I just...

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by BigV

HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAA!

(I hope he heard *that*!)

I'll go and ask him. Trouble is, I shall have to get him to turn down the sound on the TV first.

[monster]

I just

used my vision "super power" to morph the link in Dana's sig line into penispoetry. And I don't even have the excuse of being tired oh well.

[classicman]

Ha! thats brilliant Carruthers.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

I just took my Dad to the Health Centre for his B12 injection.

A hundred yards down the road:

Dad: I've forgotten to put my hearing aid in.

Me (sotto voce): Well, I'll just talk to myself then.

Dad: Chuckles.

Which only goes to prove that he isn't deaf, he just listens when he wants to.

No no, when in a conversational exchange, with minimum background noise, he's directing his concentration on the expected reply. Like the hearing test in a quiet booth, you're expecting and straining to hear a tone. But something said out of the blue, especially with background din, is usually several words into the statement before he realizes it's directed at him and by then the gist of the statement is lost. Hence the, "what?" So it's selective but it's not his conscious selection.
The TV must be high because watching is not pleasurable if we have to concentrate so hard we're straining. Plus TV dialog varies greatly in volume, and saying, "What", to the TV is useless.

I know from whence I speak.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

The TV must be high because watching is not pleasurable if we have to concentrate so hard we're straining. Plus TV dialog varies greatly in volume, and saying, "What", to the TV is useless. I know from whence I speak.

If it was just a case of the TV being at a uniformly high volume I could take the appropriate counter measures, ie ear plugs. Unfortunately there are a number of complicating factors.

(1). Dad will sit close to the TV with his hearing aids turned up to maximum and the sound turned down to a level where I cannot comfortably hear it.

(2). Dad will run down the batteries of his hearing aids because he has been running them at full throttle. See (1) above. Upshot: I am deafened by TV.

(3) As pointed out TV dialogue volume varies markedly especially during some of the news programmes. Dad will make constant adjustments to the sound so he can comfortably hear it.
Determining 'comfortable' in this context may be complicated by (1) and (2) above.

(4) If a particular reporter or performer that does not feature on his popularity list makes an appearance, the mute button is pressed in short order. No one else (me) has any say in the matter.

(5) Loud music accompanying any documentary also gets the 'mute button' treatment. If there's dialogue going on at the same time, well that's just too bad. It won't hurt if we (I) miss it.

(6) Use of the mute button does not take into account the fact that the underlying volume might well have increased substantially by the time the mute is 'unpressed'.
Particularly jarring when his batteries are about to expire. See (2) above.

(7) The perfect storm is when his hearing aid batteries are low, the TV volume is set high, and he unmutes when the transmitted sound is at its maximum, just at the time when I happen to be walking past the TV.

In comparison, Krakatoa's explosion in 1883 sounds like a lamb sneezing 200 yards away.

[monster]

Have you considered a tv set of your own?

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

If it was just a case of the TV being at a uniformly high volume I could take the appropriate counter measures, ie ear plugs. Unfortunately there are a number of complicating factors.

(1). Dad will sit close to the TV with his hearing aids turned up to maximum and the sound turned down to a level where I cannot comfortably hear it.

(2). Dad will run down the batteries of his hearing aids because he has been running them at full throttle. See (1) above. Upshot: I am deafened by TV.

(3) As pointed out TV dialogue volume varies markedly especially during some of the news programmes. Dad will make constant adjustments to the sound so he can comfortably hear it.
Determining 'comfortable' in this context may be complicated by (1) and (2) above.

(4) If a particular reporter or performer that does not feature on his popularity list makes an appearance, the mute button is pressed in short order. No one else (me) has any say in the matter.

(5) Loud music accompanying any documentary also gets the 'mute button' treatment. If there's dialogue going on at the same time, well that's just too bad. It won't hurt if we (I) miss it.

(6) Use of the mute button does not take into account the fact that the underlying volume might well have increased substantially by the time the mute is 'unpressed'.
Particularly jarring when his batteries are about to expire. See (2) above.

