I just got back from the polls. I honestly wasn't sure I was even going to attempt voting this year; I hate venturing anywhere but the library, and only when the noise around my house is so loud that it drives me there. But I did it.
The drive wasn't too bad. It's usually quieter in the mornings, even with morning traffic. The morning air has that sort of hushed quality, you know?
I parked in a parking lot for a flower shop across the street from my polling place, and when I got out, I saw that they weren't letting people in yet -- I was that early. I certainly couldn't stand in line, so I waited in my car.
A school bus pulled up right in front of me, on the street perpendicular to where I was parked, to let some kids on. I didn't even know there was a stop there. I tensed up when it stopped, because I was expecting that horrible, loud hissing sound at any moment. I don't know if it was the frigid morning air or what, but thankfully that sound never came.
Eventually, I saw the poll doors open and headed out, holding my ears against the sound of traffic as I crossed the street. Waiting in line was the scariest part, because if anybody was talking too loud or if a phone went off or there was some other kind of really loud sound, what was I gonna do? Freak out in front of two dozen strangers? Yeah, the place was that packed. Before-work voters and retired voters, I suspect.
Nothing happened, though, I made it through in tact. In fact, the whole time I was out my ear barely hurt at all. It hurts more sitting here in the relative silence of my bedroom, typing this entry. Maybe the super cold air actually helped. I'll have to look into that.
Here's hoping other Hyperacusis sufferers are able to get to the polls today.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Sweet, sweet mercy!
I live in a wooded area, and recently my neighbors have been leaf-blowing, lawn-mowing and chainsawing like crazy, and it hurts my ears so much that I have to flee my house. Except for Sundays when it's closed, I go to the public library, which is thankfully located just two minutes away. (It's funny how driving inside a car doesn't bother my ears too much, while a neighbor mowing his lawn four houses away does.)
To someone with Hyperacusis such as myself, the library is a surprisingly noisy place. The flourescent lights buzzing, the fans blowing air on the books hushing. Worst of all, the computers all throughout the place making that awful mechanical humming sound.
Actually, I prefer to sit in my car in the library parking lot, but A) in certain weather, the car either becomes really cold or really hot (and I can't turn on the heater or AC or open the windows, as any of those options are too noisy) and B) this particular public library of mine is right across from an elementary school, and I worry about making people nervous, sitting there in my car, a few hundred yards from the kiddies. It's sad while the presence of child predators has done to our default level of suspicion towards each other, but what can you do?
Anyway, the other day I fled to the library while a neighbor ran one of those yellow digger things. I forget what you call them, not a forklift. Its noise penetrated my entire house at any rate, it was awful.
When I fled to the library that day, mercifully, the computer closest to the area I usually sit at was turned off! I enjoyed two hours of non-injurious noise (the fans aren't that bad, and the lights weren't buzzing too loudly, either)!
Living with Hyperacusis, I'm used to living in constant fear of pain and noise. It's taken quite a physical toll on my body (I'm six feet and down to 135 pounds), to say nothing of the psychological toll. So whenever I get a little reprieve like this, it makes me blissfully happy. As I sat there reading, I kept bursting out in laughter, just from the sheer joy of not being in pain.
By the way, I was finishing up book two of Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight. Not his best offering, definitely not something you want to read if you've never read Gene Wolfe. Definitely start with The Book of the New Sun. Still, it was a pretty enjoyable read, and I took some things away from it, so I'm pleased with it.
Here's hoping my next unexpected reprieve comes sooner, rather than later.
And here's hoping my fellow sufferers get lots of reprieves, as well.
To someone with Hyperacusis such as myself, the library is a surprisingly noisy place. The flourescent lights buzzing, the fans blowing air on the books hushing. Worst of all, the computers all throughout the place making that awful mechanical humming sound.
Actually, I prefer to sit in my car in the library parking lot, but A) in certain weather, the car either becomes really cold or really hot (and I can't turn on the heater or AC or open the windows, as any of those options are too noisy) and B) this particular public library of mine is right across from an elementary school, and I worry about making people nervous, sitting there in my car, a few hundred yards from the kiddies. It's sad while the presence of child predators has done to our default level of suspicion towards each other, but what can you do?
Anyway, the other day I fled to the library while a neighbor ran one of those yellow digger things. I forget what you call them, not a forklift. Its noise penetrated my entire house at any rate, it was awful.
When I fled to the library that day, mercifully, the computer closest to the area I usually sit at was turned off! I enjoyed two hours of non-injurious noise (the fans aren't that bad, and the lights weren't buzzing too loudly, either)!
Living with Hyperacusis, I'm used to living in constant fear of pain and noise. It's taken quite a physical toll on my body (I'm six feet and down to 135 pounds), to say nothing of the psychological toll. So whenever I get a little reprieve like this, it makes me blissfully happy. As I sat there reading, I kept bursting out in laughter, just from the sheer joy of not being in pain.
By the way, I was finishing up book two of Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight. Not his best offering, definitely not something you want to read if you've never read Gene Wolfe. Definitely start with The Book of the New Sun. Still, it was a pretty enjoyable read, and I took some things away from it, so I'm pleased with it.
Here's hoping my next unexpected reprieve comes sooner, rather than later.
And here's hoping my fellow sufferers get lots of reprieves, as well.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)