Sharp R-21LC Microwave, Blind Friendly

Mfg: Sharp
Model: R-21LCF
Description: Commercial medium duty microwave oven, 1000 Watts, 1 Cu FT.
Price: $265
User manual and more info

One of the bad thing of me having low vision is I can't see well enough to operate appliance with flat control panel.  The button labels on many flat panels are too small and/or have poor contrast, and I can't find the correct button to push by feel.  So when my Panasonic microwave oven died last month, I went searching for a microwave oven with mechanical buttons or with control knob.  Well, no luch finding a microwave with mechanical button, but I found this easy to use Sharp microwave oven.

The Sharp R-21LCF is very simple to operate.  It only has one large knob to set the cooking time and no LCD display.  There is no power level button, no pop corn button, no defrost button, etc.  This is just fine because I only use the microwave to reheat foods.

The timer marking on the dial is backlighted but the numbers are too small for me to read.  But fear not, the knob has tactile feedback, so I just count the number of clicks to set the cooking time.  For example, 10 clicks equal 2 minutes.  To stop the microwave, just open the door, this would reset the timer back to zero.

There is no turn table with this microwave but the food seem to be reheated evenly.  Without the turn table, clean up is easy.I found the interior light too dim to be useful for me. 

The drawing below is the knob dial.  I count the number of clicks to set the cooking time, each click corresponds to a markng on the dial.   For example:

• 5 clicks = 50 seconds
• 12 clicks = 2.5 minutes
• 16 clicks = 4 minutes

T

Update 7/21/2017
The microwave oven die after 3 uears and 3 months, soom after the 3 years warranty priod.   The reason I paid high dollar for this commercial microwave oven was hoping it would last much longer than 3 years.  We only use the oven at most 30 minutes per day, it is very disappointing it die under such light usage.

GW Micro Portable CCTV Review

I borrowed this portable CCTV for some tests to see if this is something I would like to add to my low vision tool.

Mfg: GW Micro
Model #: P430
Description: SenseView Portable CCTV
Note: This is a discontinued product, but you might find an used one on eBay for about $100.  Price new few years ago was around $700.

Specification Summary:

• Screen size: 4.3 inch LCD
• Magnification levels: 4x to 22x
• Brightness levels: 4
• Color mode: 6
• Snapshot: 1 image.  The captured image can't be saved or transferred to a PC.   The image would be lost when you turn off the device.
• Battery life: about 4 hours on a full charge

The portable CCTV package also includes AC adapter, hand strap, soft carrying pouch, and user guide.

I tested this portable CCTV with the following common tasks:

Reading the label on a pill bottle

This is a two-hand operation.  I used one hand to hold the portable CCTV and the other hand hold the pill bottle against the camera lens.  To read the whole label, I had to rotate the pill bottle back and fore and up and down.  If I want to change any control, I would need a third hand.  If I move the bottle just bit away from the camera lens, the label would be out of focus and not readable.  I think my handheld 5x magnifying glass can do the same task almost as well.

   

     Pill bottle label. Normal color.

 

 

  

      Pill bottle label.  Reversed color.


Reading Books

The portable CCTV is not suitable to read softcover books at all and just barely usable for hardcover books.  The problem is that you can only see couple of words at a time at its lowest magnification level and can only see few letters at a higher magnification level. However, this device did a great job of showing phone numbers in a phone book at a higher magnification level.  In all cases, the words near the book spine were out of focus. 

Writing check

Forget about it, I couldn't use this thing to help me to see in order to write anything.  As soon as I lift this device off the checkbook or any paper, everything is out of focus.

What it good for

The only thing that this device can do well is reading something flat like a bill, a newspaper or a restaurant menu, etc.  I had to slide this device across the page slowly otherwise I would lost track between the end of one line and the beginning of next line.  The brightness control and various color modes are also helpful in some situations.

