I am a retired Web Developer, Blackboard & Canvas Administrator at Fayetteville State University, which is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina.
It has been a while since I made any bean soup using dried beans. I had several plastic bags from which I had used at least some of the dried beans. Some green split peas, some baby limas and maybe some black eyed peas. So, I was in the mood for some green split pea soup with country ham. I got the half bag off the shelf and almost immediately noted that the bottom had peas that had disintegrated. I thought they might still be good so I dumped a small portion out into a white bowl and went back to get something else. To my surprise when I returned there were quite a few black mealy bugs coming out of the dried peas. I threw them out and then checked the several other bags. All were compromised so I threw them out also. It was then that I knew where the mealy bugs had come from that had ruined my Bisquick. Not sure if they can get into a glass jar with a tight lid, but I have bought one and put a new box of Bisquick in it. *This is a large glass jar, perhaps 1/2 or 1 gallon in size.
[NOTE 08/12/25]: I like the idea of putting dry beans in plastic jars instead of the glass ones. I ordered a 12 pak of plastic storage jars, with metal lids & bands from Amazon. I probably got the idea of the plastic jars from the reused Dukes Mayo jars. But I see that the 12 pak of plastic jars do not fit the yellow Dukes Mayo lids. [end NOTE]
Plastic Dukes / Glass Ball Both holding dry Lima beans.
If I buy any new bags of dried beans, I’ll have to put them in glass jars with tight lids.
I have a bunch of Rubbermaid Easy Find containers with lids, but I’ve also used quite a few Ball glass jars but I put the yellow plastic Duke’s Mayo lid on them when I have those. The plastic lids will eventually break, but it saves having to keep the canning jar lids (which have two parts). *Not too long ago I bought a foam noodle and cut it to put the canning jar bands on. They fit almost perfectly and it makes them more organized when I put them in a plastic storage shoebox.
*A note. I prefer the taste of Duke’s Mayo to Hellmans and now I also have another reason to stick with Dukes. The Dukes plastic lids fit the canning jars perfectly, but the Hellmans lids do not.
“It [isn’t] defamatory to say someone watches pornography, which is a lawful activity for adults,” CNN said in its filing. “While some may disagree about the propriety of such conduct, the simple fact is that statements that someone engaged in a lawful activity are not defamatory.” CNN wants federal court to take up Robinson defamation case (WRAL5)
What a simple legal response. I like it. You can’t defame someone, “if you are not saying anything defamatory about them.” You are just stating a fact, and even if that fact is incorrect, it isn’t defamatory. It was reported that “he picked his nose and ate the bugger.” Well, even if he did, that can’t be defamatory because picking your nose and/or eating the bugger isn’t illegal. It’s probably not even morally reprehensible. And it sounds so much worse when someone else is accused of the activity, but much less offensive when done in the privacy of your own home or car. It may be offensive sounding, but not defamatory. And if you reported incorrectly? Maybe he didn’t pick his nose. Or maybe he didn’t consume the bugger. Just mistakes, that require a retraction.
However, if you can find an email, something in writing, or a recorded phone conversation that states that CNN’s purpose of the report was to hinder the candidate’s run for office, that might be another matter.
I think abortion IS killing a child, and shouldn’t be done, but I also know there is wisdom in how you deliver the message, and Mark Robinson was SO WRONG in his method of delivery. I don’t actually care about Mark Robinson or his wife (at least to a normal degree), but think about what he said, on video, and what his political opponent replayed for the public repeatedly… Robinson accused women who had an abortion, of “not being able to keep your legs together,” or “wanting to keep going to the club on Friday nights.” Don’t you think if you and your wife had an abortion, and the candidate admitted that they had publicly, you would choose to tone down your delivery? After all, the thinking person might eventually ask the question, “are you speaking from experience.” Did your wife have an abortion because she couldn’t keep her legs together, and did you both have your abortion because you both wanted to keep going out the “the club on Friday nights?” What is the old saying, “those that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones?”
I’m not saying you can’t learn from your mistakes. Okay, you and your wife had an abortion, and you thought you had good reasons at the time, but now you’ve changed your mind and you are vehemently against abortion. Doesn’t decorum, or at least sensitivity to your spouse, tell you not to angrily spew your beliefs to others? That angry delivery isn’t going to change anyone’s mind regarding abortion. Get a clue.
DA Carl Fox, who became an NC Judge in 2005, tried a case involving a “hit” and “run” that happened in October 2003.
A young man, Stephen Gates, who at the time was employed by UNC-Chapel Hill as a sports reporter, was changing a tire on an “On Ramp” of I40. A young woman driver, her boy friend (Rabah Samara) and another couple were in a Cadillac SUV, all apparently asleep except for the driver. As they came up the ramp the SUV struck Gates as he was attempting to change his tire. She apparently was not aware that she had struck someone so she continued along I40. **One report said that other drivers had seen the accident (and reported that the SUV was dragging Gate’s body and his car door beneath it) and attempted to get her to stop or pull over, which she did a few miles down I40.
She woke her boyfriend (a manager of a pizza shop in Raleigh, and of Middle Eastern descent), and when they pulled over, he got under the wheel and drove them back to Raleigh. The three asleep passengers were unaware of the accident. And apparently all had been drinking that day and were returning from “the beach” (maybe). ***It was determined that Gates was ‘in the road’ and that the driver (the young woman) was not at fault.
But, I always thought there were “hinky” parts of this event and trial (short as it was, since it never should have happened). There was some kind of deal struck with the young woman driver in which she would not be held responsible and would testify (to what I don’t know), but a case was still brought to court and the young woman’s boyfriend was charged. With what I don’t know. He wasn’t driving at the time of the accident, so why even waste the State’s time and money with a case of “hit and run” when he didn’t hit, but he did drive all away from the area? I mentioned that the man was “Middle Eastern,” and I think that was important to the case even coming to trial. You’ve got to remember that this was just a couple of years after 9-11.
Shouldn’t the DA have asked who was driving at the time of the accident and then immediately dropped that case against the pizza manager/boyfriend (who WASN’T driving)? But no. The case went to trial and lasted, I heard about 30 minutes, and the charges were dropped. What does the judge (not Fox at the time, he was the DA) say? Well since you weren’t driving at the time of the accident, I guess we can’t convict you of “hit and run” because you didn’t hit.
I would say that this was a major ‘faux pas’ by the DA. But how do you reward a misstep? Yeah, make the DA a State judge a couple of years later.
