Bosco-d-gama

My vision has been ‘screwed’ up since birth and is not correctable. Right eye good, left eye bad. It was bad enough to make me 4f for the draft.

Spoke with both the audiologist and the distributor. Now the story goes that they removed a membrane over the amps that was placed to aid in waterproofing the device. Per the distributor the membrane was after market, and add-on for active folks. 1st I never asked for any such add-on nor was I advised that it was there. 2ndly the silly thing should’ve operated correctly with or w/o said membrane. Lastly no appliance should get to the end user compromised in its primary function. Basically everyone is pointing fingers at others. BTW I need to correctly identify the hearing aid as being manufactured by Starkey. I have yet to converse with Starkey about the issue. I’m excited about the new Eustachian tube treatment as well. The manufacturer shows an initial success rate of 99+ percent. How long the treatment works remains unanswered because it is too recent. Seems like I recall values of better than 80% at 12 months.

It has been like Christmas morning every day since having this thing working. I’m probably too enthusiastic because prior to this I thought my hearing future was pretty dismal. So how good is the sound? Nope, it is not natural. At times it seems sibilant. High frequencies on the stereo can be harsh. It can sound artificial, even echoing at times. But it is so much better than ‘not’ having it. Starting to understand why they sell batteries in packs. Used daily this will chew through a battery every 3 days........ but it does announce when it needs a new battery. Is this the best available? Obviously this arena is not my expertise so I cannot say. The company who manufactured my unit claims its current products are ‘new and improved’ - y’know like next years new cars or televisions. I’d think that cutting edge engineering could render some cleaner and more detailed appliances. Getting old sucks. The best advice is to not abuse your hearing when young.

Something new for Eustachian tube treatment. AERA from the company Acclarent is a balloon style catheter procedure that mechanically dilates blocked Eustachian tubes. The device and the procedure are very recent and there’s not many docs certified to offer the service. The closest to me is 100’s of miles away. 😫😫

TrueHearing is the company that made my hearing device. It was purported to be ‘musical’?? I have not had much time to assess the music system....... other than having to turn it down. I am suffering from sensory overload. Before things were softened, muddled and I could not discern which direction sounds came from. Now that the hearing balance is somewhat returned I can hear birds and know which way to look to see them too. To be clear this is nothing like normal hearing, but it is a ton better than squishy conversations you had to lean into to catch 1/3 of their content. I still plan to see the ENT doc. The same ear suffers from a persistently shut Eustachian tube that perhaps could be treated.

Just over 3 years ago my hearing had become so compromised that I made the leap and had the audiology exams done. As I’d figured there was significant enough loss to warrant hearing aids especially in my left ear. I got appliances for both ears but was so disoriented that I returned the one for my right ear. The other device seemed to work but not too well so I went head and kept it. I went back a few times to have adjustments but it just never helped my hearing much at all. To me the device seemed to be working properly. It ‘jingled’ when started up and would ‘crackle’ with artifact noise when I manipulated my eye glasses so I presumed that the very expensive thing was operating as expected and that it was my hearing that was so bad that it was just not correctable. So a few weeks ago I get a letter from the device manufacturer advising me that the warranty period was about to expire and offering discounted deals on their newer products. This prompts me to make an appointment with an ENT doc to discuss my troubles. The doctors office wanted me to get another audiology exam prior to the appointment so back to the same audiology group I'd originally employed. Today I had that work done. They asked about the hearing aid and I tell them (again) that it just did not make enough improvement for me to use it, and that I rarely did use it. They checked the appliance again and voila there’s a problem. 2/3rds of the microphones were blocked by something (my guess would be packing material). I asked if I had done something to cause it? -No- How long had it been that way? They could not say. Well the answer is clear. It was never correct. It works now and I am stunned at how well it works. Not only was it not working before but when I used it it made my hearing worse because it only partially functioned literally plugging up the ear for most frequencies. I am both pissed off and ecstatic. What a cruel hoax to be subjected to. I thought for sure I was headed to total deafness and the quality of my life was impacted. Every time I went out to a place I needed to hear better I wore that thing expecting ‘better’ and what I got was ‘worse’. Instead of enjoying life I avoided parts of it due to poor hearing. Jeesh people are so incompetent these days. Sitting at home now and it is soooo noisy. The clothes dryer makes such a racket. I hear every word clearly. All the promises made were true - if only they’d done their job correctly. Jerks.

