Fuck Cancer

Today was probably the worst birthday I've ever experienced. But I don't want to make this post about me.

My Father has Stage 4 cancer, and today we received the news that it's spreading, and the prognosis is months to live. We knew we only had a short time, but this puts a finer point on it.

That's what our small family is dealing with. Fuck Cancer.

Pirate Pete

 

I've been slowly building up my retro arcade games on my Switch, a gift from my Father-in-law - this is something I would never have bought for myself. I feel like I'm no longer missing out, as I've been "catching up" with all the games I've missed. Many of them have been ported to this system. There's been so few misses in my searches - remember Pitfall? I loved that game as a kid - but Activision wasn't making it available on the Switch. So I consoled myself with the other gems in my trove.

Story time.

I was having trouble recalling the name of a game - it was called either Jungle Boy or Tarzan Boy? It had something like 3 or 4 stages you had to clear; feats such as swinging from ropes, dodging boulders, swimming?

I believe I've figured out why I could not find this game - it was removed from market because of "racist overtones" in the game play. To wit, the damsel in distress had been captured by "savages" and needed saving. Racism, anyone? No wonder the game was pulled. 

I suspect "Pirate Pete" is a re-write of Tarzan Boy. Those stages I mentioned are all there, just tweaked slightly. 

I was 11 at the time the game had shipped, and I'm trying not to chastise myself about searching for it, because I had honestly FORGOTTEN about that part. This game scratches that "itch" of an old school, scrolling platformer, and I'm happy I found it.

I recall liking Pitfall! better than Tarzan Boy, anyway.

Resilience

Bullying takes many forms and formats.

What doesn't change is our resilience. 

We're still here.

Hugs

I've noticed a slight uptick in the amount of hugs I'm giving out. That's alright - they're low effort yet highly gratifying.

Phonak

Let's talk about my new hearing aids. They're another set of Phonak (I've had good results with the brand) and just a rung underneath their top dollar model.

I was curious as to how well the software has evolved on the units. So far, my impression of the sound stage is this:

1) The bass is different. It took me a moment to notice it, but it is perceptible. There seems to be more room / ambience in the bass frequencies now. The mids and highs are optimized as well.

2) The start-up sequence has changed. Now after the tones, the live mics are immediately present.

3) Haven't attempted a phone call with these yet, but I'm sure they're fine. I am hoping that compared to the last units, BT will be more stable and I'll have less disconnects during phone calls. Holy fuck, that's annoying.

4) For all the talk I was hearing about "Rechargeable!", I'm still on zinc air cells, LMAO. Turns out enclosed battery models STILL are not powerful enough for MY hearing loss. The battery would drain within a few hours. 

This is why I insist these things are more powerful than consumer "ear buds". The Apple Air Pods are step in the right direction, but they're not as powerful, plain and simple.

Tape Deck

Does anybody else walk around with a tape deck in their head? Effectively, play, stop, rewind and fast-forward?

I've had this ability as long as I can remember. I can 'rewind' a song in my head to listen to something again. I just did it this morning to count the number of cowbell strikes in a measure.

I also do this with conversations. Maybe it's a deaf skill? Autistic gift? Curse?