-: The holidays should be fun and festive,
but there can be a lot to figure out in this episode.
Hadley's Tiffany Mpofu
and Steve Kelly join us as we share tips
for managing all the logistics for holiday gifts and cards.
I'm Ricky Enger and this is Hadley Presents.
If this podcast helps you in adjusting division loss,
consider making a Giving Tuesday gift to Hadley.
So that same help is here for someone else,
visit HadleyHelps.org/GivingTuesday,
or call 800-323-4238.
Welcome to the show. Hey Ricky.
-: Thanks Ricky. -: It's amazing to have you both.
It's been a while, hasn't it?
-: It has, but it's always a good time when
we all get together.
-: Yes. So that is Tiffany
Mpofu, one of our amazing practical help specialists.
And also we have Steve Kelly.
Why don't you give a shout out Steve.
-: Hey everyone, -: Great to have you both.
And we are talking about holiday gifts
and cards today, so kind of trying to talk through some
of those logistics that might be making you say ba humbug
because it feels really stressful
and we just wanna take that part of it away
and really give some tips
and tricks for how you might manage some of this stuff.
That can be a little tricky with vision loss.
So I wanna start out by talking about holiday cards
'cause that's a thing that is a really important tradition
for a lot of people.
You know, you look forward to the mail carrier getting
to your house
and finding out what designs people have chosen
for their cards.
And also maybe you are the one who is doing
that card shopping
and you get all excited about sending things out to people,
writing little personal messages inside.
And maybe you're thinking, how in the world am
I going to do that?
So first of all, do we have tips
for picking out your holiday card?
So if you are the one sending these things out
and staring at these images is not quite
as easy as it once was, you know, to pick the right design.
Do you have any thoughts on how people
might go about doing that?
-: The first thing is finding the stationary aisle,
right, to get to those cars.
And then the second challenge is finding the sign
that says Christmas or holiday or, so.
Once I'm in that right place, sometimes I would ask
for assistance just walking in in the store
and I may go to a cashier
or someone if I had, haven't called already to ask
for some assistance to find that aisle
and find the section for the cards.
But then I would go through the section
of cards like using my magnifier
to enlarge the card so that I can see the design as well
as read the message.
So yeah, that's mostly what I would do.
-: And when you have your magnifier with you Tiffany,
do you typically have one of the small handheld lenses
or do you have more of a digital thing that you can kind
of change the colors on it and things like that?
Which, which thing do you find most helpful?
-: The digital one for sure
because I can enlarge it as much as I need.
And as well too, sometimes when it comes to the messages
inside the card,
sometimes the print is kind is pretty fine
or like has thin lines.
So being able to have the option to change the contrast
of the color to to see the text a bit better is, is helpful.
-: That makes a lot of sense. I didn't even think about the
fact that you're probably gonna have some fancy fonts
and stuff like that in those cards.
And so yeah, having a way that you can
adjust things on the fly to make it a little easier for you
to see Steve.
Did Tiffany pretty much cover it
or do you have some tips that you use
or maybe you just shop for holiday cards under duress?
-: Well, there, there's always a little bit of duress there,
but, well, I I, my approach is completely different
because I use a service like Snapfish
or something where I, I take a design, usually a photograph
or something like that and do it on the computer.
And what's nice about that is
because I've got magnification on the computer,
I can pretty much decide what I'm gonna do, what I'm going
to to say and it's a little bit easier to see.
That said, if I was in a store, I, I would,
I would probably do very much what Tiffany did.
I'd approach the aisle with a, a pocket magnifier in,
in one pocket and my phone in the other.
And if I couldn't do it with the magnifier,
I would then open up the phone
and use the camera on that to check out the design
or the verbiage inside.
But I find what I've been doing for the last couple of years
with the online service works really well for me
and then they just send everything.
-: So what about putting those personal messages
inside the card?
Is that kinda what you do Steve?
Is when you're doing it online, you can actually just type
that stuff in instead of needing
to hand write it or whatever? Is that right?
