Announcer 0:01

Defeating Darkness with Dr. David Rimberg and co-host Paul Miller is brought to you by Sights for Hope. Serving the Lehigh Valley and Monroe County, Sights for Hope empowers people who are blind or have visual impairments to live confidently by teaching skills, delivering supports, and championing assistive device solutions. At Sights for Hope, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to clearly see what's possible. Find out more today at SightsforHope.org.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 0:10

This is the conclusion of the part two series premiere of Defeating Darkness Podcast.

Paul Miller 0:12

So, Dave, can you tell me about a time that you got lost?

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 0:16

The times that I get lost is very rare, and it's in my house. And I have to yell out to my wife, give me a hand, help me out. I have not gotten lost in the street or in my driveway. Most of the time I'm escorted. I'm reminded of a situation when I got lost, which impacted my life. And when I think about it now, it's still very painful. I took the bus into New York every day and came home with it, and uh my wife would meet me at the bus. This time I got off the bus and I was felt lost. I kid I didn't know where to go, where to turn, left or right. I heard people talking, passengers waiting to get on the bus, and I used my phone to call my wife, who was parked nearby, and that was a 9-11 day. It was the day that I thought my working career is over, given that I was a uh construction site safety manager for 25 years, working in places like Madison Square Garden, Time Warner Building, and numerous other large construction and demolition sites. I had what is referred to as a license that was issued by the City of New York called a site safety license. And we also had a uh a license from this fire department of New York City to do uh fire inspections. That situation at the bus basically hacked me in. And since that time I haven't worked. It was one of the worst feelings I've ever had, not knowing what was in front of me, behind me, on the left of me. I knew where I was at the bus station, but I had no direction to walk. I was concerned that I didn't want to walk into the uh parking lot. I was nervous. It was really scary. And describing what happened to me, thinking about it now, it was probably one of the worst moments I've ever had in my life to get lost. And I knew my working career was complete at that time. Dave, what kind of work did you do? Well, going back in time, starting with my latest occupation, I was referred to as a uh site safety manager, doing a lot of on construction sites in the city of New York, working in buildings like Madison Square Garden, Time Warner Building, hotels, constructing them and demolishing them. I did also a lot of uh environmental work. I worked down at Ground Zero in 9-11, spent many hours sampling the air down there. I was a professor at Hunter College in the city of New York and environmental, and I've worked for several consulting firms. I had my own business. My first job was with the Atomic Energy Commission in the early 70s. Uh I worked down in uranium mines, looking at exposure to uranium miners while they were doing their work. That was really an interesting experience. I worked for Exxon for a while, looking at uh air pollution from marine loading operations.

Paul Miller 3:39

Could you share your educational background as well?

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 3:43

One of the things that I was able to accomplish, I received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. I always liked science. And said, well, that wasn't so bad. Maybe I should go for my master's degree. So I wound up getting a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Then I got a job with the Atomic Energy Commission, and they hosted my degree in uh nuclear engineering. So I wound up with two master's degrees, and I did scientific work while I was at the Atomic Energy Commission and got a doctorate degree in environmental engineering from the Cooper Union in the city of New York. I always prided myself as it being interested in science. I still like science. I wasn't what I call a good student, but I had a lot of stick toitiveness. If I didn't understand something, I reread it and reread it and reread it. So there were four or four college degrees that I have. Paul, what was the your business background before you lost your vision?

Paul Miller 4:47

Well, Dave, I have a neclectic background. My first degree was in culinary arts. I was a chef for Marriott Hotels in Amsterdam, Holland. I worked as a restaurant manager for many years, then uh got married and found out that the restaurant business wasn't the best for raising children because I would never be home. So I changed my careers uh and I went into water treatment and uh pump sales for a number of years and started my own company called uh Miller Sales. Uh, did that for almost 15 years and then started out to find out more about my vision loss and ended up that I said, I better do something in my life that people have to come to me instead of me going to them. And so after doing martial arts, you know, since age 16, I figured, wow, that would be a great way for me uh to have people come to me and I can still continue to teach this martial arts. So I started a martial arts school in 1997. And when I did that, I really didn't believe that my vision would go completely. But um, after a number of years, it did. So being able to do something that people came to me was really, really valuable to me. And then uh what I ended up doing was I thought about it and said, you know, it would be wonderful for children to be able to develop the character values in the not in the martial arts. And I said, I'm going to start a before and after school program. So I started a before and after school program and found that it was moderately successful. Uh the people that came loved it, but being able to, you know, to be entrusted by the people, I just decided to take it a step further and become licensed in childcare, which was a was a big switch from school age. Now we were servicing infants all the way up to age 14. And since that time, with the help of you know my family, of course, uh, we now have you know five locations that have childcare and martial arts at each location. The name is uh Lehigh Valley Martial Arts and Active Learning Centers. Of course, they are separate businesses, but they're all at the same locations, which makes it uh a really great crossover for parents to be able to bring their children to our center for martial arts, but also for childcare. By the time mom and dad pick them up, they've already had their martial arts lesson, they've already had a snack, they've done their homework, you know, and they can go home and and just be a family. So that has been, you know, very successful for me over the years. So yeah.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 8:14

