Latest / Blind Guys Chat / #128: Eyjafjallajökull

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#128: Eyjafjallajökull · Blind Guys Chat

• 0:00
  Foreign.
• 0:13
  Welcome to Blind Guys Chat where Oren Emile.
• 0:17
  Hello.
• 0:17
  Jan Bloom.
• 0:18
  Hello.
• 0:19
  And Mohammed Lashear.
• 0:21
  Hi there.
• 0:22
  Talk about the A to Z of life.
• 0:30
  Well, hello ladies and gentlemen. You are very welcome to episode 128 of Blind Guys Chat. And for those of you who don't know, we are recording on a Sunday night. So just to remind Mr. Jan Blum, he is working tomorrow.
• 0:42
  Oh yeah.
• 0:45
  I will tell Chef as well that he needs to wake up early again. But it was really that we had already a kind of a nice weekend out. It was quite, quite good. So we enjoy. So yeah. But back to work tomorrow. Yeah, no worries.
• 1:00
  Well, how are we getting on with weather? Because in here, Ireland, it has been a scorcher. Hot, hot, hot, hot. We reached, I think it was 34 degrees.
• 1:10
  It was 34 degrees on the M15. We were coming home from, from work. Yeah.
• 1:14
  Was that three?
• 1:15
  Of course, on the M15 where it's like only asphalt and it's always a.
• 1:20
  Degree or two hotter there than it is.
• 1:21
  Anyway, I'll tell you, I'll tell you something that CLODA did discover and most to our annoyance was as we were on this motorway which basically circles the city of Dublin. We were next door to a car with a trailer.
• 1:36
  Yeah.
• 1:37
  And inside the trailer was a husky dog.
• 1:41
  It was a covered, a covered over trailer.
• 1:43
  Covered trailer. And the poor animal was.
• 1:46
  He was panting really heavily.
• 1:48
  Yeah.
• 1:49
  Really?
• 1:49
  Yeah, he was.
• 1:50
  You could shoot it.
• 1:51
  Yeah, yeah. Because we were stopped, the traffic was very bad. So we were going the fastest we were going was about 10 kilometers an hour. And this poor dog was in this metal and plastic trailer being towed by a jeep. I was worried about him, like he really wasn't. And like, you know the way when a dog, like there's different phases of dehydration but when their tongue is lolling out and it's quite wide at the bottom and it's kind of like a spoon, it's kind of hollowed out, you know what I mean?
• 2:18
  Yeah.
• 2:19
  That's a sign of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Are approaching heat exhaustion. Like it's a danger sign, you know, and that's what this little fellow. And like huskies, they've got a really, really thick coat, like they're made for snow, you know, this poor fellow. So I, I gestured to the guy, the driver and told him, like, your dog is suffering in the back there. And he was like, oh, he's fine, he's used to it.
• 2:41
  Oh.
• 2:41
  So I ended up calling the, the guards, the police. So I don't Know what happened? They rang me later just to get more details, but I don't know. Hopefully the dog was okay, but I haven't heard. Poor little doggy, though, huh?
• 2:52
  Yeah.
• 2:52
  I mean, that's rough.
• 2:54
  There wasn't a window or ventilation or anything.
• 2:56
  You know, the weather was actually pretty hot, I think two weeks ago. But this weekend it was. It wasn't cold. It was all right. It was like. Yeah, 26, 27. And then today it was like 22, 23.
• 3:07
  It wasn't so cold.
• 3:09
  No, no, yeah, that's true. It was not cold, but it was raining, I believe. Yeah. We had some drizzle in middle. Yeah, yeah.
• 3:19
  But funniest comment this week when I went to my. Thursdays are my favorite day because it's Braille book club day.
• 3:31
  Oh, yeah.
• 3:32
  And we went into our room and there was just. There was a couple of people missing. So there was this. The kind of teacher stuck moderator person. Megan, who listened to the podcast as well. I think we had her on the show and. Hey, Megan, how are you?
• 3:49
  Hello, Megan.
• 3:50
  Hello.
• 3:50
  Yeah, you need to be friendly here. Aren't I?
• 4:00
  So we had this. So Felicitas, who lives. There's another lovely woman who reads with us, and she's living in the Black Forest. And. Oh, Megan.
• 4:10
  We were in Germany.
• 4:11
  Yeah.
• 4:11
  Yeah. And she teaches in a school for the blind. And she. So Megan was asking us about the weather, etc. Etc. And Megan and I were saying, well, it was 30 degrees here or whatever, 24 degrees here in Ireland. And I think Megan was saying in the 30s in the UK and then felicitas ups and says that it was very cold today in Germany. Oh, dear. What's. What's wrong? What happened? That's odd. And she said, yes, it's 20 degrees.
