In the foot steps of Hear Again and typeing...

1. Are you male or female?
2. How long have you been blind for?
3. I've read that Glycoma can be a painful eye condition. Is that true in your case?

I share your dislike of cars. Although I would never have learnt even if I could see. Because I also have petit mal and temperal lobe epilepsy I stopped using a bicyle on roads because of having apsenses. I kept cycling through red lights so my dad didn't consider it was safe.
 
Hear Again said:
11. i feel safer traveling at night with a dog for my own protection.
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I've heard other guide dog owner say they feel safer with a dog but to me the oposite is true. I find having a guide dog makes me more vunerable.


This might have something to do with the fact that I was attacked twice when I had Bruce as a guide dog. Bruce just made himself scarce but in both cases my attacker was a member of the pack.

In fact it's one of the main reasons that I am now considering a long cane. As nobody will be able to influence where my cane goes like they do with Jilli. I can't say for certain but I'm quite sure that last summer some people were guiding Jilli the wrong way as she was getting lost even on routes she knew such as the way back from the park and she would suddenly go forward really fast like she was recognising someone. It is a very stressful experience getting lost with a dog. I feel so out of control.
 
dreama said:
I've heard other guide dog owner say they feel safer with a dog but to me the oposite is true. I find having a guide dog makes me more vunerable.
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i can understand how you feel. for me though, i feel safer traveling with a dog.
fortunately, i've never been attacked when using tigger or my previous guide dog, sugar.

as for my cane, i think it's just as easy for someone to grab it out of my hand and use it against me as it is to hurt tigger. at least if they try to harm tigger or myself, she will fight back and protect me.
 
dreama,

i'm wondering if the reason bruce didn't protect you when you were attacked was because the person who tried to harm you was a member of the pack. perhaps bruce looked at that person as someone who was friendly and wouldn't threaten you.
 
Hear Again said:
dreama,

i'm wondering if the reason bruce didn't protect you when you were attacked was because the person who tried to harm you was a member of the pack. perhaps bruce looked at that person as someone who was friendly and wouldn't threaten you.
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Yes, Both attacks happened where I was living by people that Bruce was very familiar with.

Once I took Bruce out at night and this Joy rider passed us. The car burst into flames not too far from where we were and Bruce ran away. He must have been scared. That was a very frightening experience. Fortunately my neighbour was a lot more helpful in Peterbough. When Bruce went to her door she went back with him to where I was.
 
Hear Again said:
as for my cane, i think it's just as easy for someone to grab it out of my hand and use it against me as it is to hurt tigger. at least if they try to harm tigger or myself, she will fight back and protect me.
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True, that could happen, but if someone called your cane over the cane wouldn't come. If someone called a dog over the dog would come.

I had another problem with bruce was when Kids teased Bruce he could get very agressive. I had to eventually retire Bruce eventually over his aggression towards children. Maybe he was just buying himself a ticket. Jilli seems to be doing that right now by trying to walk me straight into a busy road when someone from Guide dog association was there to watch. A major hint I guess. It's time for her to retire so I'll probably try using a cane for a while. At least while Jilli is a live.
 
dreama said:
1. Are you male or female?
2. How long have you been blind for?
3. I've read that Glycoma can be a painful eye condition. Is that true in your case?

I share your dislike of cars. Although I would never have learnt even if I could see. Because I also have petit mal and temperal lobe epilepsy I stopped using a bicyle on roads because of having apsenses. I kept cycling through red lights so my dad didn't consider it was safe.
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1. Male.
2. I was born blind and was legally blind until age 12. Through intense therapy and surgery I regained a lot of my vision. This past summer I started going blind again. So I guess a total of 12 years and some odd months.
3. Yes that's true and yes, I do experience glaucoma headaches. Mine are usually either at night or when I'm exercising (increasing the heart rate can increase pressure in the eyeballs.)

I'm sorry to hear about your shared dislike of cars and bikes. I'm also glad you didn't die biking across the street on a red light!

I don't bike in my city either because it's far from biker-friendly. It's really hilly, there are too many pedestrians on the sidewalk and too many cars on the road.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your awful experiences with Bruce, dreama. <sad> I can't imagine how scary that must have been.

I'm also sorry to hear about Jilli too. Maybe you could try going out with Jilli and then when she tires you can switch over to the cane? Or you could carry a cane on you in case she misguides you again.
 
nika,

i also hate cars with a passion. it would be nice if we all could live in a world where everyone walked from place to place. if truth be told, sometimes i think sighted people are too dependent on their vehicles.
 
