Out Loud

Photo by artur84
www.freedigitalphotos.net

Okay, I have sensitive hearing. I wake up in the middle of the night if Little Man removes one of his socks. So to me, most everything is too loud. Frankly, I don't like the assault on my ears and the pain it causes. The day begins with an alarm and it seems that things just get louder as the day progresses. By bedtime, my ear drums usually throb.

I don't like LOUD music. I don't like LOUD music emanating from someone else's car. I don't really like to go to the movies because, you guessed it, they are too LOUD. The TV is too loud most of the time. We recently purchased a TV and we were shown an assortment of sound bars to go with it. No. Absolutely NOT in my house. And, no, I do not like surround sound. The last thing I want is loud noises coming at from all around.

There are two things that really bother me about the volume of the TV. First, there are some channels that have the program's volume so low that you have to increase the volume just to hear it. AMC is one of these offending channels. Then, when they go to commercial, they are SO LOUD because you have the volume turned up. Seriously, can't they hire someone to balance the volume between program and commercial? Second, is basic balancing within a program or movie. Why are some scenes, okay dialogue mainly, so low that you can't hear it and the sound track or explosions so loud they blow the speakers? Really? You can't afford a sound engineer?

Currently we are having a tiling/pixelating issue with our cable. Apparently, the cable box doesn't handle HD signals very well. The cable company tells us to turn off the box to "reset" it whenever we call to complain. I'm pretty sure this is on page 1 of the Customer Service How-To-Blow-Off-The Customer-Handbook. Got a problem with tiling? Reset the box. Have a question about your bill? Reset the box. Anyway, the problem is not just the tiling screwing with the picture, it cuts the sound in and out too. The only thing worse than having it too loud is getting half a sentence.

Aside from movies and the TV being loud, Little Man does his fair share of noise-making. He has several drums, songs he sings, a "keyboard", and a constant adorable chatter where he creates his own worlds and stories going on in them. The chatter stops for two reasons - he's sleeping or he's eating. He hums when he eats so even then he's noisy. I thank God everyday he's a happy, funny Little Man and his noises don't really bother me all that much anyway (except for the drums).

Anyway, it's time to try to find a quiet place to settle down and perhaps read a chapter, or write a chapter. It's time to unplug, stop throbbing, and relax.