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I Want iPhone Apps That Work with Voiceover

david — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:00:09 +0000

Is that too much to ask? My friend Jim told me about an app called IMapMyWalk. So I go to the the App Store and get the free version of it to try out. I was really excited about the app. It will show a map of where you walk/run/bike, along with the time it takes you to complete the route, how many calories burned and some other really cool things. One thing I should point out, I never buy/download apps or music with my phone because it takes too long to find what I want. I use my iMac and then sync up the computer and phone. I’m jealous of Eliz and Jane, because they just grab stuff on their phones (Jake only has a basic phone, but sometimes uses his iPod Touch to grab music.)

Seems that this app, along with many others, aren’t compatible with Voiceover. For those that don’t know about Voiceover, it is the function on the iPhone makes using the iPhone work for people who are visually impaired or blind. When Voiceover works, it is awesome. It seems to work well with all the Apple products that come with the iPhone like the weather, stocks, iPod, and the email (though if the send has images in the email without titles, you are left wondering what they are…) Some third-party apps seem to work well with Voiceover. GroceryIQ is one that comes to mind. Other apps fall short. Some just don’t give titles to buttons, so when you touch a button, all you hear is “button.” The Absolute Radio app has titled some buttons, while others are just “button.”

So back to the IMapMyWalk app. I tried multiple times to get it to run on my phone, but it wouldn’t. The buttons were labeled, they just didn’t do anything. including the “Having Trouble?” button. After messing with the app for a day or two, I put it on Eliz’s phone. It seems to work fine on there. Who knew our route around our neighborhood had a 75 foot difference from the high-point to the low-point? We know now…

The frustration for me is that someone must launch the app on Eliz’s phone for me and hit the stop button when I get home. Eliz usually starts it for me, because we all leave together. The last two times we walked, Jane didn’t go, so she was home and hit the stop button for me (because I walk a little faster than Eliz and Jake, they finish a few minutes after I do.) Today was the last day I’ll be using the IMapMyWalk app as my frustration boiled over with it. If I really want to track my progress, speed, and time, I’ll buy this talking pedometer from Amazon.com, learn what buttons i need to push and be able to do it on my own.

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Post tags: app, apple products, Eliz, home, iPhone, music, phone, stop, Voiceover, weather stocks

My Dad is Home, Now for the Hard Part

david — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:15:56 +0000

For those who don’t follow me on Twitter (@davidbenj) or Facebook (facebook.com/davidbenj) you might not know what I’ve been up to the last few weeks. You may also be wondering why I haven’t updated my blog since Father’s Day. Here’s the story, and like my previous blog post it has to do with my dad.

On 30 June my dad fell and broke the fourth cervical vertebrae. He also sustained some wicked cuts on his forehead and the bridge of his nose. The doctors also thought he had a concussion. For the first 12 days, he was in the hospital, then he moved to a skilled nursing facility so he could do physical therapy. It has been difficult on all of us. Eliz, my mom, and I have spent many hours at the hospital and skilled nursing facility. At least one of us was with him from around 10.00am until 8.00pm. Some days a little more and a couple days a little less. Eliz has spent more time in the car, ferrying my mom to the hospital in the morning and taking her home at the end of the day. We’ve put about 1300 miles on the car since my dad entered the hospital, which is about 35% above what we normally average for a time period.

For the first week, my dad had a very restricting cervical collar and was unable to eat or drink. Even swallowing was extremely difficult. Once he received his current collar, he began eating and drinking again. Anything he eats has to be soft or pureed. Let me tell you, pureed lasagna is not pretty. Liquids have to be thickened. At the hospital and skilled nursing facility, this, of course, was all prepared for him.

My dad was discharged from the skilled nursing facility yesterday and all of us were happy, though my dad was a bit worried. “Who’s going to do all of the things the nurses did for me?” he asked. My mom told him she would. Eliz and I lend a hand too.

The toughest part is the food. Everything has to be pureed. Unfortunately, the normal food isn’t that great at Maris Grove, so my parents didn’t want to pay extra to have “special” food brought in for my dad. So my mom gives Eliz and I a list and we go to the market for her. I’m pretty sure I’d be living on fruit smoothies and protein drinks, because things like pureed chicken just aren’t appetizing to me. We also help my dad walk around the apartment, though with each passing day he is relying on us a little less. Today, he walked from the den to the kitchen, rinsed out a glass and then walked into the bedroom. He never called for my mom to help him. The physical therapist said he shouldn’t walk without having someone close by.

