Getting My Ears On

My hearing aid is past it's warranty period and basically worn out.  I have needed a new one for the past couple of years but I have been putting it off. With Covid-19 restrictions I wasn't going anywhere anyway and really only had one person to annoy by making him repeat eveything. 

I found myself tuning into the radio news several times in a day to try to catch what was being said. I'm not sure if that's a hearing problem or if I have just lost my listening skills. I gave in last fall and went for a hearing test. That's when I found out things had changed. Not only had the prices gone up but the warranty period had dropped from five years to just three. You get a trial period with new hearing aids in case that style or model turns out not to be the right one for you.  But I still was not getting to places where it could be tested properly so I decided, once again, to wait. I saw no point in wasting my warranty period when there was little to hear anyway.

But hey people, dispite the fact that there is a new Covid varient speading rapidly normal life seems to be making a comeback. I have been to visit family and friends and attended both the Legion Senior's Lunch and the Ladies Club dinner this past month.  I couldn't follow conversations in any of those situations so I went back to the audiologist. 

My last hearing test had apparently expired so I had to do it over again. There was no change and though I felt like I was not hearing as well, I just need to learn to listen again. People think that comes naturally but really, it's a skill. I need to practice.

I will be getting my new aid just in time for an upcoming event where I may get to talk more than I have to listen. There will be a small crowd there and I expect a lot more noise than at the meals I have attended. This will be an excellent testing ground to see what adjustments will be needed to my new assistive device. I do expect I will still need some people to repeat things but maybe I will at least be able to watch tv without closed captions.  One can only hope....

Caught in the Crossfire

 I posted several notices on Facebook asking you to sign in support of the optometrist's job action. 

 After three decades of being underpaid by the government, the optometrists felt it was time to take a stand. Over the past thirty years, the increase in the payment they receive has only gone up by a total of $5 while the number of seniors needing their services has increased by 70 percent. The average cost for an optometrist to see a patient is $80 and they are getting less than $50 of that from the government for seniors and children. To see all those patients who are covered by OHIP every year at such a loss is just not sustainable. They want that gap filled, and who can blame them. Right now that money is coming out of their own pockets

When I posted those requests to sign in support of the optometrists, I thought that if I did need to go see one I would just have to pay like all the other adults who have not become seniors yet. Well, it turns out that the government has made it illegal for those who are eligible for OHIP services to pay out of pocket for an eye exam.  That means that if we need to see our eye doctor, we simply cannot. As of the beginning of September, the optometrists taking part in this job action are not allowed to see us.  That means that all those patients that use over four million services on an annual basis no longer have access to optometry services. 

I recently had cataract surgery and needed new glasses to read with afterward. I got them but I find that they don't work well for me. I took them back to where I got them and the prescription was checked and was correct. I was told to go back to my eye doctor.  I did that yesterday. Or tried to.  A technician there also checked my glasses against the prescription and once again no problem was found.  I explained that when I try to read I keep finding myself closing one eye. She tried to get the optometrist to see me, and was told the doctor was not allowed because I was covered by OHIP.  While I totally support her position, I find myself caught in the crossfire. I have read a few stories in the news of others with even worse problems so the sooner this job action is settled, the better.  

I have been put on a list......a very long list, I'm told.....to be called when an appointment can legally be made.  But just think of how many people who would normally have regular appointments, let alone ones for problems, will be on this ever-growing list. It's bad enough things have slowed down due to the pandemic, but this is going to create a real bottleneck once the offices are open once again to seniors. 

Please contact your MPP and help get this problem solved.  Even if you are not personally affected, I'm sure there is someone in your life who will be. Here's the link you need.  Home - Save Eye Care

Thank you.

Finding the Silver Lining

One day last week I planned to take the senior's shopping bus into Ottawa for the day.  I got dressed and walked the half mile to where I would catch the bus. I chatted with a friend for a little while, before being left alone to wait. Then I waited and waited, and waited some more. It was strange that the bus wasn't coming. It was even stranger that the others who normally catch this bus were not there either. I decided that they had changed the pick up point once again, and that I just had not heard about it. This bus only runs once a month, and I don't often take it.  Obviously I wasn't going to be able to take it that day either. I wandered over to the local Drop In centre, and joined the gang there for some treats and a cup of tea.

Someone said, "I thought you were going into Ottawa today."

I admitted that had been the plan and that they must have moved the pick up point as the bus never came. They asked what time the bus comes to pick us up, and that's when I realized my mistake. I had gone to wait for the bus a full hour late. Most everything else I tend to do starts at 10am, while the bus leaves here at 9am.  I was ready on time, but I was on auto pilot, and didn't leave the house until I normally would if I was going to go somewhere. I started wondering if I was going senile or something.

This week I attended a function in a nearby village, where a lady who sometimes rides that bus into Ottawa asked me if I had gone last week. I told her I had intended to, but somehow managed to miss the ride. She told me that the bus had broken down on the way, and everyone had to sit on it for a couple of hours while they got a replacement bus to pick them up and continue the trip. They didn't get to Ottawa until noon. I'm so glad I missed the bus as it would have been lunch time when we got there and after eating (which I'm sure I would have done) there wouldn't have been a lot of time to shop before the bus was ready to take us home again at 2pm.  I would have felt I'd spent too much on the trip for the amount of time I would have had in the mall.

Sometimes it pays to be absent minded.

Roaring 20's Party

It's been a while since I told you about one of my little adventures, and really, that's what the rambles here were supposed to be all about.

I belong to a seniors club that meets twice a month. This week they held a Roaring Twenties party instead of a Valentines party. Perhaps that's because a lot of the members no longer have their spouses.   I don't know, but whatever the reason, it was lots of fun.

When we arrived we found that the hall had been turned into a speakeasy. Members making like waiters asked if they could get us a drink, as if there really was alcohol available. What we really got was cranberry juice, ginger ale, or a combination of the two.  There were various games of chance set up at tables around the room, and people came dressed in their 1920's finery.  If you approached one of these gaming tables, you were handed a stack of chips and told you now had $10,000 to play with.  It's a good thing it was imaginary money as I lost mine quickly.

Later on the speakeasy morphed into a cabaret and the music began. We have, among our members, people who are good on the keyboard, or can sing or dance so there was a nice little floor show.  Coffee and tea and lots of wonderful goodies were available at this point.  The whole afternoon was quite enjoyable, and didn't cost us a red cent.....not that those are being used these days anyway.