Ep 38: Going Blind

For many the thought of going blind is absolutely terrifying.  In this episode Ryno has a chat to Richard "Hawkeye" Newberry and his wife Jo about their experiences surrounding Richard's sight detiorioration into total blindness.

#blind #visionimpaired #nohumbleopinions #straighttalk #sparkplugradio #rynosway #unpopularopinion  #unpopularopinions #podcast #podcastlife #podcastrecommendations #podcastseries #politicallyincorrect #politicalcorrectness

Transcript

0 (1s):
Hey there. Ryno here from the podcast. No humble opinions. We talk to interesting people about interesting things today. We're having a chat with two very special people to me about losing your sight.

1 (14s):
<inaudible>

0 (25s):
Hey, people as it, Ron out here and an interesting one for me today, we're in Tamworth. So a fair away from my usual Horter regularly, but I am having a chat with Denton. My in-laws I've got up here. Sorry, Richard. How are you, Richard? I'm well, thank you. I'm very glad about that. And Joanne also known as mumsy. How are you doing? Oh, I'm fine. Thank you. I'm very clear me a lot of that across the table. It's freaky. Okay. Now I'm very grateful for you too, for having a chat with me. I thank you very much. As you may have heard, we talk about things that other people don't want to talk about our niece and other people don't understand, and obviously losing your sights at a young age, in a sighted world, Richard is a difficult thing and an interesting thing.

0 (1m 7s):
So you are totally blind. Angie. I am now. Yes. Yep. Now that is something that I see you not deal with, but just pretend it's not even happening every single day, then I'm over here. So I found that intriguing to have that experience with you. And I wanted to talk to you a bit about it. So when did you start losing your sight club?

2 (1m 28s):
Oh, it was about nine years old. I think my cousin was probably the first one to notice it. We we're going to Tim with the show, which was straight down the road from where we lived to two or three kilometers away. And we're walking down Mani Avenue heading towards a share ground. And my cousin Jeff said, Oh, look, there's the Ferris wheel. I said, what Ferris wheel? He said over there consciously it. I said, there's not a Ferris wheel. And nothing more was said until he got home. And he told his father that I think there's something wrong with Richard's eyesight. And because they lived, their cousins lived straight across the road from us.

2 (2m 10s):
And of course his father, my uncle came across the road and had a chat to my dad. And my dad said, nah, there's nothing wrong with these owners. So they, they went and got a book and put it in front of me and said, read that. Well, I held it fairly close, but I did. I read it as, as well as I could. And yeah, see, there's nothing wrong. Then a little bit later that year from school, I was sitting or started the sitting in the back row of seats. And just as the year progressed, month by month, I moved forward seat by seat, by seat until I was sitting in the front row of seats, nothing was not now alarm bells rang until I had to get out of that seat and walk out and stand in front of the Blackboard to read what the teacher had written.

0 (3m 5s):
So yeah, you actually had to get out of your seat, walk up to the Blackboard,

2 (3m 8s):
Stand in front of it, to read what the teacher Dritan. And at that point the teacher said, Richard, why are you getting out of your seat and standing in front of the Blackboard? I said, so I can read your writing on the Blackboard. So she then wrote a little note and said, you better take that home to your parents, which then was, you'd better get Richard's eyesight checked. So that was my first trip to, to an optometrist actually.

0 (3m 38s):
And what, and so you went to the optometrist, what did they have to say?

2 (3m 42s):
Well, they examined and of course they, he picked up straight away that there was a problem with the retina. There was a bit of blistering or yeah, on, on the retina and they weren't sure exactly what it was. I was then referred to an ophthalmologist and it took quite a while before they actually diagnosed what the, what the real complaint was.

0 (4m 13s):
Well, you said to me, you know, what, what's your diagnosis?

2 (4m 16s):
Well in saying that I really still don't know it's very similar to RP or retinitis pigmentosa. However, it affects me in a different way as most P people lose their peripheral site and the left with tunnel vision. Whereas I, my first loss of sight was my central site. So I lost all central site and I was relying on my peripheral, which enabled me to get around and do most day and later a normal life, so to speak because I was using my peripheral and yeah, I, I still had my ability and, and whatever, and I continued my school and

0 (4m 58s):
Whatever. So he came back from the ophthalmologist and if that's the right terminology and they had some sort of a diagnosis for you, what was the, what was, what did they do to assist you then?

2 (5m 11s):
Oh, well we sent to Sydney to specialists and things down there. Basically. I think they, I didn't hear this at the time, but I think they told my parents that it was a congenital complaint, congenital complaint, and it was affecting the retina by way of de lamination, which leaves scouring on the retina. And eventually I would be blind eventually over gay blonde.

0 (5m 44s):
They, I mean, they might've not have spoken to you about this. It was a different time, I guess, but how did they cope with that? I mean, their sons you've been told their son is going to go blind. I mean, that's not a good day.

2 (5m 54s):
Yeah, no, I, I, I, yeah, I suppose they were fairly shocked about it. And as anyone will be, I believe mum handled it a fair bit better than dad. Eh, dad was fairly devastated and, and of course, throughout my childhood, all throughout my life, they did everything in their power to Deere, help me along and help me to do things. And, and for me to maintain my independence, for instance, I do know when a specialist or I'm not sure vocational guidance officer or whatever. Anyway, some counselor in Sydney and in an interview asked me what, what I did.

2 (6m 37s):
And I said, Oh, and play football and ride a push bike and do all of those things. And he said to dad, right. Whether you're stopping from doing that to start with yeah, yeah.

0 (6m 51s):
In my small experience with that sort of thing, I deal with some people with disabilities through trial primarily. And that seems to be the jump to a lot of the time. Isn't all just stop everything right. Bang near, near disabled. And one thing I don't want to jump around too much, but one thing that you've certainly shown me is that that's not the case. Having a, having a disability as such does not make someone disabled. If you get my drift.