 

 

Shopping

Since this is a portable CCTV, I took it to grocery shopping.  There is no belt clip on the carry pouch so I had to put it in my jacket packet.  To use it, I have to pull the device out of the carrying pouch, put the pouch back in the pocket.  To read a label, I had to tell my guide dog to sit and stay in order to free my other hand so I can hold the package against the camera lens.  To change control, I either put the package back or need a third hand.  It was fairly easy to read the label on cardboard boxes but need some work to read the label on plastic packages, bottles and cans.I have to remember to use the hand strap  just so I don't accidently drop this expensive  device.  I think this is way too much hassle for this task.

My take

 This is a good example of an expensive widget that don't do much better than a much cheaper and simpler tool.  I did like the reverse color mode.  Unless you really need a high magnification device with different color mode, just use a handheld magnifying glass.

 

 

   This 5X magnifying glass with LED works as almost as well at much cheaper price.

My Experience with Acupuncture Treatment

Recently I read couple of books on alternative medicine, see book titles below.

Both books basically said alternative medicine don’t offer any real benefit, any perceived benefit is purely a placebo effect.  I was especially interested in the section on acupuncture and herbal medicine because I had some personal experiences on both.  Following were three different conditions that I have treated with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine with mixed result.

Hypertension

My first experience I had with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was in mid-1990.  I was taking couple of medication to control my high blood pressure.   While the medication worked fairly well but I really hated the side effects.   I happen to read an article about TCM and its effectiveness on high blood pressure.  Even though I was very skeptical about how the Chi, a.k.a life energy, would affect one's health, I gave TCM a try just in case it really works.

During the first session the TCM doctor took my pulse on the wrist, looked at my tongue and declared me I had kidney deficiency, which would affect my blood pressure.  .  The TCM doctor didn’t even check my blood pressure or ask what medication I was taking.  She prescribed acupuncture, cupping, and Chinese herbal medicine to treat my kidney deficiency.  When I ask her how soon would I see improvement, she just said everyone is different, and I might take many acupuncture sessions to see improvement. 

During the first session, I had about two dozens of needles placed all over my body front and back.  Couple of needles was connected to some sort of electronic device for electric stimulation.  I also had cupping done on the back of my body.  At the end of the session I was given a bottle of pills for kidney health.   I was told not to take my medication and the Chinese herbal pill at the same time. 

I went for three more acupuncture and cupping sessions.  I had a very accurate blood pressure monitor at home and I didn’t see much change in my reading between sessions.  When I question the result, she just said TCM treatment is very gentle and may take long time to work for some people and told me keep coming for the treatment.  She also said I have to have faith in acupuncture in order for it to work.  What the heck? Is TCM a religion?

I decided not to continue with TCM treatment after four sessions because I didn’t see any tangible result for my money.  Who know, TCM might work for me in few more sessions but it is getting too costly for me.  Beside my medication and exercise regiment seem to control my blood pressure fairly well at much lower cost.

Tinnitus and Vertigo

In early 2000, I began to have ringing in my ear, a condition known as tinnitus.  I also experienced fullness in the ear, which often time caused vertigo attack.  The vertigo attack could happen at anytime with little warning.  The severity of the vertigo attack could very mild, which only cause slight sense of losing balance to very severe, which I couldn’t even stand up. 

To make the story short, an ENT specialist treated me for the first few months without any success.  The vertigo was getting worst and I missed many work days.  Some thime I couldn’t even get out of bed because I had the sensation of everything spin around me.  I had a MRI on my head and ear and everything were normal.  I tried few medications and had no relief from the vertigo.  The ENT thought I might have meniere's disease but he need to do more tests to confirm it.  By then I was sick and tire of all the tests and medications.  I had the feeling the doctor had no clue on what’s wrong with my ear. 

Out of desperation,  I went to see a TCM doctor for help.  This is a different TCM doctor, he was a MD as well as TCM doctor.  After he checked my blood pressure, took my pulse, and looked at my tongue, he said I have kidney deficiency.  He said acupuncture and Chinese medicine should help my condition.  He also said I should see improvement in about 10 treatments.