• 4:42
  Yeah.
• 4:43
  No, that's true. This makes me think of when I moved to Florida to work for freedom for the first time.
• 4:49
  Yeah.
• 4:50
  And I came there in winter, which, you know, is winter to them, but to us it's pretty much spring slash summer. And you come in there and it's 12 degrees, and I kid you not, they're wearing winter coats and earmuffs when it's 12 or 15 degrees. And I'm walking there saying, oh, it's so nice. The weather is so good.
• 5:13
  Yeah.
• 5:14
  And they're like, you.
• 5:15
  What are you talking about?
• 5:16
  Yeah, you idiot.
• 5:18
  That's funny.
• 5:19
  I remember doing a. I remember to go and take apart or been attending, you know, a Freedom of Scientific webinar. You know, those free webinars that you do which are great. And Dan Clark was still working.
• 5:32
  Oh, yeah.
• 5:33
  Freedom Scientific at the time. And we were just chatting. It was, it was in winter and it was pretty, pretty cold, you know, here. And we were just waiting for people to come into the room and there was a couple of other guys from, you know, around Texas area and maybe Arizona, what have you. And I said, you know, oh, it's very cold, you know, And I said to Dan, I said, what's it like in Florida? And he said, it's very cold here. And I said, oh, really? It's very cold. What kind of, you know, what, what's, how cold? Well, he said, I had to put a sweater on this morning.
• 6:09
  Yeah, yeah, that's different. Eh? My God. But I was, last week I was in Washington and there it was also 35, 37, 38 degrees and a humidity.
• 6:21
  Oh, oh, oh.
• 6:21
  But that is not nice at all.
• 6:22
  No, that I wouldn't, that would be.
• 6:24
  Too much for me. It was raining cats and dogs and thunder and lightning. Yeah, was a lot of rain.
• 6:31
  So you did you have to fly out in a thunderstorm?
• 6:33
  Yeah.
• 6:34
  That's fun.
• 6:34
  Yeah, that was quite cool, to be honest. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 6:37
  I love a bit of drama in a plane. It's good.
• 6:39
  Yeah, but, but there was no drama at all. It was very smooth. It was, yeah. You did not notice it? I, I, I asked my neighbor, is it still raining or. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You see a lot of thunder or lightning and, But I didn'.
• 6:53
  I think you need wind, actually, because when I came back, like, last summer, I went to the NFB and ACB convention.
• 7:01
  Oh, yes.
• 7:01
  And when I came back, it wasn't raining. There was no thunder, but it was wind.
• 7:06
  Ah.
• 7:06
  And I was sitting towards the back of the plane and the tail was, like, thrown around and you were just constantly moving.
• 7:13
  But the back of the plane is the worst place to be for, for, yeah, right.
• 7:18
  I don't mind, to be honest. But yeah, no, it, it was, it was the, it's the roughest place to be when.
• 7:22
  Yeah, for sure. When there's weather, you get bounced around, don't like it.
• 7:27
  Yeah, that's true. It's, that's not the best place.
• 7:29
  It's fun.
• 7:31
  Way in the back.
• 7:32
  Yeah. I remember having a pretty bad experience coming into Sicily and because the airport, the plane comes in, when it's going into the airport, it goes over Mount Detna. And so, like. And Mount Etna was erupted a few days after.
• 7:50
  Yeah, yeah.
• 7:53
  Yeah. The turbulence was just unbelievable. And we were in the back okay. Was not pleasant experience at all.
• 7:59
  It's also when. When the Etna or. Or even in Iceland, I think they were also. They were active, those falcons and they. Then. Then the whole atmosphere was full with. Yeah. What's coming out and. Yeah, that.
• 8:15
  That was the volcano. Wait for it. I learned it in Iceland. It is ejafjatalyuku.
• 8:20
  Oh, well done.
• 8:23
  You are fluent.
• 8:24
  That's the one that caused mayhem a few years ago, isn't it?
• 8:27
  Yeah. In 2010, I think it erupted and there was no. There was no air. There was no air traffic for days. Days.
• 8:35
  Yeah.
• 8:35
  In Western Europe. I practiced that name quite a lot.
• 8:38
  Very good.
• 8:39
  I will be able to say it.
• 8:43
  Can you. Can you do it again? Because I lost it again.
• 8:50
  It's like that Welsh. You know that Welsh village name. That's the longest place name in the uk and all I know is it ends with go Go. But it's like ridiculously long. Can you do it again?
• 9:00
  No, I can't.
• 9:01
  No.
• 9:03
  Or I can only do the. Okay.
• 9:07
  With Blind Gordon. You know, he could probably do it actually.
• 9:10
  I think he probably can do it.
