From job one, I’ve had to deal with meetings by conference calls… long before travel became restricted due to tightening budgets and more technology. I recall attending a regularly-scheduled conference call meeting while working in the FAA. I used the relay service to call in. It wasn’t easy. I felt sorry for the operator who …
Category: The D Life
Wireless Helps with Staying Connected
I’ve mentioned getting a Sidekick II and you can get your own relay number. These two things make it easier to share my phone number and for people to reach me. The Sidekick comes with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and Yahoo! Instant Messenger, so I can stay in touch with family when they’re by their …
Why I Am Stuck Doing Email Interviews
Donna Talarico writes about her experience in moving from email interviews to in-person interviews. Nothing beats face-to-face meetings as it’s the most intimate way to connect with the person whom you speak. Except for me, face-to-face puts my articles at risk for incorrect information and quotes. You see, I’ve been profoundly deaf since birth. I …
My Eyes
Actually, this entry should be in the whining category. I just feel like I need to rant about it since nothing else works. My eyes have been aching. It gets so bad that I can’t do anything but rest on the sofa or in my room. It comes and goes… even two or three times …
Pull over!
Nick pointed me to an interesting post from Michael Buffington. He thought, “I assume deaf people are allowed to drive without restriction – so why do ‘in ear’ headphone manufacturers make sure you know that they shouldn’t be used while driving because they impair your hearing – what specific issues might you run into that …
Hearing Aid Embarrassment
Reading about the stigma of wearing a hearing aid made me think. Though I liked wearing my hair in a ponytail especially when playing sports, I didn’t do it because it “exposed” my hearing aids. Hearing aids just weren’t cool or accepted like eyeglasses. They embarrassed me. I wore glasses and contact lenses for a …
Ambition
I’ve spent my entire career working in an office setting where you have your analysts, specialists, team leaders, managers, and directors. When I first started my career as a management trainee with a government department, I had high ambition. I wanted to go into the workforce, learn my way around, and climb, climb, climb. Management—the …
Emergencies
We have “fire marshalls” on every floor in my office and I have two buddies who would look out for me when an emergency occurs. Our building has those bright, painful lights (think bad disco lighting), so I can’t miss those nor the sound (awful). But I could be in a meeting or the ladies’ …
I-Caption
Handheld Individual Captioning, I-Caption makes Big River performances at Ford’s Theatre accessible to the deaf. Wicked is coming to Dallas. Why can’t I-Caption come along? 🙁 A similar item called COMMplements from Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has been licensed.
Mainstream or Not?
For my parents, the decision to mainstream me into public school was an easy one. The other option was to send me out of town to the school for the deaf. They didn’t want that. I’m glad they decided that as I’ve had some awesome teachers in my public school career. I didn’t feel secluded …