I noticed some improvement with tinnitus after the first acupuncture treatment.   I had two treatments per week.  I had about dozen of needles in my body at each acupuncture session.  Couple of needles were attached to an electronics device.  After six treatments, my innitus was completely gone.  I haven’t had any major vertigo attack for years.  I still have very mild dizziness once in a long while.  So, if this is a placebo effect, I like it and money well spent.  However, I don't think my cure had anything to do with acupuncture, but rather  probably  coincident with unexplained remission, there still a lot we don't know about our body.  The doctor might be just lucky to hit a nerve to turn off my problems.  The next person who sought this treatment might not be that lucky.

    Over Active Bladder

Last year, I start having over active bladder issue.  After trying five different medications, I finally found one that was somewhat helpful but I don’t really like the side effects.  So I gave TCM another try.

The TCM doctor who treated my tinnitus and vertigo had moved to another city and I found another TCM doctor who said one of her specialty was treating bladder issue.  On my first visit, she took my pulse and looked at my tongue and declared me I had kidney deficiency,  what the heck?  BTW, as part of medical exam, my kidneys were checked by my urologist and they were normal.  I did some checking, it seem that kidney deficiency got blamed for  many ailments.

I had four acupuncture treatments with this doctor and had no improvement at all.  In all four acupuncture sessions, she placed couple needles at my lower abdominal area, my ankles, and wrists.  The needles at my abdominal were hooked up to electrodes.  I had strong contraction with my bladder when the electrodes were on and had very strong urge to pee.  I thought that was good sign because my bladder was reacting to the acupuncture but it didn’t really improve my situation after treatments.   The doctor urged me to try few more sessions but I decided to stop because I don’t think it would help. 

My bladder problem was later determined caused by enlarged prostate and was treated with GreenLight laser surgery.  I talk about the surgery in this later blog post.

 

Would I try acupuncture treatment on retinitis Pigmentosa?  Probably not but I keep the option open. The challenge is to find a local acupuncturist who know how to treat RP.   I had mentioned to the last two TCM doctors that I have RP, but they just gave me a questioning look.  Apparently they never heard of RP let alone knowing how to treat it.  Anyway, if the next TCM doctor I find say my RP is due to kidney deficiency, I probably just walk out.   

 Couple of small studies seem to suggest acupuncture might help RP.  See my blog post on RP treatment.

  Books

If you have access to BARD, you can download the following 2 books.  They are very informative about alternative medicine.

• Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine.  By Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh.  Book Review
• Do You Believe In Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine.  By Paul Offit, MD.      Book Review

 

                                                           

 

Our Valentine's day

See what you can look for after years of marriage.

Me: feel like go out for lunch?  It is Valentine’s day today.

Wife: sure if you want to.
Me: it is really up to you, do you feel like driving?
Wife: I don’t mind driving, where do you want to eat?
Me: How about some Dim Sum?
Wife: fine, if this is what you like.
Me: well, you can choose too, is Dim Sum OK with you?
Wife: it is OK, lets go.
 

After 30 minutes of driving, we arrived at our favor Dim Sum restaurant.  The waiter put us in the usual corner booth because it has larger space under the table for my guide dog.

We ordered some shrimp dumpling, chicken feet, and couple other Dim Sum dishes.  We set about half  the dishes aside to take home when my wife wanted to order something from the menu.

Wife: lets order something special from the menu.

Me: sure.
Wife: what do you like to eat?
Me:  we both liked that chicken in XO sauces last time we we were here, do you want to have that again?
Wife: not this time, I want to try something new.
Me: OK, you have the menu, I let you pick.
Wife: do you want to see the menu?
Me: I wish I could, why don’t you  read out few choices to me?
Wife: oops, I forgot you can’t see, ha ha.

After few minutes, she was still reading the menu, I ate a dumpling that that we suppose to bring home.

Wife: this ox tails in red wine sauces sounds interesting, do you want to try it?

Me:  sounds good, I just hope they can cook the ox tail as tasty as you did few days ago.
Wife: oh, I forgot we just had ox tail for dinner not long ago, let me pick something else, beside it is kind of pricey.
Me:  don’t worry about the price, just pick something you like.  Remember uncle Sam gave me few more dollars in my SS disability check this year.
Wife:  you sure?  I don’t want to spend your medication money.
Me: no problem,  enjoy it while we still have teeth.

