Full Transcript
Jeff:
Welcome to Blind Abilities, I’m Jeff Thompson.
Lori:
And I’m Lori Thompson.
Jeff:
And we are talking about little tips for life, you know, things that you do when you’re out there socially, you know, the pandemic is coming to a different level, I suppose, and people are getting out a little bit more, how about you?
Lori:
Yeah, getting out more socially and just maybe some tips on, you know, refreshers on how to do certain things as a blind person now that maybe you’re going out more, just some refreshers.
Jeff:
Yeah, and I think the elbow bump or the forearm smash is gonna fade away and handshakes are gonna come back, and I’d like to say, like, when you’re gonna shake hands, if you realize someone is gonna shake hands, that I put my hand out, I don’t reach for their hand. I let them come and grab my hand for the handshake.
Lori:
Absolutely, because I’ve been a- early blindness, I went out and reached, and you know, grabbed some things, and oopsies, yeah. Yeah. And then you just kind of- it’s funny, maybe they’re in a good mindset that they can laugh that off. You just put your hand out and let them reach for you.
Jeff:
And if someone’s gonna hand you something, like they have something, hey, here’s this, here’s a cupcake, or something of that nature, just put your hand out. If the person is sighted, or if not, they’re sighted, they’ll get it to your hand, but if you’re both visually impaired or blind, you’ll work something out because you both are in the same- it’s like trying to high five someone when you’re both blind, it could be an incident.
Lori:
Yeah. I’ve been in a situation with another blind person where we’ve tried to high five and we were unsuccessful.
Jeff:
For a while.
Lori:
Yeah, and when you’re out with someone and maybe you’re sitting down at a booth or a table, and you’re using a cane, if it’s a foldup cane just fold it up and put it underneath your chair, or if it’s a full-length cane, I always kind of put it on the floor. Hopefully it won’t reach out too far in the walking area, and put it parallel with me on the floor or under the table, so it doesn’t roll out into a walking space for a waitress to trip over or, you know, who you’re with won’t trip over it when they get up or what have you.
Jeff:
And if you’re in a booth and you’re sitting inside against the wall side of it, you can always bring it in there, set it diagonally against the wall or something like that, but just be cognizant of it not being in the aisle for other people, because people will find it with their feet, and it could be interesting, so be cognizant of how your cane and where your cane’s going, but don’t be shy about bringing your cane, I mean, hey.
Lori:
Absolutely. And for guide dog users, when I go with Logan, if I’m in a booth, I try to put him underneath the table, because booths are usually along the outer part of the wall, and you don’t want to lay him on the floor where you enter your booth, because then that’s where the waitress might stand, so if you can tuck him underneath there. If not, sometimes I try to find like that last booth off in the corner where there might not be a lot of traffic so he can lay against the wall, or in an area where there’s low traffic.
Jeff:
Exactly. Another thing is, when you’re going out to a restaurant- well, if you know which restaurant you’re going to, it’s always nice while you’re at home or on the bus to actually look up the restaurant, and see if you can get the menu, get the general idea. If you’re going to a Mexican restaurant, you know what, generally, there’s going to be an assortment of, whether it be burritos, enchiladas, tacos, or something like that, you’re not gonna be thinking of Chicken Kiev. It’s probably not gonna be there. Get a general idea by checking out to see if there’s a menu available, and now you can use Aira to have them actually take a picture of the menu if it’s a JPEG type of menu thing, and they will read it to you and give you the general idea, so when you go in there you might have one or two items that you may want to order and you don’t have to reference the menu. You might have to get deeper into the sides or something like that, but that’s what the waitress is for. But you at least have a ballpark, where you’re gonna aim for. But the other thing that I like to do is, if there’s other people at the table that are always talking about what they see on the menu, I pay attention, and if someone else goes first, if there’s four of you, listen to what they’re ordering. It might give you an idea, you might go, oh my gosh, I love that! You know, you might want to get that, but I always look up ahead of time to do it. If you do have to check out the menu, rather you’re gonna use, you know, like Aira and stuff. Make sure you have headphones on, because you’re in a public area. No matter where you are in public, you want to use headphones, or at least one earpiece so you don’t get distracted and don’t know what’s happening around you. You always want to be cognizant of the ambient noises around you when you’re out in public. Use that with precaution, but when you’re at a table or something, don’t tell people to be quiet, because you can’t hear your voiceover, use your headphones. Preferably a Bluetooth, because it’s less cumbersome.
