No exams

For the past 5 years Christmas  has not been great for due to having exams in January, usually I would give myself 3 days off Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing day This year having finished university I was able to enjoy my Christmas properly without thinking that as soon as the 26th (or as it is known in the UK boxing day) was over I would be back spending my days in my room revising. I really can't understand why they think exams in January is a good idea, I would have much rather started university earlier in the year, done exams before Christmas and then had a proper break before starting the next semester. Last year I think I only had a few proper days off before starting the next semester due to the way my exams were scheduled.

As much as it has been nice to be off for a fair while it feels good to have an idea of what I want to do next. I ended up deciding that I would apply for a PhD with the supervisor of the lab I've worked in most recently. I've started work on the application and once it has been submitted I will also have to go to an interview which I'm nervous about. If you had told me before I started this degree that I would end up applying for a PhD in plant genetics I probably wouldn't have believed you but I've found it interesting. It's similar to my honours project work except on plants instead of fish, the supervisor seems a lot more helpful than my honours project one and the other people in the lab are great. I'm hoping that my application will be successful, I know the PhD will be a lot of hard work but I'm sure I can pull it off.

Wish me luck

That time I nearly punched an audiologist

Firstly maybe I should take a step back from the title before people start thinking I'm a psychopath. As I've commented before on this blog I haven't had the best of experiences when dealing with the audiology department at the hospital.  Have had problems with them being rude, not telling us information and just generally being very unhelpful. The other week we had to go back once again in the hope they would be able to add a program or change a setting or whatever on my digital hearing aid, to allow me to listen to my mp3 player without all the normal noise picked up by the hearing aid itself. It should be noted that at the previous appointment the guy said no sorry we can't do anything (remember this point). After a while of being frustrated with not being able to listen to music on the train without having to crank my mp3 player up I decided to email the company who makes the hearing aid and the receiver and they said they weren't sure but it may be possible to have a mic only program. Ok so that's fine decided to email the female audiologist who's work email she had given me (i.e. not the one who we had the last appointment with who is a guy). We emailed back and forth eventually she said yes we could try it and scheduled an appointment for me.

Ok so that's the set up to the story. It should be noted that before the appointment with the audiologist I had an appointment with the dentist where I had to get a filling and a tooth resealed, not actually the most pleasant of things so I wasn't in the best of moods. Got up to the audiology department, turns out its the same guy as before. Sit down and he starts going on about getting my mic system repaired and me and my mum were like "no we never said anything about any repairs" to which he replied "yes you did and Lorraine (the female audiologist who I had emailed) has mentioned it in her email to me". So this was the first problem since neither me nor my mum had said anything about my microphone system needing repaired at any appointment or in any email and it was rather frustrating that he basically implied that we were lying. It got even worse as when we got to actually talking about what we did  want he had the nerve to say that he had never said we couldn't have this setting (remember what I said before about how he had said exactly that). So there was a bit of back and forth and again he basically implied that we were lying and he had never said such a thing. Finally he got around to trying to adjust it, managed to suprise surprise actually get it to do what I wanted it to and then made a big deal about how it was hard to do even though it just required him to make  new setting with the microphone system and deselect the microphone option. So in the end we finally got sorted but the point of the title is that despite the fact I'm not a violent person the experience of dealing with the department and with this idiot gave me the urge to punch him in the face and hospital appointments should really not make you violent. Contrast this with the experience of the dentist appointment before hand which despite the unpleasantness of the treatment couldn't have been better in terms of the staff. The dentist actually told us that they train the students/staff in how they deal with patients and it makes you think that this should apply to all departments major and minor.

How it might've looked....

Progression

Although I have complained previously about technology becoming too complicated in regards to my mic system and then with all the trouble I've had with my digital hearing aid (though that's mostly the fault of the incompetent audiologists I've dealt with), the fact is it is a lot easier to have conditions like TCS now than in the past.  Hearing loss being one of the main symptoms of TCS is one example, obviously the technology for hearing aids has only been about for so long. Before they were invented people had to use ear trumpets which were obviously not great as you have to hold them up all the time and they require ear canals which people with TCS may not have like me.

"Did you hear the one about...?"

Then of course as with anything, when hearing aids were first invented they were probably big and awkward and nowhere near as good as they are nowadays. In my lifetime there has been a real progression in terms of design and sound quality. This also applies to my mic system as when I first started using it, the teacher had their box with the mic and I had my box which was connected to my hearing aid by a wire and now it is like a mini computer which can be muted and with which multiple systems can be used without interfering with one another (which on a few occasions happened at school with the old system if someone else had a system as well).  and which is wireless. Of course now the big thing seems to be bone anchored hearing aids which I've spoken a bit about before. But even with them the technology is progressing all the time with new under the skin implants being released recently. At some point I will post an update showing all the equipment that I use and have some comparison pictures of any old equipment I have.

