It's been nearly two years since I last blogged. Sorry about that. I have been rather busy. Working two jobs, and going to college, I wasn't left with much time to even worry about this blog.
I am still doing well enough with my implants. I still see my audiologist every now and them to make some tweaks when needed. I contact Advanced Bionics when I need to replace a cable, doing my best to keep on top of maintaining my implants.
I no longer work for Walmart at this time. I have had a rough time with my mental health, and it just made things worse for me at Walmart. So I quit, because I needed to. I couldn't continue with the way my mind was functioning. I still had my other job so I am still working and paying my bills. It would be helpful if I could get hired at another job, but I still haven't had any luck with that. I don't even hear back from any of the places I've applied at, which is frustrating. But in the mean time, I am trekking away with my job at our library services for the deaf.
I was a co-coach again for Deaf Academic Bowl. We were only able to take one team this year, and we made it to the nationals. These students did fantastic, they worked hard all year long, and studied hard. This time, the team didn't have a chance to even get together and practice in person. They all kept in touch online and used Quizlet to quiz one another and keep everyone practicing. It worked out very well for them though, as they placed second at West regionals and we made it to the semi-final round at Nationals. Everyone enjoyed their time at the competitions, and we even worked in a bit of site seeing while we were in DC too, which was great!
And now, onto something that happened today. I'm in my office at the library, scanning things and fussing with my iPad, listening to songs. As soon as the song quit on the iPad, I heard this sound. Then I realized there was a light flashing right outside my office. What is going on, is that the fire alarm going off? Sure enough, it was the fire alarm. But... it's after 3:30, school's out, so this isn't a drill. The other two employees in the library came over to the doors to see what the fuss was about. The alarms are LOUD (remember, this building used to be a deaf school, and these alarms installed were specific for the deaf, LOUD and flashing). It kept going off, 5-7 times in the 15 or so minutes it was going off. Finally it was turned off, and the hearing employee could relax. Every time the alarm went off, she about jumped out of her seat and had to plug her ears. Myself, and the other deaf employee, we were fine. Our cochlear implants and hearing aids handled the loud sound just fine, so the alarm wasn't that loud for us. The hearing employee complained it was too loud, so of course, I wanted to be funny and said "well yeah, this used to be the deaf school! Of course it's loud." Deaf employee also gave me a hard time, teasing me when I mentioned that I noticed the flashing lights outside my office. She had to share the story with our hearing employee.
When I was a kid, I was a student at this school for the deaf. And it was standardized testing time if I remember that right. So, I'm sitting at a desk, completely focused on this test. To eliminate any noise distractions, I had my hearing aids or FM off so I could focus. Here I am, completely focused and working away on this test.... and the fire alarm is going off. I didn't hear it, I didn't see the flashing light, and I was sitting right underneath the alarm. Everyone else got up and headed out in orderly fashion, as is expected during a fire drill. But there I am, still working away on this test, completely oblivious to what's going. So the interpreter (who is the deaf employee sharing this story with our hearing employee) had to get my attention and get me up and going.
Later, the custodian came in to clean up and he told us it was a kid who had pulled the alarm down by the cafeteria/gym. Kids, fire alarms are not toys and are not to be pulled for fun!
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