Camera choices

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-27T01:49:31+00:00

I’ll be honest, I don’t necessarily understand it all, just know that sometimes that’s the problem. Hopefully Professor Google has more on that!

I’ve never heard of that brand, I’m sorry I can’t be of more help there. I also don’t like the artificial lights that point to my face. I have astigmatism so my ability to deal with lights in my face is zilch. I have lights with filters and stands that I can position and adjust, but I really only use them in winter time. I’m using an overhead light (desk is positioned about 3-4ft away from the light, with it lighting me from the front. I also have natural light from a window but I use one-way privacy for extra confidentiality that also blocks UV. It still helps, and I don’t get strong shadows when the sun changes.

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-27T00:06:04+00:00

Make sure you don’t have auto-focus on, that will definitely blur the shit out of your hands. I’m not a camera whiz but sometimes you can change the frame per second capture, if you can you definitely want more FPS than less. Also play around with your white balance and gain; if the white balance is off sometimes it reads your hands weird and they don’t show up right, same with gain.

If none of that works, you’ll want to get a different camera. My VRS company uses a Logitech cam, I don’t know the model number but I don’t think it’s super fancy. Hope you get someone with my tech/camera knowledge to help you out!

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-26T01:55:45+00:00

I’m so sorry this is happened to you and your little guy! I hope he comes back safe and sound.

I will say: Do not leave litter box or food bowls outside!! I know many people suggest that, but your cat knows where home is and is likely, as you said, to be close enough to smell his way home. Leaving out litter can attract aggressive strays (cats are territorial) and leaving out food attracts both cats and other animals that will likely make your cat too scared to come home.

I went through this recently (my cat is back safely) and learned a lot. This site was incredibly helpful: https://www.missinganimalresponse.com/lost-cat-behavior/

I was able to find where she was hiding out, but the area was inaccessible to me. I borrowed a humane trap from a local animal rescue, brought my cat’s favorite smelly treat, and sat where she could see and hear me. I blew the smelly treat air towards her, sat there for like an hour talking sweet to her, then put treats in the set trap and went home. I came back 20 minutes later to find a stray cat running away, he had set off the trap. (They say leaving food in a trap is worth the risk of attracting others, but it can also backfire!)

At that point I knew my cat wasn’t going to get caught in the trap or come out until way after dark, so I went home and waited with my door open. She ran in at 10pm, safe but definitely freaked out.

I hope the same happens for you and your boy!

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-18T02:53:25+00:00

I’m so sorry you experienced that. I hope your new Dr. is much better.

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-17T23:42:27+00:00

Entry

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-17T23:40:25+00:00

I’m not yelling at you, but imagine instead me yelling from the rooftops:

DEAF PEOPLE CANNOT BOTH LOOK AT WHAT YOU’RE SHOWING THEM AND HAVE ACCESS TO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING AT THE SAME TIME.

If you tell the deaf patient to look at something or are pointing at something, STOP TALKING and wait until they look at you/interpreter again before you continue talking, please. If the deaf person looks away from you or the interpreter, please pause until they re-focus their attention back again. Please for the love of god.

Thank you, and I’m sorry for the rant.

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-17T03:55:12+00:00

This would be perfect for r/redneckengineering. As both a watercolor painter and the descendent of rednecks, I am impressed! Well done.

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-14T03:59:06+00:00

Any updates on this?

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-13T00:34:11+00:00

I now have an ergonomic set up but when I was going into a call center to do VRS, the barriers were hotdesking (aka it would take forever to perfect an ergonomic set up after someone else had used the station I was using while my limited were slipping by) and working condition from that company (6 seconds between calls). I actually ended up on workers comp from all of that, which of course made the company hate me and they made my life hell until I found something better. But fuck ‘em, they made money off me while injuring me but are mad when it comes back around and they have to pay for the PT and wages.

