John, in photo1, I see that they just gave you dome tips on your hearing aids. With loss as profound as yours seems to be, could have taken ear impressions and had some custom , non-vented molds made for your hearing aids. My company makes those. They are pennies on the dollar compared to the cost of the hearing aid instrument itself. With a sealed-off ear canal, they can dial up the gain even more on the hearing aid before feedback occurs.

I don't miss the snow of MI here in CO. It pretty much stays 10-30 miles west of here in the mountains. My driveway has a southern exposure. Add in 300 days a year of sun and I only busted out the snow shovel once the entire winter of 2009/2010.

-Scott