Stuff. Things. Hearing Technology! Woot!
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
So.. I recently acquired a new cell phone. Got one with a QWERTY keyboard because I do far more texting and IM’ing than conversing on the phone. Typing faster is a huge bonus.
It also has Bluetooth, my previous phone did not. However, because of hearing aids it is impossible for me to wear those lovely Borg implant-like Bluetooth earpieces. I have instead a device called ELi. My hearing aids already hook over my ear, and the ELi simply plugs into the bottom of one and feeds audio into the aid. However, my opinion is that the ELi is crap. Static is awful. I also have something called a Mach II. This is stereo-capable, and cables plug into the bottom of both hearing aids. The Y-cable connects to a small device I pin to my shirt and it’s connected via Bluetooth to my phone. This is cumbersome and more of a nuisance than a normal hearing person wearing a headset.
Thanks to the long awaited return of hearingmojo.com, an excellent blog of hearing impairment news maintained by someone who deals with the same day to day challenges I encounter, I’ve learned that Oticon now has a line of hearing aids with Bluetooth receivers built in - sort of. There’s still the requirement of a middle man “sync” device to go between the phone and the hearing aids. Probably necessary because Bluetooth is a power hog and would kill hearing aid batteries very rapidly. Nevertheless, it’s a step towards more equal accessibility for people with a hearing loss.
Speaking of this subject, Martina and I are taking American Sign Language beginning in August. I just paid my tuition. I’m anxious to get started already, I wished that I could take the quick daytime summer session but careerism screws that all to hell.
More hearing news. CapTel. Whether this would be permitted at work is unknown due to sensitivity but it’s also possible because it falls under ADA compliance. CapTel is a sibling of TTY but the transcriber is transparent to the calling parties. I would talk to and hear others on the line while a CapTel operator transcribes this onto a 5 line LCD on the phone. Apparently I can qualify for this for free as part of a federal fund. I’m going to look into it. The long distance issue (they bill you for calls, but I have free LD with Vonage) and whether VoIP providers like Vonage qualify.
And there’s a quick blog. More later. 
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My name is Erik Heinz and I am the ArizonaGuy.
Right proudly high over Dublin town…
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
…they hung out the flag of war.
91 years ago today marked the beginning of the end to British rule in Ireland. So I go on about this? Remember, I’m the one who has an oddly deep rooted connection to a place and culture I’ve never genuinely been a part of. It’s important to me.
Right, moving on then. Family. I’ve been dwelling on this recently. I feel like I have very little left and this is why I’ve always considered my friends to be more family than anyone else. I have real family of course but they aren’t so much family as mere acquaintances or friends at best.
You see, I have three older siblings who really were never a major part of my life. I grew up practically an only child of a single mother. My dad passed away when I was 9, just over 19 years ago now. My mom raised me and was always the supportive parent for me even before that since my I rarely saw my dad during the work week. She was certainly the only close family member I’ve ever really had since then.
The oldest two siblings - a sister who is 19 years older and a brother 17 years older than me - were not a regular part of my youth at all. Robin lived out of state for a period and when she moved back to Arizona she was busy with work and a daughter of her own. Jeff lived at home for some parts of my childhood but from what I recall was only home to sleep and ocassionally eat. Then, to be frank, he was in trouble and / or in jail for much of my teenage years. My other sister Lisa is the one I have the closest link to as she’s only 12 years older. When I was very young I was the baby brother she played with and spoiled and that clearly had a profound impact on me when considering how I view the three of them. She left to start her own adult life when I was only 5 and so was not around any more frequently than Robin or Jeff. So while they are my family, I really don’t feel that sense of connection or obligation or whatever else people call it with regard to family. Lisa means a great deal to me personally but not as much as I wish, and I have the same regret about Robin and Jeff. The three of them lived and aged completely separate from me. They grew up as part of uniquely different generations that faced vastly different challenges. Because of this they they really feel more like friends or acquaintances than family.
