It is so quick and easy to put on a few pounds, and so very hard to take them off. So I like to keep track of my weight. I weigh myself at a set day and time every week. By doing so, I can catch any weight gain early on and work to reverse that trend before it is out of control. But it is so hard (admittedly impossible) for me to see the scale when I stand on it.
I like to keep my weight private. So asking someone to read the number to me is not my first choice. It may also be an inconvenience or an imposition for the sighted assistant. An alternative could be a talking scale, but that is expensive and the darned battery needs changing far too often. The talking scale is not the most accurate scale around either.
I figured out a way to weigh.
Pictured: The camera screen is displayed. The second button from the top along the right side of the screen is the self-timer button. If you are using your iPhone, the self-timer button will be at the top of the screen. The red circled area shows the choice of OFF, 3 seconds, or 10 seconds for the self-timer.
I place the scale on the floor next to a counter or table. I open the camera on my iPad and set the self-timer to 3 seconds. Then I place it on the table with the camera lens extended over the edge of the table. I check to be sure that the scale is visible on the iPad screen. Then, while standing steady on the scale, I gently push the START button on the iPad’s camera. Voila!
Pictured: The iPad in on a table and on the floor to the left is the scale.Pictured: My tootsies on the scale. The image is captured by the iPad camera.
The iPad’s camera now has the image of my scale with my current weight displayed. Now I can pinch and stretch the on-screen image to enlarge that portion of the screen.
I can see it! I can see the image of the scale with my weight displayed. On, so easy! I found a way to weigh!
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But first a confession. I actually already have a step counter, and I use it all the time. My iPhone has a step counter, a good one too. The screen is large, bright, and easy to read. Using it, however, means keeping the phone with me at all times. I even bought a holster that clips onto my jeans pocket to host my iPhone, keeping it with me every step of the day.
There’s a problem. The iPhone is heavy. Add the weight of the holster and it really is a drag to carry around all day every day. After months of doing so, decided I need a tiny gizmo to count my steps. My phone can stay in my purse or at my desk, or wherever and just be my phone.
Pictured: Tiny MP3 player by Wiwoo about 1.5 inches square that includes a pedometer.
I studied the market. I need a simple step counter that is small, lightweight, and can live unobtrusively in my pocket. I finally selected a tiny MP3 player that includes a pedometer, made by a company that calls itself Wiwoo. The screen is clear, and backlit, and the whole thing is less than two inches square. I soon learned, however, that the screen is too tiny to read and getting into the pedometer part of the gizmo is a major hassle. So I returned it.
Pictured: Talking pedometer by VoiceZone, about 2 inches tall.
Next I tried a talking pedometer by VoiceZone. With that, I don’t have to worry about screen size. After all, the gizmo will read the step count aloud to me. Since that is all this gizmo does, it appeared to be easy to operate. It disappointed me big time! First, it was difficult to hear and understand, especially outdoors with street noise, or even indoors with the TV on or a pot boiling on the stove in the next room! The screen (no backlighting) is impossible for me to see. Finally, it did some crazy step-counting! I could easily reach 5,000 steps in about an hour with this thing. So I returned it. This company, by the way, doesn’t accept returns, they were quick to tell me. When I responded that I understood and would simply write an honest review on amazon, they immediately granted me “an exception” of a full refund.
Pictured: A pedometer by Omron, about 2.75 inches long, with tiny screen and no speech.
Finally, I ordered a small pedometer from Omron, a healthcare company. They offered free shipping and promised accuracy. Remarkably it turned out to be the least expensive of the three gizmos I tried. And I love it. So I have to hold this pedometer close, up to my nose, and then squint to read it. I can do that!
The pain wakes me from a deep sleep. It is the worst pain I can ever remember experiencing. My eyes flood with tears, but I cannot open them. The tears stream down my face like a flash flood. My eyes are clenched shut but the tears escape. The pain continues without letup. I feel for the box of tissues on my nightstand and blot what I can, tissue after tissue. I flail and toss and turn without purpose. After some time, the pain is lessened, just slightly, but enough to give me a glimmer of hope.
Hours later, the pain is mostly gone. I can open my eyes but everything is very blurry – much blurrier than my normal blurry. My eyes are now hypersensitive to light. I cannot be outdoors, I cannot look at a computer screen, I cannot tolerate a glowing light bulb. And so I wait.
By evening, probably 12 hours from the start of the episode, my eyes seem back to normal, normal for me. I can finally resume my activities.
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That was the first time I experienced a dry eye attack. Since then, I have taken steps to try and avoid such events, but still they occur, a little less intense – just a few a year. JUST a few a year!
I have described these episodes to several ophthalmologists and even more optometrists, as well as other eye care specialists. Sometimes my messages never even reach a doctor. Most listen and shrug. They have no advice, no recommendations.
Once I said to an eye doctor, “it feels like the top layer of my eyeball is being ripped off,” and she responded, “yes, that is exactly what is happening.” She told me the medical term for what was happening. That was the end of our discussion.
Not all dry eye sufferers experience what I do. Some people experience itchiness, redness, blurry vision. Symptoms and their severity vary.
So here are 5 things I do to try to help myself:
Avoid looking at devices before bedtime.
Blink intentionally and frequently.
Use over-the-counter artificial tears.
Apply warm compresses to closed eyelids.
Gently massage the closed eyelid.
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Do you have a dry eye story to tell or home remedy to share?
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