2 (7m 15s):
No. And, and Nicole, as a side, my parents supported me so much in, in that. Whereas dad replied to this fellow, then when he said, Oh, you have to stop him writing. And pushbike they'd said, my son will tell me when he feels he can't ride a push bike. He said, Oh, we'll never tell him not to do anything. And that was the same, I suppose, when came Tom to go to high school, the authorities wanted me to go to North rocks school for deaf and blind, even though I didn't consider that I had anything wrong with my eyesight at all. You know, I, I was still coping pretty well. And I know dad had to, to fight or not fight fairly hard, but I know he had a lot of meetings with, with the school and et cetera, to enable me to continue in a normal school environment and continue my schooling in Tamworth.

2 (8m 11s):
And I think the agreement was that as long as I maintained reasonable marks in my schoolwork and exams, yeah. I could continue at, at a local school, which did

0 (8m 26s):
It happened. Yeah. Which did happen. Yeah. So there was an attempt made to pigeonhole you, but you just, you guys decided against it, which I think is fantastic. And I think there's a lot of that in school. And like, I went through my schooling with a profoundly deaf girl in primary school and we had some other people with disabilities as such in my high school. And it wasn't really a big deal. It wasn't even really worried about too much. So, and I sort of get the feeling that in your life with your mates and people you knew on us and stuff, it's always kind of been that way as well. It hasn't, it not, you know, the people you with now, you as Hawkeye, which is a great nickname for blind guy obviously. And you know, they don't tend to treat you any differently. Would you agree with that? Yeah.

2 (9m 6s):
And that was the same as a site school. That was, you know, I just fit it in with a group. The guys knew that, that there was certain things that probably were a little bit more difficult for me to do or achieve, but we had a group of guys, we ended in a men's basketball competition. We had a team and I was included in the team. Yeah. So just things like that. Yeah. Everything that we did, I was included in, you know, we group of us, we bought us old secondhand go-kart and did it up. And we used to drive that around the big paddock home.

2 (9m 49s):
One of them might splices and I was always led to do it. You know, I used to drive the go-kart around my cousin and I we'd get shooting. And yeah, I was always, always led to have a couple of shots. Yeah. Nagging me, trying to shoot her a rabbit or whatever that they were doing. But they would always set up a fairly big target on a tree so that I could have a couple of shots and yeah. And we used to take my mom's car when we went on shooting and fishing trips like that excursions. And I was off. Once we got onto a quieter ride somewhere, I was always led to drive, you know, my cousin let me drive.

2 (10m 29s):
And he had a little motorbike, a little Suzuki 50 step through when, when he first got his license, he was a couple of years older than me. And yeah. He had no objections to me just borrowing that bike and going for ride around the streets, having a crack.

0 (10m 47s):
Wasn't there a thing the last few years we had a bit of an attempt to driving it. Might've been a while back now. It's definitely a 4 million.

2 (10m 54s):
Yeah. That guy, how long ago was that? That would have been 30 years ago. Yeah. Didn't get that loaded. Oh, I didn't have it. Praying are very good. Might have more, we used to do a lot of fishing and skiing and biding and yeah. Whatever. And he had his by, well, we're at keep it dam and he's boating vehicle. We'd been skiing and whatever fishing for the, for the weekend. And there's another story where I'll drive you ski.

2 (11m 34s):
But, but anyway, anyway, we were getting ready to come home and bumped into his brother-in-law and we'd had a couple of beers, but not enough to worry about. Anyway, he's, brother-in-law found a flagging of plunk in his so excellent wombat and Rex, and I didn't have too much of it. Anyway. Wombat had that much plunk that he just couldn't drive. He couldn't walk. So he said, rock high Hawk. You'll have to tag her. How you're the last one standing? Wait. Yeah. Yeah. So he, he put himself in, he's in the passenger seat of their near new Valley charger.

2 (12m 17s):
Towing is, is <inaudible> in a way we went and he's, we're driving along the road. And I said, how am I going back? And we're still on the road. I need our tiger a little bit, the lot. Right.

0 (12m 34s):
We drive

2 (12m 34s):
About 10 kilometers to the nearest town. He said, if I get something to avoid, I shouldn't react high. So I actually drive it into the main street of the town. I'm parked there at the cafe. And he went and got himself, a barbecue chook or a hamburger or something. At this point in time, I found a phone and rang Jo and explained to her the situation

0 (12m 57s):
And tell you that mumsy. Interesting combined call that one. Yeah.

2 (13m 2s):
So we, he said, we'll be right to go now. So he took over the driving, which is good because we were then on a, on a more major road than the one we'd been on heading back into woods 10 more than halfway between Manila and 10 was a little town called a Tonga. Hasn't gotten much there, but it does have a pub and good to know as we're coming into a town at all. I think we could do with the beach.

0 (13m 27s):
Yeah. And you're thinking probably not. But anyway, here we go,

2 (13m 30s):
Oh, well, if you must warm bed. So he just pulled up opposite the pub and then magically both doors flew open. And he was my cousin, Bruce dragging wombat out of the driver's seat. And my wife, Joe dragging me out of the passenger's

0 (13m 47s):
Seat intervention.

2 (13m 50s):
And so we got us back home.

0 (13m 55s):
Oh yeah. I love it. There's plenty more stories like that over that. Now that was good. I'd heard of it. That one was for four. Well, let me take you back again. So, all right. You're going into high school and you're going to a, a sighted high school or a normal high school, whatever you want to call it. What's right. So your norm, when you find out how quickly does this student degeneration occur? Like how quickly things go on down here, you saw it

2 (14m 18s):
In the early stages. It was fairly, fairly rapid. And then it, then it slowed up. So I probably had quite a few years there where, or the deterioration didn't continue sort of thing or ever so slowly. And they were the years that I was in high school. By the time I got to high school, I was pretty well unable to read most print or low the school organize large print textbooks. But because I had no central site to read print was very difficult because difficult, because if you can imagine you're looking at something and you're not seeing what's directly in the middle and you're only reading what's on the periphery.

