Learning Voice Little by Little

Back in July, I have my annual dentist appointment. Everything looked good, except for my two front teeth which he said were showing signs of wear due to my mouth stick. Ever since then I've been trying to use voice control on my computer. I am far from using it exclusively, but I have learned a few things.

One of the hardest things on my teeth is using the mouse. Therefore, this is where I try to decrease using my stick and use voice instead. Sometimes, it is just an easy task by saying to open a menu or click on a certain button. Other times it can save several clicks by saying to open or close a program. These areas do help, but doing other mouse actions can take a lot more work.

If it is not something that I can specifically say, then I need to go through a grid system saying which numbers or close to what I want selected until the mouse is it the correct object. Frequently, I will take a faster route and just use my stick to click. Dictation is also an item I have used somewhat, such as writing this entry, but accuracy isn't very good. Such as when I said "I have used somewhat," it turned into "I don't know I have your sandwich." It is better if I speak slowly and in short phrases, but that doesn't always do it either.

Programs using memory

I have also noticed that the longer I use the system, the more bogged down my computer seems to get. Doing some investigation, I found that it used a large portion my computer's memory. At one point, it was using as little as 45MB, and after a few days it had gone up to 16GB (1024 megabytes, MB is one gigabyte, GB). I'm not real sure the reason, by shutting down the system and turning it on again fixes the issue. I have started to get in the habit of turning it off when I play some games and then resume it after I'm finished.

For now, it is still a tool I only use occasionally and frequently get frustrated with. Trying to use it for this entry has likely taken longer then if I just typed it. At least it is an option that is available to help living the quad life.

Another Exhausting Week

In late June, my main day nurse had surgery and will not be able to return until the end of the year. I have written about it a few times already, but I have thankfully had regular night nurses. Unfortunately, that was not the case this week.

The scheduler from my nursing agency mailed me in late August to let me know both of my night nurses had requested time off in September. Therefore, I wouldn't have any help September 1-7, a full week. Thankfully, my one caregiver's plans were flexible and he agreed to cover two nights. Labor Day on September 2 was also without day help. In a typical week, I currently have 11 shifts covered. This week ended with only five of the regular filled. Brenda, my college student caregiver, did come for a couple hours two evenings to help with my bedtime cares and allow dad to get to bed earlier.

Multiple days without assistance isn't anything new. I am very fortunate to have as many caregivers as I do and receive so much help. I know another quadriplegic in Iowa who is approved for funding to have 24-hour care at home. That alone is a big hurdle to overcome, but he has very few hours filled with nursing and is primarily just he and his mom. He has told me before that he stays in one place in bed all night while his mom rests and nervously waits until morning, hoping the ventilator and everything stays connected and working.

It is hard to see my parents getting little sleep and getting so tired they get ill. Weeks like this make me consider again about still living at home. Thankfully, this new week should have normal hours covered again and we can be more active.

One positive note came Saturday morning. My evaluation came for my sermon last week and I received 90%. The primary note was that I need to adjust my voice tone more often, something I already know needs improvement. Overall, my final grade for the course was about 89%. After 15 years of not taking formal classes, and a new course of study, it went better than I expected. 

Such is the quad life, I continue to rely on God's provision and give thanks for opportunities He has provided.

Visit Conclusion

I can't remember the last time this happened, but I'm actually writing this week's entry on the day, and even  time, it normally goes out. The last few days have been busy and have not allowed me to write early, but they were good days.

Friday, my friend John came to visit for a few days and brought his oldest son, TJ. It has been a couple years since John came long enough to stay overnight, let alone bring his son. He stopped for a quick day visit last year,but that was it.

TJ is now 11 and old enough to have conversations with, but still plays games. He had an older version of farming simulator on his iPad, so I had fun teaching him farming basics. However, one reason John came this weekend was to hear me preach.