-: Oh, no, no, no, no. Not, not at all. Okay.
That, you know, that's, that's just one
of those tricky things where I've got a, a nice pair
of Eschenbach readers that are pretty high strength six
or eight x
and in the past I've also used something like I was doing a
review of the Patriot Vision viewpoint, which is, you know,
a pair of wearables and they magnify
and those were great in the sense that, you know, I could,
I have the card open
and usually what I do Ricky,
is I use a block print Now I used to have really good script
that I was always so proud of,
but I had to give that up about 10 or 15 years ago.
So I just do it in block print.
And you know, for, for some folks, you know,
maybe getting a writing guide would be a helpful thing to do
and they can just put that on the card and,
and do the same thing if they want to do, you know,
that personalized handwritten thing.
-: What about you Tiffany?
Do you do what Steve does where you have a, something
that you're wearing in order to help you see it better?
Or do you have a different way
of doing the personal messages
or addressing the envelopes or whatever?
-: Yeah, I do something just a little bit different.
When I have a card,
I would write a message on the blank side of the card.
It wouldn't be a script, it would also be a a bit large ran.
So I kind of think about what I want to write first and,
and then I'll write the message.
But I would sign my name in script.
One more idea too I wanted to mention is that in the past,
and sometimes I still do it, I would buy a box
of greeting cards.
This way I can do everything using my video magnifier at
home I can see the design of the the card
and I can also read the message clearly.
-: And if you are thinking, okay,
what in the world is a video magnifier?
We actually do have workshops talking about all these
different types of magnifiers,
like the digital handheld ones
and the video ones where you're putting it under the camera
and you're able to kind of see what you're doing
as you're doing it.
There were a couple of other ideas that we had.
So we kind of discussed this as a team
before we got together and recorded.
'cause I wanted to get as many ideas from
people as as I could.
And this is something I still struggle with.
So I tend to be one of those people
that will get the gift
and then the card that goes with it is written in
that personal message in the online section.
So I take that technology approach to it.
Other people have done this
where you do a mail merge in Microsoft Word.
So essentially you have your list of names
and addresses that you're sending to
and then you set your printer
to do the envelopes
and it's magical when it works for those
who can set this up
and get it done that way it actually works really well.
Have either of you ever done that?
-: I have not. But I wanted to mention another idea is
that the Hallmark store, the online store is really awesome
because you can also send cards directly to their recipient.
-: Oh nice. -: Yeah, I just thought
that was a really nice service they offer
-: For sure.
That sounds a lot more approachable
to me than doing a mail merge.
I can get behind that, I wanna try it too.
So what about reading cards that you get?
And a lot of times those are going
to include handwritten messages
'cause people love doing that.
It's a way of personalizing the card
and showing, Hey, I took the time
to write you something.
So what tools do you all use for looking at the card?
Kind of getting an idea of what that design is
that someone shows and then reading the message inside.
-: I would take a picture using my tablet
or iPad, I would take a picture of the card
to read the message
or even if I wanted a clear image of
what the card looked like, I would do that also too,
another way is that I would use my phone,
I would use the magnifier on my phone
to pretty much do the same thing, enlarge
what I need to see.
But of course that tool, seeing ai,
I also use that as well for reading messages
and that has become my primary way
of doing things now when reading cards.
-: Yeah, me too. That's such an amazing tool.
And by the way, we have workshops on that too,
but this is a tool that you can use.
It's using the camera on your smartphone
to read things aloud to you.
And so it's not just print,
it can also be handwritten messages and it's awesome
and you can take a picture
and get it to describe the card for you.
So it's super cool.
Is there something we didn't mention on that,
Steve, that you use?
-: I've got a similar approach.
I, I usually start out with the handheld magnifier
and then I move on to seeing AI or Google Lookout.
Sometimes though I'll, you know,
I'll just use the camera on the phone,
but you know, this year I'm thinking about trying the meta
glasses for some of this
because I think that that might work pretty well.