We only spent a couple of hours with my parents today after running to Fresh Market and Acme for them. My dad was in good shape today and seems to be getting stronger everyday. My mom is happy that he is home and doesn’t mind blending everything. Now I’m looking for a Super Bass-O-Matic 76…

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Post tags: blog, cervical collar, cervical vertebrae, couple days, day, Eliz, home, maris grove, skilled nursing facility, Today

Father’s Day

david — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:55:09 +0000

Me & my dad at dinner today.

We had a very busy Father’s Day. We went to Outback at 11.10am for lunch with Eliz’s father, mother, her sister Margaret, and our niece Meghan. Yes, I said 11.10am. More like brunch, I guess. I have to say that is by far the earliest I have ever eaten a Bloomin’ Onion. It is also the only time I’ve seen Outback less then 90% full.

After an enjoyable meal, we came home to make peanut brittle. That is our gift of choice to both our dads. They both like it and it isn’t too difficult to make. Eliz does the majority of the work, measuring, watching the temp, etc. I pretty much am the designated stirrer. I stir it frequently from 225 degrees up to 280. At 280, the peanuts go in and it’s got to be stirred constantly until it hits 305. Once the peanuts go in, it is a nice workout. At 305, it comes off the heat and vanilla and baking soda are added. I stir it vigorously for a minute or two and then Eliz dumps it on the table (onto parchment paper and towels) and spreads it out. The whole process takes about an hour and a half.

My biggest contribution comes when I sample the product. It takes about 40 minutes to cool enough to break into smaller pieces. I usually start sampling about 10 minutes after it’s been spread onto the table and every five to 10 minutes there after… Today, we were heading to my parents between 3.30pm and 4.00pm, so we had to “make sure” it wasn’t too warm to break up and stack it in a corning ware for the journey. We don’t want it to stick together… I also sample it along the way, just to make sure everything is good. Today, Jane helped sample.

When we arrived at my parents, they invited us to dinner. It is unusual for them to want to go out to eat. Well, it’s unusual for my dad. They like to go to Ruby’s Diner since it is across the street and fairly quick (as long as it’s not busy.) I wasn’t too hungry today after the big lunch at Outback and all the sampling I had to do. Eliz and the kids weren’t too hungry either, but my dad was okay with going out, so we went.

I had the Asian Chicken Salad. It had grilled chicken breast, lettuce, bell pepper, and wonton strips. The dressing was awful, the wonton strips seemed like stale tortillas, and ended up wearing honey mustard sauce and Oreo Fantasy milk shake that I tasted from Jane’s dinner. Even that couldn’t stop me from enjoying the meal.

I am 46 and my dad is 93. Eliz’s father will be 84 in October. We are both so fortunate that we can enjoy time with our fathers. It doesn’t matter what the food tastes like or how the service is.

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Post tags: baking soda, bloomin onion, caption, corning ware, dad, parchment paper, sister margaret, table, Today, wonton

Retina Check

david — Sun, 15 May 2011 19:52:40 +0000

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. We’ve had a bunch of things going on that took (and still take) priority. Friday afternoon I visited Dr. Garg for an appointment. He is my retina doc. I was hopeful that Dr. Garg would spot something that could be corrected. My vision has been mired around 20/400 for the last eight months or so.

Unfortunately, Dr. Garg didn’t notice anything new. When I asked him his opinion on why my vision has deteriorated he told me that the multiple issues of congenital glaucoma, cornea and cataract surgeries, and a retina that was “pooping out” (his words,) were the reasons. He explained that while he didn’t notice any problems with my retina he said that age and everything going on with my eye causes it to “wear out.” He said that, like a favorite shirt that you wear often, each time you wear it and then wash it, it starts to wear out over time. He told me to take zinc and extra vitamin C (along with my current multivitamin) to keep the cells in the retina alive and healthy for as long as possible.

I was obviously disappointed that he didn’t find something that could be corrected which would then give me improved visual acuity. On the bright side, if there is one, I will cut back on all the specialist appointments to twice per year for each. If there is a problem, I’ll first try my local ophthalmologist.

As I continue to look for things to help me see stuff I can’t, I’ve found an app for my iPhone that is a great magnifier. It is the only app I’ve ever paid for and bought it after trying most if not all of the free magnifier apps. It is Magnifier – Capture the Micro World! by Game Lingo. I tried it the other day when I was home alone and wanted to know the serving size and calorie count of walnuts. I was very excited when I was able to use my iPhone rather than take the bag into my office and put it under my reading machine. I’ve been hoping for a good app for the iPhone because I just didn’t want to carry something else in my pocket. I’ve been looking for a good hand-held magnifier, whether it be a regular magnifying glass or a digital device like the Pebble from Enhanced Vision, for the last six months or so. Once I use the app more, I’ll post a more in-depth review.

