Dogs Are More Useful Than Hearing Aids

Track of the day - Sex In The Morning - Prince Edward Island.

Imagine my surprise when I spotted this helpful little booklet on a chair in the kitchen this morning. I know that I'm not getting any younger and that I'm not very tall for my age but even so.

Yesterday my hearing aids were retubed, rebalanced and the default volume turned down a couple of notches. The shouty young ear doctor man told me to wear both the aids all day, every day for a month, so that my brain gets used to hearing the world the way that it is supposed to sound. He EXPLAINED that by taking the hearing aids out I'm just confusing my brain.
All the staff at the ear hospital shout.
I think it probably has something to do with them only dealing with deaf people.
The posters on the walls tell you to speak clearly and not to shout but the doctors and nurses all shout anyway.
Perhaps they can't read.

Today found me sitting in the sun, my confused brain bombarded from all sides by the deafening cacophony of bird screech and traffic roar that is, according to the ear doctor, what you people with normal hearing experience every day.

Sitting in the garden it seemed to me that I might just as well be sitting on the central reservation of a motorway.
Compared to this auditory hell, my tinnitus masked, virtually soundless, everyday world is a haven of peace and quiet.

How does a hospital guy with perfect hearing know what living with my tinnitus is like?
He doesn't. He might think that he does but he doesn't.
It makes about as much sense as a male gynecologist explaining to a pregnant woman what childbirth is like.

Anyway - after two hours of listening to the world through two hearing aids I'd had enough and ripped the aid out of my right ear. As a result I missed the delivery man when he came to the door. Luckily dog alerted me to the fact that there was an intruder and I was able to wave him down before he disappeared.
In my opinion dogs are more useful than hearing aids and far better company.
The care home brochure is going in the shredder.