I don't know how well they worked with a handwriting,
but I have a feeling, I mean, seeing AI does pretty well
with handwriting as does lookout,
so I'm gonna guess they do as well.
-: That is just a lot of great tips for kind
of figuring out holiday cards, both choosing them
and addressing them and reading them and all that stuff.
Gifts are a whole other thing
and they too have just this pile of logistics
that you gotta figure out.
So when it comes to shopping for gifts,
I mean there's a lot to think about.
So sometimes you might know exactly
what you wanna get someone,
but sometimes there is that process
of like strolling through the store
and something catches your eye
and you think, oh, that would be perfect for so-and-so.
And what do you do when
that isn't really an option for you?
Do you have a, a system where you are walking the aisles
and maybe it's not as easy for something to catch your eye,
but are you still kind of seeing some things
or is it, maybe it's even just the signs on the aisles,
like, oh, down this aisle is candles or whatever
and maybe that gets you thinking.
-: Yeah, so what I typically would do is once in the store,
I'll start in one department or a section of the store.
So I may start in clothing
and what I will do is pretty much walk the aisles.
So I'll go down and then come back up
and go down another one.
So like a zigzag type of pattern.
And as I'm doing that, I'm looking for price tags
and sizes of different things
and I'll just do that same method throughout the store.
One department at a time.
Yes, it, it, it takes me a while,
but it works.
And also to, I'm able to kind of grab
and touch things, bring them as close as I need it.
So yeah, I kind of take my time in doing that.
-: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
What about finding things
that maybe you already know you want?
What's the process of trying to get in store assistance?
And I don't know about you,
but you know, in the holidays it's the stores are really
crowded and people are very busy.
Do you ever have any issues with finding that assistance
that you need, particularly around the holidays?
-: I think with that it is better,
like you mentioned going in, having ideas
because it is so busy.
And then that way the person who's assisting can guide you
to those areas where you need to go to find
what you're looking for.
And also what I've found helpful,
and I might be jumping a gun a little bit, is that I would,
for instance, target, I can go online and find things
and then pick it up at like the customer service desk.
-: All right. Steve, what about you?
Do you have a way that you do this, you know,
grab someone's attention just so that you can get directed
to a specific aisle or what have you?
-: Well, I should say that by
and large I am not a planner whatsoever.
With, with, with a couple of few exceptions,
and this would be one of the exceptions,
I am not gonna walk up
and down aisles trying to find things for people.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna have an idea before I go shopping.
And then considering like, you know, the big box stores,
that would be like the last option just
because there's so many people and they're so busy
and so few people to assist.
So I'm gonna try to have like something that I, I'm,
I'm looking for specifically go to a, a local place
that maybe has a little less traffic, choose off hours
and then, you know, try to round somebody up and
and ask specifically, you know, where I might find
that little little truck for my grandson
or something like that and, and go in.
But you know, just like Tiffany said, I'm gonna have
my magnifier handy
and you know, maybe the one with the light
because who knows in the store, you know, just
so I can see the prices
and perhaps ingredients if necessary and that sort of thing.
But you know, most
of the time I think I'm gonna try a shopping online
or I might do the, the selecting kind
of like Tiffany said too, where you actually go
to the website, oh that's the item that I want right there.
And know specifically what it is that you want
before you get to the store
or maybe make the purchase online if
that's the only way to do it.
-: Yeah, and you're definitely speaking my language when it
comes to shopping online.
I just find it so much easier.
But then I live in technology all the time as do the two
of you, but I know that that's not really everyone's thing.
And so the idea of, okay, I'm going to
figure this online thing out, it sounds very overwhelming.
I'm wondering if there are ways
that can make it a little less complicated.
Like it's still going to be a little bit
of a challenge maybe, but are there tools that you all use
or kind of ways that you approach this
that makes it just a little bit less complicated
-: When shopping online?