Lori:
Yes. And when you’re at the table, and maybe your plate or your drink has been served to you, it’s nice to just set your hands lightly on the table and just slowly move around to investigate. Don’t reach too fast or don’t come from the top down, I typically-
Jeff:
I come from the top down.
Lori:
Do you? Well, that’s interesting.
Jeff:
Well, that’s once I know where my glass is. If my glass is at two o’clock on my plate-
Lori:
Sure.
Jeff:
I will just come from the top down because I know where it’s at. I know what’s happening.
Lori:
Right, but when it first gets to the table, I like to just kind of make slow movements across the table to locate my things so I don’t knock anything over.
Jeff:
Yeah, and then you can investigate what else is all the way around you.
Lori:
Yeah. The napkins, salt and pepper, ketchup, you know.
Jeff:
Or they didn’t clean this table.
Lori:
Exactly, that’s a, yeah, ooh. Yes. Absolutely.
Jeff:
Another thing is while you’re, you know, at a restaurant, or out in public or something, pay attention to who is talking. You always want to turn towards the voice, so it looks like you at least are paying attention. I get it a lot because I have a little bit of peripheral, where I’m looking off to the side, sometimes I see the person kind of look over their shoulder, like what the heck is he looking at? But I try to give focus to the person who is talking. Yes, it’s a sighted thing, but it’s a public interaction type of thing that is a good habit to have, especially like job interviews or your boss or anybody that you’re talking with.
Lori:
Absolutely, you want to face in the direction where you can hear that voice coming from, so it kind of gives them the idea that you are acknowledging what they’re saying. One other thing that I would recommend is typically we’re planners, so we know when we’re gonna go out. You really want to make sure that your phone is charged before you go out, in case something happens. Maybe the bus misses you, maybe the bus is delayed and you’ve got to get back soon and you need an Uber or a Lyft. Or maybe you want to look up on the Metro site, the- maybe a different alternative bus route to take to get home.
Jeff:
Everyone knows that feeling when you’re down to 10%, and you get that warning and it’s like, oh my gosh.
Lori:
Yeah.
Jeff:
Okay, I’ve got to use this sparingly, so try and have a full charge with you going out-
Lori:
Yeah.
Jeff:
And the other thing is, we mentioned Uber and stuff, if you’re in an Uber or something, try and have the general person that you send, or share, if you’re alone, that you share your ride with them. They’ll receive it, they’ll just know that you’re in a ride and it just gives you a little more sense of security.
Lori:
Absolutely.
Jeff:
Especially if you’re alone.
Lori:
Mm-hm. Jeff and I do that a lot.
Jeff:
The other thing is, know where you are. We may take an Uber, and we get to a place, and someone says oh, yeah, I’ll come and meet you, or something like that, but know where you are, because it’s always nice if you get in an emergency situation and someone says, where are you, yeah, you can say, hey, ask Voice, and ask for your location, but it’s always a good thing to know where you are. I know that sounds silly, but sometimes we get out with a group of people and we’re walking around and we’re just in a group, and we end up in a different place because that restaurant is overpacked or there’s a 45 minute wait, and, oh, let’s go down the street, well, where’s that down the street, so always be cognizant of where you are.
Lori:
Yes, and too, utilizing Uber and Lyft, GPS is great. Sometimes, though, it’s not as great as you think it is. And I have been dropped off thinking it’s the door of the building I want, but actually, because of their GPS, it took me to another side of the building, so it’s an unfamiliar side of the building that I’m on, so I always try to ask, hey, what street am I on? Is this University, or is this 29th, or, just to make sure that I’m on the right side of the building that I want to, or the location that I want to be on, not the back side.
Jeff:
And most of you will know, like at a convention, there might be seven different exits out, you know, one goes to a patio, one goes to the front, one goes to a pool area, one goes to another thing, so knowing where you are really helps to really determine, knowing where you are just really helps your bearings, I guess.
Lori:
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, because you know, if you’ve got friends that are on University, and you get dropped off on 29th, and you don’t know it, you know, you’ve got to figure out how to get to that, and there could be barriers in your way.
