Nothing catastrophic has occurred yet as a result of missing LENS. At least, I'm pretty sure having LENS today would not improve the quality of this webinar I'm watching. As someone who works with microphones multiple times a month, it physically makes me squirm and twitch when people aren't properly using their microphones or aren't properly miked.
I'm going to have a headache by the time this webinar (topic: Work Transitions for Youths with Disabilities) is done. It's building in the back of my neck. I can't hear the presenters because they're muffled. As far as I can tell, they've just set up a webcam in front of the presenter (among a roomful of people!), pointed it at the presenter, and went "meh, good enough." You really need a recording microphone if your setup is that muffled. You just do. Anyway, to make the presenters actually intelligible, I turned up the volume a ton. My decibel tracking app declares I shouldn't be busting an eardrum anytime soon (max level has been 75 dB), but the quality of the sound varies between sharp and muffled. So maybe that explains it.
Speaking of sound-related problems, my noise-cancelling headphones did not work out. Despite good ratings, they did almost nothing for me, so they're on their way back to Amazon. I'll have to figure out something else. In the meantime, I've crabbily bought myself a bulk pack of earplugs. My doctor recommended getting those over-ear earplug-things you see guys on riding lawnmowers wearing. She says they're like $20. I might try to get a pair of those, and put the foam earplugs under them. Consumer earplugs, you see, are limited to about 30 dB of sound blockage. You can find as high as 35 dB, sometimes, but that's about as high as it goes. Between my oversensitive ears/brain, I don't consider that enough. I doubt putting two kinds of earplugs together will give me additive sound blocking (30 dB foam earplugs + 32 dB over-ear eargplugs = 62 dB), but I could see getting about 50 dB blocked that way. That might be enough.
Nothing super exciting has happened this week yet, but Chris and I will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary of dating in a few days. In brief: we dated long distance for a couple years, then last year he moved here to be with me. The transition has been challenging, but we've been up to the task. My parents and other family are getting a little antsy for a wedding, which... I get, but I can't exactly summon money out of nowhere. Chris has student loans, we want to get a house (and he needs a better bed), and none of this precisely happens quickly.
In truth, 3 years seems a lot longer than it actually has been. Long distance is kind of getting to know each other, kind of not. While Chris and I were honest with each other, it wasn't like you could just go from knowing someone online to being sure you could spend the rest of your life with them. Or at least I can't. I'm not that optimistic and trusting. Having gotten to know Chris more over the last year or so, I think we could do the lifetime thing. But unless some of my impatient relatives would like to drum up some help towards our various costs, they're going to have to wait a bit longer.
In the meantime, we're thinking of celebrating a bit with a meal outside the house, and I'm probably going to help him get something he's wanted for awhile. By the time this posts, he should have already chosen, so I can spoil it here. The new Star Wars movie is coming, he loves Star Wars, and he's always wanted a lightsaber. Not the kiddie toy plastic lightsaber, an actual sturdy one. So I'm going to give him a choice: he can either buy one with some help from me (I'll cover about 2/3rds the cost of one), or I'll pay for him to make one at a local makerspace. (Makerspace (n): a building and community where people can go to fabricate projects. Usually supported and run by the community, often contains equipment you would only find in industrial settings. In this particular space, you pay a flat fee to get help making your project, and bring the materials yourself.)
I'm kinda hoping he opts for making his own, because that's way more awesome than just buying one. Still, he's keeping himself pretty busy, so perhaps he won't feel he has time. Either way, it will hopefully make him happy.
I'm going to have a headache by the time this webinar (topic: Work Transitions for Youths with Disabilities) is done. It's building in the back of my neck. I can't hear the presenters because they're muffled. As far as I can tell, they've just set up a webcam in front of the presenter (among a roomful of people!), pointed it at the presenter, and went "meh, good enough." You really need a recording microphone if your setup is that muffled. You just do. Anyway, to make the presenters actually intelligible, I turned up the volume a ton. My decibel tracking app declares I shouldn't be busting an eardrum anytime soon (max level has been 75 dB), but the quality of the sound varies between sharp and muffled. So maybe that explains it.
Speaking of sound-related problems, my noise-cancelling headphones did not work out. Despite good ratings, they did almost nothing for me, so they're on their way back to Amazon. I'll have to figure out something else. In the meantime, I've crabbily bought myself a bulk pack of earplugs. My doctor recommended getting those over-ear earplug-things you see guys on riding lawnmowers wearing. She says they're like $20. I might try to get a pair of those, and put the foam earplugs under them. Consumer earplugs, you see, are limited to about 30 dB of sound blockage. You can find as high as 35 dB, sometimes, but that's about as high as it goes. Between my oversensitive ears/brain, I don't consider that enough. I doubt putting two kinds of earplugs together will give me additive sound blocking (30 dB foam earplugs + 32 dB over-ear eargplugs = 62 dB), but I could see getting about 50 dB blocked that way. That might be enough.
Nothing super exciting has happened this week yet, but Chris and I will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary of dating in a few days. In brief: we dated long distance for a couple years, then last year he moved here to be with me. The transition has been challenging, but we've been up to the task. My parents and other family are getting a little antsy for a wedding, which... I get, but I can't exactly summon money out of nowhere. Chris has student loans, we want to get a house (and he needs a better bed), and none of this precisely happens quickly.
In truth, 3 years seems a lot longer than it actually has been. Long distance is kind of getting to know each other, kind of not. While Chris and I were honest with each other, it wasn't like you could just go from knowing someone online to being sure you could spend the rest of your life with them. Or at least I can't. I'm not that optimistic and trusting. Having gotten to know Chris more over the last year or so, I think we could do the lifetime thing. But unless some of my impatient relatives would like to drum up some help towards our various costs, they're going to have to wait a bit longer.
In the meantime, we're thinking of celebrating a bit with a meal outside the house, and I'm probably going to help him get something he's wanted for awhile. By the time this posts, he should have already chosen, so I can spoil it here. The new Star Wars movie is coming, he loves Star Wars, and he's always wanted a lightsaber. Not the kiddie toy plastic lightsaber, an actual sturdy one. So I'm going to give him a choice: he can either buy one with some help from me (I'll cover about 2/3rds the cost of one), or I'll pay for him to make one at a local makerspace. (Makerspace (n): a building and community where people can go to fabricate projects. Usually supported and run by the community, often contains equipment you would only find in industrial settings. In this particular space, you pay a flat fee to get help making your project, and bring the materials yourself.)
I'm kinda hoping he opts for making his own, because that's way more awesome than just buying one. Still, he's keeping himself pretty busy, so perhaps he won't feel he has time. Either way, it will hopefully make him happy.
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