Waiting for my iPhone 6 Plus

Have you seen anyone with an iPhone 6 plus yet?

I haven't. And no that is not just because I am blind, thank you.

No one has come up to me to show their bright new  shiney phone. No-one has called me to tell me they have a nice new iPhone 6 Plus. They  seem only to exist in the realms of TV advertisements and on the showcase stands of my local Best Buy stores.

I have seen one. I even liked the look and feel of the nice display one whivch I first drooled over  almost six weeks ago now.

I had planned on upgrading my old phone to an iPhone 5 when the price fell after the release of the sixes, but that didn't happen. In fact to upgrade from my old phone to an iPhone 5 would cost me only $100 less than to go all-in with the iPhone 6 Plus.

So why not go for that product.

I now sit patiently waiting. I call my phone company, I call Apple, and I call Best Buy.

"Have you an iPhone 6 Plus?" I ask hopefully.

The reply always the same "Not yet."

I long to ask Sirie to make my calls, I want to send texts again, I yearn to be able to take a good photograph on its magnificent camera.

I Wanna be a Geek again!

Sadly I'll have to wait a bit longer. Dreaming of the day when I will hold the sleek line of its body in my hand.  Caressing its screen. Texting and posting merrily.

Or maybe I'll just wait 23 months until the iPhone 7 comes out and I can get the 6plus for the same price as a 5 now?


To read my first opinions of the iPhone 6 Plus click here  iPhone6--plus-first-opinions.

The Geek Mug by Bretsuki
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Support Fresno Chapter, California Council for the Blind

One of the best tools for a blind person to use is, apart from their white cane or guide dog, a support network.

Earlier this summer I was a little adrift as to where to go for help and just a welcoming laugh.

Then I heard that Fresno has a Chapter of the California for the Blind (CCB).

The group recently arranged a fundraiser for the Chapter and I was able to attend. The group offers lots of social help, someone has most certainly already overcome a problem which you are encountering or at least knows a way to get past any obstacles  either with government bereaucracy or just how to get that particular new app to work on your iPhone.

I do design some Teeshirts and have come across a crowd funding Teeshirt printer.

You can help me raise some extra much needed fundds for this great chapter to expand its work in both the sighted and blind communities in and around Fresno.

See the Teeshirt, hoodie or garment of your choice at Support is the Best Tool T-Shirt

Please feel free to share or tweet the link. We need only sell 50 products to support this great group.


For more information on the  Fresno Chapter of CCB See their Facebook Page

The Result of the Low Vision Assessment

Last Wednesday saw me  going to visit a low vision specialist. After being legally blind for five years just the suggestion to go seemed odd, but I am glad that I did go.

We arrived for the appointment bright and early, people here in the U.S. will know going to a new doctor is a hassle with lots of paperwork at the reception describing you medical history.

After my wife filled in all the forms, we went to have my eyes checked for the curve of the eye, eye pressure and such. I had the curve of my eye measured in a machine which held my head in a headrest and then a lens moved in front of my eyes. The machine didn't touch my eye, I am guessing it uses something like a low power laser to measure the distance to the eye.

Then it was into the consulting room with the doctor. He was very pleasant, asked me to go through my particular history of eye problems and then asked me to read an eye chart.

Of course I saw nothing with my left eye, and was able to use some of my right eye peripheral vision to see the charts largest letter dimly.

His assessment was that I have 2800 vision in the right eye, that is well into the realm of legally blind, which I believe is at 200.

Then seemingly inspired he placed a lens in front of my right eye. Suddenly the eye chart cleared and I was able to say that there were two letters on the second line.

So with correction my vision improved to 2400. Still legally blind but "What the Hec!" I saw a second line for the first time in five years.

It seems that no one had recalled that I had been short sighted in the right eye prior to my central retinal vein occlussion, the measurement of the curvature of my eyes had shown this short sightedness, which of course can be treated with glasses.

I will still only have peripheral vision in the right eye, the macular in that eye is destroyed by the blood clots of the CRVO and has been dead for over ten years.

So then the doctor moved over to trying a variety of hand held lenses to help me see, but these didn't work as I have large areas of damaged tissue in the retina which means my vision is a little like looking through a Swiss Cheese. Then he moved me to a monitor and closed circuit television system because of the wider angle of view, my brain could reasonably fill in the blanks of my vision. So he will be suggesting a CCTV enlarger be suitable for me too.

From this one visit I gained a lot of information. The blurredness I see now is mainly the short sightedness, not blindness and easily treatable.

That there is help out there even if sometimes you need to ask several times for it.

"Keep Calm and Have A Cup of Tea "Mug  Available from my Zazzle Store

Keep Calm and Have a Cup of Tea Mugs by Bretsuki
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Going For A Low Vision Assessment

I find it a little hard to believe that today, after five years of being legally blind, that today I am actually going for an official low vision assessment test.

You would think a test to see if low vision aids or such might have been attempted before. But I guess in my case this slipped through the cracks of bureaucracy. My problem seems to have been that I just about went blind at the wrong time. Is there ever a good time? That is a rhetorical question and made with tongue firmly in my cheek. But 2009 coincided with a budget crisis here in California as well as the global financial crisis. So put in context, a single man going blind is a little concern for the world.

Anyway at that time I did get some aid $24.00 to buy a white cane. Though the check did not arrive until late 2010, and six hours training on how to use a white cane properly. Eeeek I was so naive about going blind back then it is scary to think of how little it really seemed to have caused me to react.

Anyway, earlier this year, my wife, Leif my guide Dog and I visited The Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco, actually to see their gadget store, when we happened to ask about services. We were amazed to find there are real services out there, provided with the help of a wide circle of advisory groups, from Orientation and Mobility (O & M) through instruction in cooking and daily living skills, to workplace training to help you keep your job or find another job.

This all begins with a visit to the Department of Rehabilitation here in California.

We all went to the Department of Rehabilitation back at the beginning of July. But the reception we got there was less than helpful, so as we live in Fresno County a trip to Valley Center for the Blind seemed to be the order of the day. Inspired it seemed at the time.

In fact we got to see an advisor from the  Department of Rehabillitation within 24 hours rather than the 6 weeks or more promised at the D. of R. itself.

Then we got to fill in the required forms with the advisor, who is also blind, and her assisstant.

Now just over three months later, the work is bearing fruit, today sees me having a low vision assessment, soon I will be having training in the workplace and  daily living skills training.

This part of the blog is sure to expand. As I will be taking you along with me to some of the training sessions with me.

 To read more see The Result of the Low Vision Assessment.