POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

Today I have a meet at work where everyone presented a PowerPoint Presentation. The projector was set up. Our table was about 10 feet away. I sat near the front so I could see. Everyone there complained that it was too dark but it was fine for me. When the first slide was discussed they pointed out things I asked about. About ten minutes in I asked about the bars on the graph. I thought it was one solid purple bar. I got up to take a closer look and was shocked to find the purple bar was a cluster of ten different color together. Now I know why the others couldn't see. Throughout the rest of the presentation they were very helpful reading the information to me including my own sheets. This brought me back to my years in college having to ask the professor to tell me what they wrote on the board.

PHONE UPDATE

My new Pantech ease phone will only keep a charge until mid-afternoon about 3 pm. ATT sent me a new charger that was delivered today. It's still charging after an hour. I hope this resolves the issue. Yesterday my son and I went to look at the Galaxy phone. One of his friends has one and let me play with it yesterday so we went to the ATT store to check it out there. At the display rack they had the New large screen Pantech. It was almost the some as the Galaxy. I asked when they got the phone, he said a few weeks. It wasn't linked to the Internet so I couldn't check out my blog on the screen. The salesman was very nice and I gave him one of my How To See With Low Vision blog cards.

TARGET AND KROGERING !

I wanted to tell you about my outing today. My husband and I went to Target and Kroger. First was Target. I'm in there all the time, three this week. Starbucks coffee was on sale. He said you shouldn't need anything since you're been here three times this week. I always need "something" at Target. Next we went to Kroger. We go to Aldi and Publix most of the time. We were half way through the store and he went down an isle and I went in search of cheese. I don't know this store as well and it's larger then Publix. It was a good ten minutes before I found him. I told him I'd rather stay together next time. The store was very packed and dark. The high-lite of the trip was the self checkout and I saved $4.80 in coupons. I'll post my coupon tips later.

MY NEW ID CARD

The trip to the DMV was quick. My son Phillip filled out the two sheets to have my ID card and handicap placard. We were only there about 15 minutes before our number was called. I only had to pay $1. They took my picture twice and had a glare from my glasses. She asked me to take them off. You know how bad their pictures are, well this one really doesn't look like me. The handicap placard will be sent to me in the mail. I can't wait. Just in case you're wondering, no I won't be posting the picture.

EYE HEALTH TIPS FROM THE NATIONAL EYE INSTUTE

I saw this article in a magazine while waiting for the appointment.

Simple Tips for Healthy Eyes

Your eyes are an important part of your health. There are many things you can do to keep them healthy and make sure you are seeing your best. Follow these simple steps for maintaining healthy eyes well into your golden years.

Have a comprehensive dilated eye exam. You might think your vision is fine or that your eyes are healthy, but visiting your eye care professional for a comprehensive dilated eye exam is the only way to really be sure. When it comes to common vision problems, some people don’t realize they could see better with glasses or contact lenses. In addition, many common eye diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and age-related macular degeneration often have no warning signs. A dilated eye exam is the only way to detect these diseases in their early stages.

During a comprehensive dilated eye exam, your eye care professional places drops in your eyes to dilate, or widen, the pupil to allow more light to enter the eye the same way an open door lets more light into a dark room. This enables your eye care professional to get a good look at the back of the eyes and examine them for any signs of damage or disease. Your eye care professional is the only one who can determine if your eyes are healthy and if you’re seeing your best.

Know your family’s eye health history. Talk to your family members about their eye health history. It’s important to know if anyone has been diagnosed with a disease or condition since many are hereditary. This will help to determine if you are at higher risk for developing an eye disease or condition.

Eat right to protect your sight. You’ve heard carrots are good for your eyes. But eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, particularly dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or collard greens is important for keeping your eyes healthy, too.i Research has also shown there are eye health benefits from eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut.

Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing diabetes and other systemic conditions, which can lead to vision loss, such as diabetic eye disease or glaucoma. If you are having trouble maintaining a healthy weight, talk to your doctor.

Wear protective eyewear. Wear protective eyewear when playing sports or doing activities around the home. Protective eyewear includes safety glasses and goggles, safety shields, and eye guards specially designed to provide the correct protection for a certain activity. Most protective eyewear lenses are made of polycarbonate, which is 10 times stronger than other plastics. Many eye care providers sell protective eyewear, as do some sporting goods stores.

Quit smoking or never start. Smoking is as bad for your eyes as it is for the rest of your body. Research has linked smoking to an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, cataract, and optic nerve damage, all of which can lead to blindness.ii, iii

Be cool and wear your shades. Sunglasses are a great fashion accessory, but their most important job is to protect your eyes from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. When purchasing sunglasses, look for ones that block out 99 to 100 percent of both UV-A and UV-B radiation.