2 (15m 5s):
So I had to scan pretty well and I was very, very slow at reading. So those textbooks didn't prove to be

0 (15m 13s):
All that good. Yeah. So, okay. To give people an ID from what I gather, and you probably should answer this, but I'll give it a go. I suppose, if you want to gather your vision and started turning black in your central site, is that right? That there was no sort of,

2 (15m 27s):
Well, yeah, I had no central central sites, so it's not black. Your mind fills in what should be there, but I could look directly at somebody's face. And if I really concentrated it, wasn't there. Like there'd be shoulders and no head. Right. However, the, your, your, your mind fills in what's there. Now. I know what they look like, because I could use my peripheral site. So I, I knew, you know, what Joe looked like or all my mates. So you're not aware of it all the time until you actually concentrate and which, which is what happens when you're trying to

0 (16m 10s):
Okay. Now then, okay. So your going through that and things are getting worse and worse now, mom's, or you're about when you say you met pop in high school, correct. You both started high school at the same time, sending your stuff there. So we're, you know, I've heard, did you get some assistance from your fellow students in regards to writing things up for you or what's it called the cabin

3 (16m 35s):
Carbon paper, carbon paper?

0 (16m 39s):
What was the goal with that?

3 (16m 41s):
Well, we had worked on the board and we would write it into, or would write it into my book and put carbon paper underneath. And I would tear out that carbon copy and Richard would take it home to his parents and his dad would record it and Richard would listen to it. So that was how he learned what we were doing in English. So there was questions and answers, and it happened in lots of subjects, different people did the same thing in other subjects that I wasn't involved in. And then he took it home and his dad recorded it onto a reel to reel tape recorder. And he played it back and listened to it.

3 (17m 22s):
And if it wasn't how it was supposed to be, well, that's how he learned, you know, it was how we wrote it on the paper. And yes,

0 (17m 30s):
One of the people that started doing that

3 (17m 32s):
From the start. Yes, that's right. Yes. We sat behind, he sat behind me and in our first year at high school and he was, yes, he used to drag our chairs back quite annoying, but he must've been in there.

2 (17m 45s):
I knew she was caring. I knew she was caring on me when, the way she whacked me over leg. <inaudible>

0 (17m 57s):
I did the same thing to Emma too, so, okay. So you only a few other people did that now, how did that wasn't a big issue? Was it everyone was pretty cool. Yeah.

3 (18m 7s):
Oh yeah. That was hard. What was the needed assistance? And we did it and I mean, I think the girls all thought it was a good thing to do, you know, that was what we did. And I mean, I don't think any of that.

0 (18m 19s):
I never had the neatest books, exercise books because of the bit of smudging on the pages from the carbon fiber. So yeah, the sacrifices,

3 (18m 29s):
But I mean, the way he that's how he learned, because it was, you know, he couldn't even science and all the things he said, we had to wait. It was good for us because we had to write it in our book and we could take that time. Whereas we could say it on the board and take it in. But when it was written down, it sort of cement in your mind a bit better. So,

0 (18m 48s):
Alright, wait, so you guys are, you guys obviously became close and then became close to close, which is, which is great. How mumsy, how did that feel for you? Did it feel any different for you being with a man that was going blind or was blind or whatever it was, or did they ever run into your thoughts or anything like that?

3 (19m 7s):
No, no, no. He was just a special blood coming on. It was very fond of him. And that was, it was normal. It was, there was no, no difference between him and any of the kids. So this was, yeah.

0 (19m 19s):
But back in those days at school, other than the fact that I couldn't read so much, or my writing was not real flash, just one of the other kids. Yeah. Yeah. And that's sort of the, all the stories I've ever heard. That seems to be the case to me. Now, the reason I asked those questions is, is I find that a lot of people deal with people with disabilities in a totally different way. And I think I've told you this story before that you taught me a lot. When we first met, you know, a few years ago with me, I felt, I didn't know what to do as such and always, I guess I was treating you like somebody with a disability, you'd be walking around going, Oh, there's a, there's a step there.

0 (20m 3s):
Or, or there's a Rockdale mind that and popped around. And we one point in time and said, mate, I've been doing this for a long time without you. Okay. I'll let you know if I need you. And I thought, Oh, I feel so stupid. But it was great. Cause then at once, time, one time too, we were sitting there having Academy Hill at the pub and you just turned around to me and said, right, I need you, where do I go for a week? And so I put my arm out, took you to the toilet. You said, point me in the right direction, which I still think was brilliant. And, and I I'd got it. Then it made sense to me that people that have some form of disability don't need someone to baby them all the time that they just need to occasionally a little bit of extra help. And I've dealt, I've learned through tribe and primarily through you, that that's a good way to, so I guess, listening to your experiences in high school moms even doing that, that's just, it, isn't, it just, there's a little note there and you get it sorted without fanfare.

3 (20m 58s):
Well, Richard didn't need any assistance getting round high school. Cause he had his mates there. I mean, he didn't grab hold of their arm or anything. He just knew that I have the school and he was quite mobile and knew what to do. Yeah,

0 (21m 11s):
No, that's cool. Well look, so high school, you got through high school and okay, well what do you just go on a disability pension and that's it? Or what what'd you do Paul?

2 (21m 24s):
Well, no,

0 (21m 26s):
I know you didn't get a lot of questions.

