A new braillewriter from Perkins is more than overdo, it is essential. The classic Perkins Braillewriter I have been dragging around with me for the past 41 years weighed too much, was too loud, was too big and looked like it was built for industrial purposes. Not so the new Perkins/American Printing House for the Blind Braillewriter.
The new machine is lighter, built with a mix of metal interior parts and a high-impact plastic case. Smaller in all three dimensions; it is made for 8.5 by 11 rather than 11.5 by 11 inch paper. The modern sound dampening material inside the unit gives it a lower tone and the margin bell is quieter as well. And the color; while it is only available in APH Blue at first, it will be available in raspberry and other colors in the very near future. Nothing industrial looking about this device.
I like many of the new features of the Perkins/APH Braillewriter. It has a neat way to erase unwanted characters for example. You press down a key to the right of the embossing head after you place the embossing head over the unwanted character. It has a tip-up reading tray on the back so you can read what you have written without having to hold one hand under the paper sticking out of the back of the machine while reading with the other. The margin setting levers have been moved to the front of the device, just below the carriage return, no more reaching around the back and counting the clicks as you move the margin sets inward or outward. Even the handle has been changed. Instead of being on the top and having to hold the device out a bit from your body as you carry it, you now pick it up with the frontward facing handle just under the keys. The device now hangs closer to your body making it easier to avoid hitting people and walls with your braillewriter as you walk along.
Most of the time, when a device is redesigned, the price goes up. Not in the case of the Perkins/APH Braillewriter. The new braillewriter costs $40.00 less than the old one. I had hoped for an even lower price, but I guess the cost of research and development ran more than expected.
I can’t say that I like everything about the Perkins/APH Braillewriter. The knobs are more like paddles than knobs which I find very cumbersome. The left margin set is a half inch in from the left with no way to “release” it. Why bother indicating that at all? The paper has a tendency to curl if it is left in the machine for as little as half-a-day. Perkins and APH will have to look into a different paper formula if this continues to be a problem. It doesn’t come with a cover. We all know that these devices will sit on a table and be left unused from time-to-time; so why no cover to protect them from dust?
As a baseball fanatic, I would call the new Perkins/APH Braillewriter a triple. $100.00 less and no curling paper and different roller handles and they would have had an out-of-the-park home run. Good job Perkins and thank you APH for your contributions as well.
One of the many things Rick and I wanted to accomplish during our Seeing Eye Single Tour was to make contact with the public about what we were doing. To this end, Rick sent out hundreds of copies of a press announcement about the tour.
The first person to bring the tour to the public’s attention was Joe Castiglione, the voice of the Red Sox on WRKO and WEEI. He went through the press release during the eighth inning of a game between the Red Sox and the Royals. We tried to get the attention of the home team broadcasters at all of the parks we went to, but none of the others returned our email messages or mentioned us during the games we attended. I did get a short mention on the local station in Pawtucket Rohde Island during the Paw Sox game I and a number of my buddies attended before the tour, but that was about it.
We did have a lot of success when it came to internet radio and podcasts in the disability arena. Paul Edwards interviewed us for ACB Radio’s Tuesday Topics, Marcia Dresser interviewed us for Council Connection, the Bay State Council of the Blind show for their Radio Reading Service and ACB Radio program, we were interviewed for the Talking Information Service in Massachusetts, Robert Acosta had me on as a guest on his Sports Talk program on Access World and Larry Wanger interviewed us for his podcast, Disability Nation.
Only one time were Rick and I in the same place during one of these interviews. The interview for Disability Nation took place over the telephone with Rick at his home and me at mine and our interviewer at his New York studio. The interview with the Talking Information Center was live and took place over the telephone from our hotel room in Washington D.C. and our interviews on Tuesday Topics and Bob Acosta’s Sports Talk took place over Brian’s lap top using TC Conference from Talking Communities. The interview for Disability Nation took place before the tour and the rest took place after the tour. All-in-all we were kept pretty busy.
I can’t explain why the mainstream press didn’t pick up on what we were doing; they certainly had time to write about many other things that had little or no social significance. I guess I remain disillusioned with the fourth estate.
For now, I hope that you enjoy listening to our interviews and that you continue to check out what these internet broadcasters are doing. I have added all of them to my personal listening list.
Listen to a four-year-old sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game at Fenway Park
Rick, Kim and Brian at Fenway Park
The last game in our tour had to be at Fenway. Red Sox VS White Sox and a win for the home team. Kim and Vicki joined Rick and me this time out but we didn’t bring either Bethel or Jubilee. The seats are just too small!
We won 8 to 2 and saw a number of very good defensive plays. Dice-K Matsucaka threw his best game this year.
On the hitting side, Dustin Pedroia hit four out of four times. And Jacoby Ellsbury got a triple, double and single.
We are now 4.5 games behind the Rays and 7 games in front of the Yankees. We still have 26 games to go so anything is possible.
Listen to Bob Shepard Introduce the Players Before the Game
We will always remember seeing the last game between the Red Sox and Yankees in the old Yankees Stadium. Even though we lost the game 4 to 3, it was special.
We lead for most of the game but Papelbon gave up a hit at the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded. I guess that the Yankees were destined to win the game.
It was only the second time that Papelbon let an inherited runner score so I can’t help but give him a break. Our other middle relief pitchers were the guys that loaded the bases.