Now they did enact NC legislation (appending the name of the victim, calling it “Stephen’s Law”) to make it a crime regarding “hit and run” for anyone, other than an officer of the law or a “first responder” (not what they called them back then) to drive someone “who was driving at the time” – a ‘hitter’ away from the scene. ****Now this legislation occurred about 2003 and it seemed ‘ludicrous’ (this is one of those times when using that word is appropriate) that after all the years of “hit and run” cases, legislation would have to specifically state that you had to package “hit and run” not as “hit and be driven away by someone else.” If you “hit” you couldn’t leave the scene (except if an officer of the law took you somewhere, or a ‘first responder’ put you in an ambulance and you went to the hospital, for instance), without being charged with the “run.”
I’m not sure if the person, who drives you away (or maybe has a helicopter or boat nearby) and helps remove you from the accident, can be charged in a separate “illegal removal crime.” If it’s not in that legislation, I guess more specific legislation is needed.
“Knock Your Sprouts Off” Bread (there is a low sodium version)
This is a delicious sprouted bread.
AMAZON.COM
Wasabi Soy Sauce Powder
This is the nearest flavor powder to the Wasabi-Soy cashews that I had at Farm Fresh. Great on roasted pumpkin seeds.
AMAZON.COM
S&B Oriental Hot Mustard
This is the hot mustard served in Chinese restaurants to put on egg rolls. It is a powder that has to be mixed with water.
COMPARE
Herdez Salsa Ranchera
Takes the same chicken/veggie dish in a hispanic direction. Patak’s Hot Curry Paste goes toward India Indian flavors.
FARM FRESH
Scottisch Breakfast Tea
Didn’t like it the first time I tried it, but after the second & third times, I love it. Heavy flavor.
FOOD LION
FOOD LION
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
WALMART GOLDEN HEX
Seaweed Salad (Wakame)
Just found this at Walmart in the refrigerated section. It is exellent.
The Golden Hex product needs to be doctored up to make it taste like the Wakame Salad that Publix once sold in their Deli Section. The Zip Group out of New Jersey sells this through Golden Hex in Cary. Add: soy sauce, red wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes
HARRIS TEETER
HARRIS TEETER
Ingelhoffers Cream Style Horseradish
Mix this with some Dijon mustard and add a little sweetener and you have a good sandwich spread for ham/turkey.
IGA
Chicken Gizzards
Simple to fix (bacon grease, onion, celery, chicken stock, S&P) and delicious with either rice or mashed potatoes.
LIDL
Nixe Smoked Oysters
Under $1.50 and has a good flavor.
PATES FARM MARKET
PUBLIX
PUBLIX
SPROUTS
WALMART
Coconut Sugar
This sugar is brown like a raw sugar, but it doesn’t have any coconut flavor. I like it in my coffee. *Sprouts stopped providing this.
WALMART
Hillshire Farms Deli-Style Pastrami
Good pastrami for a Reuben. Comes in an awesome reusable package. Good price under $5. *Recall that these containers are made to be reused. Freezer & microwave friendly, ad on top peels off easily.
WALMART
Hillshire Farms Beef Polska Kielbasa
Great price under $4. This is a main ingredient for my Shrimp/Kielbasa/Zucchini/Pasta dish.
WALMART
Spicy Chili Crisp
I originally bought this as additional flavoring for my stir fries, but am now addicted just out of the jar, or with eggs. Includes peanuts.
WALMART
San Gennaro Traditional Italian Polenta
This brand of ready-made polenta doesn’t require refrigeration until opened.
WEGMAN’S
Agave Nectar (Wholesome)
I like this as an alternative sweetener but it is probably no better for you than honey. Wegman’s has a good price per bottle ($12.99).
WEGMAN’S
White American Cheese
I like the flavor and texture of this cheese. Goes well on sandwiches.
WEGMAN’S
Intense Brie Cheese
I like this Brie. They have recently changed their packaging label. *This got a little expensive and I’ve stopped buying it.
WEGMAN’S
Old Chatham Bucheron Goat Cheese
One of two goat cheeses that I really like. I had a version of this a long time ago when I lived in Jacksonville, NC.
WHOLE FOODS
Capricho de Cabra
Probably my favorite goat cheese. Soft & tart. Good with crackers & raspberry jam.
???
Patak’s Hot Curry Paste
I originally bought this at Harris Teeter, but don’t know who has the best price currently. Mix curry paste/mayo/small capers and you have a good sandwich spread for fried shrimp/ham.
WALMART
Cary’s Sugar Free Low Calorie Syrup
Good on waffles, but can also be used to make a glaze for carrots. Does not thicken on the heat.
I had a hankering (something less than a hankering) for some homemade spaghetti sauce and pasta. I happened to be in Wegman’s in Raleigh about a week ago and they had their own brand of spaghetti sauce starters for only about $1.19 a jar. I decided to try it, but currently I like RAO’s starter sauces, but they are about $9 a jar. RAOs is a glass jar and the Wegman’s jar was plastic. That doesn’t matter.
I found the flavor of the Wegman’s sauce to be like the $1 a can starters I had bought repeatedly through the years. Delmonte was one company that made these starters. At some point, one of the companies started canning their sauce in a smaller can. Like what happened to the single serving sizes of Yogurt. I think the single serving size of yogurt is currently about 3.5 ounces. But maybe 20 years ago the sizes were maybe 5.5 or 6 oz. plastic containers. Of course you can continue to sell your product at the same price, if you actually provide less product to the customer. As long as the customer doesn’t realize the portion size has been reduced, everybody is a happy camper. And, not too long ago, maybe a couple of years now, Food Lion started selling a smaller size of sweet bell pepper (yellows, oranges, reds) for $1.48. It’s been $1.48 for several years now, but if you paid attention, the produce is now considerably smaller in size. If you want to buy a sweet bell pepper that was the size it was, maybe 3 or 4 years ago, you wouldn’t pay $1.48 but probably over $2 per pepper. *Price fixing? Well a sweet bell pepper at Food Lion and Walmart costs the same, $1.48 and both veggies are sized about the same (the smaller version).