2 (21m 30s):
I wasn't a hundred percent sure what I wanted to do, but I wanted, I wanted to get a job and I'd had a few, I suppose, work experience type positions through, through my years in high school, worked in a panel Bader shop in school holidays, worked for a company, DeCalb Shand. And we used to go there and Christmas holidays, myself and a few of my mates, detasseling corn in heartbreak, corn, corn crops. Yeah. So a few things like that, but anyway, I'd just finished my last exam for the school certificate and handed my textbooks, going back to school, sort of for the last day handed textbooks and everything back in or whatever property or out of the schools.

2 (22m 22s):
And my dad was an accountant and one of his clients and Tim with plaster works and Aldi now Mackey, he is a Finn and I'd been in Australia for, I don't know, 40 50 years, but he still didn't have a real great grasp of the English language. Anyway, he rang dad at work and said, ah, the dentists, I don't know the boy for the recipe out in the factory. And you will put the ad in the paper.

0 (22m 60s):
This is to his account. Nice. Yeah. Jack of all trades. Yeah,

2 (23m 3s):
Yeah, yeah. So dad's, well, as a matter of fact, Richard's just finished his skills certificate and he's at a loose end. He will do the job nicely. So yeah. So I started at the plaster works probably through, I know it was the Monday after the running of the Melbourne cup. So yeah, I know that because I back the wind on the Melbourne cup that year piping line anyway. Yeah.

0 (23m 32s):
Last one he did.

2 (23m 34s):
And so I started there just cleaning that, cloning the floors and, and where the, where the factory is used to be pretty walled the outside, outside of it, outside the fence line. And Johnson grass used to grow up at six or seven or eight foot high and Arlene and I all school, he had a, had a sickle and yeah, see a Richard, you will take the sickle out there and chop the grass. So yeah. So yeah, so I spent those six weeks doing that and I did get out on, on building sites a little bit at the end of that time, you know, just said, what are you doing?

2 (24m 20s):
We are closing down for a few weeks. What are you doing after the holidays? And I said, well, I really haven't decided, he said, would you like to come back and, and work here? I said, Oh yeah, that'd be pretty good. So I did, I went back after the break over Christmas, new year. And eventually I suppose, working out on site with the plasters and then, you know, more or less offered me a, an apprenticeship. So what level was your site at that point in time? Our, I was, well at age 13, I was classified as legally blind, which is less than six 60 vision.

2 (25m 1s):
Yep. So I was fully relying on my peripheral site. I could read a type measure and I've found a brand of type measure that had slightly larger than normal now numbers on it digits. And I, I was, I could read that sort of anyway, so yeah, I might do. And then just adapt a little ways to do more measuring all these type measures have got

4 (25m 36s):
A little break

2 (25m 39s):
Button on them where you can lock them. And that's how I'd measure in, instead of reading a measurement of a wall, I would run my tape across it, put the brake on, grabbed the type guy back to the shade of plaster, run it out and put a deep pencil Mark at the back of the type case, which would give me the, the measurement. Then find that with the point of more, I think you guys call them a box cutter, but Stanley knife. And then I would use a rule as a, as a gauge, running it down the end of the sheet with the knife on the end of the rule and cut the shirts. So I was probably more accurate and quicker than a lot of other plasters cutting the sheets in that method because those that read a tape measure often make a mistake.

2 (26m 26s):
Whereas my measurements were always fairly accurate and I was fairly quick also with the, the rule, what those days are three, three foot rule, but a one meter rule. Well, actually it was one meter rule. I did it too. I, one of my work mates just to go along it and put a little Hacksaw cut at every 50 millimeter Mark. Yep. 50 a hundred, 150 200, et cetera. And that would enable me, I could feel the Hacksaw, the card in it. And, and I could guess the measurements between, so I was reasonably reasonably accurate with that.

2 (27m 5s):
So just did it little things like that, but I adapted different ways to, to do the trade. And yeah, I worked on the tools I suppose, for about 17 years.

0 (27m 17s):
Yeah. I mean, and so you're a fully fledged plaster for, at, for 17 years. It's safer for it on one thing I really like watching you do things as your, the way you adapt, the way that you can make things work. Instead of saying it's a bit too hard and I mean, those notches in the rule of every 500 mil or whatever it is, that's one form of it. But this only others, I may not. I mean, we've got, I've seen you, I've saw early on the grinder sharpening up your cheeses or whatever it was there, which is just a sight to behold because I don't even like what's some what's in some people do it when they can see what they're doing. I want to do everything by feel the moms, or how do you always feel about the tall cutters and the brick cutters you all over that now that will, yeah.

0 (28m 1s):
The circular saw doesn't worry too much anymore.

3 (28m 5s):
He knows what he's doing and he can feel what he's doing. And if the blood comes in contact with something, I'm sure he can feel the wind coming off. <inaudible> you just walk away because you can't help it.

2 (28m 20s):
They're extra cautious, like using drop sores and yeah. Any power tool like that. And I've got to use my finger right. Against the blade to make sure that I'm got it in the correct place to, to cut without the Saul running of course, but then fingers clear and that don't move it. Don't go back. Yeah. Keep your hands and fingers clear until the saw or, or whatever the machine is stopped running completely. Never think, Oh, just grab that piece of timber out of that. Soar with the blade still spinning. Now I always wait until it stops completely, which is why you've got every digit. That's why. Exactly.

0 (28m 58s):
Yeah. I just want to finish up a little bit on that story. I mean, okay. So you were seven years on the tools. That's great. An achievement in itself. However, after that, what did you do?

2 (29m 9s):
Well, yes, I'm on advice from my workmates work colleagues. They said, you're going to have to find another job before you kill one of us, because I was okay at my plastering. But walking through a building site with a 12 foot builders plank on your shoulder, when you can't see the end of it was becoming a bit of a problem, I blank ducking and dodging and be dangerous. <inaudible> yeah. So it was about that time when adaptive technology was, was a big thing in the way of voice synthesized computers, of course, also a little a year or two prior to that, there became an opportunity to buy into the plaster works as a partner, which I did with another one of at work colleagues, he and his wife and Joe and I bought in as partners and the Commonwealth rehabilitation.