Today was the end of my three week preaching stint and the final assignment for the preaching class I've been taking. I gave the same message last week for practice, but today was recorded and what I will be handing in, if I can figure out how. I think I covered the majority of the requirements, except changing my tone of voice and having a suspenseful pause. I attempted to do more "body movement" than I normally do, but I don't know if it will count. I hope I will get a passing grade at least, but I'm preparing myself to get a bad rating as well.

After nearly 12 weeks of reading books and watching lectures, I'm somewhat glad to be finished. I can't say I learned a lot of new information, but did get a better appreciation of preaching and am more able to look at a passage and prepare a message. If I have more opportunities for similar, I will likely take advantage of them. However, I will give it a few months in order to get further caught up on my reading and personal study.

Living the quad life, I'm thankful for what I've been enabled to do and close friends to share life with. None of us know what a day may bring, but the past few have been fun. Now, I start a new week with hardly any nights covered and a day empty as well.

A Well-Used Bible

Most weeks are relatively similar with not much change. However, big changes can occur quickly as well and make us stop and reflect.

In late November 2019, as most Americans celebrated Thanksgiving, my family finished funeral plans for my last living grandfather. Since then, I have had both of my grandmothers remaining for guidance from their generation. On Wednesday morning, my mom's mother passed away at the age of 94.

Grandma lived ten years after grandpa died, having been married for 63 years. She has looked forward to moving on from this world into her heavenly home for a while, and gave instructions for her relatives on memorial plans.

Therefore, my mom and I have been looking through hand-written notes, with excellent penmanship, of Bible verses and other items. All of these small pieces of paper are contained in a very well-used Bible. Many pages are crinkled and the cover, held together with packing tape, has likely been long detached from the pages it contains. I learned that grandma got another copy of Scripture just a few years ago so the font would be larger and the book more presentable for group study.

It has been said that a well-used Bible lives in the home of a studied Christian. Grandma did know Scripture well, and I can imagine how many hours, likely years, were spent in this copy of God's Word. Through good times, she likely read Psalms of praise, but also gained strength and guidance during troubling situations.

With books available in electronic forms, many people now reference Scripture with the swipe of a finger or clicking a few keys. The text is the same and it continues to offer training and assurance just like printed Bibles. However, something is different and it cannot give the same visual confirmation of use. Living the quad life, I do utilize electronic versions of Scripture, but still look forward to my nightly reading of physical copies and getting my "hands" in God's Word.

Giving part of tomorrow's eulogy is an honor that I had hoped to be blessed to give. However, I give thanks for the life of a Godly grandmother and that she now fully experiences what God told her through a well-used Bible.

Inter-Generational Witnessing Training

Since 2016, I have been volunteering at the Gospel Outreach/Ark Encounter booth at the Iowa State Fair. Each year, I have had the same caregiver come with me. She has become very familiar with the routine and we know what to do. This year, Sara was gone for surgery recovery and I thought I would not be able to volunteer. Thankfully that was not the case and I got to go for two days, but with different helpers.

Friday the ninth was my first day at the fair and my intern nurse, Brenda, came as my assistant. She has helped me some during the spring outreach event, but the fair is an entirely different situation and much busier. As she always has, Brenda adapted very quickly and figured out how to setup my microphone and then volunteered to help put dinosaur sticker tattoos on kids. 

Our three hour shift went well including our restroom break in unfamiliar surroundings. We likely talked with over 100 kids showing that dinosaurs were made on the sixth day of creation week, along with Adam and Eve. I talked with many parents about the Ark Encounter and confirming God's Word as real history. When our time was up, we took a couple hours to explore and I tried to show Brenda a sample of the Fair for her first visit.

Tuesday was my second day and the day that my dad helped. Dad has helped me do many things throughout my life, but a gospel outreach has barely been one of them. Unlike Friday, it took us nearly 45 minutes just to get into the fairgrounds and then to our booth a few minutes late. It took more instructing, but he also figured out my mic system and how to fill my hands with gospel tracts. Dad was a little more hesitant on helping with sticker tattoos, but he also helped and at one point was one of three people applying tattoos to throngs of waiting children.