Give your eyes a rest. If you spend a lot of time at the computer or focusing on any one thing, you sometimes forget to blink and your eyes can get fatigued. Try the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look away about 20 feet in front of you for 20 seconds. This can help reduce eyestrain.

Clean your hands and your contact lenses—properly. To avoid the risk of infection, always wash your hands thoroughly before putting in or taking out your contact lenses. Make sure to disinfect contact lenses as instructed and replace them as appropriate.

Practice workplace eye safety. Employers are required to provide a safe work environment. When protective eyewear is required as a part of your job, make a habit of wearing the appropriate type at all times and encourage your coworkers to do the same.



For more information go to:

http://www.nei.nih.gov/healthyeyes/

WE ARE OFF TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES

Today my son will take me to the DVMV to get a replacement ID card and Handicapped car tag. I lost both while traveling on two different trips.

Holiday Giveaways! at Wonder Baby Org

It's that time of year again—time to start thinking about presents. Writing our holiday gift list can be fun, but can also sometimes be a challenge, especially if we're trying to find just the right gift for a child with a visual impairment.
If your baby is blind, you probably know what they like or don't like, but it can still be difficult to find appropriate toys at the mall or department store. And if you're shopping for a child you don't know as well, like a niece or nephew, you may be feeling completely overwhelmed.
Consider this your rescue! I've been talking to people all over the web who create toys, books and other products for blind babies and children and I've asked them to donate some of their best toys for this year's Holiday Giveaway. We have a wonderful collection of toys this year, and even if you don't win, this list can serve as the perfect shopping list!
So check out our 14 Giveaways below and enter as many as you like. Entries can either be emailed to me or left as comments on the individual giveaway pages. All giveaways will end on December 12th.


1. Perkins Panda Giveaway
The Perkins Panda Early Literacy Program is a wonderful compilation of materials designed to help you instill a love of books and reading in your child through a set of fun toys and stories. The kit comes compete with three print/braille picture books, three audio cassettes, three activity guides, and a story box. [Enter to Win!]
 

MY CELL PHONE

Well I'm back on the cell phone issue. After having my new Pantech Ease cell phone for three months it won't keep a battery charge. I even tried the backup battery I had. I may have to switch to another phone. I will keep you posted.

High-Tech Gadgets for low vision

I’m looking for some good low-vision products that can help my wife who has severe vision loss. What can you recommend?
Searching Spouse
Dear Searching,
With more than 21 million Americans living with some form of uncorrectable vision impairment today, more and more products for low-vision are being developed that can help with many different needs. Here is a quick guide to some great products and where to find them.
Low-Tech Aids
There are literally hundreds of simple, relatively inexpensive products on the market today that can help people with low-vision. For example, to help with daily living tasks, you can find a wide array of “talking,” “large print” or “jumbo-sized” items such as clocks, watches, remote controls, telephones, computer keyboards, calculators, thermostats, kitchen aids and much more, as well as a wide variety of magnifiers. You can find these products at sites like independentliving.com or 800-537-2118; shoplowvision.com, 800-826-4200; maxiaids.com, 800-522-6294; and lssproducts.com, 800-468-4789.
In addition to the simple products, there is also a number of high-tech, low-vision devices that offer incredible capabilities. Unfortunately, many of these items are expensive and they aren’t covered by private insurance or Medicare. Here are some to check out.
Desktop magnifiers: Also known as closed circuit TVs, these are home-based machines that provide powerful magnification, contrast and clarity for reading, writing and looking at pictures. While this type of technology has been around for a while, more styles and variations are available today with prices usually ranging between $2,500 and $3,000. Some of the best places to find these are at: optelec.com, 800-826-4200; freedomscientific.com, 800-444-4443; enhancedvision.com, 888-811-3161; and humanware.com, 800-722-3393.
Portable magnifiers: For reading small print in and outside the home (food labels, prescriptions, bills, menus, etc.), portable, battery-powered video magnifiers provide the same features as closed circuit TVs, but they’re small enough to fit in your pocket. Some good ones to check out are the “RUBY” at freedomscientific.com, the “Compact Mini” from optelec.com, the “Pebble” at enhancedvision.com and the “Feather” at clarityusa.com. Prices typically range from $350 to $650.
Text-to-speech: For converting text to speech, there are several devices that let you take a snap shot of printed material (magazines, newspapers, books, mail, etc.), and in seconds it reads it aloud. The ClearReader+ from optelec.com is one of the best for home or office use, but costs $2,500. If you want mobility, the Intel Reader (careinnovations.com) is a handheld text-to-speech device that retails for $899. And for iPhone 4 users, the new ZoomReader app developed by Ai Squared (aisquared.com, 800-859-0270) provides text-to-speech capabilities for $20.
Computer magnification: To customize a Microsoft Windows personal computer for low-vision, the computer’s operating system offers built-in setting adjustments that can help. See microsoft.com/enable for instructions. If that’s not sufficient, Ai Squared sells a fantastic software application for $545 called ZoomText Magnifier/Reader that enlarges, enhances and reads aloud everything on the computer screen.
Or, if your wife uses an iMac or iPad, Apple provides some outstanding built-in accessibility features (see apple.com/accessibility), including screen and cursor magnification, high-contrast settings and screen reader capabilities.
Low-vision cell phone: The Samsung Haven from Verizon Wireless is a basic flip-phone that provides voice command (you tell it what to do) and voice output (it speaks to you) technology that lets you easily operate it without vision. The cost: $40 with a two-year contract. See verizonwireless.com or call 800-256-4646.
Currency reader: To avoid being shortchanged at the store, the iBill (small enough to attach to a key ring) identifies all U.S. bills by voice or a series of tone or vibrations. Price: $99 at orbitresearch.com or 888-606-7248.
Savvy Tip: To learn more about low-vision products and to try many of them out, visit a vision rehabilitation agency in your area. See afb.org or call 800-232-5463 to locate one.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

