Prattling Before the Pratfall

Some days, like yesterday, there is some ringing in my ears, and it’s best that I not aggravate it by wearing headphones. On certain other days, like today, there is only the usual sort of “head noise” that I suppose everybody has. I take advantage of that for listening to music, along with noticing the sonic characteristics of recordings and whatever gear I’m using. (If I haven’t mentioned it before, after turning 60 I had my hearing tested in an anechoic chamber by a PhD audiologist. I was able to correctly identify sounds that were just above the threshold of audibility.^*)

My retirement activities are being determined in part by what my sinuses are doing to my ears on any given day. For all the countless hours I spent on airplanes traveling for work over many years, and then in the loud data centers at my destinations, I’m amazed I don’t have a much worse chronic case of tinnitus.

Adjusting to aging is something that those of us who last this long must do. I sit here rubbing my weak ankle that is also determining my retirement activities. It would otherwise be fine, if not for an elderly Russian man slamming into the back of my stopped car 22 years ago.

While sitting, rubbing and listening, I am worrying about someone near and dear to me who will undergo open heart surgery. We’re counting on world-class Boston heart surgeons to be as successful as a world-class Boston retina surgeon was in restoring the sight in my left eye.

^* You are of course wondering what headphones were used in the test. The Beyerdynamic DT-150, that has been a standard at Abbey Road Studios for many years.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/beyerdynamic-dt150-review-closed-back-headphone.31257/