Hunkered Down

Create Joy

We are hunkered down and staying in.

Yesterday I picked up my hearing aids at Costco and I have to say, the local store is doing a great job of keeping things clean, maintaining safe distances, etc.

When I told the cart person I didn't need one as I was only going to the hearing centre, another person told me to enter through the exit door so that I didn't have to queue.  The audiologist kept safe distance - me in the aisle, him behind the counter.  All went well with him demoing and giving verbal instructions, us passing the aids back and forth by setting them on the counter for the other to then approach and pick them up.  I could see that the counters had been wiped down.

Then came the feedback test.  Normally this is done in the sound proof exam room, but that room is barely 4 by 6 feet.  He very apologetically asked if I could do a make shift test.  It would mean standing in the middle of the aisle in Costco with a bucket over my head while he went to his equipment in the sound/exam room and tested the hearing aids while I wore them.

I'm quite sure that any folk walking by to the pharmacy wondered if I was trying to protect myself from the virus!  I almost asked someone to take a photo, but decided that it would have to live on in memory - and my imagination.

Needless to say it is going to take some time to get used to them.  I'm not used to having things in my ear canals.  And everything is so...noisy!  When you gradually lose something like hearing, you just slowly adapt and don't really notice that you are no longer hearing some things.

I wore them for about an hour or so until it was lunch time and I couldn't bear the sound of my chewing - so LOUD!  I took them out and left them out until after dinner when I put them in to watch tv.  This time things were not quite so LOUD but after two hours they were becoming uncomfortable so I took them out again.

This time of Home Time will be a good way to begin to get used to using them.

It has been very interesting to talk to the audiologist(s) and others who also need to use hearing aids.  Of course we are all different, but there are things that are similar, if not exactly the same.

I won't use them while weaving on the Megado.  The solenoids firing create quite a loud 'bang' so I will continue to wear the hearing protection I used to weave on the AVL.  And am grateful that I did wear hearing protection all those years or my hearing loss would be a lot worse than it is.

Today the shipment of one of my medications arrived, and the rest are good for at least two months.  Those are 'standard' and I'm expecting that the doctor's office will just do a phone call if we are still keeping physical distance, and then phone the Rx in.  They might even do delivery if that seems necessary.

So all we really need are fresh things - bread, meat, veggies.  We have staples to last for a couple of months.

All things being equal, we have the internet and enough to keep us going for some time.

I will check the post office once a week and Doug will likely go to the grocery store once a week for the things we run out of, but otherwise we have no plans to go anywhere.  I expect my chiropractic appointment to be cancelled (it's next week) and our dental has been postponed.

Our country isn't doing the best job during this time.  But neither is it doing the worst.  Time for the citizens to do their part and as much as possible stay away from other people.

Home Time for me:  weave.  As much as possible.  Make puzzles.  Start plying that fine silk.  Read.  Might actually get to those books piled on the hearth.  Who knew I would need them now instead of when I purchased them?  Hem towels.  Stay in touch with people via the internet.  Start walking if the roads ever clear of the ice and snow!

Stay calm.  Or as Ivor would say 'stay clam'.