• 9:12
  I don't blame Gordon. Could to. I don't know.
• 9:14
  It's Welsh.
• 9:15
  It's Welsh. But he's.
• 9:17
  It's not that far. I don't know.
• 9:19
  They're all the same.
• 9:19
  He's a smart guy as well.
• 9:20
  They're all.
• 9:21
  If you know how to do it, Gordon, send us the voice note.
• 9:24
  Sorry, I. It. I would love. Yeah, cut that one out, please.
• 9:33
  No way. No way.
• 9:35
  Well, actually we should put a. We should put a bit of a shout out to Blind Gordon because I wonder, well, is he going to get a third pair of method. Well, not the Ray Bans but the Oakley ones because now they have a. An eight hour battery. So I know he's got two pairs of Ray Bans at the moment. So is he going to go for a third? Because they. Because he keeps running out of battery. That's why he has two.
• 10:00
  But the problem is that if you keep charging them and you leave them plugged in all the time, the battery degrades. So you need to just charge them until they're charged and then unplug them. It's the same with laptops. So when you leave your laptop it's just the batteries screwed.
• 10:14
  Yeah, but I'm a little bit annoyed still with Meta because even in Washington I could not pair them again or get it running. No, I was a little bit. I did not have so much time at also. But I tried it a Couple of times. And so I reset it the units, you know, and to come back, but no way.
• 10:33
  Oh yeah.
• 10:34
  That's terrible. Yeah, I thought so. Yeah too.
• 10:37
  So they're still not working. Don't work at home or abroad.
• 10:39
  No, just the normal, you know. But not to tell me, you know. No, no, no, no, no, no. But the Ugly one has also a better camera. What I learned.
• 10:50
  Yeah, it's ugly. Not ugly.
• 10:52
  Oh, yeah, sure.
• 10:54
  That's funny.
• 10:55
  Is it a little bit under feeling, you know what.
• 11:01
  Like the ugly one. Are you going to buy the Ugly?
• 11:04
  I think the whole point that they're supposed.
• 11:06
  If they would work in the Netherlands, you know, then I would do it.
• 11:09
  But no, I. I think Mo and I should be in the. In the shop when you go in to buy those glasses.
• 11:14
  Yeah, those ugly ones.
• 11:16
  I want the ugly glasses.
• 11:19
  Oh, that's funny, isn't it?
• 11:22
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 11:24
  It's Oakley somehow for on the moment, you know, pre order. But they're soon 500, 499.
• 11:33
  Yeah, but they are. They are luxury pairs like they are that. That brand. Oakley is typically a luxury brand anyway. So you pay, I mean a lot.
• 11:41
  Of money for them also for sportive people.
• 11:43
  I have a real problem with that whole thing though, because it's. It's basically the same.
• 11:48
  Yeah.
• 11:48
  You know, why would you.
• 11:49
  Not really spectacular new thing.
• 11:51
  Yeah. Like I just. I don't understand that stuff. I really don't know. I'm not being a fashion girly and I really haven't. But like why.
• 11:58
  But I hope that envision will come to the meta, you know, that they will open up. But I don't know if that will come.
• 12:04
  That'd be amazing.
• 12:05
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't.
• 12:08
  I don't know if they will. Well, they, they are working together, so maybe.
• 12:11
  Yeah.
• 12:11
  It's not impossible.
• 12:12
  My query about the Oakley glasses, not the ugly glasses. They're saying that all the. And this is. This is a very technical term. The Goggins, the go. All. All the Goggins. The brain is. Has all been pushed forward into the. The glasses. The frame. The frame. Rather than along the side. You know, the arms like. Yes, absolutely. The arms of the Ray Bans contain some of the technology that you can avail of. But they've said with the. I think they've said with the Oakley glasses, basically there's no technology other than. Which I would assume is the speakers for, you know, near your ear. But everything else has been pushed forward into the frames themselves. So I'm wondering is that Going to make the whole pair of the glasses themselves a bit heavy.
• 13:06
  Yeah, but what is the advantage? You don't think so why should I do it?
• 13:10
  I don't think they. I don't think they would. I don't think they would make them more clunky and then charge more money. This, this is a luxury brand. If they don't sit well, I mean, what's like, they have to. They have that. They have to sit.
• 13:25
  They have to look good as well.
• 13:27
  And they have to look good, otherwise there's no point. Like, that's literally why they cost more.
• 13:33
  Yeah.
• 13:33
  But I think a lot of the time you're also just paying for the brand name. You know, you're paying for the prestige. Prestige. Which is something that I really gets my hackles raised a little bit.
• 13:44
  Yeah, no, that's true. It's all.
• 13:47
  It used to for me, but not anymore. I mean, if someone wants prestige, they can have it. I don't.
