What's That Noise?

I arrive home and there's a parcel from Nespresso. It's the latest delivery of their delicious capsules and I tear open the wrapping. What on earth have they made the packaging of? It looks like plastic but if feels as if I am crinkling tin foil. I take the boxes of capsules from the packet, open one and tip the contents into the container on the breakfast bar. They land in the plastic box like a cascade of tin cans. As I close the box, the decorator walks past the window. I'm sure he's practicing for a new production of River Dance. I look down at his shoes expecting to see some shiny tap models but he's wearing trainers. I'm conscious of the hall clock ticking like Big Ben and wonder why am I shouting? 

I'm not really wondering, as I know exactly why everything suddenly feels so different. I've just got back from Ipswich for the fitting of a 30 day trial of the Lyric hearing aid. This is a tiny device that fits deep down in my ear canal and has transformed my life within a matter of hours. It's not cheap and will involve three or four visits a year to Ipswich for replacements but, if the first twenty four hours is anything to go by, it's going to be money well spent. 

I wrote a few weeks ago that vanity was something that had stopped me from getting a hearing aid. So this is the perfect solution - if I hadn't told the whole world about it on the internet, nobody would know at all that I am wearing this.

Brave New Burma

Last night I was able to put the device to the test. We went to a talk at FramSoc the local society run by Framlingham College. The talk (about his book Brave New Burma) was given by journalist and photographer Nic Dunlop and it was a fascinating insight  into that country, its people and its politics accompanied by some wonderful photos in atmospheric black and white. What's more, Nic did not speak very loudly but I heard every word and, when we had  a glass of wine with others after the talk, I was able to hold a conversation in noisy circumstances that would, in the past, have meant me switching off completely and merely nodding as if I was hearing what was being said.  

I haven't got any discomfort yet and the fitting of the device was painless. I hope that the transformation that I've experienced today is something that will continue to benefit me for years to come.