So my mom is getting older now and with her I feel that deep sense of obligation and caring that goes far beyond my already kind hearted nature. She is actually the primary reason I still live in Arizona and the primary reason my Peace Corps application is on hold. (Not cancelled, just on hold to re-open within a year.) I feel extremely guilty about leaving and I would regret the lost time with her I could never get back. It’s a little sad I don’t feel this way about my siblings but it’s the truth and simply the product of circumstances.
However, at some point - which could be 20 years or more for all I know - my mom will no longer be around. At that time I will feel a great sense of loneliness because I will no longer feel a family connection to anyone. A girlfriend or wife can’t replace that as that relationship is unique unto itself and I don’t believe I wish to have children of my own. The empty feeling is something I will learn to accept but I think it might be a serious struggle for me to do so.
I sincerely hope I do not offend my family who reads this. I don’t intend to be mean or disrespectful. I’m expressing my thoughts of late and am only being honest in how I currently feel.
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My name is Erik Heinz and I am the ArizonaGuy.
Bannaght!
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
Dateline: Galway, Ireland
Howdy. No, Ireland was not part of the plan for this trip. We came here yesterday (Friday) from Bucharest after an exciting time there to say the least. Neither Martina nor I found the Romanian capital particularly inspiring after wandering around for two days.
We arrived there last Tuesday and Wednesday evening, I stepped outside from our more upscale hotel and crossed the intersection to stand outside a Pizza Hut that offered free wireless internet access. I intended to use my PDA and Skype to call home and also call ahead to Bulgaria to reserve a room. Finding a spotty connection when I talked to my mom, I put the PDA away and switched to my cell phone. Then the trouble began.
I will save time by simply saying a gang of gypsy children - four of them - accosted me and while I defended myself as best I could, they got away with my PDA that was tucked in my jacket pocket and also got my left ‘behind-the-ear’ hearing aid. Wonderful, right? Had my backup, fortunately. We spent Thursday morning filing a police report which was an event unto itself. I will use the report to replace the hearing aid under a loss and damage clause of the warranty. I’m not sure the Romanian cops understood that the loss of the hearing aid far outweighed the loss of the PDA both financially and in actual personal need.
We both decided that while we would like to go to Sofia and on to Istanbul, we wanted to get out of Romania and the east in general, head west somewhere that we felt safer and if possible, could speak the language and not deal with as much linguistic stress. So, Ireland it is. An expensive Lufthansa itinerary got us from Bucharest to Dublin via Frankfurt, and we took a bus immediately to Galway. We’re in a nice B&B with extremely friendly owners and will be here for two more nights. We’ll day trip around Connemara, spend a couple nights in Doolin to go back to my favourite - the Cliffs of Moher - then head up to Derry for a few nights - and if at all possible, day trip to Giant’s Causeway - before flying back to London to continue the end of our original plan, spending St. Patrick’s Day there and using a hotel that’s already been paid for.
Yes, I was robbed. I’m completely safe and hearing thanks to a spare, and Martina is also completely safe and well.
But it’s a great story now that it’s over!
Slainte,
-Erik
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My name is Erik Heinz and I am the ArizonaGuy.
Romanian Rabble Rousing
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
In Brasov. 30km from Bran, with castle of the same name which is also known as Dracula’s Castle even though Vlad Tepes had almost nothing to do with the place. I could live in the region! It’s definitely a poorer nation but it’s clearly heading the other direction as it’s a far cry from the reading I’ve done. A long way yet to go but it’s clear that 2 month old EU membership has its benefits. A replaced currency (not Euro, that’s years away) more in line with the world and additional business and travel services will change this place in the next decade. It’s both wonderful and sad at the same time and I’m glad I’m here now.
Budapest was a fun place - we are glad we went to the Szechenyi Baths, it was worth the confusion of finding the way to the door and the outside thermal pools. We went to Vienna for about 10 hours before a night train here to Brasov. And as previously blogged, we’ve been through Krakow and Prague since arriving in Europe on the 18th of February.
