Random 5 for December 10, 2023 – Schedules, guests, deer, gift exchanges, hearing aids

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Here is a doe in my old neighborhood. Source: Siusanne Nichols

Adjustments, adjustments! – The week was turned over on its side. Planned things did not happen and unplanned things did. We roll with the punches and go on with life despite disappointments or surprises.

A bright spot – We had a house guest for a short stay. It broke up the routine and got us shopping. We enjoyed it (maybe me more than the beloved husband!). Neither of us typically enjoy shopping now. It’s too peopley. Bleah!

A short update – My hearing aids went to a restaurant twice this week (with me along for the ride). Both times were ok but just ok. I didn’t get too much background noise but I don’t need aids when there are 3 or 4 people at the table. I also noticed that older people talk more clearly and are a lot more likely to face you. Perhaps they know the routine. I have more trouble hearing younger people. The younger they are, the harder to understand. I don’t need things to be louder, just clearer.

Nature – On my Starbucks trip this morning I saw a beautiful buck. He had multiple antler points and was very large. We mostly see does and juvenile deer. This was special.

Courtesy of Irishize via Flickr

The difference in retirement – When I worked, we would exchange gifts with the people you worked with frequently or in the supervisory chain. I would look for small special items that a co-worker may enjoy. In retirement, I don’t exchange gifts with anyone. I like it like that. Worker gifts were tough, and I expect a lot of them go directly into the trash. We also had a “black market” at work. One exec always bought a case of red wine and a case of white. Women got the white and men got the red no matter what we prefer. More than once I went “a trading” with a white wine loving guy. I also received a fancy liquid soap that smelled like a pine forest. I was able to exchange that with a guy who thought it was “fresh smelling.” Difference strokes and all of that. There were a few years I was able to convince my department to forego the gift-giving and sponsor a needy family. That is the best gift of all.

So how was your week?

65 thoughts on “Random 5 for December 10, 2023 – Schedules, guests, deer, gift exchanges, hearing aids”

  3. I agree young people tend to speak very fast and to mumble. My late father had hearing aids in both ears and in spite of that, always insisted we face him when speaking and complained we didn’t speak clearly enough (and I wouldn’t call myself “a young person”).

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  4. I’m sure hearing aids are a big adjustment…..BIG…..but you’re getting the hang of it I think! Only gift exchanges we do are with our next door neighbors who do a lot for us all year long and treat us like family which is nice since we don’t have but a couple of our own. Hubby and I give each other “wish lists” but they aren’t cast in stone and we also have a tradition of hanging up stockings (so does the cat!) and the “rule” is only surprises in stockings. YES we behave like little kids I suppose but at our age, pretending to be kids again is our “FUN” !!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • That’s sounds very nice. I used to give my husband scratch off lottery tickets. The rules to win are much more complicated than they used to be. He said not to bother (except for maybe the big one!). When he wants or needs something he buys it before I could get it as a gift for him. Hearing aids, oy vay. One of the scourges of old age.

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  6. That must have been exciting to see a stag.

    Glad you had fun with a house guest. We had fun this week with my writers group. Four of us and a couple of husbands had lunch at the fifth writer friend’s house.

    For quite a few years, my family has exchanged names for gifts. This year, we had too many people who just wanted to skip gifts. (One daughter likes to buy gifts, though, and probably will continue doing so.) The other morning I woke up thinking about the gifts I’d like to buy for my daughters and granddaughter. Then I remembered that I’d have to buy for the men too. Every year I buy food gifts for my husband’s relatives and my daughters’ in-laws. I enjoy doing that–sometimes salmon or fruit boxes or dried fruit and nuts. I think this year I’ll buy them all a kringle from a nearby bakery.

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    • My husband gets cashews from my brother. I love the fruit boxes but don’t eat them fast enough. My stepkids live across the country so gifts were complicated. Clothes that didn’t fit or food that wasn’t liked. We did money for many years and then decided to just give to the grandkids (the stepkids are in their 50s!).

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  7. I would love to see a buck roaming around when I was out and about. I’ve steered clear of Lake Erie Metropark the last six weeks due to rutting season – the deer run out into the street and it’s a very rural area. I wondered how your hearing aids worked for the “last supper with the knee” visit with friends … I guess that was one of your two restaurant visits. I have trouble with young people as they speak too quickly, especially if it’s techy stuff. Not necessarily “hearing” them as much as understanding them.

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  8. Love the gift idea about giving to a needy family instead of exchanging gifts at work. Much better.
    I’m glad you had a good time with your houseguest. It’s much better than having an unwanted guest!
    Hopefully, you will keep adjusting to the hearing aids and minding them less and less. They definitely aren’t a perfect fix, unfortunately. With technology continuing to improve, you would think the perfect one would exist.

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    • The aids have improved a lot since I last tried them 4 years ago. The ability to put on a charger instead of dealing with batteries is huge. Now if they could clear up speech a bit more….

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  9. Sounds like a busy week, but fun. Glad the buck survived hunting season. Actually, not sure when your season ended, but ours ended yesterday.

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    • Probably ours did too. I live in a “rural-ish” residential area with a lot of conservation land where no hunting is allowed. Our development has a lot of wooded land and no hunting there either. Maybe that’s why we have so much deer. This is my first buck with antlers since I moved here 3 years ago. Very cool!