So I used half a jar of the Wegman’s sauce, and added about half a can of the Fire Roasted Tomatoes from Hunts. It’s here where I mention again that it is difficult to cook for one when you are making homemade spaghetti sauce, or several types of soups (especially vegetable). For the vegetable soup you open a 15 oz. can each of green beans, corn, garden peas, tomatoes, chop some carrots, dice an onion and brown some ground beef (I like ground beef rather than stew beef chunks in my vegetable-beef soup.) add some Chicken Broth & water, and several seasonings like garlic powder, ground pepper & salt. Maybe even throw in a little margarine or even bacon grease for more flavor. But adding all of those makes the final product enough for maybe six servings, and unless you freeze some of that, you end up throwing half of it away. And that’s even if your soup was especially delicious. *I have also tried only using half a can of each of the above veggies and freezing the rest all mixed together in a Rubbermaid container. Still the frozen veggies usually get lost over time and I open a new can of each item when I start to make another helping of soup.
And the thought just came to me. If in season, I chop up some okra and add them in. And I add some orzo.
For the homemade spaghetti sauce I brown some ground beef, chop up some onion (regular not sweet, because… “any onion is sweet once it hits the heat.”) and add a can of Hunt’s Fire Roasted Tomatoes and some Chicken Broth. Garlic powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, sweetener (maybe Agave Nectar), and fennel seeds (licorice flavor as in Italian Sausage). If I am in the mood, I may add a small can of mushroom bits. *Chicken Broth? I’ve found (as has been mentioned on Americas Test Kitchen) that even if the recipe calls for a beef product, Chicken Broth provides a more rounded flavor than Beef Broth. **I have in the past (maybe only once) tried using three different meats: ground beef, Italian sausage and pork sausage (or ground lamb). I couldn’t tell enough difference to justify the extra cost of three meats, so ground beef is my usual.
Instead of using Angel Hair pasta, as I normally do, this time I bought a good sized eggplant and shredded it. Salted it and then squeezed out the moisture. Sauteed the shredded eggplant, let it cool and then mixed the eggplant with flour (Bisquick), an egg, and some spices like thyme, savory, garlic powder, etc. I normally do not like to fry anything in a large amount of oil, but I had some long-time unused Canola oil and I poured about a quarter inch of oil, heated it up in a frying pan and after it was hot put several large patties of the eggplant mixture in to cook. They browned fairly quickly, and I turned them over and viola. This turned out pretty well. The eggplant fritters had enough flavor to be pleasantly delicious with the homemade spaghetti sauce. *Through the years I’ve repeatedly failed at fixing delicious fried eggplant at home. But shredding it, and making a fritter worked.
I use the Hunt’s Fire Roasted Tomatoes when I am making homemade salsa also. I put a can of the tomatoes in my chopper, add some onion and sweet bell & jalapeno & pablano peppers (sometimes roasting them first for more flavor). If I have more exotic peppers such as a Biquinho, Brazillian Starfish, or Trinidad Perfume they will go in also. *I tried these three peppers a couple of years ago and added them to my seafood chowder and they were great. But, this past season I couldn’t get some of them at the State Farmer’s Market in Raleigh. Maybe next year. **I asked repeatedly about these.
A “kick” I am currently on is the Spicy Chili Crisp that I originally bought for my stir fry concoctions. I buy this from Walmart locally: Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp Hot Chili Oil (also available at Amazon.com) It only costs about $4 for a small jar. It is crunchy but adds a bunch of flavor to a stir fry.
I hadn’t made a stir fry in a while but added some of this oil mixture to my latest. And, while I was eating the stir fry, which turned out really well, I noticed a few peanuts in the mix. I wondered where they came from because I knew I didn’t add them. I even questioned if they weren’t peanuts but maybe the peas from the Sugar Snap peas I had also added. Eventually, I found these peanuts had come from the Spicy Chili Crisp, and a little of that is addictive. I’ve even added some to some Dukes Mayo and put it on a pastrami sandwich, with a slice of sweet onion, and it worked! It was different, delicious and a keeper.
A note. I finished off a previous version of the Spicy Chili Crisp, but had already bought some more. I noticed that the flavor between the two was different. Still enjoyable, but different, so maybe the peppers they use, or how long they cook the mix causes some flavor variations.
[NOTE 11/10/24]: Tried a few different flavors together for breakfast this morning: 1 egg in microwave, seasoned with some of the Spicy Chili Crisp, some chopped onion & sweet bell pepper and some shredded Mexican blend cheese. A couple of slices of polenta, heated in the microwave. Half of a small avocado. Three slices of bacon. [end NOTE]
This is a doctored image of a book cover that I saw in Michael’s (I think that is the hobby shop.). There was no color on the front cover, just black & white, and the ink was raised. You could feel it to the touch. On the back was the same image, but the ink […]
The seared scallops and mashed minted garden peas was something I saw online, and immediately purchased the book it came from. I made the meal from a recipe online, but added the red cabbage & corn slaw and served on polenta. However, it looked much better than it tasted. It may have need more mint. Also I googled and the smushed garden peas classically go with taragon flavoring. *I was captivated by the original image I saw of the scallops & smushed peas, but the actual product failed to produce satisfying results.
Love the spicy seafood chowder with bay scallops, cod fish, shrimp & chopped clams. Has hot peppers and corn. Couldn’t get the flavorful hot peppers I had last year this year. Trinidad Perfume, Brazillian ???
[NOTE 11/11/24]: I had bought a filet of Tilapia some time ago and had frozen it. I defrosted it and got online to find some ideas. I ended up baking it at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. I used some garlic butter to drizzle over it, but also used Paprika, Oregano, Thyme and S&P. It was better than expected, but not necessarily something that I would repeat, so…
I bought another filet a day later and ended up cooking it later that day. This time I googled to see if I could bake and season Tilapia like you do Flounder. Sure enough the AI (I think that is what is giving more complete answers when you google.) said that because both fish are flakey that seasoning & cooking both the same would be okay.
It has been years since I had a baked flounder, but I recalled using bacon and onion in the baking dish to flavor the flounder. I also wanted to use Smoked Paprika and some garlic powder (instead of raw garlic). S&P and some Marjoram.
I started the oven and then put the baking dish in, without the tilapia, but only some oil, sliced onion & bacon. The bacon is never going to end up crispy. It will be limp, but will add some flavor to the onion and fish. I sprinkled some Smoked Paprika on half of the tilapia. About ten minutes later I looked in on the fish and it seemed to be done. Still moist and whitened by the heat.
