Have Gavel Will Travel Friday Round-Up

I survived chairing a big meeting today by the skin of my teeth. As often happens with these harrowing experiences, there are people who lean over and say “did you hear that?” or give me a nod or a wink of confirmation. I love the unspoken word and the people who say them so much. As a hearing impaired person, these folks who keep an eye on me are my safety net. They’re why I’m not afraid.

From the harrowing meeting, I went to two hours of hearing tests to put me in the queue for a second cochlear implant. The tests revealed that even with a hearing aid in my left ear (and without my implant receiver on the right ear) I have 0% word and sentence recognition. I hear noise but can make no sense of it. The ear with the implant – 98%. So, yeah, it’s time.

Our good town refused to be besmirched by the weirdness of the Republican debate. It was if it was all happening on the planet Zorkon. On debate day, we made sure it was a hundred degrees outside so none of the other-worldly folks would be walking Milwaukee’s streets. So, they all beamed in and out and we stayed our gritty, multi-cultural, gleaming, Democratic selves.

India landed on the moon and no one paid attention.

There is still a guy who does Chapter a Day on public radio in Wisconsin. He comes on right after the plant doctor or some such, this being a largely rural state with lots of farmers and devoted gardeners. Today, he read Chapter 4 of The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway and I wondered, who puts down their knitting to listen to Chapter a Day anymore? Somebody does. I wanted to. But I was driving.