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  10. I am glad you’re making some adjustment to your hearing aids. I find it interesting that you don’t have more difficulty in a restaurant. I have such a hard time distinguishing conversation in a restaurant because of all the background noise and clatter. It’s definitely something to do with my hearing in certain registers, I’d say. I would think that with aids it might even be harder to tune that out? I’m glad you’re taking them out for a spin, though! 🙂

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    • They have a “restaurant” setting on my aids that is supposed to lessen or eliminate noise in back of you. The restaurant wasn’t real busy and we go to this one because it’s quiet (or as quiet as a restaurant can be).

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  12. I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees amazing deer and doesn’t get a picture 😁. I give a whole lot less gifts in retirement too, and I also love it! Would much rather spend that money on worthy causes and now I do! Same goes for gift receiving – no need for any more stuff in my life.

    Deb

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  13. One holiday “ritual” my husband and I have is to visit our local mall and watch others stress about buying THE PERFECT gifts while we just enjoy the decorations. I do miss the 5 lb. bag of pistachio nuts I used to get every December from a vendor years ago, but I am happy to buy one myself if I really want any.

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  14. Glad you had a good week including company and good restaurant trips. I’ll try to send all the deer I see your way. 🙂 I use to see Bambi, but now when I see them, I see destruction to my plants, ticks, and lyme disease. I have a next-door neighbor who feeds them so that affects my view. 🙂

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  15. Lovely week, including 75th birthday party held poolside with live music from a talented guitarist ~> in lieu of gifts, attendees chipped in for the musician’s fee.

    Also attended a William & Mary alumni gathering at Siesta Key Rum. My freshman year roommate and her husband joined us. After the distillery tour and rum tasting, W&M treated us to an Indian Buffet with Naan, Samosas, Rice, Tikki Masala, and a sweet dessert.

    Both social events were held during DAYLIGHT hours! No need to drive on unfamiliar roads after dark. We loved that!

    Our house looks festive with presents piling up under the tree for our relatives in Florida and a few close friends in the hood.

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  16. I didn’t like to join in with the Secret Santa in the last company I worked for as the price of the gift was expected to be at least £10. On top of that, it was also £10 for those I worked with in accounts. I was not in a position to afford £10, let alone £20 so only did our office, which sadly did not go down well. Once we’d cleared our mortgage and had a bit of extra money, I did join in with both but resented the fact that my co-workers wanted to know who I was buying for. What was the point?
    We exchange gifts with two neighbours who have become friends, and I send a calendar to Bro in NZ but that’s all. For the first time ever we won’t be having our £10 dash this year. That was the hi-light of my Christmas shopping, seeing what I could get Hubby for £10 in total. You can’t get very much now and as the chocolate Father Christmas or anything in the confectionery line is now off limits because of Hubby’s reflux, I’m a bit stuffed. Even a puzzle book he enjoys is £3.50.

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  20. So hearing aids don’t help make conversations more clearly? Hmm, that’s somewhat depressing. I’m with you on sponsoring a needy family over gift exchanging with co-workers. For years now, I’ve made treats for the neighbors but this year I’m not going all out baking multiple things. Biscotti and a Christmas decorated brownie pop will be it.

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    • We don’t do any neighbor exchanges here even though we are good friends. As you age, I don’t think you want to start those traditions. As for the aids, they are not like contact lenses where you put them in and it’s a miracle of sight. Aids take getting used to and you don’t get the complete results you are hoping for. There is a “tinny” element (I’m guessing takes the “mush” out of mushmouth) but it is annoying in itself. It’s doesn’t just clarify speech which is what I was hoping for.

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  21. Marley and I get each other gifts, but they are usually things we ask the other to buy…only occasional surprises. Other than that, I don’t buy gifts anymore. I did get a nice holiday card for all the fosters which I’ll send out to thank them, but that’s about the extent of it.

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    • My husband and I stopped exchanging gifts a while back. There is an occasional surprise but it’s not every year. We always buy what we want which made it more difficult. Cards are nice. People like to get them.

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  22. As a manager in my job, I’ve always felt obligated to buy something small for the people that I managed. I only ever had one employee give me a gift for the holidays. It was something that I wanted, but unfortunately, someone else has beaten her to giving it to me as a gift. That was the first and only gift I actually ever exchanged. I do no giftgiving at all anymore. The people I would consider buying a gift for tend to buy what they want when they want it. For those I want to do something special for, I simply arrange a futuristic adventure for us to share in the next year.

    I am glad to learn that you are slowly adjusting to wearing the hearing aids out in public. I do believe that, with enough time, your brain will learn how to “tune out” the background noises. We do that all the time without realizing we do it! I can take my kindle into a public place and still get lost in the book even with all the noise all around me. You hear it now because it’s magnified and you will get used to it!

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    • All those endless work gifts…argh! It wasn’t always even either. I remember coughing up a chunk of money for a “very nice” joint gift to an exec and getting a $7 bottle of wine from him. When I worked for a large company, there were rules against gift giving, especially gifting up. I would do a box of candy or some other generic gift to my direct reports. When I worked for a smaller company it was the wild west.

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  23. Well done on skipping the gifts no one likes and sponsoring a family. Christmas in the entertainment industry is nothing but excess–so many gift baskets and bottles of booze. If the assistants hadn’t all been so poor, most of it would have gone to waste.

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