Parents Lead

We think we are the same person we have always been, but perhaps not. Maybe we have been a few other people and are now someone we have never been. This is either a quite bizarre notion or an exciting opportunity. Let's think about that together.

In this episode of Audio Tidbits, I share four short anecdotes that may or may not have a point. I am leaving points and conclusions up to you.

Why do we think what we think, know what we know, believe what we believe? Is it because we are all thoughtful people who carefully consider the possibilities and options and then come to well developed and insightful conclusions? Maybe you do but I mostly believe what I believe and don't give much thought to it. That's much easier than all of that brain work. Even more to the point, it's easier to believe than to worry about whether I'm right. My default is to just go with what I already believe, whatever I already know to be right. Am I the exception? …

The point of this episode of Audio Tidbits is that one step is better than no steps and that it really is true that when we are having a bad day, our best option when more is said than done is to suck it up and move on.

If you don't have time to listen, here's the best tidbit in the 12 minutes it would take to listen. Your life is your garden, Your thoughts are the seeds. If your life isn't awesome, You've been watering the weeds.

I hope that it's okay for me to take a slight break from technology. I was listening to a podcast earlier today that talked about the power of subtraction. The idea was that sometimes our best option is to take something away when we're having difficulty handling some problem or situation. The specifics of the argument aren't particularly important here. The point I focused on is that we can make things too complicated to deal with. I think this is especially true when we can't see. We have something we want to do or maybe even need to do. We start thinking about it and consider this problem or that issue. It's probably just human nature for us to start listing all of the things that might go wrong, problems that might come up, reasons why it might be better to just avoid the pitfalls all together. Maybe we will put it off till later or perhaps chock it up to another one of those things we can't do since we can't see. The result is that our can't do list keeps getting longer and our can-do list gets shorter

Like most Audio Tidbits episodes, this one wanders around a bit. I pass by global warming, voter fraud, conspiracies and a few more hot spots as I get to moderation and keeping it between the lines. I hope you choose to come along for the trip. I don't promise either wisdom or great insight but do assure that you will finish with a thing or two to think about, as if you weren't already busy enough. Thanks for joining me.

If, like me, you can't see, there are quite a few annoying problems that pop up; and they all are due to not being able to see. I'm sure that either of us could make a very long list. A number of little frustrations would be on both of our lists, but there would be some that show up only on one of our lists. We each have our own pet peeves. For me, most of my can't see annoyances can be put into only a few categories. What is it? Where is it? Which one is it? How does it work; and more to the point, how can I get it to work for me? First, let's get some perspective. Everyone has similar annoyances whether or not they can see. Being irritated by this and that now and then is liberally spread around for all of us. It's easy to get the feeling that life has dealt us a worse deal than everyone else, but that's just not true. The world is more accommodating to some of us than to others of us for sure. It is what it is. If we were to make a list of the ten worst limitations we might have, we might think that not

Thanks for checking out this episode of Audio Tidbits. I first explain what I've done with my websites and discuss consolidation. Specifically, I let you know what happened with Blind How and where new episodes will show up. The point is that everything is still available, just on GaryCrow.net now. I also talk with you about my SONOS Roam portable speaker. If you need a portable speaker with great sound, access to Alexa and Google, and connection to your favorite streaming music service, the SONOS Roam may be a perfect choice for you. Sure, there is also some nice music and some wondering here and there about this and that.

In the last episode of Blind How, I suggested AIRA.io  whenever you need to have someone who can see to look at something or tell you about most anything. The AIRA helpers will also give you visual assistance while you are doing something that you want to do. Although the service is free much of the time and in a lot of situations, to be sure it's there for you consistently, whenever you need it, you do need a paid subscription, especially if it's going to take more than five minutes.   There is an alternative and totally free option for getting live help from someone who can see. It's called Be My Eyes and has two parts. Download the Be My Eyes app from the app store. Poke around the app and you will figure out how to sign up. Once you have done that, you can either call a volunteer or talk with a specialist from any business on a long list of companies that are available through Be My Eyes. If you talk with a volunteer, the possibilities are more limited than with AIRA but work really well for most things

When it comes to technology that can help those of us who can't see do what we want to do, there are at least two ways I could go about letting you know about the possibilities. First, I could give you detailed descriptions and step by step instructions for using each app or gadget. That type of tutorial is very useful and makes learning to use the app or gadget, if not always easy, at least doable. The good news is that tutorials like that are out there for many apps and gadgets and for most all of the popular ones. The bad news is that they are only helpful if you find the particular tutorial you need right now.   The other way to get you up and running – and the one I chose – is to encourage you to develop the skills you need to figure out for yourself how to use the apps and gadgets available to help with what you want to do. The good news is that there are only a few basic skills that you need to do most things you want to do. The bad news is that it takes time and practice to develop those skills, a l

From the time we are young, we are told that we should do those things, take those steps that will get us to where we should go. The message is that there is a straight line that, if we follow it, we will succeed. I suspect this is one of the great myths that adults tell children, one of the great myths that most of us have assimilated into our understanding of life and living. Let's think about that for a few minutes.

