On Medic Alert and Such...

[Smokin Joe]

If hearing improves even briefly then I'd say your theory is correct. A good specialist may be able to treat it. You can't go to an ENT guy and get much from them. I assume your ear canal is clear and there's no sign of liquid behind your ear drum. Have you tried less salt (or more) and/or more potassium (or less). Both of those play a significant role in pressure balance inside the inner ear.

Salt is something i eat, but I don't add much, although the one snack I can have (self imposed low carb diet to keep my A1C down) is pork rinds (zero carbs), and they are loaded with salt. As for potassium, I haven't tried anything with it. You are correct, no sign of liquid behind the ear drum, and the canal is clear.

[Bigun]

With all you half deaf folks running around in here, I have a question:

Does the passthrough sound setting (transparency, ambient mode) on modern buds work for a hearing aid? Can you get that much gain, to where it can be used that way?

My hearing was already in the shitter (too many years around high-speed rotating equipment) and was already wearing hearing aids in both ears until the one in my right ear became so useless I stopped wasting batteries on it. My wife insisted on me finding out why that happened, and it turns out that I had something called a Vestibular schwannoma inside my head behind my right ear that had grown off of my auditory nerve and was touching my spinal column. To make a long story short, the surgical team spent twelve- and one-half hours digging that thing out of there one tiny bite at a time and saved me from becoming a drooling invalid. End result is that I have only one ear that works a little and a pair of high-tech hearing aids one of which only transmits sound from the device in my right ear to the one in my left. Not totally deaf but my days of doing many things I once did are now gone and it sucks but the doctors tell me I'm lucky to be alive. I guess they are right about that.

[roamer_1]

My hearing was already in the shitter (too many years around high-speed rotating equipment) and was already wearing hearing aids in both ears until the one in my right ear became so useless I stopped wasting batteries on it. My wife insisted on me finding out why that happened, and it turns out that I had something called a Vestibular schwannoma inside my head behind my right ear that had grown off of my auditory nerve and was touching my spinal column. To make a long story short, the surgical team spent twelve- and one-half hours digging that thing out of there one tiny bite at a time and saved me from becoming a drooling invalid. End result is that I have only one ear that works a little and a pair of high-tech hearing aids one of which only transmits sound from the device in my right ear to the one in my left. Not totally deaf but my days of doing many things I once did are now gone and it sucks but the doctors tell me I'm lucky to be alive. I guess they are right about that.

That's a doggone shame. I'm sorry you carry that burden. 

 I can barely associate with hearing loss. Yeah, I have some hearing damage. Racing engines, machining, heavy machinery, guns, explosives... All the fun stuff. 

But it is hardly a disability. I hear things wrong a lot of times, but as I have said here before, I merely find it hilarious. The things I have heard my dear, sainted mother say...    Of course she never said any of those things - I just heard em...  And I get a kick out of that.

But I get that 'my days of doing many things I once did are now gone' part, though differently,  I surely do. 

[Bigun]

That's a doggone shame. I'm sorry you carry that burden. 

 I can barely associate with hearing loss. Yeah, I have some hearing damage. Racing engines, machining, heavy machinery, guns, explosives... All the fun stuff. 

But it is hardly a disability. I hear things wrong a lot of times, but as I have said here before, I merely find it hilarious. The things I have heard my dear, sainted mother say...    Of course she never said any of those things - I just heard em...  And I get a kick out of that.

But I get that 'my days of doing many things I once did are now gone' part, though differently,  I surely do. 

I'm sure that's true @roamer_1 my wife laughs herself silly at some of my responses to things she says to me. What I hear and what she actually said are often not even in the same hemisphere.   

[Lando Lincoln]

I'm sure that's true @roamer_1 my wife laughs herself silly at some of my responses to things she says to me. What I hear and what she actually said are often not even in the same hemisphere.   

That’s it!  You get so tired of trying to hear, and asking for repeats, that you start conjuring interpretations what you think you heard.

Some years ago Mrs. L said she was sorry for her little moods. I said, “Oh honey, they’re not so small”.  She asked me what I meant. I thought she said boobs. Yeah, memorable.

So sorry for your condition, @Bigun.  It surely sounds worse than mine.

[roamer_1]

That’s it!  You get so tired of trying to hear, and asking for repeats, that you start conjuring interpretations what you think you heard.

Some years ago Mrs. L said she was sorry for her little moods. I said, “Oh honey, they’re not so small”.  She asked me what I meant. I thought she said boobs. Yeah, memorable.

So sorry for your condition, @Bigun.  It surely sounds worse than mine.

  Betcha THAT got you tuna fish casserole for dinner!

I do that same thing... the conjuring...I know it ain't in my ears because I read things funny too... That's a little spooky, because your interface with reality might be being compromised. I wonder about that.

[Bigun]

That’s it!  You get so tired of trying to hear, and asking for repeats, that you start conjuring interpretations what you think you heard.

Some years ago Mrs. L said she was sorry for her little moods. I said, “Oh honey, they’re not so small”.  She asked me what I meant. I thought she said boobs. Yeah, memorable.

So sorry for your condition, @Bigun.  It surely sounds worse than mine.

The brain surgery I underwent had side effects as well but I'm good. Better than I deserve actually.

Thanks @Lando Lincoln after it gets to a certain point it's all the same I think.

[roamer_1]

UPDATE in the aftermath of my dilemma:

I have received the Samsung Galaxy 6 smart watch, got er all unboxed and charged up and installed.
With the exception of battery life, I am very happy with this purchase. Man, this thing will do anything my phone can do! Whether all that power is actually useful on a watch is not to be considered - It is not. I already won't do e-mail writing on my phone because it is too small - Why would I ever do it on a watch? But it can, by golly!