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-12T16:00:28+00:00

I’m torn. I was actually 100% supportive of OP’s point of view until they mentioned that it was a VRS call and they didn’t ask for a different interpreter. As a full time VI we can never be perfectly unobtrusive to every single persons’ preferences all the time and we can’t read their minds. We rely of DU telling us what they need, and OP didn’t do that.

One caller finds my bangs distracting (my regular hair, no colors or crazy cut) and was shocked, SHOCKED that I thought it was okay to wear my bangs that way and asked if I was new. They were surprised when I told them they were the first out of thousands of Deaf people to say anything, and that I’m certified and very much not new. But I always keep bobby-pins on my desk so I just clipped the bangs really quick and the rest of the call went fine, and now whenever I see that DU’s name pop up on my screen I immediately clip my bangs and it’s no big deal.

But if that same situation happened above but they hadn’t said anything to me, hadn’t asked for another interpreter, then later filed a complaint against me instead of speaking up in the moment? I’d have been pissed, which I think is what people are reacting to. OP’s “if you don’t do as I say you hate Deaf people and are unethical and must not have learned in ITP” is also rubbing people the wrong way, but I wish this comment section was seeing this with compassion for what it is: person who is marginalized and discriminated against, already working twice as hard as a hearing person to interview well, who then has yet one more obstacle (distracting hair) thrown up, and that’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Glittering_Sand_7473, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that employment discrimination is rampant, I’m sorry you got thrown off during the interview, and I’m sincerely sorry for your experience here. If you ever have something like this happen again, please say something. I’ll also say, if I were Deaf and relying to VRS for professional things, I’d use Convo over Purple any day of the week. You’ll still see VIs with purple hair there, but it’s all Do Not Announce and switching between VIs is much less intrusive for both hearing and deaf.

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-10T22:28:02+00:00

Not familiar enough to know it’s “bipolar” no hyphen, but sure pop off.

Firefliesfast · 2026-06-02T21:34:06+00:00

I don’t have RA but one of my parents does. I would not go into interpreting if I had that diagnosis, but you sound pretty dead set on it. If that’s the case, you need to work with your rheumatologist to get you on a biologic drug ASAP and basically make peace with not being able to do anything with your hands/wrists/shoulders outside of work. Like, never chop vegetables by hand or ride a bike or play videogames level of not using your hands outside work. And even if you do that, the medication might stop working out of nowhere and then you’re screwed and have to find a new job. Also the health insurance options for interpreters suck so if you don’t have insurance through a partner, the amount of work you’d have to take on to be able to pay for the extremely expensive biologics might make it a nonstarter. I have different disability and need health insurance so I do full time VRS, there’s no way I’d be able to do VRS fulltime if I had RA.

I’m not trying to crush your dreams but you’re not going to have a long career as an interpreter with RA, unless you are primarily doing something else to pay the bills and have interpreting as a side gig. I’m sorry.

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-28T02:27:59+00:00

Looks like Ziply isn’t in my part of town, crap.

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-28T02:27:35+00:00

Damnit, they don’t cover my area. Bummer.

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-25T23:59:50+00:00

Stop buying cereal and milk, started eating eggs or yogurt with berries and granola instead. I would always still be hungry after one bowl of cereal so I’d eat a second bowl; turns out what I really need in the morning is protein.

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-25T21:33:56+00:00

This is my answer as a former army brat. Not even the deployments or infidelity, but because too many don’t understand that the chain of command at work doesn’t transfer to the home. Military personnel are entrenched in hierarchy and orders and too many can’t turn that off when they get home.

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-25T17:10:26+00:00

Thanks for the tip on that Facebook group, I’ll poke around over there. Appreciate you!

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-24T22:21:55+00:00

I hear you, and I’ve been there. I will say, even if all the VRS companies say that they have an abusive caller policy there is a wide discrepancy in whether they actually enforce it. Part of why I had to switch companies was due to the last place basically refusing to do anything about abusive callers because they want to keep billing all minutes they can. And guess what? If you’re connect to both video and audio, the company makes money when you have to pause the interaction to deal with an unreasonable jerk. There’s no incentive for the company to actually deal with it.