Jeff:
The other thing that I do, and I have, and I’ve got set up, is Air Tags, or you have a tile or something, especially if you’re out and about. Like, if I leave my murse, my backpack or whatever I have with me-
Lori:
Jeff’s man-purse.
Jeff:
If I leave it behind and my keys are in there, I’ll get a notification on my phone that says-
Lori:
It’s out of reach, or something.
Jeff:
Yeah. It’ll alarm me.
iPhone voice:
Find my, three items were left behind. These items are no longer detected near you. They were last seen in Richard J Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest.
Jeff:
And that’s a neat feature for the Air Tags. Now as for Tile, or the tracker, I believe they have some of that set up, but I’m not sure, I can’t speak to that, but I notice when I leave the camp or something and I walk down the road, all of a sudden it says I left three things behind because I don’t carry everything with me, but it’s just kind of neat to have that turned on, so check that out in your Air Tags if you have them, and make sure you have that set up because that’s kind of a neat thing to know, because if you’ve left something behind, it’s easier to get-
Lori:
Could be crucial.
Jeff:
Yeah. Get back there right away.
Lori:
Mm-hm. Absolutely.
Jeff:
Another thing is don’t be afraid to ask for assistance sometimes. If you’re flying into an airport you’ve never been in, and you’ve got to get to baggage, well, search and discovery can be, you know, exploration is not probably the thing you want to do at that moment, you want to travel to that place, so if they ask if you need assistance, take the assistance, get to the baggage, and then ask them where do you go get your Uber, or your shuttle, or the next step, and you’ll get there, and it’ll be in a timely fashion. It’s not that you are not being independent, or using Aira or something, you can use Aira, I suppose, too, that’s a-
Lori:
Mm-hm, yeah. I’ve used Aira before to get to baggage claim. Especially if it’s an airport that I’ve never been to before, if you’re only travelling through that city once every 10 years, do I need to learn it? Ehhh.
Jeff:
Probably not.
Lori:
Probably not, and usually if it’s a destination, for instance, if I’m visiting friends and I end up in Denver, for instance, I’ve never been to Denver airport, I would probably either definitely use Aira, or I would have assistance waiting for me, you know, especially if I know I’ve got people picking me up at a certain time, and time is the essence, I don’t want to spend my time structure discovery, that’s for a day- a different day.
Jeff:
That’s a life thing, because structure discovery, you will be able to find it. You will be able to find it, believe me.
Lori:
Yeah!
Jeff:
Through all the training that you’ve had and I’ve had, I mean, we’d be able to find it, but to save time and efficiency, I don’t need to learn San Francisco airport. I’ve done it enough now where I’ve kind of got an idea, but it’s a lot easier-
Lori:
When you have a shuttle waiting for you to take you to Napa, it’s a big airport, sometimes it’s just easier to say, can I have assistance?
Jeff:
And the roadway there, you’ve got to cross two little roads-
Lori:
That might not have signals.
Jeff:
Might be where the taxis-
Lori:
You know, I don’t know, there’s probably not an APS button to hit.
Jeff:
And they say, go to the second median. It’s like, um…
Lori:
Yeah, yeah, and go to the red, is the yellow, or the orange marking on the curb, it’s like, um, okay. I need some assistance. Also, just for your own stress. Why should you get worked up when someone is willing to walk with you? I’m not saying be shoved in a wheelchair, your legs aren’t broken, but just nicely say, can I just hold onto your elbow?
Jeff:
Yeah, I’ve been there. So it’s all about efficiency sometimes, and the stress level that you mentioned.
Lori:
If you do ask for assistance, and you’re using a guide dog, I just say, just let my dog and I follow you, just maybe give me some vocal cues when you’re gonna turn left or right, and I can direct my guide dog to follow.
Jeff:
Mm-hm. That conversation that you’ll have with a person, like you’ll find out, oh, they’re from Little Rock, or they’re from here, or why’d you move here, it’s that conversation but what I’m using it for is cueing in on where they are in relationship to where I’m walking, because they think, oh, you’re doing fine, but I’m listening to them, and that’s my guide person, I guess.
Lori:
Absolutely. Absolutely, you know, hey, we’re gonna walk over here, you know, hey, will we be taking an elevator? You know, do we have to leave this concourse and go to another concourse? Just ask some questions.