Hear Again said:
nika,

i also hate cars with a passion. it would be nice if we all could live in a world where everyone walked from place to place. if truth be told, sometimes i think sighted people are too dependent on their vehicles.
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I couldn't agree more! I wish cars weren't even in the picture altogether. And I definitely agree that most sighted people are way too dependent on their vehicles.
 
Nika said:
I couldn't agree more! I wish cars weren't even in the picture altogether. And I definitely agree that most sighted people are way too dependent on their vehicles.
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exactly. unless someone lives in a rural area, it's not like they can't take public transportation or a cab to get from point "a" to point "b." what infuriates me most is when sighted people who live in the city say they can't get to work because their car broke down. when this happens, they are usually excused and nothing more is thought of it. when i take public transporation or a cab and the bus or cab driver is late, i hear sighted people ask me, "why couldn't you have taken an earlier bus or called a cab earlier than you did?" my response to that is, "if i took an earlier bus, i would arrive here 2 hours early. as for cabs, i call an hour and a half early, but that still doesn't mean i'm going to get a cab in a timely fashion." i know during the winter months i especially have problems getting cabs in my neighborhood since many of them stay in the city rather than the suburbs.
 
Hear Again said:
exactly. unless someone lives in a rural area, it's not like they can't take public transportation or a cab to get from point "a" to point "b." what infuriates me most is when sighted people who live in the city say they can't get to work because their car broke down. when this happens, they are usually excused and nothing more is thought of it. when i take public transporation or a cab and the bus or cab driver is late, i hear sighted people ask me, "why couldn't you have taken an earlier bus or called a cab earlier than you did?" my response to that is, "if i took an earlier bus, i would arrive here 2 hours early. as for cabs, i call an hour and a half early, but that still doesn't mean i'm going to get a cab in a timely fashion." i know during the winter months i especially have problems getting cabs in my neighborhood since many of them stay in the city rather than the suburbs.
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I live in the city too, and I definitely wish fewer people would use their cars. In rural areas I can also understand. Even in my city high school, about 75% of the study body drove to school. Some students lived beyond the metro system, so I can understand. But tons of students that lived near a metro stop would still drive. Our school was also very close to another metro stop. I started by taking the bus but I got so sick of having to take an incredibly early bus just to risk not being late that I ended up just walking the 3.1 miles every day. It was easier because I knew I could rely on walking and it would always take the same amount of time.

That always annoys me too. Sometimes I leave early and still arrive late, and sighted people act like it's because I was lying around being a couch potato and decided to hang out for another 20 minutes. Not so -- it's cause I waited at the bus top for an extra twenty minutes while 4 buses came at the same time. Or because the metro rail was under construction, etc.
 
Nika said:
I live in the city too, and I definitely wish fewer people would use their cars. In rural areas I can also understand. Even in my city high school, about 75% of the study body drove to school. Some students lived beyond the metro system, so I can understand. But tons of students that lived near a metro stop would still drive. Our school was also very close to another metro stop. I started by taking the bus but I got so sick of having to take an incredibly early bus just to risk not being late that I ended up just walking the 3.1 miles every day. It was easier because I knew I could rely on walking and it would always take the same amount of time.

That always annoys me too. Sometimes I leave early and still arrive late, and sighted people act like it's because I was lying around being a couch potato and decided to hang out for another 20 minutes. Not so -- it's cause I waited at the bus top for an extra twenty minutes while 4 buses came at the same time. Or because the metro rail was under construction, etc.
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i know exactly what you mean about kids at your high school driving. i attended a suburban public high school and 95% of the student body lived within 3 miles of campus.

when i was in middle school, i walked over 5 miles back and forth to get there -- even when the weather was 30 degrees below zero.

something else sighted people don't understand is that it takes twice as long to get to the bus stop (or walk) when you're traveling in the snow. i know it takes me that much longer to travel in the winter than it does during the spring, summer or autumn months.
 
Oh yeah same. I definitely have to factor in for weather. For sighted folks, snow or rain might add another five minutes. But for us it doubles the time.
 
Nika said:
Oh yeah same. I definitely have to factor in for weather. For sighted folks, snow or rain might add another five minutes. But for us it doubles the time.
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exactly. and i can't stand it when sighted people say they love the winter because quote unquote "the snow looks beautiful." if they had to travel in it like we do, i'm sure they'd feel differently. i'd like winter too if i could drive.

i hate winter. hence the reason i'm moving to arizona. i can't wait.

sorry for complaining. as i said in another thread, i have a bad headache and it's affecting my mood.
 
Don't hesitate to complain. It's good to release your emotions Hear Again. I'm here whenever you need to vent. And I completely understand your frustration about the winter. The winter is also hard on me because the cold makes my joints much more painful.
 
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