Tips

Charley Creek Inn Courtyard Gate

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Charley Creek Inn Courtyard Gate

The gate for the courtyard was installed last week. Schlemmer Bros did an excellent job with this. We were particularly pleased with the medallion they created. They originally created the one to cover the fireplace vent (pictured here) at the NE corner of the courtyard. We and the Owner liked it well enough that we asked them to create another one for the entrance gate. We think it gives a touch of class and modern appeal to the classic wrought iron and brick installation.

The gate was installed with a concealed locking system behind the medallion. The gate has drop down rods that will strengthen it in the closed position and also hold it open at 90 degrees during during events. The medallion and locking concept was the vision of us at Easterday Construction, but kudos to Schlemmer Bros for making it happen!

If they can make self-driving cars…

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Reprinted with permission from Berger Audiology.

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I had a patient come in the other day and ask me, “If they can make self-driving cars, why can’t they perfect hearing aids?” 

<sigh> Well, first, this, from QZ.com regarding Tesla’s autopilot cars:

The NHSTA’s findings were generally favorable to Tesla’s testing procedures, attention to safety measures, and success reducing the number of traffic incidents involving Tesla vehicles. Investigators analyzing Tesla’s mileage and airbag deployment data from 2014 to 2016 for vehicles outfitted with Autopilot software found crash rates dropped by about 40% in that time frame. After the installation of autosteer technology in the Autopilot package, crash rates dropped from 1.3 per million miles in 2014 to 0.8 in 2016—significantly lower than the US average of 1.85 crashes per million miles.

Crashed Tesla S picture from QZ.com article quoted above

No doubt a 40% drop in accident rates is wonderful, but it’s not 100%. I would say they haven’t perfected  the self-driving car yet. And neither have they perfected hearing aids… or are they likely to do so…

Hearing loss can be attributed to a wide gamut of causes ranging from congenital to causal. There are times that there are more than one issue occurring simultaneously. A hearing aid is an instrument to compensate for these issues. It is not a cure for the underlying problem. We’ll have to wait for biomedical scientists may find a way to repair the underlying problems, but for now hearing aids are equivalent to a crutch. But what an ever-improving crutch they are! The advances in recent years are phenomenal.

If you’re a long time user, you may remember what hearing aids used to be. Possibly you remember the hearing aids your grandparents wore. The amount of technology in each hearing aid has increased exponentially while simultaneously the size of the hearing aid has decreased to where they are light, comfortable and nearly invisible… sometimes even to me and trust me, I’m always looking at people’s ears! Ha!

That said, it doesn’t mean the advances are through. And there’s the possibility that future advances might make hearing aids a choice of enhancement for people with normal hearing. Sunglasses have become a fashion statement. Will hearing aids someday reach that same level of acceptance? Many of the hearing aids I sell today offer features such as phone connectivity, streaming music and streaming TV. I can link to a Multi Mic and enhance a hearing aid user’s ability to hear at parties, restaurants and presentations. Again, quoting Quartz, a company called Doppler Labs is working on computerized earbuds that can live translate languages. Star Trek’s Universal Translator is one step closer to reality! Will we someday be wearing the equivalent of Amazon’s Echo or Google’s Home to answer all our questions right in our ears? That future may not be that far off. At that point, having the latest and greatest hearing aid might be something to brag about!

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Bronze & Water

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Primavera III, Plastik, Springbrunnen, Brunnen, Wasser, Skulptur aus Bronze, von Malgorzata Chodakowska

We have had the opportunity to help clients with some interesting sculpture placements over the past years, which has caused me to keep an eye out for interesting installations. The bronze work of Sculptress Malgorzata Chodakowska is interesting enough on it’s own, but when you see it with the water on, it comes to life!

When I worked on a Fire Fighter’s Memorial concept for the Culver Fire Department a few years ago, I did some research on several fountains that combined fire and water, but I hadn’t seen any like these that combined the grace of water as part of the figure’s form. Ms Chodakowska has done some outstanding things here!

Engel, Brunnen, Springbrunnen, Skulptur, Plastik aus Bronze von Malgorzata Chodakowska

Here are just a few of the sculptures from her website. I encourage you to visit the site and see them all for yourself. They’re worth a look. I would definitely encourage you to look at the video!