I’m “terribly temper tantrum” mad. OK, I’m not really that mad, but I’ve always wanted to write that after reading Art Spiegelman’s Open Me… I’m a Dog. The book’s words sung to me and stuck with me all these years since I first read it to my oldest when she was younger — shes’ now 16-years-old. Nonetheless, I’m frustrated. Before going further, please know this isn’t a complaining post. Instead, it’s about adapting when things get in the way of your writing or work like my thumb injury.

I’m also not looking for a cure. It’s most likely a side effect of medicine that is helping me get over bad allergies and an infection. I have faith all will be fine soon enough.

My eyes ache. They’ve been aching for a few weeks, and I could get through the day without any problems. I stopped using the computer in the evenings — sacrificing Twitter chat time — and it helped the eyes. Everything stayed under control and I completed my work.

Then last week, the eyes hurt almost all day. It’s no problem to write this post without looking at the screen. It doesn’t call for researching, reading resources or anything else. But much of my work does.

To adapt, I write my articles without looking at the screen and fill in the gaps later so I’m not staring at the screen for too long. I take more breaks that take me away from the computer.

You’d think a career in writing would not encounter barriers that keep you from writing other than illnesses like the flu or severe vertigo, which I had after my cochlear implant surgery. (I couldn’t even handle watching TV.) I can work through a cold — just in shorter sittings. Writing is not a physically demanding job beyond the frequent use of our digits and eyes.

Good news: I took the entire weekend off from the computer plus most of Thursday and Friday due to the snow, yet my eyes still hurt. This tells me it’s not a problem related to the monitors.

How did you adapt to a situation that interfered with your daily activities?

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” –Winston Churchill

“Failure is an event, never a person.” –William D. Brown

It’s been too easy for me to fall into a pity party and woe is me situation. OK, maybe I did that for three minutes. I consider myself lucky to have a spouse, three healthy kids (for the most part, one does have a couple of challenges), a comfortable home, and a home office business that I love.

The first part of this story is over at Bionic Ear Blog because it talks about what not having an MRI due to a cochlear implant.

Several people inspired me. The first being Daphne Gray-Grant. She had her second stroke in six years! My dad, who died on 24 December 2007, died from complications of his April 2007 stroke. I knew her story was incredible and her attitude most impressive. She wrote, “Life is a gift. Use it. Write with it.”

Right before my surgery, my friends mentioned, Stuff Happens (and then you fix it!): 9 Reality Rules to Steer Your Life Back in the Right Direction. I don’t usually order books right away as I’ve got plenty to read. But it struck me and I felt like I needed to read it. Another inspiration comes from Karen’s “Deaf and Thankful,” which published right after the surgery.

It only took a day to read the book, if that. It contains stories of people getting pass roadblocks in their lives. One person had a lot of money from the dot com days only to lose the money and everything. He rebuilt his life.

Our failures are not failures. They tell us what doesn’t work and we keep on trying. This alleged quote, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Notice these were events, not a reflection upon him as a person.

Although I can’t do as much work for my clients as I can or do much laundry (both of which puts heavy duty guilt on this gal), I remember that I have my life and family.

My clients all understand the situation and that’s why I put high value on being personable and building relationships with my clients most of whom are friends. In fact, one of my first clients and I met in person when he flew to Texas from Minnesota for a family celebration.

Wristwatches Get the Back of the Hand says that more people are skipping the wristwatches and relying on handheld devices for the time. Why am I posting this in Bionic Ear Blog? I stopped wearing a watch because of my cochlear implant.

??????

I understand the confusion. Because of the implant, I got a medical bracelet that says my name, that I have a cochlear implant, not to do an MRI, and I read lips. I wear it on my watch-wearing wrist. When I tried it on my left wrist, it was making too much noise and bothered me when I wrote. I be a southpaw, indeedy. [ Read more... ]

A new meryl.net blog is open for business. Bionic Ear Blog chronicles a profoundly deaf person’s journey into a new era…