Jeff:
And when you get back to a hotel, say you’re staying at a hotel or something, always have your room number, a log of the address of the place, because you might get separated from some people and if you need an Uber, you want to go to the Hilton, well, there might be two Hiltons in a twin city or a tri-city type of thing, or the quad-cities, there might be a couple different ones, and you want to make sure you get to the right one. There’s a lot of Holiday Expresses, Holiday Inns, and stuff like that, so have the address in your phone or on you, so you can actually-
Lori:
Give good directions to the Lyft or the Uber or whatever transportation avenue you’re taking.
Jeff:
Yeah. Just like at the airport, you want to arrive early, whether it’s the airport, hotel, or any place, a convention, you just want to get there early so you can relax and not have that stress level and be prepared for delays, you never know when that line is gonna be super, super, super-de-duper long. You want to be able to just stride in, get situated in waiting for your plane, and if you do have time, don’t leave your luggage behind. Pick it up, and you can use Aira if you want to explore, to get some food or something like that, that’s really nice to do, and find a chair, because typically if you get up and move your stuff, someone’s gonna take your chair. So, free Aira space.
Lori:
Absolutely. I typically, before I go on a trip, I’ll use Aira to take a picture of my luggage, because then, even if I do have assistance picking up my bags at the baggage claim, I can just pull up that picture and say, this is what my bags look like. I have a green bandana that I tie on my handle of my- I have a couple different things that, someone can identify my bag. If I’m not travelling with someone that can see-
Jeff:
You should put a Duran Duran sticker on it.
Lori:
I should put a Duran Duran sticker on it, because I love Duran Duran.
Jeff:
The thing about arriving early, if you’re at the hotel, I like to do, is get there, preferably in the morning or the day ahead of time or something, I don’t like arriving when things are already happening, because I like to get there, find out where the lobby is, and you can tell the lobby, it’s typically, you know, you hear the commotion of it, but as soon as you walk in that door, you figure out the lobby, then the relationship back to the door, then you can hear the elevator banks, ask where you go up and don’t try and figure out that whole elevator panel on the first day, you’ll get used to it, but it’s something to discover yourself, and then when you get off the elevator, is there elevators across from you, like is there a double bank? You’ve got to be cognizant of that. Then, where’s your room, or where’s the coffee shop, where’s the convention area? These things can be explored on your own time. Less stress, we’re always talking about the stress and efficiency, so the next morning when the convention starts or when your group is meeting at some place, you have a general idea. You know you’ve got to go down to this floor, and you know this button feels like this. Some of the, like the lobby entry has a star shape on the thing and you can feel that, or it might be the second one up from the bottom, or your floor might be the third one down from the top on the left. Usually you’ve got it all figured out on the day you leave, but while you’re there, it’s nice to figure some of this stuff out.
Lori:
Yeah, and some of those elevator banks, some of them only go to certain floors, so you don’t want to get on one that goes, you know, between the 12th and the 16th floor when you’re on the third floor.
Jeff:
And some people I’ve heard done this to their room, like on the inside of their door they hang an Air Tag or a tile, so they can find their room that way. Myself, I just figure out, you know, if I go left and I’m this far down then there’s Braille usually on the side of the door, on the wall, there’s usually Braille there that- so I use that type of thing, but typically it’s, I get there and figure that stuff out.
Lori:
Yeah, yeah.
Jeff:
But I understand the tile would work too.
Lori:
Absolutely, so if you don’t know Braille, I mean I’m not saying sit down and read a novel in six months, but it is nice to know enough Braille to locate your room, identify the panel on the elevator to know what floor you’re going to-
Jeff:
Mm-hm, yep. A through J.
Lori:
Yep.
Jeff:
Right there, you’ve got all your numbers you need.
Lori:
Yep. I mean, I’m not saying that’s the minimum Braille you need, but it is the minimum Braille you need, in a sense.
Jeff:
Mm-hm.
Lori:
Braille is very, very useful.
Jeff:
And if you’re checking into a hotel and you’re solo, get two key cards. It’s just nice to have that one that you use, but keep one like in your wallet or something that would always be there, because sometimes you come in, you’ve got to go to the bathroom or you’ve got to do this or you’re thinking about something and you just set it down and you forget it on the counter or wherever you go-
Lori:
Yeah, yeah.
