Keith wrote:
<<<<< 20 years of Flying helicopters and playing with Hot Rods... well my
hearing
wasn't the greatest to start with.... and I knew better ... So the moral to
the story is to wear some hearing protection whenever you start these
things.... even if it's just for a Min....
I think I am going to buy a case of those soft ear plugs and keep them
with
me in the pits... that way I can actually help some others prevent what I
just did. >>>>>>>>
Keith has a really good point - listening is the key to comunication,
and missing even an occassional important word makes the other half think one
is not not listening. My doc considers me incredibly lucky to be able to
hear at all, given the punishment my ears took. Somehow, I escaped with my
hearing virtually intact, save a minor "aviators notch." that clips the "s"
from the end of plural words. After twenty five years in Hueys, thirty five
in loudass hotrods, and a rock band (in its early days we used - and still
use - the louder knob as a fine tuning mechanism to compensate for a lack of
talent and/or missed practices....) it's a wonder I can think, much less hear
the dinner bell..... ah, but I have an excuse: that was back in the days
when "real men" didn't wear protection on either head.....
Lots of us have kids who are driving around in Japoconomy boxes with
trick paint, flashy wheels and 300 watt stereos that shake nearby windows
like the old Stone Woods and Cook AA/G Willys...... they think it's way cool;
it is, I guess, in an "annoy the old farts, the cops and the establishment"
sort of way. Problem is, lots of us are going to be in the workforce for the
next fifteen to twenty years, and who wants to see their social security fund
divvied up among a bunch of 30somethings who have gone deaf from listening to
Korn on CD in their rolling soundstages.... But more than that, I want to be
able to have a conversation with my son (who has a 200hp CRX pocket rocket
with a 200 watt stereo and a matching tailpipe....) that doesn't border on a
shouting match..... I've set the example for my kid to follow - earplugs in
the shop and around the racecar, mellow exhaust on the street rod, and all
that. In fact, the rule is earplugs have to be worn within 15 feet of the
shop while anything loud enough to interfere with conversation is running,
or else no-can-drive or work on the car. He doesn't mind wearing them in the
shop and around the car (no doubt a Pavlovian response...) Now, any ideas
on how I can get him to use his head for something besides an echo chamber
when he's away from home ????
Mark Childers VA Beach VA
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