Posted on September 29, 2008 by arman. Categories: oddities.
I was finally able to see a specialist today about my on going problem with my ears. I had my first hearing test since the fifth grade and it went okay.
They reported some hearing loss around 8kHz in my left ear which was surprising. I expected to have some loss in my right ear, considering I had a pretty bad ear infection when I was 19. They said my right ear was pretty much normal and within acceptable bounds with minor hearing loss due to years of playing live music. Nothing to worry about.
I’ve never had a problem with high frequency information on the left side, so this came as a bit of a shock. I think the headphones they put on my head were not even lined up with my ear holes. Coming from a guy who has spent half his life wearing headphones, I think I might know where they hit my ears the best. Those tests tones are awfully quiet and if the phones are not lines up correctly, then I’m pretty sure that could alter the test results.
Anyway … I’m going to do my own hearing test at home to see if my balance is off ~ 8kHz. I just want to test the relative balance between my ears. I’ll post the results later.
The good news is, although my ears have felt strange for about a month now, my hearing is pretty much normal.
Recording vocals for the song “Breakaway” got me thinking about this funky old Atari console I have buried away somewhere … the Atari C-380. It wasn’t the first Atari console, but it was darn close. It came out in the late 1970’s and had pinball and some form of Breakout built in.
That was it.
The “flippers” for the pinball game were on the side of the machine itself. This was pretty amazing stuff back when quite a few people still had black and white TVs. I actually had a 19″ black and white TV in my bedroom through high school.
I should track this thing down and see if it still works.
Posted on September 9, 2008 by arman. Categories: oddities.
I haven’t been recording lately for a pretty good reason. I woke up over a week ago with a significant amount of hearing loss. I haven’t felt like throwing on the old headphones and start belting out the tunes.
I went to the doctor today and they seem to think I have a mechanical problem inside my ear. I was prescribed a decongestant to help open up my Eustachian tubes.
Posted on September 7, 2008 by arman. Categories: oddities.
In the wake of the Republican Nomination of Sarah Palin, Liz and I have decided to hone our survivalist skills … just in case.
We did a full batch of canning today. To be more specific - pickling. We started learning this skill last year after I was handed down my Grandmother Helen’s huge pickling kettle. A cousin gave me her famous pickled bean recipe and now I am carrying on the family tradition.
Last year we made almost 30 jars of pickles, pickled beans, pickled okra, and pickled peppers.