• 13:51
  I know. I mean, I've no. I have no judgment of other people doing it, but I wouldn't. No.
• 13:56
  Well, yeah, no, like, I generally. Maybe if it looks good.
• 14:00
  Yeah. But I generally, like, I won't buy anything if the brand name is visible because why. Why would I advertise their brand for them for free and pay for the. And pay for the privilege?
• 14:09
  There's no branding even on our car. Claudia got the guys in the garage when she wanted to take all the branding off.
• 14:18
  Yeah. And you know, the way garages normally put, you know, stickers and their name all over the thing, you know, they put it in. Yeah, I. I don't let them do that.
• 14:27
  And she's still very upset that the number plate has.
• 14:31
  Oh, that's a brand name.
• 14:32
  Has the garage name on it.
• 14:34
  Oh, I'm gonna get a blank one next time. Oh, you want a blank one? Ah, so you're the anonymous, you know.
• 14:41
  Yeah. You know, like, we're spending money. We're buying a car from your garage. Why? Like, if you want me to advertise your garage, pay me for it. It's. It's like me coming up to you, Jan, and saying, okay, I'm just gonna stick my stickers all over your car. I mean, that's what they do. But they don't ask. They just assume it's fine. So.
• 15:01
  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 15:02
  I'm like, no, I don't want them. Take them off.
• 15:04
  Thank you, soapbox.
• 15:08
  My. My aunt. I get this from my. My. My dad's sister, Auntie Finn, whom I loved dearly. She Was a second mum to me. I used to spend a lot of time down in Cork with her. But she used to turn shopping bags inside out so.
• 15:21
  So people could show. She was really.
• 15:25
  Yeah, she started me on it, I suppose.
• 15:27
  Okay, I gotta. I'm gonna change tack because I've just remembered something.
• 15:31
  Oh yeah.
• 15:31
  Oh.
• 15:32
  That I thought was very interesting. No, not interesting.
• 15:35
  This is a commercial break as against.
• 15:37
  What I was talking about, which it.
• 15:38
  Was not interesting.
• 15:41
  Last week. So last weekend we met our dear Professor John Sweeney.
• 15:49
  Yes.
• 15:50
  Oh, how is he?
• 15:51
  His lovely wife Patricia. Very. He's a very good form.
• 15:54
  And please tell our listeners what the Professor Sweeney because.
• 15:59
  So Emeritus Professor John Sweeney is.
• 16:03
  He's a climatologist.
• 16:04
  Climatologist in Mayuth College and basically knows everything about climate change. There's no point in asking anybody else because John knows it all and he is brilliant but he's always on the television. He loves Larry. So. Ah, so yeah, but we were with them. We had lunch with them I think last week. Yeah, that's okay. And one of the funniest things that happened, we were sitting outside and it was. It was raining on and off and we, we were grand. John and I were kind of sitting on the outside and the two women were, were fine. They were nice and dry and Larry was. Larry wouldn't even come in into the Dr. He's just so in love with Professor John. He just. But John looked at his, at his app at one stage on his phone and he said it wasn't supposed to be raining here today. And then he looked at his app and he said the only place it's raining in Ireland at the moment is.
• 17:05
  Right here in Moose, literally is just over where we were and nowhere else.
• 17:10
  Oh my God.
• 17:11
  That's interesting.
• 17:12
  He has a PhD in meteorology and climatology of air pollution.
• 17:17
  Okay.
• 17:17
  He's a lovely fella. He's one of the. We've had him on a few times actually.
• 17:20
  Yeah, yeah. Perhaps we can have him again just to explain this.
• 17:24
  Yeah, well I definitely want to have him on because he was talking about the cop. What is going to be 25 is it?
• 17:30
  Or I don't know, I think 29 actually.
• 17:34
  And it's going to be in South America. It's going to be somewhere near Brazil, but in a very small part of Brazil. And he was saying like at these events you have 60,000 people who come. The COP event. And he was saying like it's. It's this small, tiny little place in.
• 17:56
  Brazil where BLE Father m. Although they don't call it a father.
• 18:00
  It's not a father. It's like, okay, so, yeah, he's going to be very interested to see how they're going to cope with 60, 000 people. Yeah.
• 18:07
  And it's a. It's a rainforest, basically.
• 18:09
  It's like, oh, my God. Why? Why should you do it?
• 18:12
  Well, I think the reason is because they want people to see the impact of the. On the rainforest, which is lovely, but you're basically flying all these people in with their private planes. Like, it really. I don't fully understand it. Now. John is. He's a retired professor, essentially. He's still working. He's still very.
• 18:26
  Is he going?
• 18:27
  He's going. But he's going under his own steam. He. Nobody kind of sponsors him.
