Setting up a computer.

Some of us got together and got my mom and IPad for her birthday. She has never used a computer before but I am sure she will be great with her IPad. I offered to take it home and set it up for her. In the past, I never could have set up a system for someone else. But, this time I did it. Plugged it in. Triple clicked the home button and the voiceover came on and I could do everything. It is a much bigger screen than I am used to so had to get used to that. I set up an e-mail for her, downloaded some apps,, put some of her friends in her contacts, and did it all without any help. What a liberating feeling that is.

Watching swimming.

Many of you may not know this but I was a competitive swimmer. I went to two paralympic games and many national and provincial championships and I have some medals to prove it! Smile! The Canadian swimming olympic trials are on right now and I am watching. I wish they had more swimming coverage on. I love it when I can watch olympic swimming or national swimming. Brings back great memories. Tomorrow, will tell you about things I had to adapt to be a swimmer.

An audio picture.

I am working on a possible project. I am trying to create a sound picture of what I experience while traveling about and doing things. I have some fairly good audio of me walking. You can hear my guide dog's paws tapping along and I have some good street crossing info and other things. It is harder than I originally thought but lots of fun too. Will share it here if I do het it finished.

Speed listening

I listen to the text on my i devices at 100 percent speed.  Very few people can understand it but I can.  People say things like "How can you stand that?"  I like it.  I like to get my information and know it and think about it.  But, reading e-mail in braille is peaceful and quiet and I like that a lot. 

e-mail in braille

I am brailling this post for the first time. Writing in
contracted braille with lots of short forms. It is miraculous! I
can read e-mail in braille. I know what people's names are and
the spelling of them without having to check letter by letter by
letter. I can read silently without computer voices talking to
me. It is wonderful. My new braille note taker lets me do this.
Now, if I can only get it to act as a braille display for my i
devices, I will be extremely happy!

Recording my activities.

I am recording my activities regularly these days.  I'm trying to make a sound scape of a day in my life.  It is proving more challenging than I originally thought it would be.  I tried to record myself pouring boiling water into my tea pot.  You can hear the sound of the water as it fills the pot.  The sound gets higher.  I used to use these liquid level indicators that beep but I hate them.  I use funnels and measure the water I put into the kettle so not too much goes into the pot.  But, when I recorded that sound it first sounded like nothing.  I was too far away or my mike was.  Then I put it really close and it sounded like a waterfall.  Not like pouring tea at all.  And when I have interesting encounters, I'm not recording.  If I get some interesting things, I will share it here.

Standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

The other day, two women and a dog were standing right in the middle of the sidewalk. As tulia and I approached, one woman said, "We have a little dog here. I am holding it." Tulia had slowed down. At first, I thought she was distracted by the dog. She wasn't. The thing was, these two ladies and their dog were taking up most of the space on the sidewalk. tulia slowly and carefully moved over close to the curb. In order to get around them, she had to take me around a pole, then a tree, then a parking meter, then back to the middle. "Oh I just love watching those dogs work," one woman said. I stopped, turned back, smiled politely and suggested that they could have watched her work without taking up most of the sidewalk. It would make her job much easier. this whole time, their dog is barking and struggling and coughing. Tulia marched past it with a bit of a swagger and a glance back. As I talked to the women, she sat regally beside me, chin tilted up, still as a statue. "See how dogs should behave?" she is saying to that little dog. They didn't say anything to my request but tell their dog to be quiet and not bother the working dog. The dog didn't get the message but tulia and I moved on.