Tag Archives: keeping me awake

A BOOK OF REVELATIONS

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Aging is not for the weak. I experienced a revelation this week that resulted in a complete overhaul of my TV enjoyment. OK, so it’s not “that” book of revelations but it has changed my life anyway. So, here’s the story:

For the past few years I have been bothered by a constant noise in my ears only to discover something called tinnitus and many of you may already be familiar with it. This, by the by, is completely different from the little voice in my head. Tinnitus is annoying yes, but otherwise relatively harmless. Surprisingly enough, it doesn’t seem to interfere with my ability to hear. According to my doctor, our brain simply accepts this as part of life and we wander through our days oblivious to its effects. I went to a purveyor of hearing aids and had the very strong impression that one of those devices would not appreciably alter the tinnitus symptoms and so dodged that bullet.

About a year later I began annoying people by requesting that they repeat themselves as they are often mumbling or speaking at a low volume. This happens especially when there is background noise like in social settings or at work meetings. I do it at home all the time too but I’m pretty sure that is because I have always benefited from “selective hearing” in order to survive the onslaught of questions and requests. “BOB!” You know the voice and a case of deaf and dumb immediately sets in. And yes, I have left an opening with the word dumb. You’re welcome.

Over the past year or so, I have lost interest in many TV shows that I used to enjoy. I find myself struggling with the accents and background music tracks. It is not a simple case of increasing the volume. I can’t damn well understand what the characters are saying and consequently, can’t follow the plots and so, why watch? I used to ask my wife to tell me what the character had said but that was happening too frequently and I simply stopped asking and watching. My Kindle device doesn’t require listening to, so I would read while she watched the various shows. The funny thing is, this doesn’t happen during sporting events; I can hear the announcers perfectly clearly. The same holds true for news and weather programs and many others. It seems to be a significant problem only during dramas and really is heightened with foreign accents and background sound tracks.

Over the past few weeks, I have watched Leanne begin to experience the same thing, with the same kinds of shows. The sound bar settings get adjusted in an attempt to help with the ability to hear the dialogue to no effect. We blame the TV, the producers, sound engineers, millennials and Trump but still suffer from the inability to properly follow the show.  Now, I would like to take credit, but she will read this and complain if I don’t tell you that Leanne had a brilliant thought the other night. After much frustration at trying to follow the show CASTLE ROCK, listening to the characters mumble their way through lines, she suggested adding closed captioning to the screen – WOW, what a difference. I am actually interested in watching the show.

Last Saturday, we found that the next season of HOMELAND is finally available on NETFLIX and decided to watch the final few episodes of the previous season to prepare for it. Truth be told, I stopped paying any attention last year because I could no longer follow the plot and when I began experiencing the same frustration, asked Leanne to add closed captioning. It made a huge difference for both of us. The foreign accents were understandable as I read the dialogue along the bottom of the screen when necessary. No music tracks or traffic noise to interfere with my enjoyment of the program. I have discovered TV again!

Now, if I could get the people at work to film their questions and I could add closed captioning to it, life would be perfect. On the other hand, it may be time to visit the hearing aid store again. I don’t know why I fight this reality so much. Both of my parents suffered from hearing deficits and I understand the frustration from both sides now.

The revelations continue to unfold. And an apology to my mother and father for showing my frustration and impatience from time to time.

10 REASONS WE’RE WRONG ABOUT THE WORLD

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my book review about

FACTFULNESS

Ten reasons we’re wrong about the world and why things are better than you think.

by Hans Rosling  (27 July 1948 – 7 February 2017) and Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund

CAUTION: Read on only if you have an open mind and are not afraid to change your point of view. Whew! Got rid of “those” people quickly, didn’t we?

If you decide to read this book, I want to advise you of something very important: the author presents a 13 item question and answer quiz very early in the book. When I see these things, I often skip them with the intention of going back and doing it later – DON”T. Take a piece of paper and write the numbers 1 to 13 down the left hand side and then enter the best answer from the multiple choices given beside it. This short little exercise is what gives this book so much impact and power.

FACTFULNESS is the best and most important book I have read this year and easily fits into the top 10 best non-fiction books I have ever read. We live in an interesting time. The wild west of information is upon us complete with fake news (a term that is of itself full of fakeness and conflict), special interest groups with narrow, self-serving opinions intent on preventing any opposing discourse, mainstream media that now prefers to fill our days and nights with their opinions rather than any sort of objective reporting (remember those days of fierce independence and reliance on objectivity), and, of course, an internet full of just plain bs, wild conspiracy theories, racists and assorted other kooks.

So, how does this book fit into that morass of disinformation? Mr. Rosling, according to Wikipedia, was a Swedish physician, academic, statistician, and public speaker. He was the Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute[4] and was the co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system. He held presentations around the world, including several TED Talks[5] in which he promoted the use of data to explore development issues. In short, the author of this book has assembled and utilized REAL facts and proven statistics to create an unbiased but accurate view of the world as it actually is today. Removed from our personal beliefs and opinions, it allows us to make decisions, form ideas and actions based on truth.

How and why is this important? Each of us makes decisions every day that are related to how “the rest of the world” is doing. We express opinions, donate money, make travel plans, assign assets and resources, manage corporate and/or government processes, and simply express thoughts at social gatherings based on how we think the planet is doing in terms of health, wealth, education and so much more. What if our actions are fueled by wrong assumptions? A lot of mine were until I read this book. And, based on the extensive polling Mr. Rosling has conducted at some very high level meetings, so are the big decision makers of the world – both senior business and government people – making decisions without accurate information.

We watch TV news or read snippets online about world events and accept the overly dramatic views of these sources who will move on to the “next big thing” tomorrow. The author gives us a practical way to find facts based on reality, rather than selling advertising space, that challenges our viewpoint while pointing us toward making the right decision. This book should be read by anyone with an interest in world events who is willing to let go of old information we have been carrying around in our heads since childhood.  Simply put, this book won’t change the world, the world has already changed.

And finally, a quote from the cover of the book,

“One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Flatiron Books (April 3 2018)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1250107814
  • ISBN-13: 978-1250107817

DONALD TRUMP vs KIM JONG UN

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I’m sure getting tired of the ego driven rhetoric coming from these two clowns who pretend to be leaders in this world. My war machine is bigger than your war machine – really? Their egos are being propped up by the world media and other leaders who feel it necessary to comment on this nonsense. I have come to agree with some of the commentary on social media that suggests that these two be dropped on a deserted island to fight it out man to man. There are lots of islands in the Pacific that are vegetation and humanity free due to the nuclear testing that took place in the past. Let’s get something in place and do this immediately before their egos and big mouths create a hell that none of us ( the real people in this world) want.

BOOMER TUNE ALERT

So, here’s the best part of my plan: Trump and Kim-boy will assume that the winner of their manly fight will go on to world domination but, I propose that we don’t send a boat to pick up the winner. That will be our little secret – don’t tell anyone – we’ll leave whoever has the biggest “machine” on the island and forget both of them. We can then get on with the important business of living our lives. Less politicians, less media hype, people first! That’s what we’re good for.