• 18:31
  Yeah.
• 18:32
  Oh, so he goes himself and he would go.
• 18:35
  You know, he cycles mainly.
• 18:37
  Yeah, he would go as. As, you know, gently on the environment as he could, I'm sure. But like, he's. He's so lovely. I love him. So maybe that's in November or. And I think the end of November.
• 18:47
  Yeah, Perhaps you can always.
• 18:48
  Yeah, it's every year November.
• 18:51
  So we could maybe have him after that, but we could have him before that as well.
• 18:54
  Yeah.
• 18:54
  Preparation.
• 18:55
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. He could. He feeds Larry.
• 19:00
  Yeah. Larry adores him. Larry just sits and stares at him lovingly. It's really quite funny.
• 19:05
  Mr. Jim Porsche at.
• 19:06
  Yeah.
• 19:07
  My colleague. He's also spoiling Chef because Chef is running faster to him than to me.
• 19:13
  Yeah.
• 19:14
  So Jim, when you listen. Yeah, I don't like that at all. You know, stealing away my dog with a little bit more. Sweetie, come on.
• 19:25
  Speaking of Larry, speaking of guide dogs.
• 19:27
  Yeah.
• 19:27
  Here's a shout out to our listeners. So Larry is 9 and I have put my name forward for another guy dog. And however, I cannot say that I am convinced in doing it yet. So I'm. Because I'm worried about Larry and how his life will be after he leaves our house. So we'd be very.
• 19:52
  Will he leave your house then?
• 19:55
  Well, he will be leaving our house because we won't have two dogs and we won't be having two dogs in the house.
• 20:00
  They will allow you, but they recommend that you don't because basically they say. And I. Larry was our first OR's first guide dog. And yeah, you know, we probably made some mistakes and spoiled him a bit and, you know, especially since COVID and all that, that, you know, we broke some of the rules. And the thing is that if you have a younger Dog come in with the older dog. And the older dog knows all the tricks. They literally do teach the younger dog. Here's. Here's what you'll get away with.
• 20:25
  Okay.
• 20:26
  So they recommend that you don't do that. He's our. Yeah, he's our little fluff.
• 20:30
  That's the reason why I got real well. I said also, Chef, go to retirement, go to the Bahamas or whatever, you know, they didn't allow me, you know. No.
• 20:40
  Oh, really?
• 20:41
  No. Chantal and the kids, they were all right.
• 20:43
  Okay.
• 20:43
  They voted.
• 20:45
  Oh, so you're going to keep Chef.
• 20:46
  So. But Chef is going to be. Become Chantal's dog, right? Or somebody.
• 20:51
  Yeah, like, that's how it works. They will fight about it or. Or at least they need to make a decision. But I am afraid I'm. I'm dealing. But, but. But when I'm going officially, then I got the new dog, of course, and then Chef should stay home.
• 21:09
  And that's one of the concerns for us, is that Larry is never, ever on his own in the house, ever. He's always with us. He's always with one or other or both of us. Always.
• 21:18
  Oh, yeah.
• 21:19
  The longest he's on his own is when we go to the bin shed. Basically, that's it. So I don't know how he would adjust to that. And that was part of the decision was like, really, he needs to be somewhere where he's not ever going to be alone.
• 21:31
  Okay. Yeah.
• 21:32
  But I suppose we're looking. I'm looking for some help from our listeners. If you've had a guide dog and you've had. Or you've had many guide dogs.
• 21:40
  Yeah.
• 21:41
  Let us know how you came to the decision to get another dog. And how difficult was it when you. If you gave away your dog to a family member or back to Irish guide dogs to be adopted onto another family, or how was that experience? How did you find it? And, you know, should we be worried? Should I be concerned? You know, I mean, I don't. I think Irish guide dogs will do a fantastic job in finding him a new home. But of course, there is that emotional bond that you are breaking for both of myself and Larry, you know, because he does. He can from time to time get a little bit anxious. And I suppose that's what I'm kind of concerned about. Not for myself, but more for Larry. Will he be okay? So maybe there are people out there who can give advice.
• 22:32
  I think Nora. Nora will can respond.
• 22:35
  Yeah, definitely.
• 22:37
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. She has now a German shepherd. She was already A little bit older.
• 22:41
  The dog, but I'm pretty sure I might be wrong. But I'm pretty sure that Larry, who's dog her. Larry is still with her.
• 22:51
  Yeah, but I think Larry was not her first dog.
• 22:54
  I think.
• 22:56
  Well, look, Nora, get in touch.
• 22:57
  And I mean, no matter.
• 22:59
  It doesn't just have to be Irish guide dogs.
• 23:01
  Any.