I cut the filet so that I could eat the part with the Smoked Paprika. I also baked a Russet potato in the microwave, and already had some cabbage slaw (mayo, red bell pepper, sweet onion, sweetener). This turned out better, and it is something that I would put in the rotation of the other things I cook. Not as regular as some of the other things I like, but definitely worth trying again. [end NOTE]
I started my first injection of Ozempic on September 18, 2024. These were weekly injections and the first four weeks I was to inject a .25 dosage. After that, I was to inject a .5 dosage. I didn’t notice any changes the first week, but thereafter I started to see reduced resting blood glucose levels and my weight started to fluctuate slightly downward. This morning I was slightly above 250 lbs. *If you can lose enough weight the Type 2 diabetes should disappear, but losing that weight, at my age and level of inactivity is very difficult. I am currently trying to maintain a daily calorie count near 1,880.
A future SHARPS container.
The easier to use injection system was with Trulicity. They provided a separate epi (not sure if that’s the correct designation) pen for each injection and the needle was hidden, only coming out after you pressed the pen button and going back inside after the solution was expended. Therefore, if you rested the pen on your stomach (alternating on each side of my belly button about a couple of inches) before pressing the button you never actually saw the syringe. This is the more preferrable system since there is a slight reluctance to inject yourself, even if the needle is both short and narrow.
But the Ozempic needle is short. Maybe about a quarter inch in length and is extremely small gauged. It doesn’t hurt going in and you just have to wait for about five seconds for the delivery and then add an extra count of about 6 to complete the process before removing the syringe. Then, put the cap back on the syringe, unscrew it and put the used syringe in your “SHARPS” container. I am currently using one of my empty Diltiazim bottles as a SHARPS container. The plastic is thick and will protect from the used syringes poking through the bottle.
I had used Trulicity for several years without a problem until it became unavailable for refill not quite a year ago. I then switched to Rybelsus which was a daily tablet but didn’t work well, and then finally Ozempic which is working tremendously well! Why did Trulicity become unavailable? It may be that it has become in short supply because of persons starting to use this drug to help them lose weight.
[NOTE 10/31/24]: I’ve probably mentioned this elsewhere, but if not, this is a good time to mention that the beautiful blue cloudy sky at the top of my blog postings was something that I cut from a web cam view from the Beaufort Hotel web cam one morning. When I look at it closely I am amazed at how artistic this sky actually was. It’s not a doctored photo either, although it looks to have some photographic filter applied to it.
Another note to make here is that last night I finally purchased an upgrade to my WordPress web site (eptemplate.wordpress.com) and now can access that site with a new URL: billggibsonii.com I would have preferred a different “top level domain extension” of something other than .com, but this extension was the least expensive to maintain annually at just $13. [end NOTE]
[NOTE 11/13/24]: Here are a couple of graphs of my weight and resting blood glucose levels:
[end NOTE]
[NOTE 11/20/24]: I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but this is a reminder for myself. The first round of Ozempic I was required to take a dose each week at .25 and on the fifth and sixth weeks to up the dosage to .5. But, I took that to mean that I should keep the dosage at the .5 level thereafter. However, I noticed that the second Ozempic package was just like the first. It had spaces for me to enter four .25 doses (four separate weeks) and then the .5 dosage for the last two weeks. But, if I take .5 dosage for four weeks, I end up with two unused syringes. I think that is correct, but I need to ask which way I should be dosing myself.
This isn’t important, but a couple of years ago (that means two years ago) Jim Sharpe was very ill at Thanksgiving. So much so that He didn’t come out of his bedroom until late afternoon. He looked horrible. His skin was translucent (like really old people get) and he was slow at answering questions put to him. He answered correctly, but the answers were extremely slow for Jim Sharpe. But, the next visit (probably a couple of months later) I was hesitant at going in his bedroom (they had moved it to their music room and had a hospital bed) because I just didn’t want to see him in the condition he had been in back at the last Thanksgiving. Finally one of the nurses convinced me to step in to say hello to him.
To my surprise, Jim although still looking ill, no longer had the translucent skin and his mind was a sharp as it ever had been. I said something to him and he fired right back with a direct answer.
It seems that he had been overdosing himself with some of his medications and this had caused his severe decline. But once his kids got him back taking only the correct dosage, his mind returned.
I think I have more respect for Jim Sharpe because of the way he handled his final days, that from all the previous years I had known him. He was a class act, and went as I would hope to go. I guess it might be that he was confident in the life he had lived and was prepared to go on to the next life. [end NOTE]
I take a series of pills daily. There is a morning batch, and an evening batch, and I give myself an Ozempic shot once week, usually on Wednesday.
I have a routine that helps me remember to take my morning pills and my evening pills. Each week I refill the daily pill trays in advance. This weekly pill tray is beside my easy chair.
Each morning, usually a little after 7 am, I take the day’s pill container (morning & evening pills) to the bathroom and take the morning dosages. I also weigh myself and test my “resting blood glucose level,” and record these online.
I leave this daily container on the stand beside my bathroom sink. In the evening, usually after 7 pm, I look and see if the morning pills have been taken, and if the evening pills are still there, I take them. Once I’ve taken all pills for a day, I return the empty daily pill trays back to the weekly container beside my easy chair. And the process repeats the next morning.
I misplaced one of my daily pill containers when I went to visit Mary Ann. Don’t know if I left it there, or if it slipped down somewhere that I haven’t yet found it, but that is now a long time ago. So, I decided to use the little glass vials (two sizes) that I had bought to make a unique chess set to organize my daily medications and found a flexible rubber ice maker in which they fit easily. Morning meds, labeled with the day of the week in the front, and the smaller vial in the back for each day. This has worked well, although sometimes the larger pills may get caught in the vial temporarily. *The rubberized ice tray also works well to organize my AA & AAA batteries for my remotes. That would be 14 batteries per tray.
I am surprised at how quickly each week’s worth of pills go by. But that is “life in the fast lane” for a 71 years old. *I have a calendar posted to my bathroom wall, above my weight scale. I keep a note card on which I record my daily weight, and later post it to my online site, myfitnesspal.com . I also write “OZEMPIC” on each Wednesday on the calendar, ahead of time. This is a reminder to take my Ozempic shot that day. I put a check mark by the word Ozempic once I have taken the shot.
There have been a few times, when my pill routine has been interrupted, or totally forgotten. If I’ve covered my weekly pill trays with a book or magazine (usually I do not), then I may forget to take my day’s pill trays to the bathroom. Or, I think there have been a couple of times when I was going out of town for the day, and in a rush forgot to take my morning pills. *If I forget, I try to take the dosage I’ve forgotten almost immediately. Then if there are several hours till the next scheduled dose, I try to spread the time out “a little.” But, the idea is to get back on track, ASAP.