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Post tags: afternoon, app, cataract surgeries, check, congenital glaucoma, Dr. Garg, free magnifier, magnifier, retina, visual acuity

One Month After Surgery

david — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:39:21 +0000

Yesterday marked a month since my most recent surgery. It is somewhat ironic that over the past few days my vision hasn’t been great, with today being the worst of the last few. I was told by my cornea doc at my post op check up two weeks ago that things looked good. When I told him of my continuing sight issues, he told me he could run a test. The only problem with this would be he wouldn’t know how to correct any issues that the test might show. I just keep telling myself to deal with it and move on.

For the most part, I’ve remained focused on moving on. I double and triple check purchase orders before hitting the send button. I don’t want to send four Belvedere 8600 shampoo bowls to a customer that ordered a shear bracelet… When my sight is better, I try to get more done. There are days when I don’t want to go to bed since I’m not sure what my sight will be like the next day.

Of course, it doesn’t take much to knock me off track. If someone makes a comment or I run into someone or something, my focus is gone. Sometimes I simply miss a field in a form that cost time or money, like I did last week when I added some inventory to ForYourSalon.com and missed the weight field for a Jeffco 316t Ionic Dryer. When there is no weight, the item ships for free. That cost us between $25 and $30 on the one we sold over the weekend.

I’m trying to work around the issue. Currently, we ship more than half of the items we sell at ForYourSalon.com and our storefront on Amazon.com. I can’t pull or ship the orders that we ship (I can’t read the labels,) that is something that Eliz has to do. I do handle all the drop ship orders, which are usually shampoo bowls, shampoo bowl parts, hooded dryers, barber chairs, etc. We are trying to find additional beauty items to drop ship. We are also doing more in affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is where we promote a product that is sold by someone else. If it sells, we get a commission. It is like when I mention the EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale in White that helped me to lose 80 pounds and keep it off. If you were to click that link and purchase it (or anything else from amazon.com) by using that link, we make a commission. We currently have several sites in various stages of development: a web hosting review site, a car insurance information site with quotes, a payday loan site, and several beauty related sites. The nice thing about affiliate marketing is that once a site is setup, the only thing left to do is market it. There are no customer inquiries, no ordering inventory, etc., unlike an ecommerce site. One of the best ways to market these days is from articles. So I’ll be writing, which is something I can do with or without sight.

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Post tags: amazon, barber chairs, jeffco, marketing affiliate marketing, shampoo bowl

Sometimes Things Look Different to Me

david — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:03:27 +0000

Every morning I weigh myself twice, once before I get in the shower and once after I dry off after the shower. Getting on the scale is also an eye test of sorts. Our scale’s readout is an LCD with two inch tall numbers. The weight only displays for five to ten seconds after it is calculated, so I have to be fast when trying to read it. Today, I was able to read it the first time before the shower. I was 154.8 pounds. Some days it takes me two or three times if my eye is dry or has a bunch of stuff in it. After the shower, and after a moisturizing eye drop, it took me two times to read it. I was 154.6, by the way. (It’s funny how most days I weigh less after the shower…) My goal is to stay around 155, which I’ve been since last summer. As previously mentioned, that is about 80 pounds less than I weighed when I changed my eating habits ever so slightly.

I get frustrated when I have to get on the scale multiple times. What is worse is when I think I see one number, then the next day the number is two pounds higher and I wonder if I actually read the number correctly the day before. Similar things happen when I read things on my computer screen. The word email looks an awful lot like small to me when both are all lower case. Lower case t’s and f’s, v’s and y’s, i’s and l’s are the worst. Sometimes it’s letter combinations that throw me, like rn looking like an m or ri looking like an n.

Today, when I was reading some tweets, I read down to one I posted last night. I tweeted: Tired of Safari quitting on me multiple times per day. Well, 10 minutes ago when I read it, it said this: Tired of Satan quitting on me multiple times per day. Hmm… Don’t give up on me Lu! (Of course I’m kidding, I don’t believe in satan like I don’t believe in god…) I did have to zoom in on the the word to make sure I typed Safari. Once I verified that I did, I smiled at what It looked like I had typed.

The same sort of things happen when watching TV or simply looking at objects. More times than not it is frustrating to me. (Last week, I left one Bang-Bang Shrimp on my plate at Bonefish Grill that Eliz had to tell me was there.) Today though, I smiled at what I thought I saw.