I use magnification so that I can get things as big
as I need, especially when you're looking at designs
of different things and different items and that
and also like reading a description about
the item and stuff.
I'm an avid Amazon shopper. Yep.
And using Amazon.
And plus for the holidays too, they do have a gift service.
So that will take out the wrapping and all of that
and you can purchase the gift and set it as a gift
and it'll come in a, in a gift bag.
And using magnification for low vision
that could be helpful when you're searching online.
And also too makes it easier to read those descriptions
of the different products.
-: And there's also something to be said,
like you mentioned shopping at Amazon or Target.
And sometimes it really is just a matter of choosing
that place that you know, the layout of the website.
Sometimes that's really helpful is just figuring out, okay,
where's the search button?
Where are my results going to appear?
Where's the cart button? All of that stuff.
Sometimes that's the hardest thing to figure out.
And so once you have a couple of places that you're familiar
with, then it can make a lot of sense
to do it that way.
And I wanna mention another tool
that is relatively new
and it has kind of the same advantage
where it is one website where you get
to know the layout of it and you can do a lot from it.
So that is called Inno search.ai.
And what Inno Search does is you can search
for whatever it is that you're looking for
and Inno search will search multiple
retailers.
So it may search Walmart and Amazon and Target
and all these other places.
So you get an idea of who's got a great price on it
and all of that.
Plus it is actually designed for blind
and low vision users, which is really helpful.
-: Well, you guys know me, I can be the low tech Luddite
among the group
and I, you know, I was just thinking, I,
I think I'm very fortunate to, to live in,
in a relatively small community.
So believe it or not, we still have a toy store
and we still have a a hardware store
and you know, I was just thinking for the folks
who are intimidated by the web, you know,
pick up the phone call that local toy store
and I've done this in the past, you know, I want such
and such a book or I want such
and such an item, do you have it?
And would you mind gift wrapping it?
And you know, around the holidays they will gift wrap it
and then really all I have to do is show up.
But you could choose two or three items that way.
And yes, you're probably gonna pay a little bit more than
you might from the box store from Amazon or,
or one of those other places.
But, you know, I, I like that
and I think for some folks that might be an easy thing to do
and, and you know, we do forget about some of those just,
just the, you know, the regular phone these days in,
in terms of, of doing stuff like that shopping and,
and asking those questions.
Do they have them
and you know, what is it made of, et cetera.
-: Yeah, there's a lot to be said for actually talking
to a human when you're doing some of this.
And back to in a search,
'cause what you said just made me think of this,
it is not just online.
You can call a phone number now it's not a human
who's talking you through it,
but if you are able to dial this phone number,
you can speak the things that you're searching
and everything, including the payment for
what you're buying
and where you're shipping it is done by voice.
So that number is
8 5 5 7 4 6 7 4 7 8.
And we'll have that in the show notes too.
But yeah, like you said, sometimes you want it to just be
as simple as let me call up
and use my voice to ask about this stuff.
-: That's an awesome compromise right there.
I love that because that, that does mix the high tech
with the low tech of just using your voice.
So I, I think that's an awesome alternative.
-: So we've touched on this a little bit already,
that process of making your gifts look presentable
and believe me, I am the first one
to jump right on that.
Oh, you want me to pay $3 and it's gonna be wrapped
or put in a gift bag?
Yes. Let me do that.
Do you have any other tips for, if you're a person
who does want to do your own gift bags
or do your own wrapping?
I know one thing, Lisa who's not recording with us,
she mentioned something I didn't know about which was there
are pre-cut sheets of wrapping paper
that you could use, which is kind of nice
because that is one of my biggest challenges is trying
to cut a straight line or cut along the lines of the paper.
And so just having a sheet of it,
like yeah, that sounds great.
-: Yeah, absolutely.
When I was wrapping, I've gotten lazy now
and I use gift bags and it, it just works
and you can get as creative with the tissue paper
as you want and put that inside the bag as well.
Like using different colors
or just having paper to cover the gift.