[NOTE 02/18/25]: So it didn’t take long for me to have a specific instance of forgetting to take my daily pills. We have a winter snow storm predicted to start tomorrow morning. I had a list of items (mostly food purchases) that I wanted to make early (first thing) today, so I checked when Walmart would be open and it opens at 6 am. It was a little after 6 am so I rushed to get dressed and wrestled with the thought of eating out, or getting items, and then returning home to eat. I got out the door, and stopped at Walmart first. Not a lot of people there yet, and I quickly got everything+. Then I headed up to get gas and that went quickly also. I decided to go to the Rainbow for breakfast. I rarely go out for breakfast, but for years, I might eat at the Rainbow at least 200 days out of the year. That would be eating every weekday morning, on my way to work. But now, most days, I have the time to fix breakfast for myself and enjoy what I fix more than eating at a restaurant.
So, I “had time to kill” before Harris Teeter was scheduled to start selling their Rotisserie Chickens at 11 am. It was still before 9 am, when First Citizens Bank would open and I could cash a check. I did cash a check there later. I then went over to Harris Teeter, hoping they might start selling the prepared chickens before 11 am. My plan was to see if HT had the Plain Greek Gods Yogurt. Seems they don’t, more times than when they do, but they did, and I took a container for my cart. I think I also bought a couple of shallots, and I did see one woman get a chicken brought out to her ahead of time, but I decided to wait a little while longer so I took my cart over to the Starbucks in HT and sat down, able to see where the Rotisserie Chickens would be placed for sale. About 10:30 am I saw one of the HT workers bringing out what appeared to be Rotisserie Chickens. It was and I got my red box and headed to the check out. I then stopped by Publix to change the date for me to pick up my “half loaf of seeded Rye bread.” I had scheduled for pickup on Thursday before finding out that it was supposed to be the aftermath of the pending winter snow/ice storm. I changed the pickup day to Saturday, and according to WRAL Weather, that should be warmer & less angst about travel on the local roads.
I got back home and got everything inside (two trips), and had lunch (chicken livers, Asian cucumber salad, and a slice of Sourdough bread.). At some point I go to bed for an afternoon nap and about 4:20 pm, I wake up and head to the bathroom. I look over and see that my day’s pill container isn’t on the counter beside my bathroom sink. “Oh, heck!” I went and got my forgotten pills, and took the morning batch immediately. I might wait until 9 pm tonight to take my evening doses. So, that is a specific example of how my mind can get distracted from taking my pills. And, I am in the process of washing some dirty towels, clothing next & my dishes may be finished in the dishwasher. [end NOTE]
The past few days spent mostly down and around Hubert, NC was interesting. I jumped off of an “out of control” golf cart and rolled on the ground rather than wait for it to crash into something or go into a deep ditch. I was unhurt, and not sore later, but I had to ask Ray to help me get up. *Oh, they have a large mirror that covers most of the wall in their bathroom and it is usually there that I realize how grossly fat I am, and have been for many years. And, that is even after I’ve lost about 15 pounds in the last year and have been hovering just about the 250 lbs. mark for several months.
Switching to Ozempic has corralled my rising resting blood sugar levels. I had taken Trulicity for several years and then at a point about a year ago, I could no longer get my prescription filled in a timely manner, and eventually after two months unfilled, I considered “couldn’t get it filled at all.” I attributed the lack of this medication to all those persons who are beginning to use it to keep their weight under control. However, I still feel I should have had “first dibbs” on this medication because I had been taking it, as I said, for several years. But now, I wouldn’t want to return to Trulicity. Ozempic appears to be slightly better in controlling my blood sugar. **However, the injection mechanism is slightly less sophisticated that Trulicity. But, you also reuse the Ozempic pen for several injections, replacing the needles several times until all the fluid has been used up. Last week I completed my first rotation of six injections. I started with four, once a week, injections at .25 dosage, followed by two more weeks at .5 dosage. The needle is small and does not hurt going in. You just have to count to six after the dosage counter has reached “0”.
I think I eat reasonably healthily most of the time. I like brussels sprouts (with balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and agave nectar as a sauce). They prepare and cook quickly and it is an excellent side dish for something like a pork chop. But, I’ve also fixed some delicious chicken gizzards and had them with rice, once, and with mashed potatoes several times.
Oddly for me, I found myself without much food “in the house” Saturday night. At least food that wouldn’t be bad for me. There were hotdogs and some baloney, and potato salad, a loaf of white bread, some peanut butter & nuts chocolate fudge, cinnamon candy and ginger ale (not sugar free). I had one hotdog, and a slice of baloney on one slice of bread, some potato salad, I ate a few olives and one small piece of fudge, and no ginger ale, just ice water. I don’t know what happened to the pork roast, but I didn’t see it in the fridge. I went to Burger King on Sunday morning, the one that stands on the spot where the old Morton Family home stood on the corner of Queens Creek Road and Highway 24. I told the young woman who took my order that I had lived on this spot and that the first day they were opened, a Sunday, I had come in and sat over in one of the booths thinking about where the old kitchen had been located. *I had a Ham, Egg and Cheese Croissandwich, some tater tots, and coffee. I also had one container of honey mustard, catchup and I went out to the car and got a couple of containers of the curry mixture I make that works good on potatoes. It was starting to sprinkle a little. I hadn’t had this breakfast in quite a while, but have had it many times in the past.
Looking out the Burger King Drive-Thru last week, and my kitchen from 64 years ago.
As the inside of Burger King looked last week.
Above:Note how clean and straight the lines on the edge of the wooden porch are. This porch probably hadn’t been replaced too long because as the wood ages, and wears, the edges break off and become slightly ragged, but that’s not the case here. Also, the chain is off the bike. We were trying to remove the rear tail of the bike and this loosened the chain. The front of the car is of a Chevy painted beige, which was probably a Marine Base relic. Uncle Bob had a Ford approximately the same age as the Chevy and the same color. The little house off the back of the porch was what Lyde had stayed in because she suffered from Tuberculosis. Because I was around it, I still “show positive” for TB and I guess if I had a weakened condition, TB might become a problem for me. The little house formerly had been a logger’s cabin. No bathroom, just room for a bed and a table and a place for a hot plate or coffee pot. The mule, with his tail to us is just across the ditch, and between him and the tobacco barn past him is Queens Creek Road. The tobacco barn burned down not too many years later, and the mule was sold also.
