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Visual Clues

When my hair used to be half way down my back (with only white highlights) a police officer called to me from behind, “excuse me Miss.” I turned so he could see my manly body (insert laughter), beard...

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What If?

Out of the following please pick the stupid question.  “Excuse me sir, is this your motorcycle?”“Can you tell me what speed you were doing?”“Do you want fries with that?” Obviously it's the last one,...

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What's The Word I Want?

As I’ve said, I met with Dick Hill to talk about being the hearing half of a partnership. It wasn’t a moanfest in any shape, Dick’s gathering of experiences will enable him to further assist new...

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Did You See?

People tend to meet and greet with “how are you's”. If there’s time for a chat the next question very often takes the form of “did you see ‘'Get out of being an X factoring celebrity chef house...

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We Are Not Alone

After six months of meaning to upgrade my mobile phone I finally called Vodafone yesterday, and I’m glad I did, not just because I’m getting the mobile I want but because I had a long chat about deaf...

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Agony, agony and No Help from Sue

Finally, I’ve got something negative I can say about how Sue’s deafness has affected my life. My lower back has given me problems for decades, occasionally, randomly and without any obvious cause, it...

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Intruders upstairs?

Sunday night, 9.40pm, Sue and I got in after a long and busy day, our plans were - bath, eat, stare at TV for a while and then sleep.While Sue had a bath I wandered round the house drawing curtains etc...

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Laughter At The End Of The Tunnel

TV gets away with it all the time, so why shouldn’t I? I’m going to repeat a subject - Dame Evelyn Glennie. But this time I want to focus on the hope she brings to us, the hearing partners.Last week...

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And About Bloody Time

Ofcom propose to improve the standard of subtitling. Good, but what took them so long?My last comment on subs was how they had improved. I typed too soon. Over the past three weeks the standard has...

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More fiddling than I can manage

Hello, Who's There?Push button - BUZZZZ.Voice -“Hello”.Me - “I’ve got an appointment for 1.”Voice - “Sorry, couldn’t hear, that bus drowned you out.”Me - “Pardon, I couldn’t hear because of that bus...

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Diary of a fool

I’ve never been fortunate enough to watch more than 15 minutes of a Morse episode on TV or read the books. I know how stupid it is to comment on anything without having all the...

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Hear Less To Learn More

Sue and I were talking the other day about hearing partners understanding deafness – nothing deep and meaningful, just what’s helped me understand the requirements of someone who’s become deaf. We both...

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Dream a Little Dream (of Mama cass, not me)

As well as being beneficial to mental health, dreams have been the source for and subject of all varieties of art – they’ve also resulted in some outrageously harebrained ideas. Anyone whose spent time...

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BSL Signing - 'Apple For The Teacher'?

It’s taken far too long, but Sue finally started a stage 1 British Sign Language (BSL) course last week.Ironically, after four years of failing to find a college which succeeded in running a course...

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Looking and learning

Week three of BSL and Sue’s not feeling so anxious or out of place. Not criticising tutor or classmates, it’s just that for some deaf people - more than hearing folk could imagine - entering a learning...

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Beowulf the Scourge of Hearing Loss?

During education I had girlfriends, who had fathers, who had misgivings about me. Well, not just me, any lad who spent time with their daughters – which I now fully understand. However Margaret’s...

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Deaf Characters in Novels, again.

In a previous blog I mentioned listening to a radio play of the Morse story, ‘The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn'. I was incensed at the discrimination and ill-will aimed at the eponymous Mr Quinn...

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Times of the Signs

Those old enough to recall Jackanory (BBC story telling series for youngsters, 1965- 1996) will have their favourite story tellers. The talents of Bernard Cribbins and Kenneth Williams always prompted...

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Forward Thinking

Laptop and pc developed serious problems for Christmas, all better now.New Year frequently involves looking forward and back. When it comes to hearing loss I’ve found looking back frequently unhelpful,...

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To Tell or Not to Tell?

Anyone out there got experience of wearing an informative reflective vest? For a few years now Sue and I have discussed the merits of her wearing a ‘Deaf Rider’ vest. I’ve got a thick marker pen and...

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Table Manners

Signing is going well, Sue’s gaining confidence in her group as she increases her vocabulary. Even so, the first exam a couple of weeks ago was a bit of a tribulation. Not that it was hard so much as...

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Raising the Rabble

No offence to the Hearing Link team or anyone involved in the deaf community who was looking forward to the TV programme below. Hopefully you’ll understand what I’m on about. Hearing viewers who do...

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Fantasy Island

I’ve mentioned that not being able to share with Sue has lessened my enjoyment of music. Well, it hasn’t improved and I have a dilemma on my doorstep.If I wanted to impress with the sophistication of...

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Deaf Awareness Week

I’ve struggled with how to express my opinion of the significances of Deaf Awareness Week, this is the 14th rewrite. In previous versions I’d written how DAW will make hearing people aware of the best...

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Deaf Awareness Week, the Movie .....................

................................. Opening. Caught your attention, didn’t I? Now reread the heading in the deep, bass, tones used in most American movies.AH! Of course, for a deaf person that’s a...