• 23:01
  Any guide dog organization, any experience would be just to share, you know, your experience, your thought, your advice. Like anything in hindsight that you would do differently will all help, I think, in making these decisions. Because I mean, it's. It's really only the first decision that Orin has made, which is to get a number two.
• 23:19
  Yeah. And then we would also like to know if the glide from Glidance pants during a hot steam weather. Yeah, yeah. Like a dog does.
• 23:31
  Yeah, I think it does. But the problem is charged particles come out and get zapped.
• 23:43
  Okay.
• 23:47
  You are funny.
• 23:48
  Yeah, he is funny. But. But it's in real. A good. Yeah, yeah, because we had some colleagues, I think. Mo. Do you. Do you know Hans Basciani or have you.
• 23:58
  No, I don't know.
• 24:00
  Okay, well, he is now retired, but he had a. Well, he had a couple of dogs and he did not keep them because. Yeah, he. He could. Because he lived on his own and he could not do that. But my sister, she had a couple of dogs and they stayed at their house and. And they. Yeah, that went smoothly. They had the new dog took over and then the old dog. Yeah. Went laying in his. Yeah.
• 24:33
  On.
• 24:34
  On his bed and he said, okay, go. Go for it.
• 24:36
  So there was no jealousy or anything.
• 24:38
  No, no, no. That is so funny. That was not happening at all.
• 24:43
  The fact that you're gonna. You're gonna keep Chef or the decision has been made that you're gonna keep Chef by the rest of your family. Have your guide dog association in the Netherlands told you what happens or how that works?
• 24:58
  Yeah, this. Well, because it's a little bit strange situation because I have to move also from guide dog school because the school Janssen, where they are not continuing due to retirement, you know, so they are stopping their school and I am switching now to Martin Gauss probably, you know, the school Mo or Martin Haus was always. Yeah, they are in the. In the center of the. And they are. So he was here for an introduction. Yeah, for the morning. And then he. So he met Chef and he explained, etc. And he. He told me a little bit the same. Yeah, Chef will automatically. Or automatically. At first, he will be surprised or whatever. But. But it seems that that is not really an big issue.
• 25:49
  I think dogs are very, they're not resistant to change like humans are.
• 25:54
  Yeah, I think they kind of much better.
• 25:56
  They're mindful, they're in the moment and they just accept cats.
• 25:59
  What do you more resistant to change than humans?
• 26:02
  Oh, really?
• 26:03
  Yeah.
• 26:04
  I mean everyone who's had a young cat will know because you know the moment you take them home, they go hide somewhere, they're like, nope. How much you think you like me? I'm scared of you.
• 26:17
  Oh. Have you had cats mo at home?
• 26:19
  I have, yes.
• 26:20
  Ah, do you have one also?
• 26:23
  I didn't have any guide cats, but I had no more.
• 26:25
  I say having a guide cat will be very interesting.
• 26:29
  Yeah.
• 26:30
  Based on what I've observed of cats.
• 26:32
  Like, I need to go to the supermarket and it'll be like, yeah, the supermarket is here. Just sit down.
• 26:38
  I need a bath. Excuse me.
• 26:40
  Yeah, no, I've had, I don't have a cat now, but when I was younger we had several cats actually when I was living with my parents. So.
• 26:50
  Yeah, did you have several.
• 26:52
  We had some young cats.
• 26:53
  Did you have several cats in the house at one time or was it always just one cat?
• 26:58
  No, for a very short time we had two cats, but usually it was just one. One is more than enough. I mean, they get very annoying because.
• 27:04
  They'Re quite demanding, aren't they?
• 27:06
  They are demanding and you can't leave any. Like once I was making like a sandwich with cheese and meat and I had the meat out and I was putting the sandwich, the sandwich into the toaster and the cat saw the meat. Just me not paying attention to it and I heard it jump and I'm like, oh, no. And it snatched it away and I went after it and it was like, yeah.
• 27:38
  Because they get on counters as well, cats, don't they?
• 27:41
  Yeah, yeah, they get, they get everywhere on counters on the top of your closet. They get everywhere.
• 27:46
  Wow.
• 27:46
  Yeah.
• 27:47
  Like maybe they do the dusting while they're up there.
• 27:50
  No, that would be nice. They just add hairs to the dust.
• 27:56
  I always wanted a kitten, but I don't know about a grown up cat.
• 28:00
  I mean, they'll grow not. They'll grow up eventually.
• 28:03
  This is the thing. I want some kind of exchange program so I can always just have a kitten.
• 28:07
  I don't think so. I think you'll actually attack, get attached to it and be like, no, I.
• 28:15
  Wasn'T allowed a cat when I was a kid, so.
• 28:17
  Okay, okay. But would be nice to hear from the listeners. Oren because it's an interesting topic and it's really.