Jeff:
And you walk out, and your door shuts, and it’s like, oh no. So have two, it doesn’t really matter, they’re not gonna charge you for them at all, and while you’re getting those two cards for your room, ask about the internet. Because they’ll tell you it’s blah blah blah, the code is blah blah blah, or you use your last name plus something, you know, your room number or something of that nature, and ask if there’s a fee for the WiFi. But usually you do get the general WiFi, but you get to your room and go, oh, what about the WiFi? Oh, we didn’t ask. Then you pick up the phone and the phone is this foreign thing that, wait, where, is it zero? Do you hit zero?
Lori:
Yeah.
Jeff:
But some of those phones aren’t laid out like a typical keypad, there’s like a whole panel of numbers, you know, and stuff like that, so while you’re checking in, there’s a list of things that you can do to help you out, get two key cards, ask about the WiFi, if there’s a password, what is it, yeah, that’s something that I try to do.
Lori:
Mm-hm. Absolutely. And you know, you can always probably take a little audio memo while you’re at the front desk, just to have it recorded in case you think you might forget.
Jeff:
Another thing I do when I get into my hotel room, is I turn and right by the hinges of the door, I keep my cane there. I lean it up there, and so every time I want to leave, I just reach across, opposite side of the door handle, and there’s my cane, and that way it’s not in the way of anybody else, it’s out of the way, and it’s always there, so I’m not, like, groping a double bed hotel room like, where’s my cane? Where’s my cane? You know, it’s just someplace that I keep it, and I think keeping things in the same place is a really good thing, like when you’re at the hotel, your wallet, your sunglasses, all your little things that you keep in your pockets, your card, your keys, your, you know, everything like that, I’m leaving the room, I can go to that one spot. Check here’s my wallet, here’s my sunglasses, here’s my, you know, that type of thing.
Lori:
Absolutely, yep.
Jeff:
That organization is something, it really pays off.
Lori:
Well, and too, you know, a lot of times when people are going to, say, a convention or what have you, they might be sharing a room with somebody. So you want to keep your stuff sorted from someone else’s stuff, so you want to have your own space, you want to go in and maybe put your, you don’t want to live out of a suitcase for the three or four days that you’re there, you want to get organized just like you would at home, you want to keep things in the same spot and get organized and keep your things situated from someone else’s-
Jeff:
Space.
Lori:
Space, yeah, absolutely, and be respectful of that.
Jeff:
Another thing, if you’re gonna be there for a convention of any sort, or some type of conference, you want to get an idea of, like, get the agenda, whether you’re reading it from a Word document or whether you’re reading it in Braille, you want to get an idea of like, oh, okay, breakfast is at eight to nine, and then here, this, that, lunch is at this time, blah blah blah, from this hour, but you want to get a general idea so you can plan, so you’re not missing the first hour of the convention by just trying to figure out what ‘s going on. And if you can get it in advance it’s really nice, because then you might find some particular thing that you want to attend or that you want to not go to, so you can make your schedule and then when you meet up with people you can say oh, yeah, that sounds good, oh, I can’t do that because I’m going to the whatchacallit, thing in the Hubbard atrium or wherever it is, you know?
Lori:
Right, yeah.
Jeff:
That, too, is something when you get there early, you can find out where that Hubbard atrium is or where other things are, so you can be efficient, because typically when you’re leaving one area to go to another area, there’s a thousand other people or 400 other people trying to do the same thing, and if you know where you’re going it really helps out everybody.
Lori:
And you know, sometimes when you go out for lunch or what have you, you might come across a, we’ve been at conventions where you’ve had to go stand in line and pull up a tray and go through the little slide your tray across and have them put food on your tray, and you’re always trying to figure out how to finagle the tray, the drink, the silverware, your cane or your dog. What I typically do is, if I have a pocket or a purse, I would stick my silverware in there, and then my drink would go on my tray, but when I carry the tray with my food and my drink, I would wrap my arm around my tray and press it up against my body, and hold my drink with my fingers, hopefully that makes sense to people, and then I can use my cane with my other hand or I can use Logan with my other hand to travel to the chair and the table that I’m gonna be sitting at.