(7) The perfect storm is when his hearing aid batteries are low, the TV volume is set high, and he unmutes when the transmitted sound is at its maximum, just at the time when I happen to be walking past the TV.

In comparison, Krakatoa's explosion in 1883 sounds like a lamb sneezing 200 yards away.

....WHAT??

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by monster

Have you considered a tv set of your own?

The cabling and distribution system for the antenna and sat dish would be complex and expensive so it's not really a practical proposition.

Accordingly, I suffer in silence. In a manner of speaking.

[glatt]

My mom has some sort of blutooth transmitter from a box she connects to the tv and it sends a signal directly into her hearing aids so her hearing aids transmit the tv sound. Other people in the room can listen to the tv at a comfortable volume, and she can listen at her own volume.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by glatt

My mom has some sort of blutooth transmitter from a box she connects to the tv and it sends a signal directly into her hearing aids so her hearing aids transmit the tv sound. Other people in the room can listen to the tv at a comfortable volume, and she can listen at her own volume.

There's a similar sort of gizmo available here, but Dad is not very good with technology. Coupled with the fact that he is monumentally impatient it would be an expensive mistake to go down that route.

Speaking of expensive mistakes, I bought a satellite box some while back which he won't use. On the rare occasions I use it, he sits there with the remote for the TV and wonders why none of the buttons work.

He'll express surprise at the channels available on satellite when I find something different from the usual fare, but he soon forgets about it and we're back to square one.

I seem to spend much of my time on the Internet at the other end of the house but I then feel guilty about the old man in the other room sitting by himself watching TV.

[xoxoxoBruce]

He's dependent on other people for everything in life except the TV. It's the one thing he has left he hasn't lost control of, and guards it jealously. Sounds like Alzheimer's symptoms. It also sounds like you hate confrontation and avoid it at all costs. The proper Englishman stereotype, not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation.

Now I've been wearing hearing aids for 33 years x replace every 3 years x 2 ears = a shitload of hearing aids. I've never owned one that varied the volume with battery strength. Volume remained where it was set until the voltage dropped below a certain level, then the sound would shut off. Some had a warning where it would beep a couple times, every few minutes, for the last hour or so, but never changed volume.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Now I've been wearing hearing aids for 33 years x replace every 3 years x 2 ears = a shitload of hearing aids.

This is something I'm just sort of getting used to: the idea that I'm going to live long enough to replace shit on a relatively regular basis that I feel like ought to be "long-lasting." It is long-lasting; I'm just longer-lasting. Stupid stuff like, "What do you mean we have to replace the sheets again, didn't we just buy new ones, like... ten years ago?" There's a complete-turnover factor for all products that I haven't gotten used to yet.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I know what you mean, I just installed that boiler... 20 years ago. I just bought groceries... 10 days ago. I just bought that truck... 10 years ago. Christmas and birthdays used to be a year apart, too.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

He's dependent on other people for everything in life except the TV. It's the one thing he has left he hasn't lost control of, and guards it jealously. Sounds like Alzheimer's symptoms. It also sounds like you hate confrontation and avoid it at all costs. The proper Englishman stereotype, not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation.

Now I've been wearing hearing aids for 33 years x replace every 3 years x 2 ears = a shitload of hearing aids. I've never owned one that varied the volume with battery strength. Volume remained where it was set until the voltage dropped below a certain level, then the sound would shut off. Some had a warning where it would beep a couple times, every few minutes, for the last hour or so, but never changed volume.

Dad is still pretty sharp although not the force he was ten or twenty years ago but you're right, I do tend to avoid confrontation because it is so wearing.

If you're looking for my English stiff upper lip, it's just above my English flabby lower lip.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I've seen Alzheimer's give someone trouble recalling some things, but cock sure about what they feel is true. The path of least resistance can be a wise method of self-preservation, especially for a gentleman.