I did stop briefly on the Swansboro waterfront to read a small portion of “Becoming” the Michelle Obama memoir, and later in Jacksonville at a park by the river, I also read a little more. A page or three at a time and eventually, if I live so long, I will finish this book too. Too, as I have about 30 Michael Connelly novels (mostly Bosch), a memoir of JFK, Jr., and a tribute by friends of Tim Russert during the past year. This reading started after I had snagged the Matthew Perry memoir from a nearby Little Lending Library at the end of last October. The “hinkey” thing about the Perry tome was that I got it, not because I was interested in him, but because I was going to move it to another LLL, but several days later, I saw a picture of Perry on a celebrity tribute web site and said to myself, “I didn’t know he was dead,” and shortly thereafter found that he had actually died about three days after I had got his book. I though this was hinkey and then said to myself, “I guess I’ll have to read this now,” and I did. Three pages into his memoir he makes the statement, “I should be dead by now,” and then he goes on to explain about the “Big Terrible Thing.” The “Thing” being his almost life long drug addition. After reading this book, I would be much more lenient on those persons that provided him with those last illegal drugs. Matthew Perry did this to himself. The others may have overdosed him, but with his inner weakness, he basically committed suicide. **After I finished the Perry memoir, I was in a reading mode and so, because I had a bunch of the Michael Connelly Bosch novels that I had bought to add to various LLLs, I started reading them. I didn’t start reading in order. Connelly started publishing these in 1992 with “The Black Echo.” I probably started with “Echo Park” and then at some point jumped back to the first five or six novels. ***I’ve told a few people that I learned to despise Harry Bosch from reading these novels. I liked the Harry Bosch character that I came to know from the TV series, but by the second novel, “Black Ice,” I came to describe Harry Bosch as, “that lying piece of dog shit, that shouldn’t be trusted and should step to the back of the line, instead of getting special “cut to the front” privileges.
ADDENDUM[09/30/25]:I was in Harris Teeter yesterday getting ready to pay for my lunch salad and I looked at a magazine cover. It had Charlie Sheen on the cover. His big head, similar to Matthew Perry’s on his book cover. But what jostled my memory of the Perry book was that Sheen’s cover said, “I should be dead by now.” Now that’s the statement that Perry said in his memoir about three pages into it. I got the Perry book at a LLL, and about 3 days later he died of a drug overdose. *Read his book and there is no surprise. He couldn’t control his addiction, and finally it did him in. But oh, the suffering he put himself and others through until the final conclusion. I almost said to the checkout clerk, “He’s going to be dead soon,” but I didn’t. [end]
I rode around to different areas in and around Swansboro, Stella, Sneads Ferry, and then quickly down to Wilmington where I was planning to eat at a KFC buffet. However, the KFC I visited on Market Street had no buffet so I just used their bathroom. I thought that the Arby’s I have eaten at many times over many visits to Wilmington would be nearby, and it was. Just a few blocks further down, I turned into the Arby’s parking lot. There is a Miller-Mott Education site in the back. But, there was yellow caution tape across the drive-thru entrance, and then I noted work trucks and an industrial waste dumpster, and then the cuss word as I realized that this Arby’s location was closed for renovations. Damn, what is it with no food?
I decided not to hang around Wilmington, mildly hungry, so I started back for Fayetteville but with the idea of stopping at Elizabethtown to see if they had a KFC buffet. They had a KFC, but no buffet. I didn’t want to eat more Mexican because we had eaten at El Catrin in Swansboro on Friday. Finally made it back home and made some mashed potatoes and warmed up a helping of chicken gizzards. They were good again. *But, for dinner I really didn’t know what I wanted, maybe kielbasa & lentils? I finally just ate some Neuske’s Smoked Liver Pate with some Whole Foods Black Sesame Rice crackers. As I write this, I’m still wrestling with what to either fix for breakfast, or if I should scrounge up enough paper money to go out for breakfast.
The pears I had bought at Pate’s had all gone bad, but the tangerines were still delicious. I have found that I can use my boxcutter tool with the blade just slightly out to slice the peeling of oranges or tangerines. Years ago Tupperware gave away a peel slicer as a promotional gift. I had gotten several of these when I worked at the Hem of His Garment Thrift Store. Using the boxcutter is basically doing what the Tupperware tools did.
They are little things, but still they are so important as first steps toward a more organized life.
I like the idea of compartmentalizing things according to their use, but I rarely, or consistently do this type of organizing. But when I do, I feel a minor, but definite sense of accomplishment.
I’ve recently bought 48 clean, new, glass spice jars, with shiny aluminum screw lids and translucent white plastic filters that snap snuggly on the mouths of the jars. They are squared off, and I kept one of the packing trays (there was a tray for both the top and bottom of these jars to fit into snuggly so that the glass wouldn’t “tink” into an adjacent bottle and break. I’ve filled almost all of these jars with either existing spices that I already had, or recently purchased spices that I thought I might like to try.
I’ve moved a bunch of stuff around on the countertop next to the stove on the side where the spices and a small plastic cutting board lie. Most importantly, I moved the paper towel dispenser away from the stove top (and potential fire hazard) and put it next to the side of my refrigerator and next to that I moved the plastic sandwich bag dispenser. This dispenser is indispensable. I use these bags to store food items both after and before cooking.
Oh, and something I’ve just started using for a different purpose is small colored plastic salsa bowls. The kind with the little plastic legs to steady the bowl. I’ve used a few of these (a bright green and a bright yellow one) for many years for when I make homemade salsa, hummus, or guacamole, but now I am also using one for my Greek God’s Yogurt (plain flavored) to which I’m adding fresh fruit that I have blended in my chopper. The raw (not sure how fresh) raspberries that I pureed turned out extremely flavorful, and were a very pleasant addition to this yogurt. *I recently bought (at the exorbitant price of $4.99) a 3-pak of assorted berries: blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I plan to blend them and put them in the little plastic Rubbermaid containers, in the fridge, until use.
So first I bought, at separate times, a few more of these plastic salsa bowls and then came up with the idea to use them like monkey dishes. I have some dark blue (outside) and white (inside) ceramic muffin cups that I’ve used for years as monkey dishes putting in various liquid and dry ingredients. I have one of these cups in which I put my olive oil brush. This is to brush oil onto a pan surface or my waffle iron before baking a waffle, so that it won’t stick to the surface.
My salt dispenser sits beside the sandwich bag dispenser.
