I think I’m becoming a gear head. I had breakfast with a friend yesterday. When we first sat down, the restaurant was quiet–too cold (15 degrees) for people. Then four people came in and sat and started talking.

Bobbi said, “I can’t hear you,” and pulled out a small, flat control panel with buttons to tap. She showed me how if she pushed one button, another place lit up. “It’s louder now.” She pushed it again and I could hear a small noise it made, a tick-tick.

“I want one of those,” I said. I asked her how much her hearing aids cost. She told me. They were about what I paid for mine. Why didn’t I get a  control panel for my hearing aids? Should I have told my audiologist I was becoming a gear head and needed more flat panels with places to touch that made a red light go on?

Of  course, the ultimate control panel is an i phone. I want one.