Audio Tidbits

We think we are the same person we have always been, but perhaps not. Maybe we have been a few other people and are now someone we have never been. This is either a quite bizarre notion or an exciting opportunity. Let's think about that together.

In this episode of Audio Tidbits, I share four short anecdotes that may or may not have a point. I am leaving points and conclusions up to you.

Why do we think what we think, know what we know, believe what we believe? Is it because we are all thoughtful people who carefully consider the possibilities and options and then come to well developed and insightful conclusions? Maybe you do but I mostly believe what I believe and don't give much thought to it. That's much easier than all of that brain work. Even more to the point, it's easier to believe than to worry about whether I'm right. My default is to just go with what I already believe, whatever I already know to be right. Am I the exception? …

The point of this episode of Audio Tidbits is that one step is better than no steps and that it really is true that when we are having a bad day, our best option when more is said than done is to suck it up and move on.

If you don't have time to listen, here's the best tidbit in the 12 minutes it would take to listen. Your life is your garden, Your thoughts are the seeds. If your life isn't awesome, You've been watering the weeds.

I hope that it's okay for me to take a slight break from technology. I was listening to a podcast earlier today that talked about the power of subtraction. The idea was that sometimes our best option is to take something away when we're having difficulty handling some problem or situation. The specifics of the argument aren't particularly important here. The point I focused on is that we can make things too complicated to deal with.

I think this is especially true when we can't see. We have something we want to do or maybe even need to do. We start thinking about it and consider this problem or that issue. It's probably just human nature for us to start listing all of the things that might go wrong, problems that might come up, reasons why it might be better to just avoid the pitfalls all together. Maybe we will put it off till later or perhaps chock it up to another one of those things we can't do since we can't see.

The result is that our can't do list keeps getting longer and our can-do list gets shorter. It's easy enough to see where that gets us, how we end up doing less and less, while avoiding new experiences and opportunities more and more. The circle of our world gets smaller or perhaps never expands beyond our comfortable chair and limited living area. Concurrently, we convince ourselves that we actually like it better this way. Well, we don't actually convince ourselves, but we get pretty good at covering up our depression and disappointment. We believe that it is what it is and unlikely to get better any time soon, if ever.

There is a mental health disorder called agoraphobia that has some similarity to what I'm talking about. It is an extreme condition, but the people get quite anxious and upset with even the idea of leaving home or needing to interact with strangers. The condition is a lot more complicated than that, but the main point here is that they are afraid. That's the part that applies to us when we keep the circle of our worlds small and safe.

So, what are we afraid of? Actually, it's a short list. It starts with being afraid that we will get hurt and, if we leave our safe area, we might get lost. It also includes being worried that we will make a mess we can't clean up or cause other problems that we don't want to deal with. Add not wanting to be embarrassed over doing or not doing things as most people who can see do them, you have come to the end of the list.

Now we see the formula. We start with a world of options and possibilities. We first subtract most everything where we might get hurt. Next goes any situation where we might get lost, even if only temporarily. Now take away actions or activities that hold the potential for making a mess or causing problems that we either can't or don't want to handle by ourselves. Finally, subtract those situations or encounters where we think we might embarrass ourselves and then calculate the remainder, figure out What's left.

Have you done the math? Sure you have and so have the rest of us who can't see. The fact of it is that we do the math every day. We calculate the risk of getting hurt or lost. We calculate the odds of making a mess or causing a problem that we can't or don't want to handle by ourselves. We assess the likelihood of embarrassing ourselves and debate with ourselves about whether this or that goes on our can-do or can't-do by ourselves list. Here's the good news. So long as we are still doing the math, we are still in the game. If we have stopped calculating, it likely means that we have given up. Not seeing wins.

There are a lot of conclusions and inferences one could draw from all of this, but I suspect you have already figured them out for yourself. Pointing out the obvious, we would do well to develop better strategies not to get hurt, better strategies not to get lost and strategies for handling it if we do,

Like most Audio Tidbits episodes, this one wanders around a bit. I pass by global warming, voter fraud, conspiracies and a few more hot spots as I get to moderation and keeping it between the lines. I hope you choose to come along for the trip. I don't promise either wisdom or great insight but do assure that you will finish with a thing or two to think about, as if you weren't already busy enough. Thanks for joining me.

If, like me, you can't see, there are quite a few annoying problems that pop up; and they all are due to not being able to see. I'm sure that either of us could make a very long list. A number of little frustrations would be on both of our lists, but there would be some that show up only on one of our lists. We each have our own pet peeves.

For me, most of my can't see annoyances can be put into only a few categories. What is it? Where is it? Which one is it? How does it work; and more to the point, how can I get it to work for me?

First, let's get some perspective. Everyone has similar annoyances whether or not they can see. Being irritated by this and that now and then is liberally spread around for all of us. It's easy to get the feeling that life has dealt us a worse deal than everyone else, but that's just not true. The world is more accommodating to some of us than to others of us for sure. It is what it is. If we were to make a list of the ten worst limitations we might have, we might think that not being able to see would be at the top of the list, but that's mostly because we haven't experienced the other nine. My point is that coming up short in the seeing department only means that I'll just have to figure out some other way to know what it is, where it is, which one it is and how to make it work for me.