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Post tags: eye drop, eye test, inch, letter combinations, Satan, scale, test, Tired, tweets, two pounds

29 Shots

david — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 06:32:52 +0000

This was, by far, the easiest surgery I’ve had. I’m not sure we were at the surgery center for a full hour. Since there was no general anesthesia, it really only seemed like a doctor’s visit albeit in a different place, with some strange questions, and my vitals being checked before and after. Oh, and a higher copay.

After waiting about 15 minutes, we were called to check in and pay. That took about 10 minutes, then we went back into the waiting area for a few minutes before I was called back into the room with the laser. The nurse asked me some questions, like what are you having done today and on which eye. She took my blood pressure, which seemed a little high for me as of late. It was 131/78. She told me she was going to give me four drops – two to dilate, one to reduce my IOP, and one to numb my eye. Before she gave the drops, I asked if I could take a pic of the laser machine. She laughed and gave me a second to take the image (see it below.) After she put the drops in, she told me to close my eyes until the doctor came in. She left the room.

I grabbed my iPhone and opened the app for Absolute Radio (since I use the VoiceOver setting I didn’t need to open my eyes.) Absolute Radio is a station based in London that is my favorite. Geoff Lloyd’s Hometime Show was on. I usually don’t like listening to him while working (he’s on noon to 3.00 ET, 5.00 to 8.00 in the UK,) because he is so funny I end up listening and not getting any work done. As it turned out, I only listened to him for a minute or two, then a short newscast by Tania Snuggs, and then about half of a song by Manic Street Preachers before the doctor came in and I turned the radio off.

Dr. Ayres gave me another numbing drop, then lined up the machine. Before he started blasting, he put a lens with a lot of goo on my eye to help focus the laser. Then he started shooting. Besides seeing the flash of the light from the laser, I heard these pops in my ears. It was a weird sensation. After a bunch of shots, he paused for a few seconds then took a few more shots. He took the lens off my eye and started filling out some papers. That was when he said he took 29 shots. The nurse put a couple drops (Pred Forte, a steroid) in my eye. Dr. Ayres told me to take a similar drop twice per day until I visit him in a couple of weeks. I’ve been on the steroid drop since the endothelial transplant back in December 2008, but have only used it once per day for the past few months. That was it, I was done.

It’s now about 12 hours after the surgery and my sight is still weird. We went out to dinner tonight (Carrabba’s, it was just okay) and lights really bothered me, especially car headlights. Hopefully it is just the drops. I’ll know in about six hours when I wake up.

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Post tags: drop, general anesthesia, geoff lloyd, hometime show, lens, machine, manic street preachers, Shots, surgery, weird sensation

Sweet Sixteen Tomorrow

david — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:17:00 +0000

Let’s hope it is sweet, or at least it doesn’t make things worse. Tomorrow at 12.30 I’m having what is called YAG laser capsulotomy, a minor surgical procedure (my sixteenth) to get rid of some clouding that has developed since the cataract extraction last April. I’ve been told that it is very quick procedure. In fact, the women from the office who phoned me today with the time of the surgery told me there were no restrictions (as far as eating or meds go,) and, get this, I could drive myself to and from the procedure. Uh, if I tried to drive myself to the procedure, I’d never get there. If I tried to drive after the procedure, Action News and NBC10 News have a 50-50 shot at being the news since the surgery center is about a block away from them.

I won’t get into what I hope I can do after the surgery, because even the doctors I’ve talked with about it tell me that I will probably only pick up a very slight increase in vision. Risks associated with this surgery are also pretty small, with retina detachment the primary complication. While I am hopeful of getting back to the sight I had for the 10 day period following my cataract extraction, and staying there, this surgery will not get me there. My sight has been so poor as of late that any positive outcome will be greatly appreciated. The dream of significantly better sight will have to wait for modern medicine.

So, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. At 8.30, we’re touring the high school at Friends Central where Jane would move on to next year (she’s currently in eighth grade there now.) After that, we’re heading down Lancaster Avenue to make a delivery. Then on to the Main Line Surgery Center for the surgery. (I’m hoping we can fit a Starbucks stop either before or after the delivery — though maybe I should wait until after the surgery so the caffeine from the Apple Chai Infusion doesn’t make me too jittery… After the surgery, a delivery or two over in Ridley, and, if it’s in, a trip to Newark to pick up our Clairol order. Wow, I’m tired already.

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Post tags: cataract extraction, Let, line surgery center, modern medicine, nbc10 news, retina detachment, Sixteen, Sweet, tomorrow, YAG

I Can’t See Very Well, But My Hearing is Still Good

david — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:57:14 +0000

We visited my parents today. We spent about an hour with them. After we left my parent’s apartment, we were walking down the hall where a couple was sitting. As we walked past, Eliz greeted them. We didn’t know them, but everyone there usually says ‘hello’ as you pass them by. After we were 15 or 20 feet down the hall, the guy says to the women, “Did you see that guy looking down?” He insinuated that I couldn’t be bothered to look up.