 Few more minutes pass, I ate couple more take home dim sum.

Wide:  you like Kung Po Chicken?

Me: sure, but I thought you want something new? We had that many time already.
Wife: oh, yeh. I forgot, let me look again.
Me: Kung Po chicken is fine, it this is what you want, I am hungery.
Wife: Ok, just give me few more minutes to look at the menu again.

 In the mean time, I ate all the rest take home dumplings.

Wife:  I can’t decide, there are too many choices.  Do you want the see the menu…oops,

I forgot.  Big laugh and knocked over the teacup with the menu.  Guide dog Muddy licked the tea from the floor.

Me:  no problem, take your time.  I am full already and I can’t eat any more.

Wife: I can’t finished the dish by myself, if you don’t want to eat, I don’t want to order anymore.
Me: you can always eat half and take the other half home.
Wife: no.  Lets go home, I am hungry.
Me: do you want to buy some thing to bring home?
Wife: no, I can eat the leftover dinner  from last night.
Me:  ok, this is cheap date.
Wife: I thought you said money is no problem.
Me: well, it is always nice to stick to the budget….and more boring exchanges with the wife.

 I hope you had a more romantic time.

 

 

 

 

 

Work, work, work

  The following story in part helped me to decide retire early.  I was hoping to work few more years to build up my retirement fund but I was having daily headache and eyestrain from looking at the computer monitor all day long.  I finally decided my well being is more important than money.

Work, Work, Work

Author: unknown



 

 

A long time ago, there was an Emperor  who told his horseman  that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered.

   

Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could.  He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse  to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible.

 

Came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted  and was  dying. Then he asked himself,  "Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying  and I only need a very small area to bury  myself."

 

The above story is similar with the journey of our Life. We push very hard everyday to make more  money, to gain power and  recognition. We neglect our health, time with our family  and to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we love.

 

One day when we look back, we will realize that we don't really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time  for what we have missed. 

 

Life is not about making money, acquiring power or recognition. Life is definitely not about work! Work is only necessary to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty  and pleasures of life. Life is a balance of Work and Play, Family and Personal time. You have to decide how you want to balance your Life. Define your priorities, realize what you are able to compromise but always let some of your decisions be based on your instincts.  Happiness  is the meaning and the purpose of Life, the whole aim of human existence.

So, take it easy, do what you want to do and appreciate nature. Life is fragile, Life is short. Do not take Life for granted. Live a balanced  lifestyle and enjoy Life! 

 

 

 

Guide Dog Info

Using a guide dog or a cane is a very personal decision.  Factors such as your life style, living environment, financial, etc could all inference your decision.  Consider the following Pros and Cons too.

Pros and Cons of a cane

• Obstacle detection - you know something on your path when your cane bump into it.
• Extra effort on user
• Can't hug your cane after work
• Social empathy - people seem to avoid or not notice you
• Much lower cost and no up keep - no extra mouth to feed, no poop to pick up
• No additional training

Pros and Cons of a guide dog

• Obstacle avoidance -you might not even aware something on your path because the dog guide you around the obstacle
• Extra safety margin
• Companionship - your best friend after work
• Social ice-breaker - people want to talk to you about your dog
• Like having baby who never grow up
• Higher cost and more up keep
• Additional training beyond OM training

       

A Typical Guide Dog

• Most guide dog school use Lab Retriever
• puppies spent their first 12 - 18 months with puppy raisers for basic training
• If a dog is accepted in to guide dog school, it would receive 4 to 6 months of professional guide dog training
• Usually matched with a handler at the age of 2
• A guide dog typical service life is 8 to 10 years
• Retire as a pet

  

Guide Dog Schools

There are about dozen of guide dog schools in the US.  Some are regional schools which only accept clients from their nearby area.  Other schools accept clients from all over even from oversea.  The training program is free for qualified clients.   Some schools have home training only while others have home, residential and combo training program.   The following link has more info on each guide dog school.

Guide Dog Schools Info

      

Typical Training Program

• Training program usually 3 to 4 weeks in length
• Learn to walk on various side walk and street crossing
• Day and night walking
• Move around in various type of building and business establishments.
• Ride in bus, subway, train, and private car.
• learn to use escalator, elevator, and stair
• Dog care, dog obedience and counter-distraction training
• Access law

   

A trained guide dog should...

