noise, and elsewhere today

Current work: new medical
Listening to: various (much adjustment needed)
Reading: Kristan Higgins, Until There Was You (enjoyed very much)

I have binaurical hearing for the first time in seven years. I guess DH and the kids will be in for about a month of ‘what’s that sound?’ and general freaking out by me, because everything sounds different.

All the background noises are unbearably loud at the moment, so I guess I need to train myself to tune out the fridge/washing machine/tumble dryer, the computer keyboard, and road noise in the car. People reading the newspaper… that is going to drive me insane. And the supermarket was unbearable yesterday – I could hear every single conversation. On my old hearing aid, I had an off switch and could just go into my own little world. This one, you have to undo the battery compartment, so that’s going to take time to get used to. The old one had two programmes – one for ‘normal’ and one for ‘noisy environment’; that’s apparently automatic on this. I also have a new ‘telephone’ programme and a volume switch (so that might be the answer to the unbearable background noise – do it gradually).

I guess it’s going to take a little time to adjust. I just looked back on my old blog (which is no longer online) to see how I reacted last time. Ha. Seems I was freaked by the noisiness then, too. Exactly the same things that I’ve been finding hard since yesterday morning: the noise of paper, the sound of typing, people talking loudly in the supermarket, road noise in the car, and the fact that I could hear myself walking on hard floors.

But playing the guitar… oh, now that’s AWESOME.

My mum would’ve been 66 today. Strange to think it’s a quarter of a century today that I shared her last birthday with her – the last birthday where I could give her flowers in person instead of putting them on her grave. It’s hit me a bit harder this year, but I think maybe that’s because I’m coming up to the first anniversary of losing Dad.

Anyway. Trying to be my normal Pollyanna self and hopefully can fake it through today.

And I’m over at the PHS with a deadline recipe. Comfort food par excellence.