CHRISTMAS OUTING

We just got in from a day a family fun. My husband and youngest son went to Columbia, South Carolina to spend the day with our oldest son and his girlfriend who are both in college. We stopped at the campus to take some pictures for our annual Christmas card. I always dread the process. This year we have video of part of it. Most of the time I was hiding or laughing. We took the gang out to eat. The restaurant was called the Hunter-Gatherer Brewery & Ale. It was a neat old brick building. The food was great but the inside was dark and cold. My son went to retrieve our coats from the car. I took out my magnifier to read the menu. I would like to eat their again. Next we went downtown to a new TCBY yogurt shop. While crossing the street with my cane my son Andrew grabbed my hand and began to drag me across the street. Thanks son?! The TCBY chain started in Arkansas and my boys love their yogurt. We lived in Mississippi so we ate TCBY from the early days. Next we went to the Riverbanks Zoo for their Lights Before Christmas event. This is our first time at the event and the zoo was very pretty with all the light. While walking with my cane my son ask "mom what are you doing" I looked down to see a tree stump in front of my foot ready for me to trip over it. Boy was I glad Phillip stopped me. My husband helped me navigate through the zoo. We had a great time with the kids.

CALENDERS

Today I was thinking about calenders and being organized. Since I got my new phone I haven't used the calender as much. I loved the calender in my old phone. For some reason I was trying to "turn off" an alarm and "deleted" all my items on my calender in my old phone. I have a calender on my LIVE email account that I like to use. Facebook also posts birthdays for the upcoming week which is nice. I'm terrible about sending birthday cards. I'm not that organized. Years ago I had a Large Print calender my mother found. I couldn't find one the next year. If you can't find a true large print calender the school calenders usually have large fonts. I found one on sale last week at Target for under $2.

Here are some from Maxiads:
http://www.maxiaids.com/categories/172/Large-Print-Calendars.html

Features

• Remember important dates with this calendar
• One month takes up two big pages
• Lots of room to write
• A 2-page spread follows each month, giving a 3-month view
• Coiled and coated wire binding lets the book lay flat for easy reading

Mark your appointments and special dates on the Big Print Date Calendar. Each month is laid out in a two-page spread. Following each month is an additional two-page spread with a three-month view and room to write notes and appointments. Coiled and coated wire binding lets the book lay flat for easy reading. Measures - closed: 11.125 x 9.375. Open: 11.125 x 18.25.
Product dimensions (imperial): 11.125 inch H x 9.375 inch L
Product dimensions (metric): 282.58 mm H x 238.13 mm L

The Big Print Date Calendar
"Big Print is Better and easy to read!"

 Large Print Calender by Mead



FlyLady.net Calender



http://shop.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_calendar.asp

The 2012 FlyLady I'm FLYing calendar and FlyLady Sticker Kit ($18.49 US)
A 17 month calendar from Aug. 2011 to Dec 2012. This is the best wall calendar available to help you keep your family a priority and keep track of their comings and goings. This is a large, spiral bound calendar (Size: 14 by 21 inches when open.) with large squares (Squares 1.88" x 3.2") that make it very easy to see, even from across the room!