G W

Comments:

• Yes, the Bluetooth support with my hearing aids is useful to me as well. They also link with Apple CarPlay and it helps to hear my map app directions. One thing to be aware of is that when a call comes in, I hear the ringer both thru my hearing aids and at the phone itself. Not an issue unless someone else happens to answer your phone for you, wondering why you’re not answering it. The reason you don’t answer might be because you’re in the loo and your phone isn’t. There has been a time or two that, once the phone itself was answered directly, my hearing aids went live with the call and became the priority communication line which I thankfully figured out very quickly.

  Post: Two Innovations That Can Improve Your Health by Dennis Friedman

  Link to comment from October 4, 2024

• I have significant hearing loss in both ears such that even hearing aids can only do so much. My new pair (replaced a four year old pair) offers enhanced features and results but as mentioned elsewhere, being in noisy environments and trying to focus on hearing a conversation is still nearly impossible. It is extremely frustrating. I have been using the Apple AirPods Pro 2 for a couple of years, usually when my wife heads to bed before I do. Having the TV audio piped directly to my ears (with AppleTV) lets me hear the sound much better and keeps the house quiet for her. This Pro 2 model has always offered the ability to tune your AirPods to your hearing test results chart from your audiologist. I am looking forward to the enhanced features coming soon to see what it can do to help me. I offer the following to those fortunate enough to hear well without the aid of a device:

  • Please be patient with those that have hearing loss. My family could not understand why I no longer enjoyed going to restaurants or entertainment venues and opted out of several offers and gatherings. It is very frustrating as it all just sounds like loud, garbled noise. For me, high pitched shrills at certain frequencies are actually painful. My family just could not understand that and it caused difficulties in relationships. Still does, actually, but better than before. It can make you feel ashamed because you may not be able to participate fully in life.
  • When a person gets hearing aids for the first time (or even a better pair), it can be a sensory overload and overwhelming. I had to step up my daily usage over time but things like our dog barking can be taxing. Positive encouragement and talking about it helps.
  • At times, I simply do not wear my hearing aids because the quiet is blissful. Reading books at home is an example. However, this is a bad practice and hearing aids should worn during waking hours whenever possible, per my audiologist/tech. They can be adjusted to help lower ambient noise, such as when you’re riding in a car. I don’t need to enhance my hearing of road noise.
  • There is much good info out there on how your brain processing of audio changes with hearing loss. You might find it helpful.
  I am a member/customer and shareholder of both Apple and Costco. I was ripped off badly by a private audiologist many years ago and gave up on hearing aids for several years due to ongoing frustration (bad idea). I have only the most positive of opinions of my local Costco hearing aid department and the people there. You will likely find that their pricing is 3-4X lower with much better warranties versus private entities (for the same models). They cannot address hearing loss that goes beyond their product offerings and expertise but I’d go back there in a heartbeat if I needed help to see what they might be able to do. I hope you find this personal perspective helpful.

  Post: Two Innovations That Can Improve Your Health by Dennis Friedman

  Link to comment from October 4, 2024

• Never went out to eat much in my early years at home. Just not in the family budget. Take-out pizza once in a while. One great childhood thrill was when my buddy and I found a $5 bill in the alley behind one of three corner bars at the end of our neighborhood. Our nine year old selves decided to be big shots and headed over to The Clock Diner (more or less like a Denny’s) about a 1/2 mile away along the same route we walked to and from school (no hills either way!). After showing the waitress that we actually had money to spend, we carefully calculated what we could afford including a tip and proceeded to dine like kings for a day on burgers and fries at the counter. Somehow, a couple of chocolate milkshakes ended up in front of us that we didn’t order and they weren’t on the bill either. Our waitress assured us that all was well. Finished up, plopped the fiver on the counter, thanked our waitress and headed home. We may have forgotten to ask permission before starting on our way but I think the statute of limitations has expired over the past 55 years.

