Earballs

Holy crap. Guess what? There was a fire in our building and...

I DIDN'T WEAR MY CROCS!!

The fire was started by a cooking fire on the main floor but was IMMEDIATELY doused by the amazing sprinkler system in our building. Not in everyone's unit, thank god. But the main alarm rang in everyone's place. There are some not so happy people with a doused apartment on the first floor. But hey, they're alive. Which is more than can be said for whatever they were cooking. No one got hurt or nuthin'. But y'know, I even smelled the smoke vaguely from 3 floors up through our air exchanger system? Happy to know that we've got a great alarm system though. And those sprinklers make the difference.

Oh, in case you were wondering about the footwear I DID wear? A ratdawg. On each foot.

NOW. I would like to take the time to thank you all for WRITING IN CAPS on my deaf post down there. Here's the update. No more caps. I had another hearing test (they are really kinda fun). And the result was - my hearing has not degraded since my last test 5 YEARS AGO. And 5 years ago, my hearing hadn't degraded since the last time which was 2000. So, basically I've been steady for goin' on 8 years. I was actually surprised!

The thing that HAS changed however is the tinnitus. Good god, it's annoying. I have it pretty much constantly now. Though, when my mind is off of it - it's very much in the background. But if I listen for it, it pumps right up and "eeeeeeeeeee"s in my ear like a test pattern. Like okay, be quiet for a sec. And....eeyyeah, there.....it...is. It's in both ears right now. Sweet. Do not adjust your set.

There is no cure, but the encouraging thing is, it's easy to re-train your brain not to listen to it. And there are a lot of tricks to help you do that. Background noise, for instance. Anything that breaks up the silence is a godsend. Unless it's the tell-tale sound of a dog eating a poop sandwich.
I can't fix it, so I might as well just learn to deal.

And, I'm gonna try a hearing aid for a month. Check it out. I think that is about actual size. This thing is really tiny and the only thing in your ear is a tiny tiny tube. I know my hearing hasn't gotten worse, but I still do have trouble in certain situations, so if the option is there to try it for a month..why not? I am actually looking forward to it. And it may help the tinnitus.

The last thing is, she said by the pattern of my hearing loss, she is mostly sure that it is a result of hereditary factors and not my job. So - I guess you'll have to deal with me a little while longer on the radio machine.

Should I change my radio name to reflect my ringing ears? Teste McPattern? Squeaky Dee?