Here's the good news. Let's call what, where, which one, and using it the big four – That's the big four annoyances due to not being able to see, of course. I don't have to puzzle out the big four for myself. If you insist on figuring them out for yourself, have at it. For me, I'm happy to know that others have already figured them out so I can just use their strategies and solutions. I'm sure that either of us could likely figure out ways around the big four by ourselves, but why bother? We can just use someone else's strategy, modifying it if necessary. Easy Peasy.

The solution to "What is it?" and "Which one is it?" is not complicated. Open the Aira or Be My Eyes app on your smart phone and ask the agent or volunteer to take a look and tell you what it is or which one it is. We discussed those options in the last episode of Blind How. They also may be able to help you to find something that you dropped or just can't find, if you know approximately where it is. You will recall that they are also usually willing to read something for you, if it is not too long or overly private. But there are other options.

You won't be surprised to know that those other ways involve apps on your phone, using the phone's camera. Although I don't understand much about how they do what they do, it's usually referred to as OCR or Optical Character Recognition or as A I or Artificial Intelligence. One of the most popular apps like this is called Seeing A I.

There are several vision assist apps available to us and they do various tasks with mixed results. They can read, identify money, tell us whether the lights are on or off, identify things around us, help figure out what color something is, identify products, read bar codes, and other things related to providing visual information. How well they will work for you can only be determined by you giving each app a serious try. I think you can try each app for free, but there is a cost if you want to keep using most of the apps. I can tell you that the more you use a particular app, the more effective it will become, as your skill with using it improves.

As with other apps, you will need to use your developing skills to find and try out the available visual assistance apps. As a place to start, try Applevis.com to find out about these apps and how to use them. There are also quite a few blindness related podcasts that will add to your explorations. And searching Google for "OCR" and "Blind" is likely to point you in helpful directions.

If I'm leaving you short,

Thanks for checking out this episode of Audio Tidbits. I first explain what I've done with my websites and discuss consolidation. Specifically, I let you know what happened with Blind How and where new episodes will show up. The point is that everything is still available, just on GaryCrow.net now.

I also talk with you about my SONOS Roam portable speaker. If you need a portable speaker with great sound, access to Alexa and Google, and connection to your favorite streaming music service, the SONOS Roam may be a perfect choice for you.

Sure, there is also some nice music and some wondering here and there about this and that.

In the last episode of Blind How, I suggested AIRA.io  whenever you need to have someone who can see to look at something or tell you about most anything. The AIRA helpers will also give you visual assistance while you are doing something that you want to do. Although the service is free much of the time and in a lot of situations, to be sure it's there for you consistently, whenever you need it, you do need a paid subscription, especially if it's going to take more than five minutes.

 

There is an alternative and totally free option for getting live help from someone who can see. It's called Be My Eyes and has two parts. Download the Be My Eyes app from the app store. Poke around the app and you will figure out how to sign up. Once you have done that, you can either call a volunteer or talk with a specialist from any business on a long list of companies that are available through Be My Eyes. If you talk with a volunteer, the possibilities are more limited than with AIRA but work really well for most things where having someone to take a look and tell you what they see is all you need. They will also help you do something that you are doing while they watch through the phone's camera.

 

If you use the option to talk with someone from one of the companies on the extensive list, you will be talking with an expert. Once you have explained your problem or issue, they will stick with you until you have the information you need or have the problem or issue resolved. For example, I was having an issue with my Windows computer. There was no speech and I had no idea what to do. The Microsoft expert had me point my phone's camera toward my computer screen and then told me exactly which keys to press on the computer keyboard. In about two minutes, my computer was again talking and off I went.

 

Both AIRA and BE My Eyes are amazing services and always there, just a tap or so away on my iPhone. Still, I find myself reluctant to just make the call. I'm bringing this up since I suspect that you might have a similar reluctance. Here's what is going on for me.

 

Whenever I ask someone to help when being able to see is necessary, it feels like I'm interrupting them and certainly inconveniencing them. Both feelings are in fact legitimate, much if not most of the time. The good news is that most people are okay with a small interruption or temporary inconvenience now and then, so long as I don't overdo it or impose too often. The bad news is that I haven't figured out a good way to always know where the line is between okay on the one hand and overdoing and too often on the other. For me, the best solution to this dilemma is to just not ask, unless I'm fairly certain that this specific request will not be disruptive or particularly inconvenient. I try to save up the good will for those infrequent times when I have a serious problem or issue that I just can't handle without help.

 

There is another frustration that comes up at least once or twice most days. There is some little thing that I want to know or want to do that I wouldn't even notice, if I could see. What color is this shirt? What's in this can? What does that bird I'm hearing look like? Is my computer screen on or off? Where's the door to the store? Where's the ball I through for my dog that he didn't retrieve? I'll bet you can join in. It's just one little thing after another, with an even more frustrating thing thrown in now and then.

 

But what to do? Unfortunately, I usually just move on, doing without that little bit of visual assistance. That's easier than bothering someone or waiting until they have time to help.

 

So, what does all that have to do with not making the couple of taps it takes to connect with...