Today I had a follow-up interview for my hearing-aids. The appointment was at 10:30 at the Whittington Hospital. I like the Whittington, partly for the good care I receive there and partly because its logo is a black cat (see left). This, of course, is in honour of Dick Whittington, who was Lord Mayor of London in the 14th and 15th centuries and is associated in legends and fairy tales with a black cat.
This other picture shows a piece of wall art (too grand, surely, to be called “graffiti”) at Archway where I pass on the way to the hospital.
Friday, as you may recall, dear reader, is by tradition Omelette Day, and I also needed cat food, which meant a brief visit to Camden Town. Fitting all that in was not going to be easy.
The follow-up consisted of a half-hour interview during which I was presented with three imaginary scenarios and asked how difficult it had been to cope with them before I had the hearing aids and what improvement, if any, I noticed now. The scenarios were:
1. Watching TV;
2. A conversation with a single person in noisy surroundings; and
3. A conversation with several people.
I was able to say that all three had been difficult and frustrating before and that there was now some improvement. My hearing was still far from perfect, and I still had to ask people to repeat things on occasion but the hearing aids certainly helped.
I also mentioned that when I spoke, it was like speaking with my fingers in my ears. The interviewer said she could do something about that and reprogrammed my “dolbies” on the spot. There is some improvement but the sensation persists. Maybe I will get used to it.
I emerged from the hospital at 11:05 and had to think whether I could manage to get down to Tigger in time for omelettes and pick up cat food on the way. I decided to give it a try and returned to Archway tube station where I took a train south. I broke my journey at Camden Town, bought cat food and boarded another train. I reached Tigger on the pip of noon. Not bad going.
We duly had our omelettes and chatted with our friends at the Court Cafe, then I returned home to write this blog. Yes, dear reader, I always have you in mind!
The weekend is once more upon us and we shall no doubt spend it in some appropriate manner. I shall let you know.
Tags: black cat, hearing aids, omelettes