Tomorrow we’ll head to the capital for a couple of days and may side trip over to the Black Sea coast. Into Bulgaria and Turkey before joining the drunks in London for St. Patrick’s Day. This month is going by far too quickly!
Romanian cuisine is almost non-existant, but plenty of Hungarian and other Slavic style options abound. Goulash and schnitzel in their native region are outstanding and good soups can be had anywhere! However, native alcohol like Slivovice, Becherovka and Unicum are horrid. Not that I’ve tried any of them on this trip, though. Budget travelers splurge on booze sparingly!
Until next time…
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My name is Erik Heinz and I am the ArizonaGuy.
Prague Ponderings
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
It’s Thursday night and we’re sitting in my friend’s flat in Praha 2. We arrived at 7am after a night train from Krakow that was reasonably pleasant in a double sleeper compartment. The WC was rank, however.
We made the venture to Dustin’s apartment where we promptly slept for a couple of hours. When I got up and had showered, I met Dustin’s roommate, Jeff. Small world. I know Dustin from my last employer, and Jeff is good friends with a guy on my team at my current employer. He also knows my friend affectionately known as Timmy, and yet another guy contracting here knows more Apollo Group people. Crazy.
Anyhow, Martina and I walked about Prague all afternoon getting our bearings as we do in new cities. Though I’ve been here before, it was good to reacquaint myself with the layout. Tomorrow we’ll tackle a bunch of sites and hopefully catch a show. Saturday we will likely split up while I day trip outside of Prague, though I’m not sure where just yet.
That’s all for now!
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My name is Erik Heinz and I am the ArizonaGuy.
Mmm. Polish Pierogies.
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
Dzien dobry,
Krakow is lovely. Friggin’ cold, but it’s lovely. They love their Pope John Paul II here, and the town’s main square is absolutely huge and a lot of fun. I can only imagine how much of a tourist zoo it becomes in mid summer after seeing the activity now mid-winter.
Martina and I made it to Frankfurt on Sunday and wandered a bit. We both remarked that there were an awful lot of colorful people - literally and figuratively - wandering about for a Sunday in stodgy European Central Bank HQ. Turns out, Frankfurt was celebrating Carnival and there was a parade in the afternoon. The place filled with more and more party people so that was interesting.
Trouble is we were so tired, we decided to head to our room for the night. Hopped the bus from the train station to Frankfurt-Hahn airport some 90 minutes away and checked in. There are a bunch of hotels within walking distance of the airport, and we in fact ate dinner in the airport because of it.
Monday saw us leave Frankfurt for Krakow and we’ll be here until we board a night train Wednesday night bound for Krakow. There we’ll get to meet up with a former coworker I worked with at Apollo Group who is now a contractor at DHL in Prague. He’s graciously allowed us to stay at his flat for the three nights we’re in Prague.
It’s been a challenging two days. I’m having severe hearing aid problems - in that they stop working - but finally they are working again so I can at least talk to people and not rely on Martina for all communication, and I can use my mobile phone again. We really need to take ASL courses soon since we keep talking about it, as it would help dramatically when this problem happens, or any time we’re some place noisy and neither of us can hear.
Finding free wireless internet in Krakow is near impossible too. I just got a line on one spot but for now, we’re using a net cafe. I’ve got a laundry list of places in Prague, Budapest and other places we’ll go but Krakow just seems to be limited to freebies. Lots of pay places for business people but that’s of no use to us.
Oh - and whoever told me their car got stolen in a text message on my phone - while I have a very good clue who you are, you didn’t leave a name so I’m not sure!
Ciao for now!
-Erik
Less than 96 hours to go!
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
Travel Adventure 2007 begins in mere days! My seventh journey overseas, again back to Europe focusing almost exclusively on the east this time. Neither Martina nor I can hardly wait to leave!