Paul, what specific tasks around the house took you the most time to master?

Paul Miller 8:20

Well, there were quite a few, Dave, but I would say that the the most difficult thing was to master cooking. Uh my wife is not always home, so uh if she was gone in the middle of the day, I had to figure out a way to uh be able to feed myself. And I would say that the the key thing was to be able to organize it so that I won and didn't burn myself or burn down the house, that probably wouldn't be very good. Uh but I would say that being able to recognize and organize where the ingredients were, you know, in the refrigerator or in the cabinet, you know, knowing where those things are. Now, as I said before, I was a chef. So putting the things together was not hard for me. Yeah. But just so I wouldn't um burn myself on the on the stove or or start it on fire was a really big deal. And that took the most amount of time to be able to do that. But now I can cook uh pretty much anything. Uh not too long ago I did Bananas Forester for, and of course it was flaming and all that kind of good stuff. So that was a lot of fun. I would say that making the crepes was a little interesting because you know you have to put your finger and flip the crepes over. And that was a little bit of a challenge because, you know, the pan's hot. So and you can't really use a a device to do it. So I had to put my finger in there and flip the crepes over and and do that. So that was probably the most difficult thing. How about you? Do you think that uh there's something that was was challenging for you?

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 10:17

My initial difficulty was shaving. I shave my head and I have a partial beard and using um electric razor for my head and then uh irregular blades for my skin. That was difficult. I didn't want to cut myself or injure myself. Eventually I mastered that with touch. Then the uh other thing that was difficult for me was selecting clothing. So I wear a lot of the same things all week long. It makes it easier for me to uh put my clothing on and take it off. I have one particular hook in my closet, and I use that often. I know where my shoes are, I can feel for my socks. So uh right now, those are the two things that I had to do a lot of adjusting to. I have not ventured into cooking. It's uh something I wanted to do, but at this point I feel it's a little too risky, so I leave the cooking to my wife.

Paul Miller 11:18

One of the things that I did, Dave, is I buy all of my shirts and pants from LL Bean so that no matter what I put on, it matches.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 11:29

Huh. Okay, it's a good idea. But I have uh a sufficient amount of clothing, but uh now I like to refer to as my fingers or my eyes, because I can tell where the sleeves are, where the pockets are. That's um something I count on a lot as my fingers. Paul, what advice would you give somebody who's becoming visually impaired?

Paul Miller 11:54

I think the best advice that I would give would be to let them know that the it's not the end of the world. And that given some help and giving some different uh methods of being able to deal with everyday life would be able to help them to do the things that they want to do.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 12:19

My answer to that question would be adjusting. I've had an enormous amount of adjusting that I've had to have done and also support. My my team supporter at home looking for facilities that would support me with my vision going bad, like Sights for Hope. So there are a lot of things that are out there that I found out about through Sights for Hope. One of the things that uh I find lacking is we're treated medically, but the ophthalmologists don't tell us where to go and what to do to get support outside the doctor's office. So don't look for support necessarily in the office for when you go home and have to live your life. Hopefully the doctor, the ophthalmologists do a good job, but you got to look to organizations who deal with daily living. What do you think about that, Paul?

Paul Miller 13:21

Yeah, I totally agree with that, David. I would say that they know the best ways to get help for you, and they have the contacts already to be able to make that happen. So why not go to the people who are the professionals? So and the people who really care very much about whether or not you're successful at whatever it is that you want to do.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 13:51

What question uh that side of people have would you want them to ask you?