• 28:24
  It is.
• 28:24
  But, but when, when. How is now the. What is the new now the procedure or the next step with you? How long will it take to get a. A successor for, For Larry or.
• 28:36
  We don't, we don't know, to be honest. The first time I mean, I got Larry, it was three years. However, I've heard recently, I've been talking to people recently who have gone on the list and peculiarly enough, seven months for some reason seems to be the magic number where the guide dogs contact you with a possible match. Not necessarily.
• 29:06
  Well, they never say it's definitive until.
• 29:08
  They see together already quite fast, seven months.
• 29:14
  There are different tiers to it in that there are those people. So there's three tiers and so on. Tier one, you've got those people whose dog has had to retire abruptly, and those people need a new dog. So that might be medical reasons or whatever. Might only be a year or two old or something that, that they need a new dog. And then you have tier two, which is those people who are. Who dogs are about to retire within the next year.
• 29:44
  Yeah, that's with Chef in a way. Or also with, with Larry.
• 29:48
  Yes. The, the thinking is, I think that, you know, you're. You'll be back on your long cane and they don't want you to be without a dog for very long. Whereas if you've never had a guide dog before and you're just on the list, you can cope with waiting a little bit longer because you don't know what you're missing.
• 30:04
  You know, so we'll see what happens. But yeah, we have an. I have an assessment coming up this, this week.
• 30:11
  So we'll see an adoption. You know, they, they. There's a series of interviews. They'll interview Oren, they'll interview me separately. They'll interview us both together.
• 30:20
  Whoa.
• 30:20
  Yeah, and then they'll interview Larry and probably he'll be saying, get me out of here, get me out of here.
• 30:27
  These guys are agents. You should hear what they do when they're on their own.
• 30:33
  Would be good to see.
• 30:34
  Good to be.
• 30:35
  Good to hear his opinion as well.
• 30:37
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 30:39
  Okay. Oh, interesting.
• 30:40
  Yeah.
• 30:41
  And it will be a Labrador as well, or will you also have a choice?
• 30:45
  Don't know. Don't know. I'm, I. That's the new thing. I mean, last time they were. They were only really breeding Labradors because they were making the best guide dogs with Labradors or Labradors, Cross retriever, retriever or something like that. And really if you wanted something else, you had to kind of put it on special order. You know, if you, if you needed like you've got a golden doodle. If you wanted a gold golden doodle, it kind of had to be a special order because you might say, well, I've got, I. I'm allergic to the hair. So golden doodle is what I need. Or as one friend of ours has a. Has a German shepherd retriever mix. Retriever mix. And they specifically wanted that type of dog. He's a big boy, big fella. But mostly it is Labradors or. Yeah, but we'll see. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I'll see if they can. You know, they do elephants.
• 31:46
  I know, yeah. Ponies, they have miniature pony.
• 31:51
  I'd love that. Good for the roses as well the poop.
• 31:53
  Maybe a guide snake so that everybody.
• 31:57
  Oh, thank you. That's what Oren wanted though, when he wanted it went for God.
• 32:01
  You can hold on to its tail.
• 32:07
  What's the story? I heard rumors about revisions, a new version of stuff coming out. What's the story with all of that?
• 32:15
  Ah, yes, we've got the new Fusion suite version. So we got a July Update for JAWS, ZoomText and Fusion and a very interesting update for Jaws where we added automatic saving to the graphics labeler, the UI labeler. I mean. So the uilabeler is an AI based tool that basically will go and label unlabeled elements. So if you encounter one of Those buttons that's unlabeled 1, unlabeled 0 on the.
• 32:46
  It'll work out what it is from the graphics.
• 32:48
  Yes. You can press Insert G if you have turned it on. Because you need to turn it on. It's very new through the eap. You need to turn it on and when you do, pressing will send it off to the cloud and you will get a nice label back. And now those labels are saved. And so that means that if you next time reach that same button, it will just read out the label that you made rather than cool.
• 33:15
  And Kabir, how long does that take that process for the first time you.
• 33:18
  Two weeks. Two weeks.
• 33:21
  Two weeks.
• 33:21
  Sorry.
• 33:22
  That's the downside.
• 33:23
  You have to send it by snail.
• 33:25
  Mail, but to cut it out of.
• 33:28
  Your screen, upload it to this. Yeah, shorty mode.
• 33:33
  It was really nice.
• 33:35
  The timing was good. Jan.
• 33:39
  It takes a couple seconds, I would think like five seconds or so. And then you have a label. The labeling works everywhere, but the saving only works on websites. So for normal interfaces you would have to press insert G every single time.
• 33:52
  To get the label.