Here’s the general plan:
Saturday, 17 Feb:
United 1474 PHX-ORD departs at 07:00 MST and arrives 11:13 CST. If there’s enough time, in Chicago we’re going to the nearest Giordano’s for the world’s best spinach deep dish pizza. Unless you’ve had one, you have absolutely no idea why this is important. Then United 8837 ORD-FRA (really Lufthansa 431) departs at 15:45 CST arriving next morning at 07:10 CET.
Sunday, 18 Feb:
We’ll gallivant about Frankfurt for the day, considered to be the most Americanized city in Germany and not really worth too much time. We’ll battle fatigue and crash early, as we must be up early the next day too.
Monday, 19 Feb through Thuesday, 20 Feb:
We’ll hop on a 2 hour bus outside the main train station to go to Frankfurt-Hahn airport which is obviously nowhere near Frankfurt. It’s a scam perpetuated by low cost airlines like RyanAir. When the flight is ?10 a person inclusive of tax, you deal with the inconveniences. RyanAir 1854 HHN-KRK departs 10:15 and arrives 12:05. Monday and Tuesday night will be spent in Krakow. I will side trip to Auschwitz Tuesday or Wednesday.
Wednesday, 21 Feb:
We will take an overnight train leaving Krakow after 11pm arriving in Prague early the next morning.
Thursday, 22 Feb through Saturday, 24 Feb:
We will spend three nights in Prague, and I may day trip to Brno or another Czech city during our stay since I’ve seen much of the city. There’s always more to see, though. Also, I’ve contacted a former Apollo Group coworker who is now a contractor with DHL in Prague. Hopefully we’ll hook up for a pint!
Sunday, 25 Feb through Thursday, 1 Mar:
We’ll take a mid day train and make a seven hour journey from Prague to Budapest. We will sleep in Budapest five nights but will backtrack to Bratislava on a day trip, and may also day trip to Eger in Hungary as well.
Friday, 2 Mar:
We will take a night train from Budapest into Romania, most likely going as far as Brasov.
Saturday, 3 Mar through Tuesday, 6 Mar:
We will stay either four nights in Brasov or only two nights here and two nights in an undetermined city.
Wednesday, 7 Mar through Thursday, 8 Mar:
We’ll head to the capital of Bucharest for a couple of days.
Friday, 9 Mar:
A night train from Bucharest will take us to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
Saturday, 10 Mar through Sunday, 11 Mar:
Two nights and a few days will be spent wandering a city for which we’ll be completely lost linguistically and should be a fun challenge.
Monday, 12 Mar:
A night train or more likely a luxury night coach with on board drinks, snacks and movie inclusive will take us east into Turkey.
Tuesday, 13 Mar through Thursday, 15 Mar:
We’ll spend the time wandering Instabul as tourists and we’ll get to go to Asia, albeit it not exactly deeply into the continent.
Friday, 16 Mar:
An EasyJet flight costing about ?44 per person will take us from the airport on the Asian side back to London. EasyJet 2348 SAW-LTN departs 13:40 EET and arrives 15:40 GMT.
Saturday, 17 Mar:
St. Patrick’s Day! If I can’t be in Dublin or the best US choices of New York, Boston or Chicago, London or possibly Birmingham are great places to be! The city’s official parade and festival is on the 18th though, which is just odd.
Sunday, 18 Mar:
United 929 LHR-ORD departs 09:25 GMT and arrives 13:15 CDT. United 1497 ORD-PHX departs 16:45 CDT and arrives 18:35 MST. Though I hope to get us on stand by on United 1495 departing at 14:55 CDT.
This is going to be a blast!
The joys of owning a home - bah!
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
So.. My roof was leaking. That sucked. Actually it had been for a while, but I’ve been going round and round trying to actually get a roofer to come fix it, or even return my calls in some cases.
