanted a year off from college, that argument with my dad didn't fly.

another thing i was good at -- i was editor of the yearbook for 97-98. so photography seemed like the best thing, I wanted to work for a magazine. so i picked the major that most resembled that, advertising photography.

Little did I know that was mostly teaching me to be a photographer. But I don't want to be a photographer?!? Anyway, i was stuck in that major - at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Now I'm not gonna knock the school or anything, but honest to god, it was probably not the best fit for me. Best photo school in the country, yes, good professors, but oh man, it was sexist at times. i had one professor, I swore didn't like me cuz i was a girl. i had another professor, I liked him, but dude, there'd be times when I walked out of class just wanting to cry.

by my 3rd year in college, I found another major which wouldn't delay my graduating date which was scheduled for May of 2002. This was visual media. Perfect, it was pulling teeth to get into that major mostly cuz it was a new major. But it combined photography and graphic design. Hey! this is working for me. I left - erm...graduated in 2002. On time. 3.17 GPA. not bad.

I was Nowhere near ready. but i had that bad case of senioritis. anyone who tries to tell you it doesn't exist. I had it my senior year of high school and senior year of college. It exists!

I left practically hating photography. I'm not kidding, i completely blame my hate of shooting pictures on RIT. the professors.

Fast Forward to August 2009, girls' trip to barcelona! took some pictures with my regular point and shoot camera.

shirley -- came a couple days after we'd been there. and she had her holga and her canon camera. I didn't touch it for the first day. She was shooting, and i would look at what she was doing. i was appreciating her angles, her fun stuff. her food pictures Ohmygod!

 

Then I got my hands on it....i started messing around with it a couple times. 

I attempted some beach photos of Shirley and Kara, but for some reason they came out blurry so I never posted them. So sad cuz i feel like the concept was cool, but it didn't turn out. I think maybe cuz it was so bright, and I had my sunglasses on, and shooting manual wasn't the best idea. Lesson learned. 

Anyway, I got this one. and i absolutely love it. it was pure luck. 

Then a couple of shirley that I love!

Then this one was of Flavio -- our gelato guy, he actually came around to take our picture, then i got one of him, it was quick too. I liked it cuz it felt very modelesque and he wasn't even posing for me.

Shirley letting me use her camera was a huge change in how I felt using the camera. I have a feeling it was also because I could make mistakes. Ok, so i'll try again if it doesn't turn out, digital gives you that opportunity. I also felt like it was because so many people use a DSLR, and they could care less about people watching them take pictures. I used to feel like it was so hard to capture moments on the street because i felt like they were watching me.

Ideally i'd love to get a dslr sometimes soon (but the hearing aid takes priority over this).  i would love the opportunity to just mess around with the camera and get comfortable with it once again. maybe one day.

Audiograms Galore!

let's start with audiograms.

Back in September of 2008

I had the implant done on my left ear. so let's focus on that -- this is with my hearing aid -- my speech discrimination is at 79% at 70db. but then when they turn down the decibels to 60 db, i can only comprehend 15%! DRASTIC drop!

then I had surgery on 12-04-2008 and they activated me on 12-31-2008.

I got tested on January 2nd, 2009.

 

This is just what i'm hearing at. they didn't do any speech discrimination. Mostly cuz everything sounded like mickey and minnie mouse! 

Then a week later, on January 9th, 2009. there was a program check. 

Just see how some things have changed, but not by much.

Then I came back a month later, this is when they started testing out my speech discrimination. February 2nd, 2009.

 

at 60 db -- I was understanding 75%! This is in contrast to my september 2008 test when i was only understanding 15%! Now I can tell you, I didn't like how stuff sounded but I was understanding it. But understand this, it's also testing me in a sound booth, so I hear nothing outside of my headphones. so it really isn't realistic. 

Moving on to April 14th, 2009. 

so here, they're doing HINT (which are sentences) at 60 db -- I'm still improving and understanding 87% of what I'm getting. Then she decided to add a twist and add +8db of background noise - I've NEVER done a test with this. So granted I was thrown off.


I only scored 36%. I was disappointed, but hey, it was my first time.


Then she started a new test CNC -- where I had to get just the word. This is harder than sentences. so I got 56% of them correct, and the ones that I missed, I got 72% of the phonemes, which means I got the sound right, but not the correct word.


