October 2009 Archives

Our friend Kristen had a witches cap for her dog that not only fits Meili... Meili can't get it off! So I grabbed her and dragged her down to the pumpkin for a quick photo shoot. Of course it took ten pictures to get this one.. Damned dog...

We are carving pumpkins at Bryan and Sarah's place...

More pics here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanbadger/sets/72157622538932765/

So yesterday I learned that I am hard of hearing. Something that Amanda has been proposing for some years now and honestly I did not believe. And to be blunt it has thrown me for a loop. The doctor said my hearing loss is in the "Moderate" range and that on the scale they use most people with good hearing have a straight line across the chart. He called mine a "Cookie bite" since it looks like someone took a bite out of the straight line I should have.

But the good news is that the other tests he gave me showed that we can use hearing aids to amplify the range I am missing. He even proposed that if my hearing loss is genetic that it will amplify a range of sound that I have been missing my whole life (We will not know until we do three or four more testing sessions each six months a part.)

Then he looked at me and said "Do you think you can wear hearing aids Alan?"

Wow! That's a good question! It seems like a no-brainier right? They are after all just glasses for your ears. But it is more than that. When I see someone with hearing aids that is young I think "Oh! A special person!" Since I have (for some fucked up reason) always thought that people with hearing aids are either old or are on the verge of being deaf. I know that sounds stupid but that's been my modus operandi for most of my life.

So he tried one on me so that I could feel what it would be like. They are the over the ear types that will let the sound I already hear in but amplify what I am missing. They felt like I was wearing sunglasses without having anything covering my eyes. And the were VERY small! Not at all like the ones that I remember as a kid that went behind the whole ear.

As I wore it he explained that these days people are more excepting of seeing younger people with hearing aids since we all have devices in our ears like ear buds for iPods or bluetooths but that I will encounter people who think they need to talk load while looking me directly in the face so I can read lips or something equally stupid. I can see that happening to me...

And factor in that our insurance most likely does not cover hearing aids (The middle of the road ones cost $1200 each! YEESH!) it brings a WHOLE new level of "Do I get these or not?".

I used to play a game with myself where I would close my eyes and see how far I could hear. If I do it now I hear -

My dog snooring
An jet airliner going overhead
A few doors down someone is grinding on the bricks of their house
Traffic on the street and a garbage truck doing what garbage trucks do

So I can definitely hear! But I guess I am missing a part of the puzzle... Which also happens to be the part that my wife's voice falls in.

Yay... 

Pretty killer veiw from the Doctors office

Sending wedding DVD's at the post office

Finished the chair cushions and they look great! I also loved that we managed to save the original under the new stuff.

So Amanda and I were going to use some of our wedding money for a new dining room table and chairs (About $600.00 worth) at Ikea. So that morning I was walking the dogs and saw a garage sale sign posted across the street. So after all the little dogs had extruded the natsyness out their fluffy bottoms I made my way over to see what they had. Getting there it was mostly knick-knacks and some tools. I asked if they had a dinning room set for sale and whad-do-ya-know??? They had an antique table with three leafs and six chairs for $200! Then she said that her mother in law had passed away and they just wanted it out of the house. So she would take $150.

Well after getting Amanda to take a look we got it! They only thing that was not so perfect was the 1962 plastic seat covers. Luckily Joanne Fabrics was having a 50% off sale! SCORE!

So today I started the chairs and found that they not only had the last fabric still on them under the plastic but that they had the original fabric under that layer! I decided to ditch the plastic but keep the other two layers. I added some batting over that and stretched the fabric over the seats. I have for done now and only have two to go.

Also I finally found a makers mark on the table. Seems it was made by the National Chair Co. out of Rockford IL. Not much else known other than that but overall we have an AWESOME antique dining set for less than $200! 

More pictures here -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanbadger/sets/72157622447714035/

There was a garage sale on our street and I found this antique diner table and six chairs for $150!

