Hearing Aids Report #2

I guess everyone knows by now that I sport hearing aids. A couple of weeks ago I wrote Report #1, so now here's Report #2.

The deal here in Israel is that we "try out" the hearing aids for just over a month. If they are disastrous we can return them and won't be charged. During that time we are scheduled for a couple of appointments to help us with the hearing aids. 

A couple of weeks ago, when I really wasn't feeling comfortable with them, I was given an extra appointment. I kept the one for today which I had scheduled earlier on, and I'm glad I did.

At my first Medton-Hedim appointment I made sure that I could ask for extra appointments whenever I felt the need. That was one of my conditions for choosing them over the competition. And BTW there's lots of competition. I'm sure that some of the other places also give good service, but not all work with my kupat cholim, sick fund. I chose them, because a neighbor recommended them, and I trust his judgement.

Today my main question concerned what I felt was the short life of the batteries. I had been expecting them to last much longer. As we discussed my use of the hearing aids, it ends up that my favorite thing, listening to music, Torah classes etc. is what uses lots of battery power. It may be worth using my old headphones sans hearing aids at various times. The Bluetooth headphones are easy to charge.

I was wracking my brain to think of something else to report when I felt the hearing aids sort of "moving around." They don't always stay in my ears properly. So I mentioned that to the technician. He quickly took a look and said:

"You may need larger buds/tips/plugs/domes." 

So he took out a different size and replaced the ones I had been using. He was right. They are better. They stay in place, so I hear even better than before.

Honestly I was surprised, but I'm glad that the staff knows their stuff. 

There was no need to make another appointment, though I was told that I'm always welcome to call and they'll fit me in.

New Phone, Xiaomi Mi A2, Hope It Lasts

Well, I had no choice. I really can't manage without a smartphone. I bought a new one, a Chinese one, since I was awfully disappointed with my Samsung J7 which didn't even survive two years. I got a Xiaomi Mi A2, and I'm trying to adjust it to my needs.

OK, first where and how did I choose it?

As I had blogged yesterday, my J7 had dropped dead. No, I hadn't dropped it. It never awoke after restart; it was just lying peacefully on my computer desk Sunday evening.

The young man who helped me in Ariel recommended that I don't buy immediately. I should research and then come back. Besides asking around, I emailed the chain and got some suggestions.

Instead of returning to the Ariel phone store, I went to the same AM Phone chain in Sha'ar Binyamin. I knew that buying a phone and getting the service I'd need to transfer data would take ages. Also, even though it would be possible to find the same phone for less money in Jerusalem, I preferred the convenience and trust I have in this one.

It could be that the J7 didn't suit my needs, so I decided not to skimp this time. Davka, surprisingly, my new Xiaomi Mi A2 cost less than the J7 did less than two years ago. One of the factors besides the 64 memory that sold me on the phone was that the camera is supposed to be good. That's one of the things I haven't gotten to know well, though I'm pleased so far. Priorities are the rings and notifications, so it won't wake me up for a Whatsapp message. I also had to download an app for a choice of ringtones. It doesn't have a choice builtin.

Another plus for the Xiaomi phone is the two year service warranty. That beats the one year that Samsung gives.

I'm definitely making progress in learning how to use my Xiaomi Mi A2, and don't forget at the same time there's a new kitchen to set-up and get used to. At my age, I'm always glad to challenge my mind.

I'm not showing a picture of the phone, since it's ugly black. The model is so new that the store didn't have any nice cases for it, but the company gives a free case, also dark and boring.

"Merlot" Great Shiloh Dairy Restaurant

I'd been hearing amazing reports about "Merlot," the dairy restaurant in the heart of Shiloh. There's a pizza place in the same building, which I still haven't sampled. They're near the bus stops and just across from the supermarket, Kupat Cholim Leumit clinic and the Dvrarim Yafim clothing/toy/misc store.

A couple of weeks ago my friend invited me there for brunch. You must know that I'd never refuse such an offer, and I gladly accepted. To be honest, I wasn't even sure that it was open in the morning. I thought it opened only at noon, but I was wrong. It's the pizza place that opens later.

Merlot has a breakfast menu, just like the nice dairy restaurants in Israeli cities. The prices are pretty standard, though not in the high end. It's nicely decorated and very comfortable.

We had the "Breakfast for Two." Our eggs were custom cooked, and we ordered different types. We shared the salad, spreads and rolls. My only complaint was that the "whole wheat" wasn't really whole wheat. The flour was too fine, and it didn't have the crunch and texture I expected in a good bread. The advantage of that was that I ate less bread than I would have.