Generally, I walk behind Eliz in the halls there because they are a little narrow to walk side by side and I don’t want to walk into any one. I look down and concentrate on Eliz shoes so I don’t run into her. I’ve found in the past, if I look straight ahead, I run into her if she stops or slows down when there are other people in the hall that may be blocking our way.

That guy’s comments irritated me. Obviously, I look fairly normal, so there is no way he would know that I’ve got sight issues. He made the comments after he thought we were far enough away that we wouldn’t hear them. I heard them and didn’t appreciate them. Am I too sensitive? Probably. I try so hard to be normal that when someone makes a comment like that it gets under my skin.

This is my last post for 2010. Okay, stop cheering, there’ll be more in 2011. Jacob has gone to his friend Andrew’s for the night and Jane has a couple friends here to ring in 2011. Eliz and I have the Veuve Clicquot chilled and a couple of movies to watch. I’d like to wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

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Post tags: apartment, couple friends, Eliz, friend andrew, Guy, hall, parent, Today, veuve, walking down the hall

My Eye, My Dad and Our Day

david — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:26:05 +0000

I’d been looking forward to today for the past dozen days. Back on 10 Dec, I went to my retina doc, who, as previously mentioned, noticed three things that he thought were causing my vision to be worse than it had been. Two of three “issues” were cornea related, while one was retina related (and not correctable.) Today, I had an appointment with my cornea doc, Dr. Ayres.

As I was getting out of the shower, I heard the phone ring. Jacob answered it downstairs. Since he didn’t come up to mention the call, I figured it wasn’t for me. Minutes later, after taking my morning eye drop, Jake came in and told me my mom called. He went on to tell me that my mom said my dad was having shortness of breath and chest discomfort and they were going to the hospital. I sat back on the bed and thought about canceling my appointment. Since my mom didn’t ask to get me on the phone, I assumed it was a precautionary trip to the hospital (I later found out my dad didn’t want to go to the hospital, but since he mentioned chest pain, the Maris Grove staff wouldn’t take no for an answer.) I tried to reach my mom on her mobile, but didn’t get an answer. I felt selfish, but I decided I’d keep my doctor’s appointment.

We arrived early for my 9.45 appointment (seven minutes is early for us…) After we checked in, Eliz tried to call my mom. She got the voicemail (and knowing my mom can barely make and receive calls, didn’t leave a message. A minute or two later, Eliz’s phone rang and she handed the phone to me since she needed some insurance info for the receptionist. It was my mom. I spoke to her and then my dad. My mom told me what was going on. My dad told me, “Don’t count the money yet.” At that point, I felt I made the right decision to go to my appointment.

A few minutes later, I went back into (Eye) Pod 1. I was able to read the L (but not the S) on the SL line (which is the 20/200 line.) Dr. Ayres came in a few minutes later. He asked how things were going and I told him about my appointment 12 days earlier with Dr. Garg. He seemed to get defensive when I told him what Dr. Garg said. Dr. Ayres then had a look at both eyes. He started on the right one and quickly moved on to the left after saying, “That one is trash.” This I already knew. I haven’t seen anything but light with that eye since the last century… After he looked at the left eye he told me that it looked pretty similar as previous visits.

He said the transplant looked good, though was less than perfect. (It’s from a 69 year old donor and I’ve had it for two years.) He didn’t see signs of rejection. He said he could do another transplant if I wanted, but he didn’t think it could be too much better. The downside was too steep for me, so we’ll revisit that at a later date. Dr. Ayres also noticed a bit of haze behind the lens implanted in the cataract extraction in April of this year. It’s called posterior capsule opacity. It can be dealt with doing a procedure called YAG laser capsulotomy. He said there is very little downside to this, so I am scheduled to have this done on 20 January. I’m not sure if this counts as my 16th surgery or not…

Once we finished up with my appointment, we headed down Route 1 to Riddle Hospital to see my dad. We spent about three hours with him. The cardiologist met with all of us and said he didn’t think the problem was a heart issue. After running Jane to a friends for a birthday party and a trip to Newark DE to pick up a small order, we returned to Riddle at 5.15. We visited with my dad for about 45 minutes and then took my mom home, stopping for dinner on the way (she treated us to Ruby’s Diner.) My dad was tired and seemed to want us to go. Hopefully he gets some rest and is able to go home tomorrow.

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Post tags: answer, chest, chest discomfort, eye, eye drop, line, maris grove, phone, shortness of breadth, trip to the hospital