2 (30m 16s):
Ah, come on. Well rehab service. Yeah. Yeah. They, after they had been approached by me or somebody, I'm not sure anyway, assisted me to get my first voice synthesized computer, as we thought this was a way that I could find another career of some sort. And it was just by coincidence that the day after, or the day before this voice synthesis computer arrived, the fellow that we were employing in the office of the plaster works to do the book caping handed his name.

2 (30m 59s):
Yeah. Completely unreliability strikes. Yeah. Yes, yes. So I don't think my partner in business at the time was overly keen on the idea, but I said, I've got this new fangled computer and I think I can do the, I think I can do the bookwork. And he did. And I did. So I've moved into the end of the office case of sink or swim. I had a, a fair bit of help from my dad. Of course, who wasn't, who was at that stage was now he just retired. So he wasn't the accountant for the plastic works anymore.

2 (31m 41s):
But with his accounting background, he, he helped me help me through difficult stages of, of learning how to keep books and et cetera, et cetera. And pretty much yeah. But it's all history. Yeah. From there on computers became better and I became better at using computers. So we just went from there. Yeah. I mean, and then look, you went on to, did you go on to fully own the, the business? Was that the way or your saying yes, because you were the boss. Yes. We joined of course. Sorry. We first bought, bought in as, as partners with, with Mac and Lorraine in 1986, then in 2001 Mac Mac was 20 odd years more senior and it was, yeah.

2 (32m 38s):
So it time for him to retire really. So yeah, so long and short of it is we bought, bought his chair. He's wife had, had passed away a couple of years prior to that as well. So we bought his, his share of the business, which left the original owners share. I know, Mackey share with him. He'd passed away in, in the meantime as well, but he's oldest daughter held his share of the business. So I bought Mack out in, in 2001. And at that point in time, Ana he know his daughter.

2 (33m 19s):
She had indicated that she would be happy to sell her, share of the business to me as well. She didn't want the complications of tax and whatever, whatever. Yeah. So it took us a couple of years to recover from the expense of, or not fully recover, but yeah. Get a head around, but buying Mac out and then yeah. And then I bought, so then, then the business was ours, Holly and Holly. So, which was good actually the, in the ensuring years I expanded the business because I was the one making all of the decisions prior to that Mac was a little bit hesitant at times to, to take tackle the bigger jobs and do all that.

2 (34m 7s):
Whereas always making the decisions. And I built the, built the business up from probably employing about 12 to, at one stage there, we had 35 on the payroll.

0 (34m 20s):
So it's different to feel it became a fairly substantial kind of a business. Yes. Oh yes. Yes. I mean, you know, once again, I'll, I'll sit there and the reason I'm asking you these questions, what do you think are the big deal is the fact that a lot of people sit back and say, no, I can't, no, I can't. No I can't. And you guys have never done that. And I just think that's a cool thing. And if more people had a crack and had a guy, I always say that failure is always an option, but if you're not having to go, you're never going to know that's right. That's right. And with Mack, for instance, on his, you know, being a bit nervous to have a shot, well, okay. What can go wrong? Something maybe, but what if it goes right? What if it's great. Yeah. So

2 (34m 55s):
I, I could always see the potential of the business in this town, but he, he just, he was happy just to pack along the light was going. He didn't want, he didn't want to expand or have extra worries or whatever.

0 (35m 10s):
Yeah, no, that's, that's cool. Look, I'm just gonna have a minute now guys, grab yourselves a drink and I'm, I'm just gonna have a quick chat about our sponsors for today, which I'm really grateful for as always Bob and the crew. It's actually Rob, but it's funny to call him Bob at cactus jacks in Wrigley for helping us out today, the sponsors helped me to be able to do this show. So appreciate them. They feel appreciate what we do here, but thanks very much to cactus jacks. We love going in every Sunday, as everyone knows. And every other day of the week is too, but we'll be there for new year's Eve, which people probably won't hear this podcast till after that. Anyway, but to me a great night, go down and check out the crew of cactus jacks. Their food is fantastic and the staff are even better. So go check them out.

0 (35m 51s):
Well, let's have a little break there. People after the chat about cactus jacks, mainly because we're in a lounge room at the moment, we had a mad bird outside, which is our cockatiel Dick named after Richard Newbury here and max, the average day and who you guys know of a little bit just went off his head. So we've had to close him off and start again. So any hoof, here we go, mumsy, just to have a chat to you about, alright. You knew, so you, you knew pop since you were both 12. Okay. When did you get married?

3 (36m 22s):
We got married in 1976. So how old were you then?

0 (36m 28s):
That hurt? Didn't it you'd want for your children. Yeah, but so you guys have been married now for 40 plus years. So firstly, I think that's amazing. I voted four years, three months to what is the only 15 news for murder. But anyway, so I mean, that's, that's a long time to be with anyone in any point of time, but what's interesting to me is like, you've had a couple of chats to me about the few times. And I think it is the few times that you have got ruffled feathers a little bit because someone is treating your man, like he's incapable. What sort of tell me about those sorts of feelings and what sort of happened with that?

3 (37m 8s):
Well, it just makes you cranky to think that they think that Richard's disabled. He should be sitting in the corner, banging his head because his eyes don't work. You know, several instances, one receptionist said, Oh, I presume he doesn't work. He would be going to the special school. And I said, no, he is not. He went on their own business. Well, she called back into the pencil sharpener and didn't like that because she assumed that Richard was disabled in inverted commerce. And other times we've been not at places where they've given me the menu and said, what does he want to eat?

