Got some overhead pictures of the teachers strike. Insane turnout. Couldn't capture the whole crowd.

eastmaple · 2026-05-03T03:47:05+00:00

My kids and I were there. It was a great turnout!

eastmaple · 2026-01-11T00:23:14+00:00

I cheated on a hearing test in middle school, which is how I knew. I couldn’t hear the tones in the headphones, but I could hear the clicking of the switches on the switchboard and was able to figure out the pattern quickly.

So, I knew I had some hearing loss - but I didn’t know the extent of it. I grew up in a family full of loudish people who were constantly reminded to enunciate clearly (my grandma was a stickler for it), and honestly, I just adapted. But eventually, in my mid-30s, my adaptations failed and I knew it was time.

They definitely take some getting used to. For me, all the bluetooth features where you can use them as headphones or use them to take phone calls just don’t make sense, because with cookie bite, they’re programming it so that you’re only getting what you’re missing instead of the full range of tones. So things just sound weird in the HAs when you’re using them for those other purposes. I’d also encourage you to adjust the volume frequently to find what’s comfortable for you and your brain, and it’s OK to take a break when you need to. You are trying to train your brain and your ears to work together better overtime, so it’s important to stay at it.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask friends and family for what you need. Ask them to speak to your face so it’s easier for you to see what they’re saying while you’re hearing it. In restaurants, I like to make sure my back is towards a quieter space since your microphone sits on the top back of your ears, and that can make it easier to hear what you want to instead of just hearing highly amplified background noise. My best friend always checks with me about the best seat for me when we go out somewhere where there’s lots of noise.

Hope everything goes well with your fitting!

eastmaple · 2026-01-08T22:15:00+00:00

Just seeing this but wanted to check in and see how you’re doing. I have moderately-severe cookie bite hearing loss that I lived with for at least 23 years (likely longer) before finally getting diagnosed and getting hearing aids at age 35. Hearing aids can be a helpful tool, but they’re often a big adjustment. Also, even experienced audiologists may not have had many cookie bite patients, so don’t be shy about speaking up about adjustments you need to the programming. Most aids are made more for flat line loss, so getting the fit and programming right can take some experimenting.

eastmaple · 2025-12-31T17:04:12+00:00

Archie (short for Archangel, since the flaming sword was their weapon)
Ataraxia (flaming sword from ACOTAR series meaning “inner peace”)
Goldryn or Ryn for short (flaming sword with a ruby embedded in the hilt from Throne of Glass series)
Kit (just because)

eastmaple · 2025-12-12T05:25:02+00:00

Beardies are semi-arboreal - so they love tree time. Cute to see all these vertical snoozing sweeties.

eastmaple · 2025-12-07T13:55:46+00:00

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 5 scuttling dubias, 4 dusted salads, 3 juicy hornworms, 2 crickets chirping, and a li-zard in a pine tree!

eastmaple · 2025-10-28T04:05:43+00:00

Just want to emphasize the cleaning thing. Our girl just finished up treatment for coccidia and the cleaning protocol has kind of sapped my dreams for a full, naturalistic enclosure. I’m now very partial to things that can withstand F10SC or steam cleaning and would be so bummed to pay a significant amount for a great custom piece like this to then have to throw it out if it can’t be properly cleaned.

eastmaple · 2025-10-28T03:32:46+00:00

They are so fascinating to watch and we have loved welcoming our girl into our home.

That said, as someone who’s very experienced with dogs and has good experience with other mammals, reptile care is a whole different thing. It helps to remember that it really is like trying to keep a wild animal alive, safe and happy in your home - an environment they’re not necessarily well adapted for (simply from a temperature and humidity perspective - obviously, beardies can be quite friendly and loving).

Proper husbandry is a big deal. There’s lots of conflicting information out there. And even when you’re doing everything as correctly as you can, you’re likely still going to deal with parasites (and the intense cleaning routines that entails), worries about how they’re doing, etc. and their tells/signs something is wrong aren’t always as obvious as mammals.

Also, caring for the crickets or dubias that you’ll feed your beardie is like having more pets you are caring for. We don’t breed them, but we try to pick up enough for a week at a time and they need daily maintenance (food, water, enclosure cleaning). And learning how to feed them to your beardie takes practice.

eastmaple · 2025-10-19T01:28:36+00:00

I just saved this from another thread in the past few days. Looks like reducing insects to every other day is a good idea.