I am a think-n that you could start emergency ‘life saving’ camp fires with an excised cell phone battery - hell they periodically fire up all on their own.

Few things ever in history as aggravating as parents glued to cell phones whilst their youngsters run amok in a restaurant, etc........🤬🤬

The sky is the limit. I use the elliptrac midrange horn with an older jbl 2482 driver and the jbl baby cheeks tweeter. I have them simply mounted together with the tweeter on top of the midrange horn and their diaphragms aligned. There are a host of options and just as many opinions. You are building a system so touch all the bases. Confirm that all your drivers mesh with your crossover and your power/source equipments. Using granite allows you to neatly complete the speaker without a ton of woodworking.

Yessiree.......... 👌😁

You could just have granite cut to cover the bass bin and configure the midrange/tweeters as you desire.

Old or new - wadaya got? Here’s one of my favorites best suited for small gatherings after 2 hours of moderate drinking 🤪. “One smart fellow he felt smart. Two smart fellows they both felt smart. Three smart fellows they all felt smart.” Say it fast and loud with assertive linguistic confidence. Enjoy 🤗.

I am on Mrs #3 and among her many attributes musical training and/or appreciation is ‘nil’. She immediately enjoyed my audio gear but seemed to accept the daily 8 hours of up-time ‘in stride’ more than relishing the performance. After our 1st Christmas together she pops up with the comment that this was the only time she could remember not getting weary of Christmas music, or any music for that matter. Her naive off hand comment was the objective testimony to the absence of listening fatigue. Now, 4 years later, she really can not tolerate other people’s music gear, it grates her nerves in very short order resulting in headaches. Stereo gear is not her forte but she knows better from bad now 👌.

Thinking here that the issue is less about freedom of speech and more fundamentally about the accuracy of its content as well as the intent of the speaker. Then there is the ability of the listener to dissect and discern these foundations of ‘message’ accuracy. Tell me that the ‘holocaust’ didn’t occur and you’d better be able to 100% validate your claims. Accept no persons opinions on face value. Some speakers are naively ill informed and parrot messages simply because they prefer to agree with them. Others intend to mislead, to propagandize, to disrupt. They can all speak but we do not have to believe them. Do the homework.

This is my primary problem with Amazon. Too often you’re lead to believe you will receive new product and what arrives is most certainly a rewrap. Plus Amazon scrubs user reviews purportedly to keep them ‘objective’ but methinx their editor function skews reviews to a more positive slant. Online purchases guts the buyer beware caveat.

Cottage cheese on grilled steak. I mean bury the meat in cottage cheese.

For starts no vaping system is devised or sold to provide a precise regimen for ending nicotine addiction. In fact vaping ‘juices’ are not guaranteed to be accurate in their nicotine content nor in the amount delivered per ‘puff’ and cannot be relied upon for ‘down’ dosing nicotine. So if you are a motivated ‘quitter’ I think you could come up with your own program using these uncontrolled products. But do not kid yourselves the vaping industry does not want you free from addiction. They simply want to become your new nicotine supplier. If you decide to quit smoking then there are any number of FDA approved products to help you do so. I have no problems with any of those and never have ‘insisted’ that ‘cold turkey’ is a preferred method. In fact cold turkey has the worst results IMHO. Now if a quitter requires something to inhale, something like a ‘cigarette’, then obtain the NICOTROL system that provides just that device along with reliable nicotine formulations and a clear program to end the addiction. I am truly pleased that people see the wisdom of ending tobacco usage. If a vaping company were to devise a system that met FDA standards for ending nicotine addiction I would be happy to endorse it. Until then users are putting their health in the hands of a profit driven industry that eschews FDA standards for inhalants. That is precisely the same trust people placed in the tobacco industry. Over 400,000 Americans who allowed big tobacco to addict them die every year, and they cost our health systems dearly along the way to the grave. If we let the vaping industry capture a new generation of addicts we will stand to repeat the same journey. The true idiocy of this all is that none of these products serve any useful function. No person needs to use any of these product for any reason.

Seems that I recall that when vaping 1st ballooned into popularity that retailers would recruit ‘users’ to go on-line and laud the method, the product and to refer customers to their on-line stores. People would be reimbursed with product discounts for each new customer they referred. Sure hope that isn’t the situation here. Nicotine addicts are pretty tightly held to their addiction. Nicotine is removed from the body quickly so it requires frequent doses to maintain adequate enough blood levels to satiate the addiction and stave off withdrawals. There is no logical discourse about the subject for an addict as they are not seeking real information. Addicts are keenly focused on their next dose and insanely defensive towards anyone or anything that threatens the easy supply of their chosen drug.......... and nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs known to humanity. Addicts are owned by their addiction and often service their addiction as priority 1 in life.