Comparison between under the skin implants and abutment bone anchored hearing aid sites

Whilst it may not be nice we also have to consider the other problems apart from hearing loss, it's a pretty safe assumption that in the past, due to the poorer quality of medical care that a lot more people with TCS did not survive especially as babies. Also there is the issue of people misunderstanding the condition (thinking that the child is cursed or whatever) or not being able to look after a child with TCS especially one with a more severe case. The worrying thing is that in many developing countries there still may be some misconceptions and kids with TCS might be abandoned or left to die because people don't know what it is and haven't been educated about it. Of course this is all speculation but it is something that needs to be considered.

Thanks for reading.

In other news...again

Over the summer and up to now I've been doing work experience in a lab at my university to get more experience and learn techniques which would look good on my CV. It has been good I'm now essentially finished as there is nothing for me to do but another supervisor has said that he has a 4 week project which I could work on which would be good. I'm still unsure about my future but I'm starting to lean towards doing a PhD though I have to wait and see what's available. Of course with all the freshers starting at the end of September they brought their germs and I've been sick not once but twice in the past few weeks which has been rather frustrating.

Of course being sick has its benefits one being an excuse to sit and play Grand Theft Auto 5 a lot.  Whilst I enjoyed GTA 4, GTA 5 is a huge improvement in terms of the varied setting of Los Santos and the surrounding areas and especially in terms of the driving which much more enjoyable and less clunky than in GTA 4. When I first heard about the game having three protagonists I was a bit skeptical but in terms of the story and the gameplay  it works really well. All this being said I haven't actually completed the game yet and I look forward to completing it, trying out the cheats which seem to be a bit more fun and varied from GTA 4 and of course the online mode.

Planes are a much welcome return

Of course while the media, politicians and parents (who don't know how to say no to their kids) have been getting all worked up about the violence in GTA another thing people have been getting worked up over is the casting of Ben Affleck as the new Batman. While I'm a bit skeptical as to why they are making a movie apparently called Batman vs Superman rather than a Man of Steel 2 and then maybe a world's finest movie I'm also hesitantly excited. As many have pointed out Ben Affleck will make a good Bruce Wayne and he is apparently a big fan so I'm sure he will do his best to portray Batman.

Hopefully Batman will be more like he is in the Arkam games

Marvel have now moved their marvel universe onto the small screen in the form of Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. I enjoyed the first episode but the second and third left me a bit underwhelmed. It doesn't help that the characters aren't that interesting and in some cases they are just annoying. I'm going to keep watching to see if it improves I won't get my hopes up.

"Look at how awkward and funny we are!" Cringe

Thanks for reading.

Retainers

This post is a bit late as my last orthodontic appointment was way back before my holiday. Basically I had been wearing my plastic retainers on my teeth pretty much full-time even though it was past the period that I needed to. I kept wearing them as much as possible as a) I was used to them and didn't mind wearing them and b) I thought I was doing a good thing and that my teeth would be less likely to go back to the way they were. Apparently I was wrong, my orthodontist was surprised that I had been wearing them that much, I think most of his patients probably don't wear their retainers enough and he told me to just wear them at night and then just wear them every other night after a period. One of the things he said was that wearing the retainers too much after the initial period might make you more at risk of plaque/tooth decay.

That's all fine and dandy and I would rather wear my plastic retainers a few nights a week rather than get a permanent retainer. Permanent retainers may be easier letting you have one procedure to put them in and just having to be a bit more careful to clean your teeth but my mouth is small enough as it is with my recessed lower jaw I don't think I would manage with something stuck behind my teeth especially if I knew it was staying there and not going to be removed in the future like my braces. That said wearing the retainers only every other night means that I'm not used to them and they are uncomfortable but like most things you soon forget about them after a while on the computer or reading a book and a little discomfort is worth it if it means my teeth stay straight.

These are the types of plastic retainers that I wear

Thanks for reading.