Jeff:
Mm-hm, and don’t be afraid to sit at tables that you don’t know the people at, if you’re not with anybody else, if they say there’s room, it’s a good way to meet a lot of people that way too, and believe me, the next time you go to the cafeteria, you’ll meet different people.
Lori:
Yes.
Jeff:
We’re talking about being in the hotel room, but the other thing I like to do is, you can use Aira for this, but you can also investigate where the outlets to plug your stuff in. Typically on each side of the bed there’s gonna be something there, sometimes you have to move something a little bit to find it, or they have a desk area that might have a plugin or two. Sometimes they’re attached to the lamp base, on the one side or the other, but more and more I see there’s a panel on the desk where you can plug stuff in. The US- I don’t like using the USBs that are provided, because that’s connecting your device right up to them, and I don’t know what they can do with that, because you’re connecting your phone-
Lori:
Oh, I never thought about that.
Jeff:
What I do is I like plugging in my block, I always bring an extra block, you always need an extra block to plug in your device, and a cable, of course. Find out where that is and where you want to set your stuff, and I recommend getting a six foot cord if you’re gonna be travelling, because where you plug it in, and where you’re residing in your bed is important, because with a three foot cord, sometimes you can only roll over on your side, because the phone doesn’t reach, so you get a little more room there, little more flexibility to be able to have your device charging, and still listen to your latest podcast or book that you may be reading.
Lori:
Yeah, and you know, we’ve been at hotels before, Jeff and I have, where the plugins are even in the headboard of the bed, and you have to swipe your card to utilize the lights, there’s a-
Jeff:
Oh, you leave the card in the slot, remember?
Lori:
Yeah, yes, mm-hm.
Jeff:
You come in, and you put it in the slot, and the lights come on, and it powers up the room. So that way you don’t lose the card, when you leave you’re shutting the lights off too.
Lori:
Absolutely. Yeah, there’s always something different with every hotel room, I think, we go into. They’re making more and more advances.
Jeff:
Yeah. And one other thing that I always do, I always bring a kitchen trash bag with me, you know the kind with the pull-string, drawstring? Because when I’m building up my dirty clothes, it’s so much easier to keep track of that sock, you know? Not the socks. It’s that one sock that you miss, you know. So as you’re going through your dirty clothes you can start putting them into that trash bag, and then as you’re ready to leave you just cinch it up and put it all at once into your suitcase, and it doesn’t really cross-contaminate with all your clean stuff that you may have overpacked. No one overpacks, do they?
Lori:
Um, no, I’ve never overpacked. [Laughs]
Jeff:
Yes.
Lori:
Sometimes I bring more things home than what I should, and I might have to get a different bag.
Jeff:
But that’s a god way for organization, and to keep it separate from the other stuff, so that’s what I do for that. And for the bathroom, the stuff you bring, like your toothbrush, your hairbrush, your comb, that type of stuff, I always keep it in a case, so that way I can bring it into the bathroom and set it in one spot, and what I do is I return it to it every time, because someone’s gonna come in and clean that area up, and I just like having it all organized, zipped up, and every time I open it up it’s the same experience for me, so I know where everything is, it’s not off to the right or you know, it doesn’t get mixed up with the three shampoo, conditioner, and moisturizer, so I know what’s mine and it doesn’t get mixed up with someone else’s stuff too.
Lori:
You use moisturizer?
Jeff:
No, they provide it. I’ve used it as shampoo once in a while, and that really doesn’t help.
Lori:
I’m just kidding.
Jeff:
Then you really have to find the shampoo. One more thing, I just want to add this, find bottled water. I don’t care if you’re at a hotel, but if you’re in a different state, city, country, whatever it is, bottled water is probably going to be not upsetting to you at all, because you just don’t know. So we typically do that, we get bottled- but don’t use the bottled water that’s already in your room. That’s like five bucks, they’ll charge you for that. What you do is find the store down below, or find a general store that’s in the location near you, and pick up, you know, six bottled waters so you have them on hand.
Lori:
Absolutely. I think you just brought up something really good. We’ve been at conventions before, or hotels before, where, you know, maybe we wanted to purchase a couple sandwiches or some lunch meats so we’re saving some cost on dinners and lunches and what have you, and if you remove things from those refrigerators, they have little electrical things-
Jeff:
They know. They’re watching.