Paul Miller 13:57

I think that the biggest thing for me is that they would ask what it is that I could do to be of assistance to you. And I think the other thing that is not necessarily a question, but what happens to me all the time is that if I am in a group of people, regardless of what that group is, that very often people who are sighted won't come to talk to me. And I don't really know where they are. So it becomes an awkward situation for me. And I'm not really sure whether or not they literally don't know what to talk about, or if they're concerned about offending me as a person who's blind or visually impaired. But it is very uh disconcerting. I wish they would just come up and talk to me like I was a normal, everyday person, uh like they would do with everyone else. How about you?

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 15:06

What do you I would like people to come over to me, introduce themselves to me, and have an ordinary conversation. Right now it's kind of frustrating because I often find that people don't do that. I would like them to, as I said, introduce themselves to me, shake my hand, put out their hand until I could meet them, why if it's an activity, let's discuss that activity, why we're there. So it's um a little frustrating for me to have to, on occasion, introduce myself, because I can't necessarily see who I'm talking to, and I don't want to be rude and and uh interfering with someone else's conversation. And if they have obviously any questions, how did I get blind or what what my condition is, that's fine with me. I have no issues with that.

Paul Miller 16:01

I think that very often, David, that they don't know what to do. I think that because of the the way that I'm around a lot of people, like I teach classes and they just don't know they just don't know what to do. But it would be really nice if they did what you said, come over, said, hi, it's whoever it happens to be, tell me who they are, so I could get a chance to learn their voices and eventually wouldn't have to actually ask them. But navigating around people, you know, is is a bit of a challenge, especially if they're, you know, in a group and I want to run into people and things like that.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 16:45

Paul, uh has there ever been someone who tries to do too much for you? Oh my yes.

Paul Miller 16:51

There there have been many times where someone will come up to me and grab my elbow and they'll drag me along because they think that they're helping me through a particular area. But it I I can say to you that is the most annoying thing that someone can do. You know, and I have to be able to be patient with them and say to them, please can I use your elbow? And that is a completely different feeling than being dragged across the room or being uh dragged to the corner, you know. And uh we don't want to be rude because they're trying to help, but at the same time, it's not really that helpful. How about you? Does that someone ever do that to you?

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 17:45

Well, no, I I have not experienced it. I could imagine how someone would want to be like that, but I haven't experienced uh like an overreaction from somebody to uh move me around and guide me. Uh it's been uh pretty pleasant outside of my regular situation with my wife or my kids. Paul, how's your your loss of vision affected your purpose and joy in life?

Paul Miller 18:13

I would say that initially losing my vision was was pretty devastating. But as time has gone on and I've learned different ways of of dealing with my uh daily business life and my day in my daily home life, um, I would say to you that I look at success at being able to accomplish the things that I have on my to-do list every day. Also looking at how well my uh that my businesses are being run. And then also how people feel about my style of of leadership. When I do that, I can feel very, very comfortable that my vision loss has not defined whether or not I am successful, but has helped me to be successful in in ways that I never really thought would be possible. And uh one of those uh ways I can say is you know, being able to continue to look at spreadsheets and being able to look at, you know, correspondences and being able to get to know people and interview them. All of these uh things uh I thought would be extremely difficult being blind, but you know, after having uh all of the implements, uh technology, just feeling comfortable inside myself is has been successful for me. And what about you? Do you have anything that would define whether or not you're feeling successful in the things that you're doing?

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 20:04

Well, one of the probably most impactful things that I'm doing is this podcast. I was searching for purpose. How my situation would be able to empower people and inspire them to move on in life. I have not been working in my profession, obviously because I have no my vision is gone. So it's the it's the podcast that I enjoy attending and performing and answering questions and learning how to do this. And there are some podcasts that I listen to on my uh on my phone and also some different organizations that that have audio books that I listen to, which makes a difference to me also. So I'm still looking for uh almost like more to occupy my time with things that are that that matter, not necessarily things that are have to do with with vision loss, but just things that make a difference in my life. It could be listening to to books on tape or the television programs that I would like to listen to. So it's um I'm still looking for more activities to participate in. And one of the things that I'm working with is obviously the Sites for Hope. They have a nice uh menu of items and activities to participate in. Paul, I understand you're involved quite a bit with Sights for Hope. Can you discuss your activity?