Malta and music

Well not that my readers noticed due to my not so regular posting schedule but I was actually away on holiday with my family for two weeks in Malta. We stayed in the south east this time in a place called Marsascala. The apartment wasn't as big as the place we stayed last year and maybe not as fancy but it was very nice. It had a lovely balcony with views over the marina, a mini swimming pool and sun loungers where we spent a lot of time relaxing in the sun. We went in September last year and I think it was definitely hotter at this time of the year although there were a couple of days where it was very windy which cooled us down a bit. It was a very relaxing holiday and we didn't really go out much apart from out for dinner and even then we had quite a few take-aways and a few bbqs.

View from the upper balcony and pool (stolen from trip advisor)

It has been a busy week as we flew home late on Tuesday night and on Wednesday and Thursday me and my brother attended the first two days of Tennants Vital. Whilst the line-up wasn't as impressive as last year it was still very enjoyable. On the first day it started off with the Minutes who played last year as well and hadn't improved any, not really sure why they were booked. It was even harder to like them given that the singer kept saying "we are the f****** minutes!!!!" over and over and that was just at the end of the set. The Undertones famous for their song Teenage Kicks was the second band on and were decent enough but they are getting on a bit and none of their songs really has the magic of Teenage Kicks. The Vaccines were the main support and were very good. It was the second time I'd seen them live this year they also played Radio 1's Big Weekend. Kings of Leon were headlining day one and it was the first time I'd seen them live. They were very good and seemed to be enjoying themselves. The second day started off with Foy Vance who we missed but who I've heard is very good and I love his song-Be the song. Then we had Kodaline who seem to be the next big thing and I enjoyed their performance as did quite a few people apparently given the amount of people singing the lyrics to their songs.Jason Miraz was on next, I guess he was ok, wasn't really my cup of tea. The headliners were Snow Patrol who seemed to be a bit of boring choice given how many times they have played Northern Ireland before but it was made up by their great performance and the fact that its their only gig this year. Unfortunately on both nights it rained, whilst it wasn't too bad on Wednesday night, On Thursday night it absolutely poured down, we were soaked despite our waterproof coats. I was glad I wore my wellies, as a lot of the place was flooded and I dread to think what it was like for the third day (Tinie Tempah and other artists which didn't interest us).

New songs sounded pretty good as well

Thanks for reading.

Upgrade-Part 2

Back in a previous post I talked about all the problems I had trying to upgrade to a digital aid. The problems have finally mostly been sorted out and I have now been wearing my digital aid full time now that I don't need to swap back to the analog aid to be able to connect to my laptop or mp3 player. To be honest I don't think there is that much of a difference between them although the digital aid might be slightly better. That said there are still a few problems, firstly for whatever reason the middle setting on the audio receiver no longer works properly, instead of just letting me hear my mp3 player or laptop or whatever only I'm getting all the normal background noise as well. Its exactly the same as the third setting which is just slightly louder. Secondly whilst not having to take the shoe on and off to change the battery is great, the receiver doesn't seem to stay on completely tight so I have to push it back in and I'm worried about it possibly falling off. Thirdly I'm not sure if the second audiologist who sorted out the attachment turned off the mute program even though my mum told her not to or whether that was turned off before but I now cannot mute the hearing aid. This is a bit of a problem as there is no on/off switch (to turn it off you have to open the battery compartment) and the volume is controlled by buttons so you have to remember how many times you turned it down or up to get back to normal rather than just setting it a specific number.

Whilst these are annoying problems they are not major, what is more annoying is what we (mainly my mum) have to deal with from the audiology department. In the Part 1 I mentioned how the first audiologist had sent me away with the hearing aid full of programs which he knew wouldn't work with my type of hearing and then sent us away with the attachment for the digital aid which needed nearly microscopic screws to attach. There is also the revelation that I can have a second digital aid which nobody thought to mention when we were faffing about trying to get the analog aids repaired whenever they broke, being told that the were limited parts as they weren't made any more etc. Not to mention how rude even the secretaries in the department are with my mum facing an inquisition as to what she was there to collect (the second digital aid), who was it for etc. I think people who work in hospitals and especially what you would think to be less stressful departments such as audiology would be more polite and empathetic. They need to understand that people generally don't want to be there, they are taking time out of their day and nice manners go a long way. Another department which isn't great is eye department in which each time you go you have to talk to a different member of the consultants team and explain your medical history over each time. I think it is ironic that the most pleasant department(s) is the school of dentistry. Lets face it most people are like me and they hate going to the dentist/orthodontist but the people there whether they be secretaries, nurses, dentists or orthodontists are also polite and friendly, other departments could definitely learn from them. That said I know all hospitals are likely to be different but as I said I think hospital staff need to remember that people generally don't want to be there so they shouldn't have to deal with rude, unhelpful and frustrating staff as well.