Our coffee was included in the price of the breakfast meal.  The waitress brought us that "white milky coffee," which I don't like. When I told her that she hadn't asked what type of coffee we had wanted, she quickly took my coffee order and brought the other one back to the kitchen. She was very polite about it. Merlot's coffee was fine, as one would expect with such an impressive coffeemaker.

Next time I must go there for a real meal. I'm looking forward to it.

Kosher, of course. Open Sunday- Thursday from 8:00 AM – 11:00 PM, Fridays from 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM and Saturday nights from one hour after the Sabbath until 11:00 PM. Telephone: 02-6284601. Call to verify, of course. They also handle groups. There's a parking lot behind it for cars and buses. Egged Taavura lines 461 and 463 have nearby stops.

Whatever Happened to Decent Service?

So many times after eating my restaurant meal, I've waited much too long to finally get the bill, I've been tempted to just walk out and wonder if they the staff would ever notice. And other times, even if I was with a group of just three, we'd find a terribly long time between when the first was served until the last. Or as happened in a well-reviewed kosher restaurant, 613, in Stamford, CT, they seemed to have forgotten to bring our food until long after it should have had arrived. And of late, more than once, my dining partners and I weren't asked if we wanted dessert or tea/coffee after the meal.

Today, when I was dining with two others in the "Gregg's" in the Sharonim Mall, Hod Hasharon (near Yarkon Junction,) almost all of those things happened.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, because we grabbed our table without the assistance of the staff. Nobody seemed to be in charge. We asked for the menus, of which they brought two even though we said that a third would be joining us.

They took our orders without too much trouble, even checked to see which quiche would be served. Actually that we for me. I ordered their mushroom quiche which came with a salad and some sour cream or creamy white cheese. I had asked for the green salad, but they gave me Israeli one cut up small. I didn't bother complaining since I was served about twenty 20 minutes after one of my dining companions was served, and she had gotten her meal about fifteen 15 minutes after our friend. The quiche was the doughiest I'd ever eaten, but at least it was whole wheat.

After we had all finished eating, we had to work hard to catch a waiter's attention to order coffee. The waiter didn't ask if we wanted any dessert, nor were our plates cleared away. Then the coffee was brought, which we finished quickly, and then we wanted to pay and get out. But we couldn't find any staff to bring the bill. We were getting rather annoyed. I suggested that we just walk out, and if they do notice, we'll say that we're just testing them as part of a survey. My idea was vetoed, and we weighed the idea of not tipping. On that we disagreed, but the final result was a much lower tip than the bill would indicate.

And we asked for the manager to come, especially since the staff we could see were so young, much younger than our kids,  and it was obvious that nobody was well-trained. A young woman came identifying herself as manager. She admitted that things aren't running smoothly. She offered us a free coffee, but she could see that we had already had coffee. She offered some cookies, but we're all dieting. If she had offered some sort of discount card, that we would have taken.

This sort of thing has happened too many times to me. It's becoming more and more rare to get good competent service in a restaurant, anyplace at all.

New Cellphone!!!

I didn't plan on buying a new cell phone today, but when I called my dd#1 to confirm our brunch together, all I heard was:

I can't hear you! Hello, hello, I can't hear you!!!

Then I called dd#2, and all I heard was:

I can't hear you! Hello, hello, I can't hear you!!!

Then I called dh, and all I heard was:

I can't hear you! Hello, hello, I can't hear you!!!

Dd#1 finally managed to get through and said:

Imma, you must get a new phone!

And when dh could finally communicate with me, he agreed, so dd#1 and I got me a phone for dessert after our lovely brunch together. Yes! It's that modern looking skinny thing, but mine is in hot metallic red!!! I did not want black!

Everything's great, except that I don't know how to use it. Not exactly true. I wouldn't leave the place until they showed me where to plug in the charger, how to turn it on and off and how to lock and unlock the keyboard. You know, I'm not that dumb. I'm not going to take a phone home which I can't turn on. I also made the salesman make it work in English. He set the time, but the date's wrong, and I can't figure out how to fix it. I keep following instructions, but nada. I learned how on my old one. I called service and asked for an English Language Instruction Book.

Now, why did I choose that one? Once I realized that all the phones have cameras, I began paying attention. This one has a 2.0 megapixel, which makes it potentially, a real camera. I won't have to schlepp 2 ton tessie-- my Cannon A620 every place. It felt comfortable in my hand. It's the size of a diet cracker, but thinner.

Yes, here's the baby; it's a Samsung X820: