The time is now for H.R. 3101

If ever there was a critical time for legislation, now is it when it comes
to H.R. 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of
2009. This legislation would do a number of things in the area of access to
telecommunications including the following"'
Require hearing aid compatibility (HAC) for cell phones.
Require accessible user interfaces for telecommunications devices.
Provide $10 million a year from the Universal Service Fund (USF) to fund the
purchase of telecommunications equipment for deaf-blind consumers.
Restore the requirement for video description.
Require that programming that moves to the Internet have video description
and closed captioning.
Require small devices to carry closed captioning and video description .

I've just outlined the key provisions of the bill. To date we only have 30
co-sponsors for this legislation. We need much more than that in order for
this legislation to move. Are we prepared to see this opportunity for
meaningful legislation in this area lost? I sure am not. I am not prepared
to be party to telling the deaf-blind community that we don't care about you
and your access needs. I'm not prepared to tell people who are blind or
visually impaired that they must have sighted assistance to set up a home
theater system. I'm not prepared to tell people who use hearing aids that
they can't have direct access to a cell phone. I'm not prepared to tell
people who are blind or visually impaired that they must pay extra for
access to all of the features of their cell phone. In short, I'm not
prepared to lose this opportunity and lose it we could if nothing happens
with this legislation.

If nothing happens this year, the legislation will die and must be
re-introduced next year. There's no guarantee that this will happen as no
one knows what the Congress will look like next year; and if we couldn't get
this done in a Democratically-controlled Congress, there's certainly no
guarantee that we'll even get this introduced in a Republican-controlled
one. Therefore, the time is now for H.R. 3101. Don't let this time pass
you by. Please contact your Representative in Congress and ask him or her
to co-sponsor this critical legislation. If you don't, the opportunity
could be lost for a generation. Are you prepared for this to happen? I'm
not.

Live from Washington

Today was the first full day of meetings here in Washington D.C. We had a
full agenda too.

We discussed how to advocate effectively for your school for the blind, how
to use ACB radio to get more content to more people, convention plans for
this summer and legal matters such as confidentiality, conflict of interest
and financial forms.

It was all good information but I do have concerns in one area. That area
is the use of ACB radio. I don't mind using it but we need to remember that
audio content doesn't work for everyone. There are some among us who don't
have enough hearing to make effective use of audio content.

I must say though that I am proud and excited to be here. I thought fondly
of who I think influenced me and thought of a couple of giants in ACB, one
living and one dearly departed. Both of these people have spoken up for the
db community. I would like to think that I have followed in their footsteps
although the shoes to be filled are large indeed.

That's all for today. We had a heavy load, especially at the end with all
of the legal stuff. That can get you down if you let it because it can seem
so big, bad and challenging. We as leaders can't let it get to us though.
If we do, we're done. I'm not ready to give up.

More thoughts from Washington tomorrow.

Batteries not being nice

Last week I had a day where a couple of batteries were not being nice at
all. First the left hearing aid battery went out. I got that fixed after
the nurse found the batteries and discovered that she had one left in the
size that I needed. Then, later the right one started doing the same thing.
I had to hope that this battery would make it until I got home, which it did
barely.

It's frustrating when you don't have both of them working as directionality
is messed up as is the amount of sound you hear. That's not a good thing at
work either, especially considering the fact that I work on the phone and
use a computer.

I got the second battery changed as soon as I got home and all was well with
that problem.

However, I have an ear mold that likes to show up once in a while and it has
decided to do just that. Once I'm done traveling, I'll get it looked at but
now is not the time. I don't know why it always shows up when I'm
traveling. I hate only having one hearing aid in is also a pain for the
same reasons mentioned above. I hate it too. I won't do that one outside
of home either as my mobility is royally messed up if I do and that's not a
good thing. If only that ear mold would behave. It would be very nice.

Adventures with a chili can

It was Super Bowl Sunday and my husband and I were making a dip to celebrate
prior to the game. There was one problem though. I was getting my
ingredients together as it was my turn to make the dip. It's a real easy
recipe too. I had the cream cheese and the chili and I knew where the
shredded cheese was. The problems is that I then lost track of the can of
chili.

I thought it was over by the chips on the south counter of our kitchen. We
both looked all over for it. And a minor shouting match was had over this
with me accusing him of throwing the thing out and him saying he didn't do
it. I finally went to a neighbor's place to have him help us look for the
can as both of us are blind. The neighbor found the can immediately when he
walked in. It was sitting on the north counter pretty as you please. If it
was any closer, it would have bitten both of us in the nose. I did move it
and forgot that I had done so. Boy was I embarrassed. How many shades of
red could I turn for that one? Also where was the nearest hole that I could
crawl into?

Believe me we had some laughter and a discussion with the can after that
one. The can of chili was promptly put into the dip and the dip prepared
and consumed. That can would not haunt us again..