In an ultra-lite

I'm sitting here in the MOST AWESOME beach house I have ever stayed in and thinking about how wonderful our honeymoon was.

I won't say there were not some "not so good" points and Amanda wants me to share that story with you.

I call it -

HOW I LOST MY WEDDING BAND IN 25 FEET OF OCEAN

To start this story I have to tell you about a poor man on our flight from LA to Kauai. As we were flying the stewardess made an announcement saying "A gentleman has lost his wedding band in the bathroom, he just got married this Saturday and is very stressed. If you find it please turn it in no questions asked." It seems the poor groom took it off to wash his hands and not being used to having a ring left it. Well Amanda looked at me and said "Lesson learned, don't take off your wedding band in the bathroom." If you readers know how Badger thinks this translated out to me as "Don't take off your ring no matter what or you will be sad."

Cut to Thursday as Amanda and I were trying on our gear for our snorkeling adventure. Clyde and Captain Paul were giving us a run down of how the trip was going to go and said "Please, if you have on any jewelery take it off now. We will not go find your wedding band at the bottom of a lava tube in the ocean!" My little badger brain thought back to the poor guy on the airplane and said "Nope, holding on to my ring" so we proceeded to the boat and went out to the ocean! Now let me tell you, this is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! We were snorkeling with about ten Sea Turtles and they would just come right up and look at you! The bottom was crystal clear and you could see coral and big deep pits called Lava Tubes. As I was swimming I felt something touch the tip of my finger and looked down just in time to see my brand new wedding band slip right off my finger! I dove but could not get down fast enough! And had to pop up for air so I did not see where it landed!!

I popped back up and found Amanda, I was almost in tears by how stupid and sad I was. I told her what happened and she just looked and said "You're kidding right?" Clyde our guy was on the boat and said "Alan! What happened?! Did you loose your ring???" I told him and he alerted Captain Paul. Paul said to show him where I thought it landed and I did my best to show him.

This is where I learned what a "Free Diver" was. Now think about this... I'm six foot one inches. So the water is five times as deep as I am tall. Or almost two stories down. This guy not only went to the bottom but stayed down there long enough to look. He could not see it. He told me to search up top while he went up and down. Now I am looking down and getting all worked up. Let me tell you folks, you swallow a lot of sea water when you sob into a snorkel... Feel me?

After watching this guy dive again and again I finally said "Look brother, I love ya. But you guys said it would not be possible to find a ring at the bottom of the ocean. I can get another." he looked at me and said "You sure? I don't mind man..." I said forget it. No reason to ruin everyone's trip. To say I was crushed would be an understatement. Amanda was as awesome as always. She kept saying "It's OK baby.."

So Clyde announced that we would be moving on to our next dive in ten minutes. I decided to relax and just keep looking. Just then I saw Paul pick something up and look at it. He swam to the top and started yelling at Clyde and the look on Clyde's face said it all! Paul had found my ring!!! Clyde and Paul both started waving me and Amanda back to the boat and announced the good news. I looked at Paul and said "YOU JUST GOT YOURSELF A $100 TIP!!!"

We all got in the boat. Paul put my ring in a safe place and we went to the next stop. Our next dive was in shallower waters and a little longer and when I got back to the boat all that sea water I had swallowed came back out along with anything else in my tummy. I was done diving at that time. But I was happy! I had lost my ring in a deep ocean and now had it back. A one in a million shot to be sure!

The rest of the week went like this -

Thursday night we went to a Hawaiian Luau - Ton's of cheesy fun and AWESOME food!

Friday we went on a horse back tour to Silver Veil Falls and had a lot of fun. It was just Amanda and I and a guide.

Saturday we went to Pearl Harbor and Waikiki for shopping.

Today we are going to the Coconut Festival and then dinner and after that the red eye flight home to Chicago. We both LOVE Kauai and hope to come back on our five year anniversary if not sooner.

Here are some more pics -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanbadger/3981033550/in/set-72157622358148677/