Tobias Manske
d725d2a1ce
All checks were successful
continuous-integration/drone/push Build is passing
64 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
64 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
title: "Earplugs can be awesome!"
|
|
date: 2022-11-23T00:00:00+01:00
|
|
slug: earplugs
|
|
categories:
|
|
- misc
|
|
tags:
|
|
- english
|
|
- life
|
|
summary: A good pair of custom ear plugs is surprisingly cheap and will help you stay sane when murphy strikes
|
|
showtoc: false
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Since mid-August, I own a custom-made pair of soft silicon ear plugs.
|
|
In the few months of owning these I came across quite a few situations where they were incredibly handy.
|
|
|
|
A custom-made pair of ear plugs has a few advantages over one-size-fits-all pairs.
|
|
For one, they fit perfectly and become almost unnoticeable after a few minutes of wear and sit flush with your ears.
|
|
Depending on the material, they even are soft enough to sleep on without a feeling of pressure on your ear.
|
|
This is a huge plus, even when compared to the "softer" off-the-shelf solutions on the market which only work for some people.
|
|
They are easy to clean and are said to be long-lasting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
## A few situations
|
|
|
|
When I have my backpack on me, there is about a 95% chance that I have my earplugs with me.
|
|
In the other 5% I probably needed them the night before and rushed out the house in the morning :p
|
|
|
|
### Forgot my headphones on a train journey
|
|
One time I had to really rush out of the house to catch the last train of the day. When the tram arrived I reached down around my neck to put on my headphones... only to find them missing.
|
|
In the rush I left them on my desk, dooming myself to a music less 6-hour journey.
|
|
This could have been really annoying as my fellow travelers included a few crying children as well as a quite loud train.
|
|
|
|
Luckily, I at least had my earplugs on me. So I put them in and continued reading a book in almost silence while the people around me had to endure the surrounding noise.
|
|
|
|
That day I got reminded again how effective they are in reducing noise when inserted correctly.
|
|
In a quieter car I really had to concentrate quite hard onto the announcement to get what they were saying.
|
|
|
|
Since then, it's been a coin toss if I will listen to music or have the earplugs in during a long train ride.
|
|
|
|
### Hot summers and open windows
|
|
During summer my flat tends to become unusually hot. This is in part due to the city I live in being incredibly sunny and my flat having quite a lot of roof area.
|
|
As a consequence, I have to leave the windows open at night to find any sleep during summer.
|
|
Summer nights are usually very busy, and I live close to a tram line, so there are some nights which can be noisy.
|
|
|
|
Ear plugs keep me sane in those weeks :)
|
|
|
|
### Sports and parties
|
|
Summer comes with a lot of sports tournaments which are broadcast on television as well as parties.
|
|
Many of those are announced and known well in advance, but sometimes they come with very inopportune timing.
|
|
For example, the night right before and exam when enough sleep is already difficult to find...
|
|
|
|
... and a dozen other situations where I just wanted to keep sleeping. Including, loud children in them morning, workers drilling holes into walls a few rooms over, etc.
|
|
|
|
### A break from society
|
|
Meeting lots of people is nice and fun, but doing that all day in a louder environment like a conference can be quite draining.
|
|
You don't want to go home yet, or can't, but you'd really enjoy a short break.
|
|
That's when you plug your ears, sit down with a beverage and just zone out for a bit[^1].
|
|
[^1]: Just be prepared for the world to be very noisy for a few moments when unplugging afterwards...
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the time of writing my neighborhood is surprisingly loud which prompted me to put in my ear plugs and get this article started :)
|
|
|