15 December 2009 Did you really want me to say that?

The day began foggy and drizzly. This view is about as clear as the sky has been all day. The smoke issuing from the chimney tells you that it is cool enough to want added heat in the house. It was 58°F at 0700 and is 46°F now, at 1630. It will probably drop to 20°F tonight.

The VA audiology appointment today went well. I was placed in a recliner in a sound-isolated room, hooked up to an EEG, and asked to watch a movie which had the audio track silenced and replaced by sub-titles. I was asked to avoid going to sleep. The sleep possibility was reduced somewhat by an earpiece placed in my right ear. The earpiece delivered as steady “beep-beep” or “Buzz-Buzz” along with varying levels of white noise – shortwave static limited as to pitch, during the whole movie experience. I hadn’t seen the movie. Even with limited sub-titles it held my interest well. I’d have liked to have seen the rest of it. If it shows up on cable I’ll watch it. After seeing only part of it, the primary plot was well-enough developed for me to realize that I’ve seen bits and pieces of the plot used in several television programs.

The second part of the study was quite different. Sound was again funneled into my right ear. A voice instructed me to “say the word ____.” While the woman’s voice was asking me to repeat her choice of words, there was background noise being piped in simultaneously. I could identify, or believe I could identify, restaurant chatter overlaid with many other voices at various volumes. The background made it very difficult to discern what word I was being asked to identify and repeat. This segment lasted somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes, with a new request about every 15 seconds. Then there were two more segments which were almost certainly the same fifty words requested over and then a third time, with background volumes decreasing with each test run.

I was told that I performed extremely well on the 1st hear and say run. I correctly heard and repeated 15 of the 50 test words. I’m happy that they find me a suitable test subject for this study. I’d hate to be the poor beggar who scores below 30% on that study. I can’t recall all the words I was asked to repeat. All of my responses were words that can be used in polite society. But I remember thinking that I would find it amusing to see what some of the more incorrect responses, mine and other study participants were. I can imagine that some people’s responses were less polite than mine.

I was paid $15 for my time this morning. In truth, I worked very hard to hear and repeat with all that background. The fact that I took away this morning is that the background levels I was challenged with are not at all uncommon background levels. I have a horrible time in a restaurant with a large table of people. Add in background music or, worse, televisions, and I’m pretty much isolated from the group by a wall of sound that I can’t penetrate.

Somehow, I can hear music somewhat better than conversation. Bad mixes, though, destroy any interest in that particular band or composition. Trying to dig lyrics or vocals out of a mix that focuses on bass and drums, accepts muddy or under-present vocals, is of no interest. Volume and power are not synonymous in music.

Brought home some more short ribs and some new cheeses today. Tonight we’ll have tuna sashimi and some spicy tuna sushi. Tomorrow we’ll have burgers. I have fresh ground chuck, avocado, tomatoes, onion, and whole wheat Kaiser rolls.