• 33:53
  Okay, so this is working on anybody who has Jaws 2025 right now and has updated to the latest July update, correct?
• 34:00
  Yeah, correct.
• 34:02
  So when you mentioned the early adopter program, people don't.
• 34:05
  Yeah, so you go to the window, to the Jaws window or. Yeah, just press insert J or caps lock J to go to the Jaws window or the little menu that you have in the system tray and then under Options. So you can press alt O to go to options or if you're in the system tray, it'll already be selected. You go into that menu and if you go down a couple of times, you'll find early adopter program and there you can turn on and off a bunch of features. One of them is the AI based UI labeler. If you check that box and then you press ok, it'll ask you to restart and once it's restarted you can use the new feature.
• 34:45
  That's very interesting. And does it work with PDFs?
• 34:49
  Yeah.
• 34:51
  Yes, if they're. Yeah, if they're in the browser, yes. But it won't read you the whole PDF like it's really only the focused element.
• 34:58
  Okay, gotcha.
• 34:59
  Apropos of nothing other than I've been using FS Companion a lot this week to find out shortcuts. Shortcuts in Word and Outlook.
• 35:10
  Okay.
• 35:11
  I must say I. It's. It's brilliant. Better than going to Google. Now, some things it hasn't. And I will raise my hand here and raise a flag and say it to two guys who work for the company. FSCompanion doesn't know a lot about the application in Microsoft called Microsoft Lists L, I, S T S. Not many people.
• 35:38
  Use it in fairness.
• 35:39
  Well, that is absolutely in fairness, but there is a bit of a lack of understanding from SFS Companion about that, which is fine, I can understand it. But other than that I'm using it a lot more to search for JAWS commands or JAWS commands that are in Jaws or Microsoft Shortcuts. And so far it's been really good.
• 36:07
  Another FS Companion announcement is that we have recently added Google documentation. So now it knows a lot more about Chrome, about Google Docs, about Google Sheets, about Google Slides and all sorts of other Google applications. And again, it's the accessibility specific documentation. So you'll get keystrokes and not click here or click there.
• 36:31
  Very good.
• 36:32
  So you know a lot more about those apps. Now. It used to already be able to answer some questions from its general knowledge base and some Jaws documentation that we had and some text, but now it's so much better.
• 36:45
  Yeah. Cool. I can also add that is also quite well adapted already to some other languages as well and it will automatically translate, etc. So it's really not only non. Yeah, Only focusing on English, MO knows it better than me, but we are working hard to get that adapted to other languages and I got already a good response out of that.
• 37:11
  My niggle at the moment is when you're asking it something that, you know, let's say in Microsoft Word or Excel or Outlook, whatever the question is, and you get a step by step how to do.
• 37:22
  Oh yeah, yeah.
• 37:23
  What I've. What I found kind of a little bit annoying is, you know, you do. You go, okay, first of all, do this, you know, step one and then step two and I alt tab over to the application to do step one and then step two or whatever it is. And then when I alt tab back over to FS Companion, I'm not. The focus has gone from where the cursor was originally. It'd be nice, and maybe there is. Maybe I'm being stupid somewhere along the way, but it'd be nice if the cursor stayed where I was. If I was on step two and I wanted now to move to step three and then I'll tie back over and do step three and back to FS Companion. The focus would remain in FS Companion where I left the top.
• 38:08
  You could do something to fix that.
• 38:12
  Okay, will you fix that now and.
• 38:13
  Have it Monday morning?
• 38:15
  It's not FS Companion, it's Jaws, actually. Okay, so you need to turn Forms mode to manual. The only problem then that you run into is that when you first go to FS Companion is that you have to set focus to the edit field yourself. It won't go in there automatically, so you just press E and then press space to go into the edit. But if you turn off Forms mode, set it to manual, then Jaws will no longer set focus too. Because what Jaws does is it looks for an edit field, says, oh, you probably want to type something in there. And my Forms mode is set to auto, so I'm going to auto focus there. If you turn that off, it should stay where you left the virtual cursor.
• 38:58
  I shall try it.
• 38:59
  Very good. It's so handy having all these geniuses just at your fingertips.
• 39:05
  Genie.
• 39:05
  I. Yeah, they want to upload me into fscompanion. But I said.
• 39:12
  As your brain. Yeah, that's a compliment.
• 39:15
  It's very compliment. Yeah. All right, folks, that is the end of the episode. We hope you learned lots of things.
• 39:21
  I did.
• 39:22
  Good. I'm glad somebody has. That's one person.
• 39:25
  Me too.
• 39:26
  We shall see you in two weeks time.
• 39:29
  Okay. Bye. Bye.
• 39:30
  Thanks.
• 39:30
  Bye.
• 39:30
  Bye.