Trials, interviews and some changes

Hello again, yes I am still alive, just haven't been in the mood to sit down and write a blog piece. Since the last update I've been on holiday for a week up the north coast of Northern Ireland with my parents, had a few more job interviews, been doing some more decorating and getting my new bedroom ready as well as starting to trial a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) on a soft band.

It was great to get away for a week with my parents obviously we had been away to Majorca but that was only for a week and at the start of the summer.  The north coast of Northern Ireland is very hard to beat especially for the scenery and the food! We rented an apartment in Portstewart which was lovely, plenty of room, very comfy and with great sea views. We did a lot of walking and visited Rathlin Island for the very first time. We had timed it so we could also see the air show that was so great last year unfortunately bad weather elsewhere meant there were a lot less planes and helicopters this year.

View from the apartment

View from Rathlin Island

View from RSPB centre on Rathlin

The famous Dark Hedges as featured on Game of Thrones!

On the job front I have been busy and have had a number of interviews which is reassuring but unfortunately no offers yet. It is unfortunate that it seems to be a numbers game with so many people applying for the same positions. Due to some issues with interviews I have decided to not only send a strap line explaining that I have TCS if I'm invited to interview but also arrange for my employment advisor to ring the person just so he can also explain things. This way nobody is taken by surprise and the person is fully informed it also hopefully prevents the situation of people either not reading or not properly reading/understanding the email.

I have finally been able to move into my new larger bedroom, there are still some things to get such as a light shade for the ceiling light but it is now habitable. We had real issues getting the carpet sorted but eventually got one ordered that was in stock and ready to be fitted and I'm very happy with it. One of the main advantages of my larger room is that I was able to move my electronic drum kit out of the garage which gets very cold in winter and is a bit depressing in the dark. I now have a music corner of the room with my drum kit, my guitars, my amp and my effects pedalboard all set up. I will share some pictures once I get everything moved in and the way I want it.

If that wasn't all enough to keep me busy I am also currently trialing a BAHA on a soft band. I haven't had any reason to visit the audiology department at the hospital where I went quite regularly as a kid but my mum thought it would be a good idea just to check that what I currently have is the best option for me and thought now was a good time to check it out given I'm not currently working. Long story short we have been informed that Phonak are not going to repair/service my current bone conductor hearing aid after 2020. It is somewhat ironic after my quite contentious debates with people on Facebook about BAHAs being a bit overrated that I may now have to switch to one. I do stand by my point that you shouldn't need to have surgery to have a good hearing aid and it is my opinion that a lot of the people so strongly defending BAHAs online do so because their only experience of bone conductor/behind the ear hearing aids is from years ago with big bulky, uncomfortable and not very good models.

I have been allowed to trial the Cochlear BAHA 5 which is their most recent model and meant to be very fancy. I definitely could live with it if I had to and there are not the major teething problems I had when switching from my analog to digital bone conductor hearing aid (due to all the unnecessary programs and stuff that was on it at first). However the BAHA 5 does have issues:

• Very sensitive to the touch/wind. Cannot press on it to hear slightly better (during very quiet dialogue on tv) due to the feedback
• Automatic volume reduction programme, no rhyme or reason to it, looking forward to getting this deactivated to see how better it is. Not sure if this is why it is difficult for me to hear in shops unless the person is close to the side of the mic
• Doesn't like some high pitches of sound which is a bit awkward when playing guitar, have been told it might be due to the volume reduction

I'm going back for a follow up appointment next week so hopefully will get some of these issues resolved. Also hoping to try it with some of the accessories to listen to music/connect to audio devices (like my drum kit) as that is very important to me. 

Thanks for reading!