Attending an historic game you can’t help but go away feeling that you got your money’s worth. Even Bethel enjoyed herself.
Listen to Take Me Out To The Ball Game at Yankee Stadium
Our second Yankees/Red Sox game was an afternoon game and we had the same seats out in Monument Park. This time the sun was a real problem. There was only a little shade against the center field wall so Bethel and I sat with our backs up against the wall just under the plexi-glass. Rick was in the direct sun and came away with a sunburn.
It was a great game but the Red Sox lost in the ninth inning. I guess that every once in a while, the Yankees need to win one.
Because we have made a point of letting you in on the quality of the ball park food, let me tell you that Yankee Stadium food stinks! The hot dogs were limp, the lemonade was weak and the water wasn’t very cold. We did like the peanuts.
After the game we went out to dinner with friends from The Bronx. They took us to an Italian restaurant that had very good Veal and Chicken Parmesan and pasta. We ran out of time before we ran out of things to talk about and found ourselves without time to get dessert. We did get cookies and bread from a near-by bakery so they will have to do.
When we got back to Ken’s we had just enough time to set-up for Tuesday Topics;, a interview show on ACB Radio. We were the featured guests and I needed to set-up my new Air Card so that my computer could access the internet without the benefit of a Ethernet or wireless connection. It worked and the interview went off without a hitch.
Another night found us without time to get to that cheesecake or the cookies we had from the bakery. I guess that they will just have to wait for another day.
It was great to see a game between the Red Sox and the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Our seats were just over the center field fence in Monument Park and in front of the bullpens. There was a net over our heads and plexi-glass to see through.
One of the best parts of the game was the grand slam by Dustin Pedroia. The ball landed on the net over our heads and then skipped off into the Red Sox bull pen right at the feet of Jonathan Papelbon. That was the closest Jonathan got to a ball in play that night. We won 8 to 2.
After the game, Rick used his binoculars to look at the pitchers in the bull pen. Papelbon saw him looking and waved at him. Rick waved back and it topped off a very fun evening.
Listen to our discription of our seats in center field of Yankee Stadium
It was back to the train station and back to NYC this morning. We had another McBreakfast and made our train without any problem.
Upon our arrival, we had our first negative interaction with a taxi driver. The first taxi driver in the queue said that he would take Rick and me but not my dog. When he was told that Bethel was a Seeing Eye dog and was allowed by law to enter a taxi, he said that he would take the dog if it were in a cage. Again we told him about the law and the other passengers waiting in line backed us up. He gave in and we made it to Ken’s place without any additional hassle.
We dropped off our stuff and headed out to get a real New York deli sandwich. Rick had his mind set on a corned beef and pastrami and I wanted a Rubin. Using the Trekker, Rick found that there were over 500 restaurants within a half-mile. We decided to just head up toward Time Square and see what we could find. I am sure that we must of passed at least a half-a-dozen delis, but we finally ended up at Roxy’s. Rick got his corned beef and pastrami but the grilled Rubin sandwich I expected came open-face, something a New York friend said was a “true Classic Rubin”. Both were more than we could eat at a single sitting so we took them and a couple of pieces of cheesecake back to the apartment for later.
By the time we made it back to the apartment, we had traveled 20 blocks and my feet were feeling it! By this point I had a blister on the heel of both feet and a cut across the top of my left big toe. Again we set off for the subway and a quick ride out to another ball park.
This was not just any ball park, it was Yankee Stadium. We had arranged for a tour of Monument Park where there are plaques for each of the players who had their numbers retired and additional memorials for important people and events that played a part in Yankee history. The Yankee staff were not at first able to take us out to Monument Park right away so they gave us passes to the Pinstripe Club, a private club people hang-out in before games. It was cool and the staff and fans were pleasant.
We did get to Monument Park where Rick read me a number of the plaques and memorials. Our seats were between the center field fence and the bullpens near Monument Park. Rick had a great view through some plexi-glass. For the results of the game and other facts, check out the Game Five post. The fans in New York were the best! They were pleasant and had fun with the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. I had been lead to believe that they would give us quite a bit of hassle, but we had no problem at all.
Listen to our report on the Nationals VS Dodgers game
Tonight’s game between the Nationals and the Dodgers was great fun. We got to boo Manny again and had the pleasure to watch the Nationals beat Manny and the Dodgers. Sorry Dodger fans; we are not Manny fans anymore.
It was a close game from start to finish. The Nationals won 2 to 1 in less than three hours. Other than getting the third out with men in scoring position a number of times, the biggest thrill was having a foul ball passed at high speed between Rick and me. Wouldn’t you know it; Manny was the man at the plate (smile).
The food was good and we were seated in a section where staff brought the food to you. They make good hamburgers, hot dogs and cotton candy. Rick didn’t eat much of that but he did find time to take a picture of me stuffing my face again.
We received t-shirts as we entered the park and gave away one of our t-shirts to the usher for our section. I guess they have a t-shirt give away every Tuesday. Why can’t the Red Sox do something like that?
Now for the regularly scheduled game between the Orioles and the White Sox. The Orioles lost this time with a score of 8 to 3.
The game lasted for more than four hours and took place in hot humid weather. Our seats were in the shade or under overcast skies so we didn’t feel it the way we did the day before.
The walk home was hot and sweaty. When Rick and I got back to the room it was hit the sack and down for the count. That explains why this post is late. How do you explain why the others have been (smile).