3 (37m 49s):
And I'll say, well, you better ask him because he has a Brian. He knows what he wants to have read the menu to him. And he knows what he wants. So just little things that people assume that he is not with us, you know, he is just a figure, a figure sitting in the chair.

0 (38m 6s):
Well, the only thing that doesn't work is as far as I'm aware anyway, is your eyes. Absolutely. Yes. Yep.

3 (38m 13s):
It's it's just a bit inferior. It doesn't happen very often because we've lived in this town for a long time and people just know that all, a lot of people reckon there's nothing wrong with his eyes because he can do all the things that, sorry,

0 (38m 26s):
He's actually faking it. Been going on the wall. It's a lie that just kept going, wasn't it?

3 (38m 32s):
Yeah. You don't, you don't move the furniture in our house because it's there for a certain time and that's where it is. So

0 (38m 38s):
Yeah, no, I was going to actually ask you about that. Like little things like that. I mean that's that's of interest like you don't and you always go to Nambucca for holidays, I'm familiar with the town and it works for you and whatever that might be. And yeah, it's just, it's just stuff I notice coming in from an outsider's point of view on saying like that the, you know, no one sort of says, Oh, you know what? I wouldn't mind the TV in the other area. That means we'll move the couch, train the other analysis stuff there. And it's all there I can cause Papa go ass up if that happens. So when didn't have a max announces out enough for these eight foot of legs. Yeah. But yeah. I mean, it's, it's an interesting thing for you. Do any, do any people ever refer to refer to you being the wife of a guy that's blind or is it never a big deal or

3 (39m 21s):
No?

0 (39m 23s):
And I think that's one of the beauties of living in Tamworth, I guess, in a town that you've known all your lives.

3 (39m 28s):
A lot of people say, Oh, he's such a marvelous bloke. You know what I mean? I think because he can put his socks on that. He's good. I mean, some, some little kids at school functions have said, Oh, how does he clean his teeth? Or how does he, how does he eat breakfast and this sort of thing also just like you do, you know, there's nothing wrong. He knows where his feet are and he knows where his mouth is. So, but you know, it's funny a little kids have a funny perception of it, but no, yes, yes. But just the fact that he doesn't see and he doesn't drive at the only two things he doesn't do. That's how it is. You know,

0 (40m 4s):
You still got a car sitting at the front there, you got your own personalized plates and everything. I was looking at the going that's cool. I've never got anything like that. I do drive. So no, but yeah, I mean, that's, it's an interesting thing. I just always, the reason I asked you to, to be on this is obviously there's a, there's a big partnership in knees. And I mean obviously with the obvious owning a business and taking risks and doing lots of stuff, it's a two way decision. And you know, you guys are very equal in your way of running a house. Well, apart from you being in charge money, but you know, and it just, that was the audio. Want to get that? Like, what is the situation? Is it isn't a bit because I found it interesting when I first got here to that, how often you'd just leave, pop behind as we walked places I will be right.

0 (40m 48s):
<inaudible> and that's just a fact. So yeah.

3 (40m 52s):
What have you done ma don't mollycoddle him. I mean, there's no good fluffing around and he's, he's able to cite where are we going on? Which why on this sort of thing, but no, there's, there's nothing wrong except that he's asked don't work.

0 (41m 6s):
Yeah. No, thank you for that. And I was just, I want to get that insight into that one thing I want to talk about to Poppy's how right? What are the things that give you great assistance? Like I hear you, you've got your watch that actually tells you the time. Yeah, yeah. Yep. And you can watch. Yeah. And you're talking, which is handy. You've also got your, I mean, I don't know. I heard you're making your cup of tea. This one, you got something that'll tell you when it's the right temperature

2 (41m 37s):
Level thing. He has got a couple of little electrodes that hang over the side of the, the cup and when it feels to within 10 millimeters at the top at buzzers. Yeah. That that's pretty handy. It saves you burning into your finger every time you pour a boiling cup of tea or coffee, which is handy. So yeah,

0 (41m 57s):
Obviously from what I can gather the talking computer for want of a better term or the other voice, you know, active voice computer or whatever it might be was obviously a very, very helpful thing in the advancement of if your second type of career in that, what sort of things give you the most assistance now? I mean, is it, I mean, I hear listened to your books, your audio, and you listen to him. What, what at what speed? Ah,

2 (42m 25s):
The, the, the talking books I just listened to at normal speed. Okay. So the computers now the computer is different because the talking books, I've got a little talking book machine, I suppose you would call it a little, a little device that as big as the mobile phone it is. And the books that I download are all audio recorded yet, like recorded books. As I said to you earlier, some I'll get from vision Australia library they're free and others, I buy from audible and they unload, but they're, they're all and apply those at normal speed.

2 (43m 9s):
That that's great. The voice synthesize computer, because I've been using it for goodness 35 years or more, the original one to one of them is nearly, nearly

0 (43m 25s):
Not in front of, in front of, they would no screen. And within you're aware, this is,

2 (43m 29s):
But yeah. So I have the speed, the voice, the synthetic voice speed turned up a bit. Yeah. So I can get through things quicker, which I can understand it. And other people sometimes have a little bit of difficulty in catching it because of the speed, but yeah. And I've always sent the source computer. Of course that's the biggest piece of technology or the most influential one in, in, in the way my life progressed in that it enabled me to continue to work and to actually take over the administration and, and run the plaster works.

2 (44m 11s):
That would have been not impossible, but extremely difficult to do without, without those computers. And then just all of the other little gadgets, as we say, the liquid level, my little talking book machine or talking watch, I found, which just, I just use Siri, which is available to everybody. So that's nothing flash and nothing out of the ordinary as far as other people are concerned. However, I have to rely on it. Yes. Yeah. So, and, and that's great. Yeah.