One of the items I have on the other side of my stove is a large ceramic container in which I put an assortment of kitchen tools. But tonight, very early morning, I decided to clear out some of the unneeded items in this horribly cramped container. Surprisingly, to me, I actually took several items out of this and actually threw them away. I did throw away a shiny melon baller, but I don’t think I will actually miss it. I found a cup sized tea ball, which I actually might use now that I know where it is. But I also plan to move this tea ball to a more visible location as a reminder. I do have a coffee, tea and flavored drink packet area on the corner of my kitchen counter.
The other thing I found was a dark metal pair of scissors. My mother had used them, and they are still a really good pair of scissors, and I’ve just used some olive oil on them for protecting their surface, which I see can rust, but hasn’t much. *Sometime in the last couple of years I recall asking myself, “What ever happened to those black scissors.” And the scissors are what started me writing this particular blog entry. I plan to put them in one of my plastic shoe boxes (for organizational purposes) and then put other “like minded” items in that same shoe box. *I do have a small sewing kit, but the scissors might also be used for cutting paper, which I did just a few minutes ago and they still do a fine job of cutting.
I mentioned the spice jars above, but I still haven’t quite got how I want them laid out. I have tried to come up with a 3 letter code to go on top of each jar, but I still have a few jars that I don’t quite recall what the 3 letters stand for, and a jar or two of spices/herbs that I don’t really recall which ingredient it is. But first I had all the jars alphabetically organized from A to Z. But now I’ve put the most used ingredients in the first two rows nearest my cutting board. It seems vaguely that I might want to categorize these spices/herbs even more. “Most Used,” “Warm Spices” for frying apples, and “Peppery Spices.” For a long time, I would sift each of the warm spices from their separate jars onto the fried apples (on top of the Splenda I had already sifted on them), but then I finally mixed all of these spices and put them in a separate glass jar with a sift lid. It just makes it so much easier to sift from just one jar.
Some time ago, I started organizing a few reusable items in some plastic sandwich bags. These items are rarely needed, but nice to have on hand if and when the need arises: assorted rubber bands (different colors, sizes and widths), various plastic bottle tops (My Agave Nectar dispenser has had a couple of broken bottle tops that it was nice to have an extra unbroken one to replace with.), twist ties (both from bread bags or label ties from Sprouts), and I also keep my yellow plastic “Dukes Mayonnaise” jar lids because they fit perfectly on regular sized canning jars.
One drawer beside my stove includes the most used utensils: apple corer, can opener, vegetable peeler, box cutter, etc. I think it was just a couple of years ago that I bought a 4 pack of the box cutters. They came in 4 separate colors and they have proven to be very handy. I keep one cutter beside my easy chair (for opening various plastic bags and Amazon packages). One cutter is in the drawer beside my stove (for slicing open the plastic bacon package, or slicing off the top of a resealable shredded cheese bag). I have one cutter in my car. And, I don’t recall where the fourth cutter is, but I have a suspicion that I gave it away as a present. These are really useful. *How about for slicing through those annoying thick plastic protective seals. The ones that snuggly protect a new tooth brush, or batteries, or…
Oh, every so often my can opener doesn’t work on a can. I think most times it is the design of the can rim, or the softness of the metal that causes the old standard can opener not to take and slice the metal apart as it travels around the can lid. *For those extraordinary times, I have my “John Wayne,” which I have probably had for more than 40 years. Perhaps even more than 50 years. I might have still been in high school when I found and kept the little steel can opener that was supplied to soldiers for opening their C or K Rations in the field. It has been on my key chain for many years, and when the big opener won’t start or finish the job, that little can opener works “every time.” Yes, it takes longer to open a can with this little tool, but it gets the job done.
This reminds me that I’ve recently bought a new pair of nail clippers. But the problem with these clippers is that they are a smidge too small to be comfortable in the hand when in use. And, I’ve checked at a different store and their clippers were also in this slightly smaller size. The smaller size works for adding them to your key chain, but they are an irritation that I plan to find a solution to… Another pair, slightly larger as they were for many years.
Which reminds me. Yesterday when I left home, my phone wasn’t sufficiently charged up for the day, and I didn’t have a charging cable in the car. I had used the short white charging cable that came with my hearing aids in the car to charge my phone. In the apartment, I used the black charging cable that I switch from hearing aids, phone and Chromebook in a round robin match that works. But, I sent the white cable back in the return of my hearing aids.
So, I’m in Goldsboro with my phone around 25% and falling fast. I don’t want to be without a phone, in case my car “acts up,” or I need to get navigation or an online map, or to check for a product, or location or time of an event, etc. I check for the nearest Dollar Tree and see one. I’m not sure if I’ve been to this exact location before, but I had a slight awareness of where it was located even before using the navigation to drive there. I think it is next to a Walmart, because I saw the Walmart Blue color on the side of an adjacent building, but never actually saw the Walmart name on the building. I was parked askew of that building, and had no need to get a better view. I go into this Dollar Tree and start looking for the USB cables. And they don’t have any. What? The USB cables are always with the assorted smartphone protectors, and the other little, cheap electronic thingys. I look and then I go to the register and ask and the clerk sends me back to where I had been looking. I go back, and they don’t have any, any, any USB cables. How can this be? I go back to the car and google for another Dollar Tree. It can’t be that ALL Dollar Trees in the area are devoid of USB cables. The other Dollar Tree is across town, past Wilbers BBQ. But, this is not an unfamiliar location as I go by it quite often when visiting Goldsboro. There is a dead end road that butts up against the chain link fence next to the Seymour Johnson Airforce Base runway. There are fields on either side of this road and most of the year, except when the crops are tall in the summer, this is a perfect location to come watch the take offs and landings of the fighter jets and the refueling tankers. I’m not the only one who knows of this location and I’ve been there when several others are watching also. Most of the time it is deserted. You might see a white security/maintenance truck in the distance traversing around the runway. I think it may be looking for debris that is on the runway, more than checking on possible intruders.
So I go to the other Dollar Tree and go to the electronics section and here they have at least three different styles of “Fast Charging” USB cables (Type A to Type C). The price on the package is $1.25. I buy one of the fancier looking cables, but would like to buy a couple more and have them about, just in case. My phone was down to 17% by this time, but having the phone hooked up only a brief time, I saw the percentage of charge begin to climb and by the time I was back home I think the charge was close to 60%. I think ALL USB cables should be “fast charging” and cost only $1.25. Why pay $10 or more for this basic cable? *I don’t understand what the difference is between a fast charging cable and a regular (slow charging) one, but it is probably just one extra wire or some such. **Just checked and the fast charging cable is thicker with more insulation which provides a higher delivery voltage, and therefore quicker charging.