Paul Miller 21:53

Yes. Just uh recently I was voted in as President of the for Sights for Hope. So I would say to you that it's an opportunity for me to help the organization to be more impactful and for them to be able to continue to service the people that are in the Lehigh Valley and also in Monroe. But for me, it's a way for me to give back to an organization that helped me, you know, get through some of the tougher times. And I'd say that being on the board is I feel is um a privilege. You know, and it's something that I'm looking forward to helping them keep growing their services. And that takes you know a a great deal of you know planning, takes a great deal of uh influence on the other board members to make sure that they're uh helping out and doing their part. So for me, it's a challenge, but uh it's one that I'm willing to take.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 23:06

Paul, where can people get additional information regarding Sights for Hope?

Paul Miller 23:13

I think that the the best place to do that would be to go on their website. It's it's SightsforHope.org. There they will be able to find you know contact information and different services that they are doing. And I think that would be the perfect way to get started.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 23:35

Paul, do you have any inside jokes related to visually impaired people?

Paul Miller 23:41

Well, I would say that because I have it a lot of exposure to people who are sighted. If I find that someone is particularly uh difficult, something like that, I will use the joke as a oh, so you don't like blind people. And of course, that sets them back on their heels, you know, and I and I then I would say to some, I'm only kidding. Right. And then they'll be like, Oh, oh God, okay, good. Right. And but it makes them more aware of how they're interacting. And so I use that my ability to uh to not see to give people instruction. So if uh we did a uh seminar here not too long ago for where self-defense for a group of uh people who were blind, and one person says, Well, how do I do this particular movement? You know, and my response was follow the directions. And they of course were like, Oh, follow the directions. So it came became very funny and everyone laughed, you know, but that was one that I use with people who are blind, just follow the directions. So I will tell you that I have difficulty taking care of my iWatch because it keeps beeping. So if you guys hear that, then it's because I have no idea how to get rid of that beeping sound. Just follow the directions. Okay. Thanks, David.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 25:18

I would like to share with you a very funny situation. One of the things I mentioned to you before was I took the bus into Manhattan. There was a restroom that needed to go. And I kind of looked at the signs. You know, they have the uh the figures of a wheelchair and an adult figure on some signage. I walked into the bathroom and I see only toilet bowls. I don't see any urinals, and I said, Oh my God, I'm in the ladies' bathroom. So I quickly exited. Fortunately, there weren't any women in there. But that's probably the most funny thing that happened to me regarding being visually impaired.

Paul Miller 26:01

That's funny. The funniest thing that ever happened to me of being visually impaired was one of my partners in the company was getting married. She invited me to the wedding. And so we were at the table at the wedding, and she comes around and she said, So, how do you like my dress? And I said, Well, I have no idea if I like your dress and I can't see it. So she takes my hands and puts both my hands on her boobs. And and I said, Oh, it's beautiful.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 26:39

Paul, why do you think this podcast is gonna be useful for people who are visually impaired?

Paul Miller 26:47

I think that the real reason for me doing this is to be helpful in getting people to be able to feel more confident in what they're able to do. And by sharing stories uh between the two of us, I think that they'll be able to recognize that they have very similar situations happen to them. And if we can come up with ways to make them feel like they're not alone and making it so that we can maybe give them some ideas of the way that we've handled it, I think it would be impactful for them. And I will tell you, for me, that's what's most important.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 27:34

In my situation, because I lost most of my vision in the last couple of years, I'm still adjusting to it. So hearing you having uh a detailed and comprehensive background in dealing with it, and I'm only, in a sense, a rookie at dealing with this, I want to compliment you on how you've overcome what people can perceive as obstacles in their lives. I am still recovering my purpose and joy, given my present situation by being blind.

Paul MIller 28:11

I'm Paul Miller, and thanks for listening.

David Rimberg, Ph.D. 28:14

And I'm David Rimberg. Thanks for listening. Tune in next Friday at 6 p.m. And listen to Defeating Darkness podcast.

Announcer 28:26

Defeating Darkness was produced by Expect Good Media producer Lys Sparrow-Serraino and post-production editor Daniel Child. A special thank you to assistant editor Logan Mackin, Colin Poole for the theme music, co-host Paul Miller, and host Dr. David Rimberg. Defeating Darkness with Dr. David Rimberg and co-host Paul Miller is brought to you by Sights for Hope. Serving the Lehigh Valley and Monroe County, Sights for Hope empowers people who are blind or have visual impairments to live confidently by teaching skills, delivering supports, and championing assistive device solutions. At Sights for Hope, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to clearly see what's possible. Find out more today at Sightsfor Hope.org.