Squeaker II

Thursday afternoon was scheduled for my yearly hearing aid checkup.  My regular audiologist had a family emergency arise earlier in the week.  A call gave me the opportunity to schedule a week later or use a different professional on Thursday morning.  I chose the Thursday morning appointment because my left aid had not always charged properly.  In addition, the left aid did not always connect to my TV.  The hearing aids had a TV hearing transmitter included at the time of purchase.  This allows me to listen to TV programs without blasting out Hubby's ears.  But I digress.

Thursday morning was the time for the appointment.  I was quickly greeted by Rebecca, the alternate audiologist.  We chatted as she sat about cleaning and updating the software for my hearing aids.  While the update was being done electronically I had my raw hearing tested.

If you have never had the procedure of a hearing test this is a brief description of the process.  You enter a soundproof area about the size of a shower stall.  There are windows to avoid the feeling of claustrophobia.  Earphones are placed on your head.  Now, these are serious headphones, not your K Mart blue light specials.  You are handed a buzzer button much like you see used on Wheel of Fortune.  Only this buzzer does not give you the chance to win anything.  One just presses the button when sounds are heard.

At first, the sounds are a series of short beeps at different frequencies and tones.  Some are high pitched while others are more toward the bass side of sounds.  The ringing in my ears made distinguishing the tones a bit more difficult.  The sounds are played in one ear at a time for a precise evaluation.  The next step is repeating words said by the audiologist.  Most are simple words such as dog, search, hair, etc.  I did not see my particular score after completing the test.  Rebecca did say there was just a slight deterioration of my hearing.  A slight deterioration is good since my Mom said she could hardly hear herself think toward the last few years of her life.  This is an inherited trait for Candler descendants.

Once the test was completed we returned to the consulting desk in the same area.  I had been wearing my cross-body purse the entire time.  Since I had just been having a listening test, I ask Rebecca if she could identify a noise.  I pressed the squeaker.  It was in the outer pocket of my purse.  She began looking around and I squeaked the thing a couple more times.  I finally raised my purse for her to see and pressed again.  She said that was hysterical!  After a conversation about how I came into the possession of the squeaker, I gave it to her.  She planned to harass her 13-year-old son with it that very evening.  Paying forward is not always about food, it needs to be about fun, too.

Now I'll just need to get DJ to destroy another toy!  Or I can buy a supply of squeakers from Amazon.  I think I have found my new life calling.

Take care,

Janice