What people inhale has impacted their lung functions for centuries. Aside from tobacco related ailments there are a number of other lung diseases (pneumoconiosis) associated with exposures to various dusts and industrial pollutants. COPD is the group of lung troubles most think about but there are other fatal conditions as well. Pulmonary fibrosis is the other major group of health troubles related to inhaled materials. With more knowledge and workplace regulations most of these ailments are now avoided. The point here is that lungs react defensively, negatively to a wide range of inhaled substances. It is vital to know what you breathe and if it poses you any short or long term dangers. The best and easiest solution is to avoid them all. Error on the side of safety. If you have ever been held underwater for a hair too long you experienced the terror of suffocation. Future medicines and treatments may offer better results but for the time being chronic lung disease remains incurable. Victims become pulmonary cripple’s unable to conduct simple tasks without supplemental oxygen. Thanks largely to tobacco there’s a large population living with compromised lungs. Any of you, regardless of where you live, will find many home health vendors offering oxygen care. Though medical O2 is used for other conditions it is mostly prescribed for lung diseases. Don’t think it can happen to you? Think again. Be wiser. Take care of your lungs. Really it is serious but so easy to avoid.

Eating nicotine can be extremely dangerous, even lethal. The stuff is so toxic that people would get sick simply from handling leaves when they harvested tobacco crops. In plants nicotine serves to ward off bug infestations. Ingesting the stuff has killed pets and children.

We all know that our country is debating universal healthcare insurance, etc. That means we all have a vested interest in how healthy our citizens are. If I am expected to buy others health insurance then I should be able to expect them to be as healthy as possible. And that is the crux of this issue. Healthy lungs are kept that way by not abusing them. Vaping clearly abuses the lungs. And.... as for eating tainted food products....... you get sick. This is why we have gov’t agencies to oversee the chain of our food supply.

E-cigs make aerosols. Every bit of chemistry in the vaping liquid becomes converted into that aerosol, plus any new chemistries developed in the heating processes. Aerosols can be harmless or not. Make sure that you know exactly what you are breathing. Unfortunately your vapor supplier will not tell you all the chemicals they use in their products. They will simply ask that you ‘trust’ them. Do you really and truly ‘trust’ them with your health? Why would you?

Cute. You know saying it louder or more frequently does not change the facts.😉

There are a number of health related consequences associated with vaping. Any web search will demonstrate these. Additionally genuine medical research is identifying a plethora of problems with vaping. None of these are difficult to find. Now a person can choose to adopt a realistic perspective and at least be skeptical about vaping health effects or they can listen to their vaping suppliers and the vaping industry whose profit structure depends on customers dollars. It is not too much different than Bose telling the world how marvelous their speakers are without any proof of performance. Your lungs are delicate structures that allow the outside air intimate contact with your blood. They are not intended for other purposes. If you smoke and want to quit try some of the otc products devised to help people quit. NO vaping company has a quitting program. Simply stated vaping companies want to become the new monkey on your back. They do not care about your health. They care about profits. This is friendly advice. You can believe me now or later. Your lungs would be far better off used just for breathing. They can heal to some degree....... if you let them. The sooner you stop insulting your lungs the better they will get.

At some moment in life you determined that smoking tobacco was a good enough idea to embrace......... and you got addicted. Now you learn that smoking tobacco was not as nifty as the manufacturers IMPLIED. So instead of quitting tobacco you now believe an entirely new industry telling you that vaping is good/better despite the FACT that there is no proof. Common sense will tell anyone that lungs are evolved for respiration....... not for the intake of chemistries. You got duped once by big ‘lying’ tobacco and now you have been duped a second time by the vaping industry. Did you read the fine print? Notice that when you buy any vaping related product that YOU accept all liability for any consequences caused by using those products. Hmmm, does that not give you cause for concern? Treat your lungs the way you KNOW they should be treated. Drink your liquor, eat your drugs....... the gastrointestinal system is where foodstuffs go. That is what the gastrointestinal system is evolved to do. I appreciate that you wanted to end a tobacco habit. So end it. Do not replace it with an unknown, unproven, overhyped product. You’re still an addict. Vaping is playing Russian roulette with a .38 instead of a .44.........