So tax time comes and I decide that a complete new roof is in order since I have the original 1986 asphalt shingle roof on my house. Tear off old roof, replace a couple damaged boards of wood, and replace with new 30 year architectural shingle. I’m satisfied with it. I used Jilek Roofing, referred to by Beth since she used them on her new house and for repair on her old home. Very affordable in comparison to price gouger Home Depot and Scott Roofing, I must say. Additionally, the Scott Roofing employee made a promise to do a patch job unofficially but renegged on that and never showed up. Way to leave a bad impression, buddy.
The day the roof is finished, I find I have a flooding yard and driveway. This was just last Friday afternoon. Water is leaking from the line between the meter and the house and I can’t shut the water off. I don’t have any tool that I can fit in the meter box and have leverage to turn the valve so I had to call the city. By the time I did, it was after hours and that cost $27. A few hundred more to a plumber on Saturday to dig up my yard and repair the cracked PVC several feet down. Damn cheap builders here - copper extends from the meter box about four feet, changes to PVC for about twenty to the house and back to copper to enter the house. All to save a buck for the builder at 20 feet multiplied by X number houses built.
Ah well, at least that’s taken care of. Wouldn’t mind the expense of a roof and home maintenance if I wasn’t also paying for a month long journey starting in four days! Ugh!
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My name is Erik Heinz and I am the ArizonaGuy.
I really should try to blog more.
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
Haven’t written a damned thing since before I left for Hawaii in early December for U2 and Pearl Jam. Wow. Honolulu. That was insane. I camped outside Aloha stadium in the “pens” for the fans - they had bathrooms and concession open all night long, that was nice. Lined up right at about 7pm on December 8th. Ann went to work her bar wench job but came back around 4am. She had to get in line in a different pen though. 
So we survive Saturday wasting all kinds of time until they let us in. Finally got in around 4pm, going through a couple line processes. I was able to secure a spot on the front outside rail of the B-stage catwalk on Adam’s side. Ann was able to join me when she got into the inner GA section. We had an absolute blast. U2’s stage manager opened with his band, then Pearl Jam, then U2 put on amazing performances. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong joined for The Saints Are Coming while Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Mike McReady joined for Keep On Rockin’. The final show of the Vertigo 2005/2006 tour, I was at shows 8 and 9 in Glendale, number 40 in Dublin and 131 in Honolulu. U2 RULE!
Christmas was a non-event. As was New Year’s. My sister and family passed through in the weeks before as they headed towards their new home in Juneau, Alaska. My mom took the family and significant others and their immediate families to dinner. Went to a Brazilian steakhouse. Mmmm! Lots of good stuff! Other than that, I just worked my ass off and hung out with Martina most of the time.
However, it is now 2007. Making up for the fact I went nowhere out of country last year, the plans are solidifying for the massive four week trip leaving next month! Martina and I will fly to and arrive in Frankfurt on February 17th. The next day we’ll hop a RyanAir flight to Krakow - the flight is only a penny. Seriously. Taxes make the flight less than ?10 per person. We’ll wind our way from Krakow through Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia and then to Istanbul or Athens, plus anywhere else we think we might want to go. We’ll head back to London for St. Patrick’s Day and fly home March 18th. This is going to kick so much ass!
Ok. That’s all. Fare thee well for now.
Unos! Dos! Tres! Aloha!
Posted by Erik | Filed under Uncategorized
U2 invade the Aloha Bowl in a week along with Pearl Jam. I’ve got my Bonolulu t-shirt and red glowsticks ready and am prepared to wait in the GA line next weekend. I’ll be flying to the islands on Wednesday for what will likely be my final trip to Hawaii (at least for a very long time). Concert is Saturday and I’ll be home on the 11th.