Lori:
Yeah, they know, and they’re charging you every time you move that or pull that out of there, so you might want to make sure that, you know, the-
Jeff:
Avoid their refrigerator supplies.
Lori:
Yeah, exactly, yep.
Jeff:
You may have a refrigerator, but you’ll know that, that you can use, especially if you’re diabetic or you have some medications that need to be chilled, you can always get it arranged to have a refrigerator put in your room.
Lori:
Yeah, absolutely.
Jeff:
But that stock of stuff that’s in that thing, don’t touch it. Don’t even look at it.
Lori:
Yeah. Unless you’re a millionaire, and I don’t know too many millionaires.
Jeff:
And the other thing, you know, there’s so many things here. Be able to take a quick phone number. If you’re out and about and stuff and someone says, yeah, give me a call, my number is 555-, you know, you want to be able to get that down, you don’t want to say hold on, I’ve got to fire up my laptop, hold on, I’ve got to, let me go into my Word, have, you know-
Lori:
Have a slate and stylus with you.
Jeff:
Or if you have a notetaker, yeah, you can Braille it right in there, or, you know, if you have, just press Record, app, you can tell your phone, you know, take a note.
Lori:
Take a note, absolutely.
Jeff:
Boom. Get it done, efficient, and get it down. And that way when you’re back at your room, you can organize it and put the phone number where you want it, or log it into your contacts that way, but be efficient, be quick about it, and you can be nonchalant about it too, especially if you’re using a Bluetooth earpiece in your head, you can just pull it up and just repeat it, or have them say it right into your phone too.
Lori:
Mm-hm, absolutely.
Jeff:
It just works, it’s just a simple, easy way to do it. Technically if you have an earpiece they’d have to say it into your ear.
Lori:
I don’t know.
Jeff:
That’s where the microphone is.
Lori:
Oh.
Jeff:
And when you’re leaving a table, whether at a convention or a restaurant or at home, even, push your chair in, because the next person that comes by is gonna find it and go, who the- that’s a common thing. And one of the most important things, you’re out and about, it’s easy to say, oh, I’ve got to sign this, so you set your phone down, and then you sign this, and then they hand you your card back, so then you go and put it in your wallet, but your phone is still sitting there, so I never set something down. I don’t set it down, I put it back where it goes, all the time, on my person, that’s where I’m carrying it, that’s where I’m going to and fro, I don’t separate myself from it. My phone is usually embedded into my hand anyways, but if I set stuff down and then I get distracted, start thinking about something else, so I always try and put things away, yes, my murse.
Lori:
Yes, his murse.
Jeff:
So those are a bunch of tips that we use on a regular basis, whether we’re at a convention or just going out, down the road to the coffee shop.
Lori:
Yeah, absolutely, so hopefully these helped, and if you guys have any other things that you would like to know, maybe how we do them, you can always send Blind Abilities an email.
Jeff:
Give us a call at 612-367-6093. But yeah, if you have any suggestions, we just would love to add to this list. We’re gonna put it out as a blog too, so people can have it to, just to look at themselves. You know, you may be experienced, you may be that person that doesn’t need any of these tips, but you know, we always run into people that may, you know, may want to learn some of these tips, or some parents of some blind children that may think this would be a useful list for them. And you can help enhance this list by sending us some stuff in an email-
Lori:
Yeah, you can give us some advice, you know, maybe there’s something that we don’t have on the list that, you know, it works for you, and we would love to hear how you do things, because, you know, being blind is- we’re not all in one box. We’re all different individuals and we all have different ways of doing things, and some things work for some people and some things don’t, so we’re always open to listening to other suggestions.
Jeff:
Like in our camper where we keep the coffee, she moves it all the time.
Lori:
I do. Because I hate where he puts it.
Jeff:
Hm. So people, where do you put your coffee? Alright, thanks for listening, be sure to check out more podcasts at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter @BlindAbilities, you can download our free Blind Abilities app from the Google Play store, or the Apple store, and that’s two words, Blind Abilities. And from all of us here at Blind Abilities, to you, your family, and friends, stay well, and be strong. I want to thank you for listening, hope you enjoyed, and until next time, bye-bye.
Lori:
Bye.
[Music] [Transition noise] -When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Contact Your State Services
If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361.
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