WRT the subject matter at hand though, it is precisely as advertised. Giggles works fine from it... Calling (whether through Giggles or by way of a phone app - All of it works. The bluetooth stays connected like I need it to, and even sports a notice if the bluetooth disconnects - IOW, if I wander too far from the phone, the watch will let me know - and it does.

Calling works perfectly, whether through the speakerphone on the watch, or sending the command to the phone to be picked up by my buds. Though as one might suspect, the onboard speakerphone ain't all that - It does suffice, however.

The fall detection works. The monitoring (heart, sleep, etc) is far more substantial in comparison to the Fitbit Versa 3 that I had before... I can even spot-check my heart with a rudimentary ECG.

But so far, battery is a thing - It's getting better... Right now, at 7:30PM, I am sitting at 87%. So tonight I think it will get through the night without charging. I intend to get in the habbit of charging it every morning with my morning coffee, when I am predictably sitting in my chair with all my other electronics around me - So if it makes it 24hrs between charges very reliably, I will be happy with that.

So tentatively, this was a good move. Can't tell for sure this early on, but it looks right. For anyone interested, it's an Amazon refurbished Samsung Galaxy 6 Classic 47mm from the 'Excellent' condition category, that I paid around $135 for.

That is all for now. I do have a Google Mini coming - It should be ere around the 25th. That's the 'Alexa' - like smart speaker that should be able to call Giggles out of the air... I will post with those conclusions as they come around.

For now, the smart watch seems to be a success.

[Sighlass]

UPDATE in the aftermath of my dilemma:

I have received the Samsung Galaxy 6 smart watch, got er all unboxed and charged up and installed.
With the exception of battery life, I am very happy with this purchase. Man, this thing will do anything my phone can do! Whether all that power is actually useful on a watch is not to be considered - It is not. I already won't do e-mail writing on my phone because it is too small - Why would I ever do it on a watch? But it can, by golly!

WRT the subject matter at hand though, it is precisely as advertised. Giggles works fine from it... Calling (whether through Giggles or by way of a phone app - All of it works. The bluetooth stays connected like I need it to, and even sports a notice if the bluetooth disconnects - IOW, if I wander too far from the phone, the watch will let me know - and it does.

Calling works perfectly, whether through the speakerphone on the watch, or sending the command to the phone to be picked up by my buds. Though as one might suspect, the onboard speakerphone ain't all that - It does suffice, however.

The fall detection works. The monitoring (heart, sleep, etc) is far more substantial in comparison to the Fitbit Versa 3 that I had before... I can even spot-check my heart with a rudimentary ECG.

But so far, battery is a thing - It's getting better... Right now, at 7:30PM, I am sitting at 87%. So tonight I think it will get through the night without charging. I intend to get in the habbit of charging it every morning with my morning coffee, when I am predictably sitting in my chair with all my other electronics around me - So if it makes it 24hrs between charges very reliably, I will be happy with that.

So tentatively, this was a good move. Can't tell for sure this early on, but it looks right. For anyone interested, it's an Amazon refurbished Samsung Galaxy 6 Classic 47mm from the 'Excellent' condition category, that I paid around $135 for.

That is all for now. I do have a Google Mini coming - It should be ere around the 25th. That's the 'Alexa' - like smart speaker that should be able to call Giggles out of the air... I will post with those conclusions as they come around.

For now, the smart watch seems to be a success.

I watched a few videos on it, so it will connect with your Samsung phone if needed ? Thus giving you options if you fall again... Nice.

[roamer_1]

I watched a few videos on it, so it will connect with your Samsung phone if needed ? Thus giving you options if you fall again... Nice.

It is always and intrinsically connected to my phone and at a deeper level than one expects - To the point of mimicking the modes and states of the phone... When I tell Giggles 'Goodnight', she turns on 'DoNotDisturb' and puts the phone to sleep... And the watch automagically follows suit. Equally, if I wake up the watch, the phone follows suit. So they are strongly tied in more ways than I know.

But it is basically just an extension of the phone. It can be no more. If the phone should fail, the watch will too... Except in that it can independently communicate by WIFI, with or without the phone... So even in the worst case, it does provide an option.   

[Wingnut]

That’s it!  You get so tired of trying to hear, and asking for repeats, that you start conjuring interpretations what you think you heard.

Some years ago Mrs. L said she was sorry for her little moods. I said, “Oh honey, they’re not so small”.  She asked me what I meant. I thought she said boobs. Yeah, memorable.

So sorry for your condition, @Bigun.  It surely sounds worse than mine.

Oh look, another comedian in our midst!   LOL

Loved that story! 

[roamer_1]

So I got that Google Nest Mini delivery today.

Unboxed and plugged in... fire up Google Home app on my phone, and it set it up pretty painlessly.

It's pretty weird saying 'Hey Google' into the air and having that speaker respond - But it's pretty well the same thing as talking to my phone. And yes it does make calls - Kinda using Google Meet and my phone number, but without using my phone while doing it - I guess it is using the WIFI

Anyhow, it is as advertised, in that I can ask Goggles to make a call, and she does, right there on the speaker, with the speaker acting as a speakerphone.

And all the other Gigglicious stuff... like asking for the weather, or tell a joke, or how many hectares are in a square mile. She also had no problem accessing my spotify account, and when I said

Hey Google... play HANK FM in Kalispell

She went right out on iHeart Radio and found it and started playing. I wonder if that could happen as a morning alarm. 

Anyway. Pretty neat. I dunno if she can call 911 exactly till I need her to, but I reckon she will... If she ain't pissed at me again for some reason. 

So thus ends my journey down this road. For now, anyway. I will use this one speaker for a while, and if it seems a good idea (which I predict it will), I will populate my house with them, starting next with my bedroom.

I will let y'all know if there is anything to dissuade me, but so far so good.