[Here, I focus on your iPhone, but if your phone is Android or Samsung, read Voiceover as Talkback and Siri as Google, as in OK Google. For example, say, "OK Google, how do I … with Talkback?"]   There are a few things those of us who can't see can do with our iPhones that are rather boring but necessary. I'm going to spend this episode of Blind How looking at them, but it would be more fun checking out ways we can use our phones to get people who can see to help us whenever we need someone who can see to give us a couple of minutes to just look at something for us. I'll get to those options in the next episode, but for now, let's get to the more boring stuff.   Yes, we can make and receive phone calls on our iPhones. Let's start with the simple way. Just say, "Hey Siri, call 555-555-5555." Of course, use the actual number you want to call instead of all of those 5's. From there, it's like any phone call: the phone rings and someone answers, if there is someone there to answer the phone. For now, always i

There I was way into the podcast, thinking about attitude and those times when we are confronted by "But What Now," when a robot came along to disrupt the podcast and my thoughts and thinking process. What to do?

In this episode of Audio Tidbits, I have a confession and the why of it, along with a somewhat shifted perspective on the national debt.

Almost nothing about technology in general and cell phones in particular is either obvious or intuitive, especially if you, like me, can't see. There are very good cell phones that use buttons instead of fingers on the touch screen, but it still takes time to master their use. If you want buttons, you will be missing out on many, if not most things you can do with your iPhone. Even so, a good button phone may be all you're up to right now. Here's a suggestion.   Call the folks at Mystic Access: (716) 543-3323 or visit  MysticAccess.com on the Internet. Ask about the BlindShell phone. The phone is completely usable with buttons and comes with an excellent audio tutorial that tells you everything you need to use all of the features on the phone. When you are talking with Chris or Kim, ask about their other tutorials and services. Hint: they can teach you how to use your iPhone.   Back to your iPhone -- In the last episode of Blind How, I suggested that you check out the Podcast app. It's pretty easy to find

Ok, you have your iPhone or perhaps you went with Android. If it's Android or maybe Samsung for you, that works as well as an iPhone, just not quite as easily. Either way, I'll start with the screen.   If you can see some, the screens on all three phones (iPhone, Android, and Samsung) are quite good, although I'm told that the Android phones may have somewhat better screens. Since I can't see, I'll need to take their word for that. At any rate, the phone screens can be customized to fit your preferences. You can adjust the colors, the amount of motion and the size of the text that shows up on the screen. To make those kinds of adjustments, you need to check out the "Accessibility" area in the phone's settings. Most of the resources I mention in this and future episodes of Blind How have tips and suggestions for "low vision" users of the phones.   With that important point covered, having our phones talk to us is where it's at for me and others who can't see. On Android and Samsung phones, the talking feat

Thanks for checking out the new Audio Tidbits. Along with a little about the change, I find myself on a rant of sorts about covid-19 and those folks who don't want to get poked. They sure can make that choice, but I wonder….

I have a problem. As we begin thinking about serious tech in general and iPhones in particular, even to share starter information with you is difficult to do without assuming that you already have a computer or iPhone, or at least have access to one or the other.   Remember in earlier episodes of Blind How when I talked about the three ways to get on with doing whatever you want to do? They are: get someone to do it for you, get someone to help you do it, and do it yourself. This is one of those get someone to help you times. But first, here's a tip for making notes and remembering things like phone numbers and recipes. You need a little hand held recorder. It doesn't matter what kind, so long as you can record stuff on it and then play it back. The key is that you can record things yourself or have someone else read while you record. You can then listen when you want to listen and at your preferred speed.   To get started with your iPhone, do two things. First, get someone to get it up and working for yo

It's time for some serious tech. The skills I've discussed so far on Blind How are mostly basic. So what does basic mean?   If you practice the skills I've discussed to this point in our journey of doing without seeing, you can get along fairly well in your living environment. You will need additional basic skills, but for the most part, you are good to go. What additional skills you add to your skill set depends on what you want to do. The point here is that you can do much of what you want to do without any serious tech.   For help and tips for doing things around your living area, Hadley (that I discussed in an earlier episode of Blind How) is your friend. Whatever you want to do, give them a call: 1-800-323-4238Mon - Fri8am - 6pm Central. If you have a friend who can use a computer or even a smart phone, have him or her go to Hadley.edu and share what they find there with you. Along with help with cleaning and cooking, they can help with marking appliances and such so you can operate them yourself. It