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Wish she'd said that quieter

Lip reading is a difficult, but rewarding (what an understatement) skill to master.Sue spent three years at lip reading classes with me joining her for the last – not because I couldn’t be bothered for...

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Mine's not a pint

Thanks to the email from Anon with comments on Meniere’s and the coping tip of vigorous head shaking, which is similar to advice Vestibular Rehabilitation gave Sue after years of sitting motionless...

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Moon River

Credit where it’s due. I’ve learned I was wrong, thanks to subtitles.I thought the actress, Audrey Hepburn, couldn’t sing and had all her ‘songs’ dubbed by a voice artist. I’d shared that knowledge...

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World War One and hearing

As I write this ceremonies are being held remembering the start of World War 1, I’m not watching because I’d find it too emotional. I often think about the men and women caught up by, and severely...

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Hero of the hour? Or just a pain in the neck?

Our confusion over me avoiding someone reminded me of a tremendously heroic incident by me, which ended with me feeling grumpy and somewhat superfluous.Last year Sue and I walked across a large car...

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Rows and Arguments

If anyone wants to comment I’m always pleased to hear from you and shared tips (ideas, not gratuities) are always welcome as they’d save us having to find out we had a problem the hard way, such as how...

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Glancing In The Dark – apologies to Mr Springsteen

Autumn; Sue’s back at college learning British Sign Language (re-taking level one) and, apart from Bonfire Night, barbeques are in store.We enjoy barbeques, I burn the food and we share the eating. For...

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Painting a Gloomy Picture

I’m not commenting on how David Hockney chooses to lead his life. I mean no offence and respect his opinions and his options. I’d heard Hockney speak before of his severe hearing loss and how he...

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I'm a swell guy

Slight pain near a tooth on Thursday turned into agony on Friday night - luckily I have Co-codamol on prescription which helped. Saturday morning I was told I had two large abscesses that had nothing...

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Wristbands

So, how was last year for you?The most cheering event of ‘14 for me is simple, and cheap. Even better, it signifies a change in how Sue views her loss of hearing.

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Tinnitus Awareness Week

To recap for new readers. Our introduction to Meniere’s Disease was when Sue woke me in the middle of the night to ask why all the church bells were ringing, she had tinnitus. The internal noises have...

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UK National Blog Awards - being shortlisted

It was a simple question, how did I feel to be shortlisted for the 2015 Blog Awards? So why has it taken seven rewrites to get to reach an answer?

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Downs & ups

I’ve tried to keep a positive view on things here; if someone is visiting these pages then they probably need reassurance. But there is a negative side to being positive - that new visitor to Hearing...

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Practice makes perfect

Well, I thought the new laptop would solve the computer problems. Wrong. Turned out the problem transferred with the recovered data. Wonder if I should have binned the old laptop?

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A Capital Day Out Grommit (copyright Aardman Animations Ltd)

Sue and I paid a fleeting visit to London, just a dash up and back as she’d had to get back for her last BSL lesson before the final exam.

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Disappointments mount up

Fleetwood Mac played the Isle of Wight and even though Stevie Nicks must have passed within a few miles of me at most, she didn’t stop to whisk me off. Crushed, that’s what I am, I’ve adored her...

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Why is it a secret?

Before anyone accuses me of not having a sense of humour – wronnnnggggg. Yeah, I know that’s the comment of someone without a sense of humour.

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Sea in the Dark Lipreading (pun intended)

It’s been a traditional Bank Holiday weekend. It rained - a lot. Yesterday I briefly skimmed through the Sunday Telegraph seeking something other than gossip and speculation that seems to fill the...

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The Man in the Ironed Mask

Spiders, confined spaces, clowns, no problems for me. I’m a real man, able to fight my own weight in chocolate Santas.Injections!! Dentists!! Entirely different story, I’m genuinely dentist and needle...

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Sense of Humour

If I was a successful writer or just rich, people would smile (condescendingly) and whisper “eccentric.” Instead I get everything from “odd sense of humour” to “weird.” 

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It’s a Sign!

I’ve mentioned how easily amused I am by wording and signs and, I’m afraid I mislead. The Iceland T-shirt read “ask me about home delivery”, same meaning but not what I recalled. Saw a van this morning...

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Deafness Changed Our Relationship.

When Sue and I first met 30 years ago I had no idea she had impaired hearing. In common with most people she met, I had no reason to think she didn’t have a pair of fully functioning ears.

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And How Does That Make You Feel? Part 1.

I had no idea University College London was so big, let alone that the hospital isn’t part of the Uni. Nor did I realise that the socks I’d put on were a nylon/cotton mix – which I hate anyway, but...

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And How Does That Make You Feel? Part 2.

So, my turn came and a lot of what I’d intended to say had been included in the previous talk, it was adlib time. I opened with how proud I am of Sue’s achievements and that we’ve been together for 30...

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In my defence

My reaction to that woman surprised me, I didn’t raise my voice or use any strong language, I simply said “I might slap the next person to do that, it wasn’t funny the first 500 times.” I ended with...

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