SWC Convention - Day Four

Since we hadn't been satisfied with the previous morning's buffet offerings, Robyn, Paul, Mike and I decided to go out before the workshops began. I tried several times to get hold of Lorne too, but his phone wasn't working and he wasn't checking his email. We found a nice little deli not far from the hotel where I bought a yogurt parfait with strawberries and granola.

The morning began slowly with workshops scheduled for 9:00.

Side bar here-- I forgot to mention the other wonderful workshop given by our beloved Gayle in my last blog post about Thursday. Gayle types CART for us. This time she introduced Remote CART. I loved how it worked, and found it fascinating to hear her perspective as a CART provider. With remote CART, a person can be in one state, and someone else will provide CART for them via the internet in another state. ALL you need is an internet supported laptop with Skype and a good microphone. During her demonstration, her CART partner did the transcribing. I was amazed what she was able to pick up in the room considering we had over 70 people in attendance. The microphone was quite powerful! Anyway-- that was the third workshop on Thursday, and now I'm reporting on Friday.

First thing in the morning, we had visitors from the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss. Presenter Wendy Cheng gave a short overview of the different qualities of music, then played her viola a bit, and answered questions. The most awesome piece of information I came away with was that I might be able to hear the the piano again!!! They suggested the use of an equalizer with microphone so I could adjust the volume of the high pitches-- which I'm not currently able to hear. If that doesn't work, I could try using an electronic keyboard with equalizer built in. I had never thought of this and was super inspired by the concept. A couple others came over to discuss in more detail afterwards-- an HH pianist and a sound engineer. I'm just so HAPPY about all of this!! I know a sound engineer/musician here in the NW who I'm sure would work with me on the set up, and I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have to spend a fortune because stuff like this comes up for sale on ebay all the time. The AAMHL website is full of information on how to enjoy music with hearing loss!

The next workshop was given by Tina Childress from Advanced Bionics, LeAnn Boone from Med-el, and another woman from Cochlear Americas. I have mentioned Tina before, as I saw her speak in Vancouver. Wow-- does she get around! She speaks EVERYWHERE! This workshop was about cochlear implants. Sad to say, I wasn't feeling well so I left early and missed most of her presentation. However we went to lunch later and she asked a poignant question about the experimental hybrid I had qualified for last Nov.-- "Since you're still losing your hearing, what would they do if you eventually needed a regular implant?" I don't know the answer to this. But after the two conventions I attended this year I realized it's probably best not to pursue the hybrid implant seriously at this time. More about that later.

After the workshops, Lorne, Paul, Michael, Robyn and I went exploring down Elfrey's Alley-- supposedly the oldest street in America. Amazingly, people still live there. Robyn clicked her camera non-stop. We spent a long time walking around, then it was time for lunch. My mouth still watered for those Amish apple-dumplings Robyn mentioned the previous day. We took a bus to the Reading Terminal, then circled around in search of the apple dumpling booth. I decided to have a salad first, then attacked the dumpling with abandon. All I can say is YUM!! Afterwards, we split up. Robyn and Michael left since they'd already seen all of Reading Terminal, while Lorne and I continued browsing around. We finally caught Phlash (the tourist bus) to the Philadelphia Museum of ART. That place was huge and they had some fabulous collections there-- things I only get to see on special exhibits to Seattle. Unfortunately the museum was scheduled to close early because the governor was visiting. All we got to see was the Impressionist section. I was especially pleased they had my favorite Van Gogh painting of the sunflowers. They also had several Monets and Renoirs. I could have sung-- and would have-- if Lorne hadn't been there.

We left when security guards began gathering like ants to cotton candy. The Phlash bus was packed, and I thought I might die from or thirst or heat stroke or both. Would anyone have noticed? By the time we walked into the hotel all I could think of was a drink and shower, but before I even got undressed I fell asleep. We went to dinner very late at the same little deli I ate breakfast that morning, which offered reasonably priced vegetarian salads and hummus on pitas. Philly's Old Town is pleasant on summer evenings after the sun goes down, so we ate outside enjoying the night air and gathering crowds of young people for the Friday night bar scene.

This was SWC's "game night." By the time we made it back to the hotel, the game room getting crazy. Someone asked me to make a paper airplane. Next thing I knew she sent it flying at someone else. Before long my airplane was whooshing everywhere. Eventually Lorne aimed it at Michael hitting his beer, which spilled all over his clothes. NOT MY FAULT!! That was the end of my airplane. I went to bed.