It’s just less than 3 months since I started working with my guide dog, Fiji, with all the incredible and liberating changes she has brought to my life. But there is one… shall we say unexpectedly negative consequence of working with Fiji, and that relates to the way I pour a mug of coffee.
Yes, I do know that sounds like I’m straining the boundaries of credibility – how on earth could my guide dog impact on the way I pour coffee???
Since I began my career as an inspirational speaker I have used a description of how I pour coffee to demonstrate how I use my other senses to accomplish everyday tasks. For those of you who have not yet heard me speak: When pouring the coffee I can either feel the weight of the mug to assess how full it is, or I can listen to the sound as the boiling water fills the mug (the higher the pitch of the sound, the fuller the mug is). And I used to stop pouring the water when I could no longer hear because the pitch was too high for my hearing range.
My hearing has definitely improved since I started working with Fiji – listening to traffic to make sure it is safe to cross a road requires acute hearing. With my hearing improving, I can hear the pitch of the water more than I used to… which means I no longer know when to stop pouring that all-important mug of coffee.
I know I will eventually find a way to do so… and in the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to get used to mopping up spilled coffee.
I’m glad someone else is aware of the pitch of pouring coffee. AND if you have sugar in the mixture, the pitch and tone colour changes! I’m sure your ear will quickly tune to the pitch of “full”, though. Glad to hear Fiji is keeping you on your toes.