Quote:
"Geez, I just figured being deaf and blind was just normal aging.... Ya mean not everyone is the same way????"

I can't speak for "everyone", but I definitely fit that pattern. And there doesen't seem to be a satisfactory resolution to the hearing deficit. Most of the time, folks talking to me, unless they are in a cone about 45 degrees directly in front of me, sound sort of like the teacher in the Charlie Brown Peanuts cartoons - wa-wa, wa-wa, wa-wa. My Bride has a bad habit of talking to my back, and I can't make out what she says, most of the time. Maybe it is a bit selective, though; up until I retired, I had pretty acute hearing faculties, or so it seemed. I still hear things others don't, but not a lot of what others do hear. As to remedies: my Dad had hearing aids, and was always fighting them; a good friend has the same situation - in fact, the last time I saw him, he was without them and said they were more trouble than they were worth. Not only were they hard to regulate, they held too much moisture inside his ears and caused a condition similar to athletes foot.

As to the vision subject: I have a new auto-dark helmet, and it seems to be ok, but I am concerned about the darkening time; even miliseconds are not as fast as light rays, and there must be some "leaking" in the time it takes to get dark. I am thinking of buying a new flip lens one; my old Jackson has served well, but parts are getting hard to get - the suspension is broken, again, and I have had it for over thirty years. With the auto dark, I still reach up to flip the lens or even the helmet; old habits die hard.