January 27 - Guide Dogs for the Blind

Last week when I met Brian, I also met Sergio. Sergio is Brian’s guide dog. I know that I have written about guide dogs before, but I think that Sergio deserves a special mention. He was an absolutely beautiful dog.

When Lyle and I were in Brian’s office, I was scarcely aware that Sergio was there too. Apparently he was lying quietly under the desk while Brian explained the intricacies of the Victor Stream to me. As an aside here, I must add how well Brian did this. I think that it was helpful that Brian, who is totally without sight, recognized the importance of a hands on demonstration. For me, it was infinitely better than having someone just tell me about the various buttons. Brian made sure that I could feel each one.

Back to Sergio. When we left the office and moved to the CNIB Sales Room, Sergio and Brian came together.  Sergio was large – a large Golden Retriever. With Brian’s permission, I bent down to pat him. Sergio sat quite still to endure this inspection. The first thing I noticed was his long smooth nose and long silky hair. Of course, I will add a picture at the end of this for those of you who can see.

Sergio is Brian’s fifth guide dog. Together they appear to be a perfect match. Brian is tall and with his large frame, Sergio is a good match for Brian’s height. According to Brian, Sergio travels well on public transport – bus and train, and this is essential for Brian as he makes his way around the city.

Sergio came from Guide Dogs for the Blind, an organization which has its main office in San Rafael, California. However, there is another smaller branch in Oregon and this is where Brian trained with Sergio. Brian has had Sergio since he was a pup of 20 months, and to date the two have been a team for just over two and a half years. I wish them both a good working life together.

There are several training schools for guide dogs and their potential owners, but if you want to learn more about Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, you can go to their web site at:

www.guidedogs.com

As promised, there is an accompanying picture with this post. It is of Brian and me with Sergio.

 

Brian, Sergio, and Sue

January 20 - New Victor Stream

Last week I finally made it to a CNIB Office to purchase a new Victor Stream machine. My old one bit the dust shortly before Christmas and that left me without reading material over the holiday period. Now I say my “old” Victor Stream with a touch of irony. I bought my original device in 2010. That’s only six years ago. However, in these days of the accelerated progress of technology, I suppose that something from the dinosaur days of 2010 is positively antiquated.

My new Victor Stream is very similar in design to my previous one, but it is smaller and can be held easily in the palm of my hand. The face with the command buttons has only a couple of keys that are different. One major feature is the Airplane Mode button which reads either off or on. When the button is off, the Stream is able to access WiFi.  

While I understand that most people would prefer to utilize this aspect of the Stream, I chose to continue with the hardware attachment for recording books. Probably this isn’t as convenient as downloading from a computer or iPad, but at the time I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with learning new ways of doing things, and yes, as I have written on previous occasions, my computer programs are also antiquated. To upgrade was my New Year’s resolution of last year and it is my New Year’s resolution again for 2017.

When Brian (Calgary CNIB Coordinator for Client Support Services) had finished explaining to me about my new Stream, I asked him about the latest version of JAWS. JAWS is an audible screen reading program used by many people who can’t see the print on a computer monitor. I was quite disappointed to learn that CNIB no longer offers training sessions in the use of this program. Apparently CNIB has lost the funding which enabled the organization to offer this valuable training and educational service. I know that the lessons were extremely helpful for me when I first began using JAWS in 2004.

Anyway, progress continues and I must try to keep up. I have now recorded my first book on the new Stream and I should take a break from typing and relax with some new listening material.

There is a picture with this post. It shows me with Brian as he described the various function buttons on the surface of my new Victor Stream. 

January 13 - Peeling Potatoes

When I told Lyle that this week I was going to write about peeling potatoes, he laughed.  “What can you say about that?” he wanted to know.

Personally, I think that it is kind of neat that someone with no sight can peel a potato just as well as someone who can see. Lyle was surprised at the concept, but I told him that I often peel the potatoes without trying to squint and see what I am doing.

This is how. When you hold an unpeeled potato in your hand, the skin is rough to the touch. When the skin is removed, the surface is smooth. You can even feel the little rough spots if you have missed something. I would encourage those of you who can see, to try this as an experiment. It works better if you use a potato peeler rather than a sharp knife.

I have found that the method works equally well with carrots and parsnips. Of course, you can always cheat and buy those nice little clean new potatoes that don’t need any peeling at all!