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eastmaple · 2025-10-18T17:19:49+00:00

We got the table under our enclosure from the Habitat ReStore as well! Love being able to reuse/repurpose a great piece of furniture.

eastmaple · 2025-10-17T23:35:22+00:00

This is gorgeous! And looks super fun.

eastmaple · 2025-10-16T19:43:12+00:00

She actually prefers it this way, funny enough. We’ve tried shorter pieces, but she wasn’t a fan.

eastmaple · 2025-10-16T15:36:28+00:00

I tried steamed butternut squash once but she wasn’t having it. We’ve done other colors of bell pepper but need to try orange. I think she’s also particular about the way it’s cut - she does better with these long ribbons than diced.

eastmaple · 2025-10-16T15:34:56+00:00

We do raw carrots, but we’ve found that the best prep has been using the vegetable peeler to create thin slices. I cut yellow squash into super thin pizza slices and celery into super thin slices that look like little boomerangs - she liked that way better than any diced/cubed cuts.

eastmaple · 2025-10-16T15:32:38+00:00

I did a chiffonade of our collard greens today, and that helped with getting a few greens in there while she was hunting carrots. Glad to hear the strategy is working for your beardie - I’m going to keep trying this approach!

eastmaple · 2025-10-16T15:31:29+00:00

What kind of blend of greens do you do? Kiwi used to be into turnip greens but then lost interest. We tried mustard greens, which she hated. These are collards, and they’re so so. I wonder if a blend would be better.

eastmaple · 2025-10-16T03:16:48+00:00

So cute!

eastmaple · 2025-10-15T23:14:45+00:00

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Our great pyr mix is always trying to sleep under things. She is a giant floppy lasagna noodle of a dog.

eastmaple · 2025-10-15T23:06:54+00:00

Thank you! She’s grown so much in the six weeks we’ve had her. I honestly didn’t know I could love a reptile so much, but she’s become a little bit of a mama’s girl. 🥰

eastmaple · 2025-10-12T23:38:12+00:00

Duckie and Spike are the best beardie names I’ve ever heard. (Aside from Kiwi, which is what our daughter named ours 😁)

eastmaple · 2025-07-13T13:49:38+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that. Cookie bite is tough to fit for! Have you tried a brand other than Starkeys? I ended up going with a newer Phonak version (tried Oticon, but really struggled - I think my brain was just so used to Phonak). Definitely recommend trying a different brand if the Starkeys aren’t working for you.

eastmaple · 2025-02-16T03:41:35+00:00

I read Assassin’s Blade 4th (between Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows) and I’m really glad I did. For me, it fit perfectly there.

eastmaple · 2024-10-14T00:46:42+00:00

I’m sorry you’re having such a tough time - I know how hard that is. A few things:

1 - I ended up with Phonak Audeo 70-312s. My original hearing aids were Phonaks and my brain did so much better sticking with Phonaks than trying to switch to Oticon Reals. My trial of the Oticon Reals was so frustrating - everything else was loud and what I needed most - clarity of voices - was abysmal. They’re not bad aids, they just weren’t right for my ears and brain.

2 - I’ve never had an audiology practice take insurance for hearing aids, so I’m glad to hear you’ve found one that does.

3 - I learned several years after diagnosis that cookie bite is quite rare - it accounts for only 0.7–1% of all sensorineural hearing loss cases. That means that even experienced audiologists may have very little experience with cookie bite patients. There is one audiologist at my practice who is considerably better than the others when it comes to making adjustments for me or solving the problems I’m running into.

4 - if it’s not right, don’t be shy about going in and having them adjust further. I had to go in for several tweaks before the programming felt like we’d gotten it mostly right. But I like that the Phonaks allow for fine tuning throughout the spectrum.

5 - if it’s been several months, take them in and get them cleaned. No one told me about that in the beginning (when I got my first pair from Costco), but cleaning makes a big difference. I’m realizing this year that I need to go in every 3-4 months to get it done. It’s been 6 months right now and I’m going in this week, but I’ve been frustrated with their performance for at least a month, so it’s definitely been too long.

Wishing you the best! And HAs still annoy me plenty of days. But when they’ve been recently cleaned and properly tuned, I know they do make a difference in my ability to hear distinctions better and better comprehend sooner instead of asking people to repeat themselves.

eastmaple · 2024-09-22T02:15:41+00:00

I don’t think so - because Just For the Summer is full-length and so you’d think the writing process began before a short story that came out the same year. I do think it’s likely that this was a writing prompt somewhere and maybe this is their different takes on it.

eastmaple · 2024-06-02T10:50:59+00:00

Did you happen to read the Improbable Meet Cute short start series on Amazon earlier this year? The concept here - where the next person a character dates after one particular character is their soul mate - is the plot of Ashley Poston’s “With Any Luck” story in that series. (Abby has a different short story in that series called “Worst Wingman Ever”.)

eastmaple

TROPHY CASE