On the way back home, I stopped at the drug store in Newton Grove and had a Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, regular cone, for $2 total (including tax). It is $2 for one scoop, but they put what I call one scoop in the cone, and then add another scoop (sometimes it might be half a scoop), but I definitely would call it more than one scoop for the price. Unfortunately for me they discontinued the “Super” Raspberry flavor sometime ago, but they still have enough flavors (probably 20 or a few more) to satisfy. The raspberry ice cream had little chocolate candies filled with raspberry jam. I make this description of the ice cream after having gone online and researched the raspberry flavor. I might be able to get this elsewhere, either in an ice cream shop or in a small container to take home.
Bags of Nature’s Way Farms, Inc. potatoes @ Harris Teeter in Fayetteville
And something else. In the morning, I wanted to go to Nature’s Way Farm near Faison, NC. I checked my phone navigation and turned off Hwy. 13 to head toward the business. It’s out in the country. But this detour took me a different way to a familiar route. I’m not sure if it is a shorter route, but it almost seemed to be. Instead of going into Newton Grove (and circling the round-a-bout a full rotation), I can go this different way and end up on the “on ramp” to I40.
[NOTE 10/29/24]: And so, I guess it continues. I had the desire to have a Lamb Gyro Pita at Pharaoh’s Legacy Restaurant. I normally like to also order the house Greek Salad with this meal. Previously I’ve even made my own version of a Greek Salad, and even made the Italian Dressing at home, and taken it with me to eat in the car, outside of the restaurant. So this time I prepared a sandwich baggy with a few items meant to enhance the flavor of their Greek Salad: an extra Peperoncini, some chopped sweet onion, a Campari tomato, diced, and a few green pitted olives (because I just can’t find any Kalamata olives in my fridge).
From a previous visit, and all the inside fixtures were gone when I poked my head inside the front door a couple of days ago.
I drive clear across town, and park in front of the restaurant and start to go to the front door. I do note that there are no cars parked in front except for some utility trucks away from the front. I pulled the front door open, and there, to my surprise is no restaurant. It has been gutted, and as I start to step back outside, I do see a construction worker come around the corner in the far back. *I should have at least stopped to ask if the restaurant was just being remodeled, or if it was closed permanently. **And, I still don’t know if it is permanently closed because I see nothing regarding their closing on their web site. Maybe a fire, but the place was just gutted and I didn’t smell any smoke.
I decided to drive over to the old, other location. This was the first place I had visited some time before I had my heart surgery. I pull up in front of the other restaurant and another car pulls in ahead of me near the front door. I walk past this person, who is getting out of his car, and open the door. They are open.
I walk up to the counter and get a menu and go over and sit down at one of the dining tables. I already know what I want: Lamb Gyro Pita with a Greek Salad. But, I note that the Greek Salad is more expensive and apparently isn’t available with the Pita as it is at the other location. *I do ask the waitress if the Greek Salad is the full price with the sandwich, and then the waitress explains that this restaurant has different ownership than Pharaoh’s Legacy. I tell her this wasn’t always the case and that when I first visited this restaurant, it had the same owner.
**I do want to mention another thing that I am quite proud of, but not related to this story of Pharaoh’s Legacy. In a moment of insight, I thought about using the old Lazy Susan that I had previously used for my spices. But with the new spice bottles and the matrix that I’ve chosen to use to organize the bottles, I no longer needed the Lazy Susan. The insight was that if it would fit, I could use the Lazy Susan, and place the kitchen tool jar (with my assortment of various kitchen tools: spatulas, juice squeezer, spoons, etc.) in the middle and put some other items: Splenda jar, Sweet-n-Low packet jar, Coconut Sugar jar, corn starch jar, etc. around the outside. This worked excellently! And now all I have to do is spin the Lazy Susan to select what I need to use. [end NOTE]
I got online on the Cumberland County (NC) Public Library website and found that I could upload a document for printing, then go and print it at the Library. I had a shipping label for my return to Audien but I didn’t have my printer hooked up at home.
I went to the Main Library on Maiden Lane.
I just noted that the next “Friends of the Library” Book Sale is on November 22, 2024 (a little over a month from now). The book sale is held on the lower level of the Main Library. There is a large adult section and also a separate children’s section. I have bought quite a few cheap books. Some I’ve read, but I’ve also given them to various Little Lending Libraries (from South Carolina and all the way to Raleigh, and points in between). *I was just reminded that I bought a hardcover copy of Michael Connelly’s “The Poet.” This story was the introduction of the Jack McAvoy character. I purchased a couple of novels at “New To You” in Lillington, NC.
Usually when I am passing through Lillington, I will stop at their new Library. It is very nice! They have a small section for books that they are selling. Prices are from a donation up to about $2. This facility also has a nice bathroom, and I’ve also read in the upstairs adult area where they have comfortable, cubby holes.
The Google Street View above is where the new Harnett County Library building now exists.
I bought a 6×10 shipping envelope at the Post Office over on Oakridge Ave. on Friday.
I see according to the Tracking site that my Audien Hearing Aid replacement is now in Butner, NC. It is being returned with UPS. *My hearing aid replacements have been listed in Butner for at least a couple of days. I thought I might get them by Wednesday, but the arrival date is still showing Friday, October 25th. I have no idea why it is taking so long to travel the hour and a half from Butner to Fayetteville. Looks like the delivery service may be switching from UPS to USPS. What? Can’t they work together more efficiently?
I’m not sure if I have mentioned this elsewhere, but the Audien 2 Pro hearing aids that I had and just returned because one stopped working completely, have only been really effective while watching TV. These hearing aids have 4 modes and one of those (#3) is for TV. It works pretty well and I can reduce the TV volume noticeably, but the other three modes are pretty ineffective. One mode is supposed to be for being in a restaurant setting, one for having discussion with someone, and the other for outside. The outside mode is pretty much like turning the whole thing off. I was hoping that one of the modes would work well for responding to those persons handling the checkout counter/register say at the grocery store or WalMart, but I didn’t find the hearing aids useful for those situations. *I need to go online and see what feedback there is. I’m guessing I’m not the only one, or maybe I’ll find some hacks or ways to make these aids successful in those situations.
**Well, I am finding it very difficult to find any customer reviews from sources other than on the Audien web site. I find that unusual. I want to read some reviews from customers who aren’t posting to the Audien site. I will now try Facebook, although I rarely go to Facebook directly.
Bill Gibson, II 