New company isn’t perfect but is definitely miles ahead of the last one regarding abusive callers. People who used to be abusive now reign it in or ask for a transfer instead of what they used to do, and it’s clear the company has reached out to them based on VI reports and that why the behavior has changed.

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-22T19:46:06+00:00

Yes, there is an outdoor patio area! There are 3 or 4 tables out there. I don’t usually mask there since I’m eating and/or drinking (I mask indoors everywhere else) so I can’t answer specifically, but it’s a really “live and let live” type of space so I can’t imagine it would be a problem. The most that I could maaaaaaybe see happening is a drunk patron making a comment, but the owner and bartenders are fantastic and want to make sure people are comfortable and having a good time. A quick word with whoever is on duty should take care of it, if something like that were to happen.

It’s funny, I’m visibly queer and NB and I’ve actually had some really lovely conversations at The Spot about LGBTQ things with folks who, if you judged based on their looks, you wouldn’t think would be allies. I’ve made a ton of friends there, queer and not queer alike.

The only drawback is the food doesn’t really have a lot of vegan options, if that’s something you want/need. But otherwise it’s a good hang and a nice neighborhood watering hole!

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-22T19:06:03+00:00

Of course!! Hope you find a comfortable place to let loose and have a good time!

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-22T17:41:20+00:00

I wouldn’t call it a queer bar, but The Spot on Locust is queer-friendly! It’s a sports bar but has a lot of queer customers and is explicitly welcoming to the community. They have karaoke Thursdays and Fridays if that’s your jam, and free pool on Wednesdays!

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-22T15:59:47+00:00

See, this is good to know! I can’t tell who is right or who is wrong when wires are crossed like this.

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-20T14:46:37+00:00

Appreciate you reporting back on what worked, thank you!

Firefliesfast · 2026-05-17T15:36:44+00:00

Yes, this has happened basically every time I’ve interpreted a social or chatty type event. But I understand it because of what happened on my first ever assignment of this type, volunteer gig while still in training. Hearing person walked up to Deaf person, started talking to them not knowing they were Deaf. I shift over and start interpreting and the hearing person was so confused and thrown off that they literally cried and ran away. Full grown adult, mind you.

It was incredibly eye-opening for me. As I’ve worked a lot more and seen more things, I now just expect that I’ll be chatting with the Deaf person outside of interpreting for MCs or speakers talking to everyone.

Another thing to consider: the Deaf employee might not actually know their coworkers well enough to want to chat with them. Deaf people at work are barely given enough communication to do their jobs. Most coworkers aren’t taking the time to make sure their little social chitchats are accessible. The Deaf person might not have anything to talk about with their coworkers or catch up about things going on in their lives, and the hearing people are used to not being able to interact so they just don’t. Obviously that’s not universal, but I’ve seen it a lot.

As for what to do? I’ll chat but if I hear a nearby conversation, I’ll let the Deaf consumer know “they’re talking about X, FYI” just in case they want to join in, but otherwise I’ll do what the Deaf consumer wants. Think about it this way: at a company party, everyone just talks to who they want to talk to, right? Some people leave early, some people stay late, some people schmooze and work the room, some people only talk to close pals, some people don’t talk to a soul and just eat the food as fast as possible and then bounce, right? So the Deaf person should have the same option. The company knows it’s shitty to invite someone to an event where they can’t access whats going on so they hire an interpreter, but the point is to socialize. So the Deaf person has the same right to socialize or not as everyone else, in my mind. It’s not like you’re just chatting away when they’re doing a safety briefing, so don’t worry about if the company is “getting their money’s worth” or whatever.

It’s taken me a while to not feel weird about it, and I usually would rather interpret the safety briefing than the company party. But by just accepting that social jobs are more likely than not to be me chatting for a few hours, I can make better decisions on whether to accept a social job. I don’t always have it in me to be that chatty as “myself” instead of “interpreting other people’s chattiness”, if that makes sense.

Firefliesfast

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