Therefore, my first day was training someone that could be my daughter (if I had been blessed with kids in late teens/early 20's). The second day was working with my dad, so two different generations helping with the same task. I'm thankful to be able to live an active quad life and all the help God has given me. It was also nice having younger legs for a day that didn't mind going up large hills.

Next year, I don't know what God will bring or what situation I will be in. Whatever the case will be, I hope to continue to serve and doing more outreach.

When Online Meets Reality

For the past few months, I have been going through an online course about expository preaching. I have completed my three book quizzes and observations of the assigned text, but it is now crunch time. I need to write my sermon manuscript and get it evaluated so I can preach it on September 1 for my final assignment and hopefully complete the course successfully.

The weeks have gone by quickly and I am feeling much more stress than usual in preparing this message and covering all the required points. Therefore, for breaks while I'm flat, I have been watching someone who goes by the name "FarmerCurt95." Curt plays various games on the Twitch platform and provides some humor, as well as occasional annoyances. If he or his friends get out of line in their speech, I'm usually the one to point it out and correct them. I have watched Curt, and co-horts, for a few years and we somewhat know each other.

Curt lives in South Dakota, but comes to my area of Iowa for a few days every year to watch sprint-car racing. Last year, we concluded that we should try to meet in person sometime when he came back. Well, that happened on Thursday at a local coffee shop.

Meeting with someone you've only previously known virtually is somewhat fun and awkward at the same time. Most conversations relate to whatever game is being played and offering helpful hints, like slowing down and not running vehicles into objects. Other topics do arise though and the group knows I'm a Christian and quadriplegic with extra standards and challenges.

I was somewhat concerned about what we could discuss in person, but I talked more about my history and heard what Curt and his girlfriend do in their area. I was not silent about faith and gave them a few comical gospel tracts that also present the need for repentance and trusting in God alone. I was prepared for an in-depth conversation, but they took everything well. As this blog comes out, Curt and his group of seven should be heading home.

Living the quad life often means few friends or social interaction. However, utilizing various forms of social media have expanded possibilities. I pray I can continue to be a Christian influence in any circumstance and share enjoyment in some activities. Now, it's time to return to sermon preparations.

Do I Decide when to Wake Up?

Living the quad life means relying on various service providers. It seems that most, if not all, require regular question sessions. For my night nurses, their company supervisor visits every 60 days to go over my medical needs. The same happens with the person that officially supervises my day-time providers, who also comes every other week for monitoring. This past Thursday, I had my annual interview with the Medicaid representative.

No matter the length between sessions, very little tends to change. My medications may adjust slightly, but that's about it. Therefore, it would make sense to primarily copy the previous answers from my last interview. Unfortunately, not much in the medical field goes with common sense and the same questions are asked almost every time.

Thursday, some of the inquiries were about how much I do for household chores. I have yet to figure out how to roll up to a window and have a long enough stick in order to clean it. Vacuuming is also a job that power wheelchairs have yet to master. I suppose that a battery powered suction unit could be attached as well as a place to hold debris, but I haven't gotten around to inventing it. Therefore, I had to say that I don't do any household cleaning.

This particular interview also seemed to ask a lot about my mental abilities. I'm not sure if they think I'm old enough to start losing my acuity, but it was a source of several queries. One question was if I choose when to wake up. That morning, I had to have my night nurse get me up before he left and I did not have anyone during the day. Getting up at 6:30 in the morning what isn't really what I would have decided, but it is what was necessary.

After an hour long interview, everything was complete and the answers will be evaluated to determine what level of care I need. Hopefully nothing will change, or I may end up like last year with a decrease in hours that then needs corrected. Thankfully, I should have about a month until my next evaluation. At least they don't require much studying before hand!