• Guide a handler from curb to curb and avoid any obstacle along the way
• Stop at the curb, top and bottom of stair and wait for command
• Cross the street on command but only if safe to do so
• Find stair, door way, empty chair, etc

   

A guide dog can't...

• read traffic lights.  The handler must decide when to cross the street
• get you home when you are lost
• take you to a place without direction
• defend you if you are underattack
• eat, drink, poop, or play when in harness

    

Access Law

• All 50 states have guide dog access law
• The access law guarantees the guide dog can accompany the hander to any place that is open to public.  These places including restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, and all types of public transportation without additional charges.
• Taking a guide dog to zoo, dog parks and amusement pards are not recommended.

      Guide Dog Access Law By State

 

FAQ

People are very curious about guide dog.  When I go out, I was frequently asked the following questions.

• What is your dog's name?  I usually say her name is secret. 
• Are you training the dog?  May be I don't look blind enough to use a dog?
• May I pet you dog?  My dog wears a vest with the word " Working dog, Do not Pet",  at least they ask before petting my dog.
• How does the dog know where to go?
• How do you pick up the poop when you can't see?

Three Laws of Guide Work

 

1. A guide dog must not injure his partner or, by inaction or distraction, allow his partner to be harmed.

2.   A guide dog must obey any command given to him by his partner, except where such command would conflict with the first law.

3.   A guide dog must have fun while doing his job as long as such fun would not conflict with the first and second law.

 Adapted from Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics

  

Guide Dog Muddy

Guide dogs are like people, they all have their unique personality.  The  above were textbook description of a ideal guide dog.  The reality is that a dog's personality is not moded from a cookie cutter, they are not robots running on a same program.  

  

I received my first guide dog, Muddy, in 2009.    She is not an ideal guide dog as described above.  She is easily distracted by other dogs, small animals, and foods while we out walking.  The school has been very helpful by sending instructor out to my home to work with us to resolve the problem.  They even took Muddy back to the school for 3 months for retraining.  Although Muddy's guide work has improved somewhat but she is still far from ideal.  It just seem Muddy is in constant training mode.  With all that said, she is still very helpful in my daily life.  

     

 

More Info

•  Funnyguide dog video

How to save big on Black Friday

I love Thanksgiving because I am looking forward to save big on Black Friday shopping.  This year, some stores call this big shopping event Black November or month long Black Friday event. Since I am on a fixed disability income, I have to watch how I spend my money.  Anyway, here is how I save big using my 3-step secret shopping technique as mention in my previous post.

 I have been thinking to buy a larger screen TV for the past few months because the remote for my 37-inch LCD TV is broken and I want a TV that can stream online content, like YouTube and Amonzon Prime video.  So when Walmart had the 50-inch Samsung Plasmas TV on pre Black Friday sales for less than $450 ($200 off), I was very interested in buying one.  But wait,I want to save even more, so I put my secret technique to use.

Step 1:  I asked myself do I really need this widget?  My TV is still in good condition other than a broken remote.  Unlike the Samsung TV, my current TV has all kind of connectors to connect to my other devices.  The Samsung TV only has couple of HDMI port and one component video port, so I would not able to use my VCR and my older video game console.  But I still want to watch online content.

Step 2:  Is there an alternative solution?  Yes, I could get an universal replacement remote for $10.  I could also get a low end Roku streaming device for $40 to watch online content. While a larger screen would be nice, but I don’t want to throw out a working TV for that.

Step 3:  I slept on it for couple of days to go over step one and two.  Finally, I decided the alternate solution is good enough for me.  So, instead spending $450, I only spent $50, saving of $400.

Update November 2015,  I finally bought a Samsung 48" TV at a very good price.

Hay…I just saw a multi-core PC on sales too.  Let me exercise the shopping technique again.

In summary, the secret of saving big is not to do impulse buying.

 

 Happy Thanksgiving and happy shopping, feel free to use my technique to save big. ☺