Still with me? I know, it's a lot of information.

Now I have my latest test. I wasn't expecting that much of a improvement.
July 14th, 2009

 

Surprisingly in the HINT (sentences testing), I got 92% at 60db in complete quiet. 

Then I got 78% with +8db of background noise! a HUGE jump from 36%.

then she decided to test me with my hearing aid on my right ear. PFT. i only got a 72%. So this meant my hearing aid wasn't doing me any justice whatsoever. (this also means i have to spend more money on a new hearing aid. booooo! who ever said that being deaf had its advantages, it costs more money!)

then with the word test -- just the CI, i got 66% correct, and 81% phonemes. 

so even with a 3 month, I'm steadily improving. but my audiologist actually said i've pretty much maxed out at where i'm at. 

I begged her to drop a couple more high frequencies. I was so irritated. so she hesitantly dropped a couple more. But told me that if it wasn't working for me, to tell her. 

So i tested it out. a month later, I knew I was missing a whole lot more. everything was getting past me. so i sent her my other processor, and had her put the old program back on. 

Then I got ahold of my other audiologist to talk to her about my hearing aid. I knew it wasn't doing the job. it was just pointless. I went in last thursday & she's loaning me a hearing aid to try out. it's phonak naida V. 

HOLY cow. like I cannot tell you how much more I'm understanding. it's actually making me not mind the CI high frequencies. 

I'm almost like a stereo system. Seriously, this has drastically improved. Even hector... he can tell i'm just understanding things almost instantly better. I don't have to look at him as much anymore. the funniest thing, I actually love how it "turns on." it has this 3 or 2 tone whistle. 

I love my audiologist (the hearing aid audiologist) -- she'll think of things to test me out with that i've never had done. like localize. i can localize now. You have no idea how cool this is. 

I can jump in a conversation and get about 75% of it without having to ask what they're talking about.

I probably have to go back in like 30 days to either return the hearing aid, or work out a payment plan. 

It ain't cheap being me. I'm still cringing as to how much it costs. I even called my insurance company, and they don't cover anything, they do have something i can go through which offers a discount, but i get a better price from my own audiologist. so ask me in 30 days. 

I"m even liking my music again. Whahoooooooooo. i feel like i've been without music for like 9 months! you don't even understand. 

Would i suggest a CI to anyone? Probably not. I think they have to go through their own thing to figure it out. if it weren't for the new hearing aid, I probably wouldn't be thrilled with how it's sounding, cuz on its own, it kinda sucks.

and I'm back!!!!

Whew. This was brutal. Getting motivation to do this again. I was just absolutely annoyed with mobile me.com (and i'm a mac loyalist, though I don't have an iphone, I'm just not willing to spend that much money...YET.) and mobile me.com wasn't that user friendly. at least I didn't think so. so bye bye, besides that was a waste of money. f'real!

After getting back from Barcelona, I just had ZERO motivation. I'm not even joking. I'd still comment on other people's blogs.

I still haven't posted pictures on facebook yet. *bows my head in shame* though my friends did, but doubt my other friends can see their pictures. and then i haven't even posted a select few here. *shame on me!*

What can I say, the motivation, zilch! But at work, we got new computers-- 24" screens. they're giganormous. so i've been getting situated here with that. but the fact of the matter is, you'd think with the down time we have, I'd been motivated. HA! not so.

but I am back.

I have scanned my audiograms so people can see the results.

I will go through my barcelona pictures and post them on facebook, and maybe a select few here.

I am back to training for another half marathon, this time, it's in baltimore, just a jump, hop, skip away from me. and i've heard it's HILLY. so i've been working on that.

My gym membership starts up on september 15th. But I'm fearful of the early morning hours once again, it's been kinda nice sleeping in until 6:30 and not having to shower at the gym. but the strength training, I've got to get back into that.. I'm feelin' weak!

and I'm not happy that it's been cool weather this week. I'm not ready to let go of summer. Come back to me, won't you?

so here's the thing, I've got my old web site. I'm keeping the files and stuff. But I have NO idea how to move stuff over from there to here, so if some readers want to learn more about my backstory in regards to cochlear implants & usher's syndrome, please let me know. I will probably eventually do a post to rehash a few things.