-: So that actually made me think about something,
if you are doing all these gift bags
or you're wrapping things
or whatever, do you have a system for figuring out,
once you have put all this stuff together, okay,
which one belongs to which person?
'cause if you're struggling to either write a label
or read the label that you've written
or whatever, are there ways
that you can kind of get around that?
-: Yeah, my family, we would use a color method.
So if my gifts are in blue,
everyone would wrap my G in blue.
And now most of us use gift bags now.
So it's kind of the same method,
but also too using designs, right?
Because some gifts have different designs on them, so
that's another way of knowing who has what.
-: That's a great idea. What do you do Steve?
We just put things like, I ha I have a
pretty small family
and so mine are all about location, location, location.
Everyone has their spot under the tree, so that's kind of
how we do it.
Or for gifts that are outside just the,
the immediate family.
I will do those
and organize them in such a way that I remember, oh
this person's was in this part of the closet
or what have you, and go and grab it. So what do you do?
-: I think it's a combination of,
of both of what you're describing.
I too have a small family at this point, so it's not
that much of an issue.
But like Tiffany, you know, usually
what I'll I'll do is I'll label things in large print
with a bold marker and
or use like a different tag for different people.
Especially when my son was younger
and there was, there was more gifts around,
each person would have like a different
style tag or something.
So it was really easy just to tell that way.
But then, yeah, around the tree we,
we generally have just a different spot for, for folks.
-: Well I think we've covered a ton of stuff actually,
just talking about how to make things presentable, how
to figure out which one's yours, how
to let the family know which one is theirs in a really kind
of inclusive way.
So it doesn't have to be,
well they've gotta read my writing in order
to know which one's theirs.
It can just be yours is the Santa design
or yours is the green one.
So it, that just works so well.
We went through a lot of things,
but I'm wondering is there anything
that we didn't really touch on?
Whether it's just some way
that you've made something a bit more accessible for you
or something that's just making the holidays a little less
stressful for you, figuring some of this stuff out?
-: I would say a lot of pre-planning
and preparing in that way.
Planning ahead, even if you're planning to go
to shop in person
or at a store, you know, getting a jump on that
before it gets too crazy.
And like what Steve mentioned going on like off times like
going when it's less crowded
and you can get the help that you need.
-: Awesome. And what about you, Steve?
Anything making the holiday logistics a little
less stressful for you?
-: I generally am a last minute person with a lot of things,
but one of the things that's dramatically changed,
well a couple things over the years, I tend to,
to start doing a little bit more planning ahead of time
and giving myself more time
because I know it's just gonna take more time for me to,
to do the cards, do the tags, the gift wrapping
by giving myself a little bit more time,
which is not my usual way of doing things.
I'm able to kind of stay a little bit more in the holiday
spirit because we gotta remember this is supposed to be fun
and enjoyable, you know, in a, in a family sort of a thing.
Yes. But you know, you get all stressed out about some
of these things or the extra time it takes you
and then you, you lose all of
that wonderful holiday spirit. It's no good.
-: Yeah, so just planning ahead,
even if it's not your default,
you're actually saving yourself a lot
of problems in the long run if you can do that.
And I too have found that
because I'm the strangest mix of
being organized and planning for things
and kind of doing things last minute.
And this is one of those where I have had
to very much bring the planner to the forefront
'cause it's so much easier.
So this has been so cool.
I'm feeling much more in the holiday spirit now actually.
I'm feeling like I can tackle some of this stuff
and I'm gonna get started right
after I drink some peppermint cocoa
or something to get me just really in the mood.
Well, thank you both for sharing your tips
and your great ideas.
I so appreciate it
and it's always fun to get together with both
of you. Thank you.
-: Well glad we could help you out, Ricky.
-: Likewise. -: Thank you.
-: If today's discussion was helpful for you,
help someone else find that same support.
If you can consider a Giving Tuesday gift to Hadley,
visit HadleyHelps.org/GivingTuesday
or call
800-323-4238.
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