The dog, the car, the guitar, and the daughter

One of those multi-topic posts...

THE DOG

Yesterday we bought Jake his license, so he's legal -- just stay off the roads! *wink* Seriously, though. In Montgomery County, Ohio, pet owners are required to purchase a dog license annually. Not only is it a source of revenue, but it also helps us in case Jake happens to get lost and is later found by someone from Animal Control.

I am not sure if licenses are required for other kinds of pets. I would think that it would be hard to fit the license on a snake, for example.

THE CAR

Maxine (Mom's 1983 Nissan Maxima) is desperately needing some new brakes. I'm also looking for the other windshield wiper; on Christmas Eve I had to install a new one on the driver's side. We need to get another spare tire, too.

Last week when we had a cold snap, the left rear door wouldn't close. So I had to sit in the back and hold onto the door as we drove to and from the laundromat. Jennie and I reasoned that the mechanism that makes the door stay closed must have gotten frozen. On the way home, we stopped at AutoZone and got some silicone spray, which I then applied to the door mechanism. It still wouldn't stay closed.

I used a screwdriver to disable the button that triggers the inside car lights when a door is open. I also shut off the voice alert that constantly told us, "Left door is open." Finally, I found an old swing assembly, which we'd obtained when we bought Keisha's Baby Tenda™ before she was born. It consists of chains and some springs that would hook onto her chair. I rigged the assemby up so that the door would stay closed. Fortunately, the next day was warmer, and the silicone spray worked. We've decided to keep the assembly handy in case we'd need it again.

When I talk to people about the car, they are just as surprised as I am that the car has held up for so long. I don't know of many 20+ year old cars that are still up and running.

THE GUITAR

If callouses on the fingertips of my left hand are one way to gauge progress with the guitar, then so be it. I've been going through some books and a video I found at the library. I still have a long way to go before I'm proficient, even to the slightest level. Yet I am able to see progress.

My main reason for wanting to develop skill with the guitar is to be able to play to encourage others and at church. I've been going through the songbooks we have at home during practice. Most children's songs have repetitive melodies(e.g., "The Alphabet Song", "Twinkle Twinkle", "Baa Baa Black Sheep")so I'm trying to get the chord progressions down for those. I'm also learning songs that we sing during church services, too.

THE DAUGHTER

On December 31st, Joanne, the audiologist at Children's Medical Center made some new impressions of Keisha's ears to make some new earmolds. Keisha wears Oticon Behind-The-Ear (BTE) hearing aids in both ears. The earmold is the "rubbery" part that fits into her ear. The way that the aids work is such that a microphone on the aid amplifies the sound and transmits it to Keisha's ear through some small tubing.

At that appointment, Joanne also tested Keisha's hearing - aided and non-aided. It turns out that Keisha's lost more hearing in her left ear, and the majority of the hearing she is getting with her aids is coming from her right ear. The current hearing aids are no longer adequate.

So, after talking with the audiologist at Keisha's school, she's ordered Keisha some new hearing aids. So, very soon Keisha will have blue earmolds AND blue hearing aids. These new aids will apparently have three programs: a "normal" program, a louder program, and a program to be used with the FM system.

An FM system is great in that it doesn't use the typical amplification methodology. Instead an FM signal is transmitted to receivers, which are attached to the hearing aids. This FM signal overrides ambient sounds. It's best used in a setting where you want to make sure that she is hearing what's being said. Her teachers use it at school, and we use a different one at home.

I guess that's enough of the audiology lesson, LOL! I know that I probably have not been completely accurate in describing how things work, but hopefully you get the general idea.