  Post: Food for Thought by Ken Cutler

  Link to comment from September 30, 2024

• 100% with you on your last paragraph. So, we have the choice here to not engage in that nonsense. Bravo! Regarding a less expensive environment, that’s what I’ve been pondering. Both of us had very used cars. Married in 1982, just shy of broke, $350 for a cake and coffee reception for 50 people and both of us back to work on Monday. Had an apartment for about a year while I was still in school. Graduated in 1983 and hired full time from our co-op program as a Mfg. Eng. Thought we struck gold! We bought our first home, a 1&1/2 story brick bungalow with an octopus gravity furnace and a single car garage that resembled the leaning Tower of Pisa. $42,000 just outside Detroit, at what I believe was a 15% mortgage rate. Ready to add our first to the roost. Was that good compared to today? I don’t know but we kept on plowing ahead, probably because we didn’t know there was any other option we wanted to pursue. Best lesson from first boss; spend a lot less than you earn, always (parting sentence from a discussion regarding a possible raise).

  Post: How did it all work for us? Why not now?

  Link to comment from September 25, 2024

• This article can be a good prompt to think through each of our life journeys - the good, the not so good and all of it in-between - and how we learned and made better decisions to be where we are today. Admittedly, any discussion about (more) government hand-outs gets me roiled. In that vein, let’s also not forget the ever pending student loan forgiveness push. For now, let’s put all that back in the box and close the lid. One very important point that Richard mentions that I am fortunate to share is that we were and are a two parent family. I have been and continue to be amazed by single parent families pushing through every day to raise their kids in the best way they can afford to. I cannot even begin to imagine what that is like. Daycare costs alone could sink many families ability to stay afloat.

  Post: How did it all work for us? Why not now?

  Link to comment from September 25, 2024

• Curious, if you use auto-fill for your login ID and password for an account and receive a bogus link via email to login, would your personal device security deny the attempt because certain things are not recognized or found in the bogus link or bogus look-alike website? Not that one should rely on this possible “feature” as another level of security. I’m more curious where the secret handshake occurs (if any) in the process to validate or invalidate the site using auto-fill. indeed, it’s best to never click on a link if you can’t be sure of it’s legitimacy but as stated elsewhere, the crooks are getting better in advancing deception.

  Post: Stay Safe Out There

  Link to comment from September 22, 2024

• Over many years, I’ve had several instances where I was undercharged or not charged for an item. In our early days, I caught a $300 undercharge for paving the driveway of our new house. Most regrettably, after paying for what I agreed to, I seem to end up on the short end of the deal where the final result ends up shoddy or incomplete or I am overcharged on other items or didn’t get the promised discount. My feeling on this is that such undercharges, “are not my money”, so I should do the right thing. Amazingly, I’ve never been undercharged at the grocery store so I get my money refunded on the next trip to the store for mistakes.

  Post: Getting Rolled by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from September 18, 2024

• Dan, in most but not all cases, Costco’s online site will often state that a lower price may be available in-store for a given product. I recently discovered via an article somewhere, that Costco is running a test for some customers where you can now search a store inventory and price of said product via the app (select warehouse, see new store search bar). This avoids having to call the store to see if the product is available there, which I’ve had to do many times. This has been helpful. In some cases, I’ve gladly paid a few extra bucks to have something bulky and/or very heavy delivered, like metal shelving, rather than dealing with a store trip. Our UPS guy even lends a hand getting it in the garage.

  Post: Getting Rolled by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from September 18, 2024

• Another great piece, Adam. Over time, I did well with larger purchases of Apple and JPM purchased back in 2008/2010. In particular, I recall being quite nervous about the Apple purchases. In more recent times, it was difficult to watch their share prices stagnate while other companies were soaring. I sold off some good size chunks of my beloved stocks to get into the likes of a few AI focused stocks and built up their positions in my portfolio over a couple of years. Pretty enjoyable watching our assets grow so much so quickly but now those positions are oversized and it’s time to trim and adjust as early lots have reached LTCG status. I must say, it is mighty hard to let go of some portions of your big gainers, again. The bigger problem now is, “…and buy what now with the proceeds?” After experiencing this multi-year sugar rush, and looking now for more stable G&I positions for my total portfolio, I find the returns to be lackluster and boring in comparison. This is part of the danger here. I’ve been very fortunate indeed but it’s time to adjust. However, I can definitely understand many investors not wanting to leave the gravy train.

  Post: Growth Isn’t Enough

  Link to comment from September 15, 2024

• Amen!

  Post: My Path to Peace

  Link to comment from September 3, 2024