I believe my hearing is poor and it has caused me some embarrassment over the years… One time the people I was with and I were at a restaurant and my partner had to speak loudly for me to hear her… I almost got into a argument when the diners at the next table told her to lower her Jezebel level, however my partner is not perfect but, to my proficiency, is not a shameless or morally unblocked lady as that name implies.
I found out later that they had said “decibel” level which made me believe savor the neighborhood idiot.
I looked up some decibel (dB) levels for other usual sounds and l earned that a whisper is about 15 dB and a jet engine can crank out 120 dB. I was about to have my ears examined when I learn about how background noise, also known as pale white noise, might be the cause of my hearing troubles! A normal conversation is at a 60 dB level while my Heating and A/C unit purrs along at about the same level. I asked my Heating and A/C specialist about what could be done to reduce the pale white noise coming from my AC, however she said that a variable speed fan will help because the unit can run at quieter speeds. She also proposed a unit with noise-reducing fan blades and an insulated base pan. It sits underneath the cooling system and is designed to reduce noise and resist corrosion. Her last suggestion was to insulate the compressor to suppress the noise when it is running. I’ll cancel my appointment with the audiologist because when my partner wants me to do a chore it is better that I don’t hear her.