Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Cyborgs R Us


Top picture taken from about two feet away; 
Bottom photo, a little less than three feet. 

So, got the new electronic whiz-bang ear trumpets from Costco. The one I had was good and most helpful, but the new ones are pretty amazing. I can hear a mosquito sneeze across the street ...

Well, no, not really, but the pair, which talk to each other radiopathically, do give me something close to normal hearing. So far, I've had to turn down the volume on the car radio, the TV set, and the computer, and they seem less intrusive and obvious than the one that fit into the ear canal. I can't even feel them.

All kinds of noise in my house I wasn't catching -- heater vents, fridge, computer -- I can even hear the phone ring in the other room now ...

I wore them home, didn't tell my wife I'd gotten them, and she hasn't noticed yet. Of course, she had a long day at work and she's tired, but still ...

Better living through hardware. Got to love it; between these things and my glasses, I might not get shoved off the sled for a couple more years ...

4 comments:

Bobbe Edmonds said...

HEY, THAT'S GREAT! NOW WE PROBABLY DON'T HAVE TO SHOU-

...Whoops, sorry.

Unknown said...

How much did those things cost? My wife keeps telling me I need them. Too many years on the gun range, I guess. That and my partner having an AD with a shotgun near my ear in a room the size of a closet.Tinnitus is not as much fun as it sounds.

TerryD said...

Is this the first stage of a Borg takeover or our intrepid author???

Stay tuned for more details.
Resistance is futile.

Steve Perry said...

Cost depends on where you go and what model you get -- low end analog models run several hundred bucks, high end digital can get real spendy, five, six thousand a pair.

MIddle of the line digitals you can program with different levels, anywhere from a couple to about three grand. Costco, you get more for your money.

Some insurance plans will cover part of them -- ours pays 50% after the deductible, which we've already met this year.

As for the Borg, they got me at fifteen, with my first pair of glasses ...