Hearing Problems

Just an FYI, this is not a blog dedicated to sharing my trials. I suppose it is easy to write about them though. You know the phrase that it rains when it pours, that was how I felt on the fourth of July. I had previously jumped into a pool at a party and got my phone wet. Then I found out that I was having problems hearing. My hearing sounded muffled which for me who only has one working ear was quite disturbing. I was pretty sure that this problem was exacerbated from being in the pool that day. It dawned on me a day or two later that I recalled a ear wax removal party that we had at our family reunion back in 2006. My mom and I seemed to have the same problem at the same time. Maybe it takes six years for ear wax to truly build up. Anyway, if this grosses anyone out I apologize. I kept trying to put hydrogen peroxide in my ear because I hear that it dissolves the wax. Unfortunately, the peroxide had expired in March of 2012 and was likely not working very well. I could not hear the fizzling but I only hear out of one ear so how did I know if it was really fizzling? I finally broke down and went to the local Walgreen's and found an ear wax removal kit. It was probably similar to the one I used with mom back in 2006. I was so relieved that it was the ear wax that was causing the hearing problem. When you only have one ear you get paranoid pretty easily when your hearing is threatened. The good news is that my hearing is fine now. My gratitude for being able to hear is much greater at this point. I also hear that using hydrogen peroxide on a regular basis prevents this build up. Maybe I should start trying that out.

Tender Mercy of the Lord

OK. So I was at a Fourth of July party the other day with the family. We were truly having a great time. There was all kinds of food like shrimp, burgers, dips, and even snow cones. There was a great pool at this party (any pool is great when you don't have one). So anyway, I was not very smart and left my phone in my shorts pocket while sitting next to the pool (not recommended). I thought I would be good and put my phone in the swim bag. Later, when after I changed into my clothes and waited patiently for my family to finish swimming, I started using my phone again. I was again sitting near the pool with my phone in my pocket (again not smart) and then I all of a sudden saw this kid in the pool starting to suck in water/drowning. So my first instinct was I am not going to let this kid drown and I jumped into the pool with all of my clothes on. I was not thinking about my phone or my wallet in my shorts. The sad thing was that his mother jumped into the pool at the same time and got to him just before I could. Then I got out of the water and immediately realized that I left my phone in my shorts! My phone was soaked as was my wallet. So my phone was soaked and I did not even make it to the kid in time. I want to say I was stupid but I would have jumped in a hundred times over if it had happened again. So I immediately left and went home. I started looking on the Internet for remedies for wet phones. Then I realized that I probably made a critical error as I remembered pushing the circular button/on switch on my phone a couple of times after this experience. I hear that is exactly what not to do. I took my wife's advice which was confirmed on-line and put it in a sealed bag of brown rice. I guess I could have put it in white rice but it was what I could find first. Anyway, on-line they tell you to wait at least 24 hours before turning on your phone which I did. At the end of the first 24 hours I tried to plug in my phone and charge it with no response, nada, nothing. The same thing happened over the next several days and I was ready to give up. Then earlier today I plugged in the phone and held down both buttons for like five seconds or more and then miracle, the apple sign showed up. However, I had to try it a second time for it truly to start charging. It was as if I had to tell myself, don't give up, something is in there, keep believing and it will happen. I truly feel blessed that my phone came back. BTW, I plan on getting phone insurance when I have the money. You never know when you might need to jump into a pool...