I’m on call this weekend. Weekends so far have tended to be relatively uneventful, at least when compared to the weekday shift. The weekend rotation is Friday night to Monday, and Monday tends to suck but at least it’s only one day and over at 5pm Pacific. Still, on call in general is rather insane with this company with the volume of pages (it’s either nothing at all or many pages in rapid succession) and amount of time spent on the phone (HOURS!). The hope as I understand is to rid our group of on call, or at least seriously lessen the impact that it currently is. Here’s hoping.
It’s after 2am. Martina’s sleeping. I’m wide awake and restless. Neighbors apparently had a party and people are still flowing outside and slamming car doors. Rather irritating. I’m the nearly deaf one in this relationship yet she’s sleeping through it. Fair? I think not.
Anywho, we’re spending lots of time together doing absolutely nothing special. It saves money - got a trip to worry about paying for - and it also lets both of us eat better. For health reasons and so we don’t die by age 40, it’s important. I for one must be able to keep my travel pace well into my golden years or as long as reasonably possible.
I have Lamisil. Joy. Yes, that’s right. That horrible commercial with the animated fungus climbing under a toenail - I have that. Stupid little toenail on my left foot. I’m sure everyone wanted to know this. A possible side effect of the 12 week treatment is the loss of or change in sense of taste. It’s only temporary but can last up to a year. Very few are affected and I better not be one of them. I gotta have my tasty food and enjoy it.
My mom got a plasma TV. Her 18 year old 27″ console finally kicked the bucket. I don’t even have a high definition TV and now she has a plasma TV. A good one at that, 42″ screen with all 1080 lines of resolution for 1080i, not scaled. Though truthfully the average person can’t tell the difference. What’s more irritating is the cable company she has is pumping the network HD signals as well as a small handful of cable HD signals over the line - and she doesn’t have a cable box or cableCARD in the TV. It’s gorgeous to watch HD programs and told her to enjoy it while it lasts, I doubt it’ll be “free” on her analog rate for long. I want one now, dammit.
The aforementioned trip. Can’t really start looking at specifics until I know I can have the 4 weeks (I would acquiesce to 3 weeks if pushed but I’m not mentioning that to my manager) and when I can have them. I want to fly from the US on February 17th and back home on March 18th if possible. I need to be back then as I’ve got Gaelic Storm tickets in Chandler on March 24th. It’ll be eastern Europe for certain but where and what else might be added is unknown. Turkey has my attention. I’ve also started trying to make some pen pals in places like Slovenia, Montenegro and Ukraine. We’ll see what happens. I’ve got enough US Airways miles for one round trip ticket but their redemption availability is crap. Might try for full fare coach tickets and upgrade our seats to Envoy class instead. That’d be nice for the 8 to 10 hour flights.
My sister and brother-in-law are on the cross country trip towards Washington where they’ll catch a ferry to Juneau in a couple of weeks. They should be here in the next week or so and my mom wants to have dinner with all of us. She said it might be the last time the four of us kids are all together at once. I took that to mean a lot more than that, meaning the last time she has all four of her kids together with her. This made me sad but one never really knows. It could be the truth or all five of us could end up together many more times in the future.
My Peace Corps application - I have all the recommendation letters completed. I just need to type up two relatively short essays and my application will be submitted. Phase two starts once my application is approved. I hope it is. Phase two is the medical portion though and this worries me. Recent blood pressure and heart rate are possible disqualifications or at the very least a deferral until brought under control. So far, medication and better diet aren’t controlling it nearly well enough.
Martina has stuffed animals - but really cool ones since she likes all kinds of real animals. She loves turtles, especially sea turtles. She has a couple of Serta sheep on her couch, one of which I got to add to the collection. She has rats, a peacock and a turkey that I’ve seen so far. My current favourite is a camel. His name is Abraham. He’s adorable - I don’t think camels are cute but this thing is. He needs a fez. When he gets one, I’ll blog a photo of it. He’s funny.
And so…I go off in search of something else to make me sleepy before the pager goes off and decides that I’m not allowed to sleep at all.
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My name is Erik Heinz and I am the ArizonaGuy.