0 (44m 50s):
You use it well, like it's funny, I'd never used sear or anything like that. And then he, you don't think, Oh man, I should do that. And then I never do so sorry about one day off. Besides is anything else that particularly helps you? Like, you've got, okay, you've got a guide dog. Henny is just around here somewhere Tik TOK. And every time she walks into the place, which is fine. So you've had a few guide dogs.

2 (45m 11s):
Yes. And he's my third. I've got my first dog Murphy back in 91. And I had him for 11 years, which was exceptionally good for a guard dog. They're they say they're working, working life expectancy is, is eight to 10 years. So he worked for 11 years over now at the end of his career, arthritis was, had him fairly crippled up. I think he, he worked because he, he loved it and he wanted to, but I think he did it under duress. I think he had a bit of pain in the last year. Then, then I got Kelly in 2002 and she worked for 10 years.

2 (45m 58s):
And so of course in 2012 at the end of 2012 is when I got Henny. So I've had her since then. So for a bit over eight years now.

0 (46m 9s):
Yeah. So she's, she's basically semi retired now

2 (46m 12s):
Since I've retired or retired, about six years ago, sold the business and consequently, I don't, well, yeah, I'm not out and about as much as I was back in those days. So back in the day when I was working, I was constantly, I was fortunate that, that our factory was only a kilometer from the CBD in 10, whether it was just over the, over the main bridge. So I used to walk into town regularly for business purposes. So he solicitors accountants to the bank, et cetera, things like that. So of course, since I've retired, I'm at home.

2 (46m 56s):
Most of the, Oh, I can't say the rest. I stay at home all the time, but I'm not out and about as much as I was when I was working.

0 (47m 3s):
So how helpful was Murphy when you first got him? Ah, yeah. It was just a breath of fresh air.

2 (47m 7s):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look it, even though back at that time, I still had a bit of, a little bit of sight. So Murphy was an exceptionally good cook guide dog, but he did have the advantage that I had a little bit of sight to help him look good. But, but he was a brilliant dog. He was, he was just, he was just cycling. I'm not saying the other ones aren't but he was just exceptional things he knew and could do. Eh, he was, he was exceptional. The other two are equally as good. Don't get me wrong. I'm not downplaying them. But because he was my first one and he gave me so much independence prior to that, I was using a white cane and I a handheld now that's been replaced with the new device called a mini God, but it was called a Mowat sensor.

2 (48m 1s):
It's a little handheld sonar device. Yeah. And I was using the two in conjunction, but you still had to be concentrating all of the time when you were walking along. Even though I still had a little bit of peripheral sight, you're concentrating all the time on the cane and the, and the mouth sensor to, to get yourself around, always aware of, you know, if there were traffic about, and, and pedestrians that just weren't looking where they are going and things like that. Whereas once I got, got Murphy, it was just so yeah, just such a change for my independence.

2 (48m 44s):
I just put the harness on him, grabbed the handle and say, right, our let's go to the bank. And, and I honestly, I could not have to concentrate on where we're going, what we're doing all the way from the plaster works across the bridges. Couple of intersections, traffic, lights, all that. He would just stop at the curb until wait for my command across the road, which he had to do. It was my decision to cross the road and never hears. And, and till we get near the bank and then he him in the door of the bank and he Oh, right. We're here. Okay, good. So yeah, on the way I could be thinking about what I, yeah.

2 (49m 25s):
What work I had to do when I got back to the factory or, you know, what we were going to, going to have for dinner tonight. And it must've felt pretty amazing. What, so it just gave me so much independence. So rather than having was a chore to walk anywhere because you had to concentrate just to be able to do it without even thinking about it. Yeah. So, and so that started, as I say, that that was 30 odd years ago. So as far as that guys with walking around with a guide dog is, is just so good for you. Independence.

0 (49m 58s):
It's been, I mean, I've seen a little bit of Hani. I haven't seen the other two, but yeah. It's just an astonishing thing. And even though any, as you say, it doesn't get a lot of work anymore or whatever it might be, but, and what's been interesting too, is God docs were around for a long time, but there's a lot of dogs around now that, that aside from the obvious having given you eyesight is for want of a better term, these people that just makes them feel better to have a dog around and give them some assistance and whatever. We've got a couple of drivers that bring their, their assistance dogs around and they described for them. It just, it certainly does make a big difference to them to have that. So for, I think God dogs fulfill us. No doubt, dual purpose, I guess, for some people maybe not yourself, but for some people

2 (50m 39s):
Oh yes, yes. For some people, their, their guide dog is, is a companion. Yeah. Without, without doubt. Yeah. And, and, and a good companion like people have have said to me, you know, how close do you get to your guide dog? And I've, I've said to them a bed as close as you get to your own children. And that's how you look upon the, the, the dog. And, and probably you spend more time with it with a guide dog than you do with your own children, because they're with you 24 hours a day, they sleep in the same room as you they're with you constantly. So yeah. The bond is there, you know?

0 (51m 19s):
No, I, I think it's just a phenomenal bond to watch. It's a really interesting thing. So no, look, I mean, I think I appreciate you sharing your stories with me today. I haven't ever seen you go down either, by the way, I thought you might a couple of times. Well, Oh, and you've never have you got a certain sense of balance about your pop that keeps you up,

2 (51m 36s):
Which is always good, nimble as a cat

0 (51m 41s):
Stanford, couple extra winds last night, but you said no, that it might have something to do with it. We don't know, but that's okay. Look, I'm going to start wrapping this up shortly, but is there anything else you guys would like to add? Not, I mean, I will just say this. You're not just, you say you're retired, you're not sitting in retirement. I mean, you have some ownership in some taxis are in town, which I'm going to do an interview with your son, Ryan, about, you know, about his taxi works. I think of happiness would just be funny. So a little bit of that, but you're into that. You do some other, you've got the lion's club that you've been in for a long time and moms, or you've had a big part to play in that as well. So I mean, this is the bit that I love, I guess you got, you've got every job opportunity to be. It's all too hard and it's not fair.

