Hi,
I didn't get back to bed yet.
I stayed up because I had to go to the dentist in the early afternoon.

I do have ear plugs that I keep around but I don't sleep in them on a nightly basis because they start to irritate my ears after the second night.


I find extra noise annoying -- don't know why. Can't even stand to hear the birds start chirping at 4:00 in the morning when I am still up.

M.

My cat will meow to wake me up. I reach over and put ear muffs on,that I use to use while target practicing.

When I lived in the city years ago,they would use a jackhammer every now,and then. That would drive me crazy if I was trying to sleep. I didn't think of the ear muffs till resently.

My cat will get a foot away from me on top of the sofa,and meow very loud. All I do now is put on those sound barrier ear muffs,and turn over on my side till I get comfortable on my pillow. The cat gives up soon after that,and I take the ear muffs off,or sleep with them on. BF

Dear Friend,
That is one of the main reasons I don't have pets.
I would not be able to handle disruptions to my efforts to sleep, stay stable (it's hard work).

But tell me what are "sound barrier ear muffs"?
Do they filter out noise?
Interesting.


M.

Oh yes. Sound Barrier ear muffs are what I bought back in the 1970's to protect my ears while target practicing with a fire arm. They look like those light green headphones that you see pilots wearing on TV.

I forgot where I bought them. I probably bought them at a Pistol,and Rifle sports store.

When you put them on,you don't hear very much. They are much,much better then ear plugs. Mine are more then 30 years old,and when I put them on,I have silence,except if my left ear is ringing from the seroquel.

Off topic...My cat puts her paw in my face sometimes to wake me up...BF

wow. i hadn't thought of that either. heck, those things are made to deaden gunshots... they should cover most other noises!!! good call Friend! only i dunno if could sleep with them or travel outside with them... hmmm... but they would "cover" a lot of waking hours where otherwise i am vulnerable.

~ waves ~

The big serious headphones remind me of a Halloween costume I made for hubby.
I was gone for the evening.
He was planning on watching tv with his huge black ear phones.
I bought him a black cheap spider cape.
When he answered the door to give out candy to kids he wore 1) a cape and 2) massive headphones.

He did this for two years and then refused to hand out candy the third year.

I thought his costume was a step up from answering the door with only headphones -- weird enough by itself to kids who walk around with those stupid ear buds.

M.

mine are definitely wax, not silicone. also, while i said i would use them multiple times, the package says not to. i think that's because they gradually start to heat up and melt gradually. i do notice the outside is slippery when i take them out - the same way as a candle gets when it is warmed up.

i will have to look into the memory foam ones. i thought that wax would be more protective, but that may not be correct... since used in the military.

lol... i sometimes have that concern about the slipperiness after wearing the wax ones a while. but they don't melt to liquid so i'm ok i think.

moisture in the ears is bad because it can offer a comfy environment for fungal infections. my guess is this is the reason. otherwise... water would actually block more sound than air does.

i wear them under these circumstances too - and when my sleep schedule is upside down which means my parents will make noise, OR, if i have a migraine - then all noises are heightened. as for my alarm clock, i have a soft toned one, with a gradually rising volume. and i cannot hear it with plugs but if i need the plugs i am usually in conditions where i turn my phone volume (doubles as alarm clock) off altogether. unfortunately there are much louder noises which can happen - like the condo intercom, and the landline phone, or my father's cellphone (loud enough for ME to hear WITH plugs and asleep, even tho he doesn't WITHOUT plugs and AWAKE), and the plugs need to block those or at least stifle them. so plugs mean, no alarm for me. should i need to be up at a certain time, i arrange to be awoken.

whew. i'm glad somebody else notices this stuff. i try to remember that they are "good noises" too, but they are still too LOUD when trying to get to sleep at times. at the table it is annoying because i can't follow conversation between my crunches. but if i take the plugs out my family's volume can easily rise beyond my tolerance if i have a migraine. plus, sometimes i get tinnitus with plugs! always somethin, huh.

i would tend to agree. interestingly many ppl with bp also have migraines, and during a migraine light and sound sensitivity can be heightened greatly (can worsen pain during headache phase) - to intolerable degrees at worst cases. however i find i am more sound sensitive than most even without a migraine. i can also hear higher frequencies than most people.
That sucks!!! I hope you were "covered." And i hope you gave hubby a talking to about closing the door before leaving you untended with possible strangers coming into the house. actually i would want to be awakened if repairmen were coming. i would have been scared.

LOL. That's funny.

i know the headphones you mean. we used to have those ... back in the 70's and 80's when we still had vinyl-listening capabilities. since then, many "moves" happened. i think they went with the stereo/player.

i don't know the kind of "muffs" BF has but the ones i've used at firing ranges are not big and poofy like the serious "stereo" ones. they are like beige or grey, and sit more flat all around the head. also somewhat harder all around. that is why i can't imagine sleeping with them on. maybe there are different kinds if one buys one's own.

~ waves ~

Hi,
More lawn mowing.
Seriously.

Last time it was a neighboring business outside the property line. Today it is inside the property line of the apt complex.

Following the usual pattern, the driver of this mower will keep circling around. I'll hear him and then I won't hear him and then I will hear him. . . .

You'd think we live in a place that rained everyday and that grass grew out of control. Oh. We do.

Although closer to my building and me, this machine is slightly less obnoxious than the one I was listening to the last time I posted.



Unsettling certainly.
Not hubby's fault.
I purposely kept the door open so that I would HEAR the repairmen come in.
If there is a next time, I will close and lock the door, knowing that I won't necessarily hear anyone working in my apt while I am sleeping.
. . .So much for sensitive ears.


M.

Hi,

Just in case this is helpful:

A person does not simply stick these in the ear.

I watched my father roll the ear plug until its width is very small -- maybe almost like a pencil lead -- but not quite.

Then you are to put it in the ear and hold it in place with your finger while it fills up with air and expands -- according to something I saw on a web site years ago

That is how I do it.

And now that you explained it Waves, I will be sure to change them every so often so as to keep away mold.

M.

sorry you've got another mower going on, Mari. i don't know which is worse, the intermittent just when you think it's gone for good it comes back, or the constant argggghh. i think i would take the intermittent even with the frustration of the coming back. the breaks would be worth it.

kinda reminds me of an old song... (70's? older?)

uh, i "adapted" the lyrics for ya tho...

Here it comes again!

Just when i was calm enough to say,
- Forget it...
It's tickin' me of so
That all i really know
Is, here it comes agaaain
And here i goooooooo!!!



today has been my first day without plugs at all for quite a while.

sending calming thoughts.

~ waves ~