0 (52m 22s):
And you've never done that. And for other people out there, if they're listening to that thinking it's all too hard and it's not fair. Well, who cares? Yeah. None of that, no one really gives a shit

2 (52m 33s):
Lion's club. That's that's been a big part of our lives for the last 20 odd years, Joe first, she was the first one to join. Actually she joined the lioness club and consequently, which was sponsored by the lion's club of Tamworth and one of their functions, a couple of the lines members were there and they approached me and said, look, Hey, would you like to come along and join lions? And I said, well, yeah, I wouldn't mind that. So, and a lot of it and, and you're, you're working for the community. It's, it's great. You know, to enjoy that. Also the, I ride a tandem push bike, and I've been doing that probably for eight or nine years.

2 (53m 16s):
And that came about with one of the lines members wanted me to go with him on a Westpac rescue, helicopter fundraising, bike ride. Yeah. And he, there's a bit of a funny story attached to that. He, I was at work and he rang me one day at work and said, or a Hawk. He said the Westpac rescue helicopter bike rides on. He said from, we wore back to 10, whether you said, I said, yeah, mate, no, no, no problem. I'll sponsor you. How much do you want? He said, no, no, no. He said, I don't want you to sponsor me. He said, I want you to come in at, with me at 10:00 AM.

2 (53m 56s):
I said, you are an idiot.

0 (53m 58s):
And he said, no, no, no.

2 (53m 60s):
He said, well, we'll get a tandem. And I said, Dave, the only thing I've been on, that's got wheels under it in, in the last 30, 40 years is this office chair I'm sitting on at the moment. I said, I wouldn't know how to ride a bike now. And he said, no, and I will do it. So anyway, long story short, he said, think about it and I'll get back to you. So he rang me back the next week he's here. What, what do you think about this? He said, well, I said, there's bike rider. I said, how long is it for? He said, Oh, it's about seven days. Seven, eight days. I said, okay. And you said, from what he wore, he said, yeah. I thought all we watered him. Well, that's 200 and 220 K.

2 (54m 40s):
Yeah. I could

0 (54m 41s):
Do that in a week. We do that. Yeah. Yeah.

2 (54m 43s):
Look, we'll think, yeah. We'll look for a tandem and we'll have it. See if we can ride it to start with them. Yeah. Anyway, so we did, we found a tandem and then we found, I found out, he knew, I found out that this, we wanted a term with wasn't direct route on the main, right. It was by every dirt road in the back country. It was that that ride was 840 kilometers.

0 (55m 5s):
You didn't look at the fine print. Did you feel it?

2 (55m 9s):
No. That Lake shattered. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Although we trained for it. We, we did, we did a lot of, a lot of training leading up, but only we started riding in July and the ride was in September. So we only had a few months to get, to get prepared. But yeah, it was, yeah. It was a new experience. Yeah. We loved it. And we've been riding ever since we've, we've done every one of the Westpac rides, except I missed one last year in 2019 because our friends had booked a cruise from Canada back to, to Australia on a relocation cruise, or shouldn't mention the ship on the Ruby princess.

0 (56m 2s):
That was good.

2 (56m 3s):
That was when it first came to Australia and that class with the ride. So I missed that one. And then of course this year's ride was canceled due to due to COVID, but

0 (56m 16s):
Hmm. You mean how many times a week do you ride?

2 (56m 19s):
I ride at least three times a week. Well, three days a week. Put it that way. And our every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday morning aged with Clarkie on a ride ride, tandem ride bike. And each of those rods is about 45 kilometers. And then often times I'll then go out on the Tuesday and Thursday with <inaudible>, I'll get off the ride bike after doing 45 K and then jump on the, on the mountain bike and do another 55 K with Davao on, on the mountain bike.

2 (56m 58s):
And then of course, when things are all going okay, which that just been a bit this year has been a bit different. Of course there's end of it. But then on Sundays we go riding with, with the team that do the rescue helicopter fundraising road. And they ride every Sunday made out of Kalila chlorine. And we do, I suppose, anywhere from 30 to 50 kilometer ride and callback there and have a, have a schooner of refreshment towards calm. And, and of course, whatever we ride with that group, if, if it's a 50 K ride on the day dive and I do, we, we do 70 odd because it's, it's nearly 11 kilometers from, from our place to there.

2 (57m 45s):
And we grow it to there before we start each Sunday. So,

0 (57m 49s):
Well, he says you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Right? Exactly. And it's not, there's no truth in the room that you don't actually pedal very much. Is it that, shouldn't that sorry,

2 (57m 58s):
There's a vicious rumor. That is,

0 (58m 1s):
Well, I just heard about it. I thought I should bring it up. That was all. So I don't think that it's a very cool thing. I mean, we could go into fishing. You've been in the fishing club for years and going fishing every year and every opportunity and all that sounds good.

2 (58m 14s):
That's what I've got as well with the land cruiser. The time of boat.

0 (58m 18s):
Yeah. So it's not, as I say, it's not like we're sitting around lamenting anything. So look guys, it's been a great chat. I've really enjoyed. Is there anything you'd like to add before we wrap up or <inaudible>

1 (58m 30s):
Hi, we've got two wonderful kids and five wonderful grandchildren and happy.

0 (58m 36s):
Good. Well, I'll get a couple of very cool in-laws too. So thank you for being that. Thanks to actually check. Guys are really appreciated and we'll leave it here and look, thanks for at least to get there. People will catch up with you next week on no humble opinion.

1 (58m 48s):
<inaudible>.