Just a chime....or??

[Jerry Oz]

Interesting perspective. But, can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time rewritten every line? If I had the chance to do it all again, tell me, would I? Could I? The thing about memories is that they may be beautiful and yet what's too painful to remember, I simply choose to forget. So I guess it'll be the laughter that I will remember whenever I remember the way we were.


[[The last seven posts of the "Just a chime ....or??" thread have been dedicated to Marvin Hamlisch. RIP.)

[westgrandboulevard]

Yes, that's much the best way. The worth of memories is increased many fold by not simply leaving them fixed at one point in time, but by incorporating them in future plans.

There's much more potential for insight in looking forward, than just simply looking back, re-running the past, with no variation.

As always, just my thoughts, anyway.....

[Jerry Oz]

Please tell me that you know I cribbed the lyrics from "The Way We Were". I'll feel terrible if I think that you missed it...

[westgrandboulevard]

LOLOL! Now I really CAN believe you did make those foot-in-mouth comments to poor Cheryl and John.

Yes, I recognised and noted your dry humour, then just moved it along.

If I hadn't spotted the lyrics to 'The Way We Were' [[as if......), I think those two words 'Marvin' and 'Hamlisch' would have provided a very strong clue. And if even that didn't work, your post above would have told me....

[Jerry Oz]

I would be shocked and surprised if you had not... Your response threw me, though. Nicely played!

[westgrandboulevard]

I could tell you thought I was so self-absorbed in my response, that I had completely missed your humour.

Interesting. While I hadn't missed it, I've also reviewed my post and it certainly does read that way, because I did not acknowledge your nod to 'TWWW' - or had decided to bypass it.

I was thinking only today that I'm a tad too intense and focused at times. While WA thread benefits from a consistent focus and speedy response, a thread like this one doesn't need quite that level of drive. Guess it's just me working at speed.

Another interesting thing. Speaking in the most general of terms, there could be a difference between 'typical' American and British/English humour.

[Jerry Oz]

Curiously, I'm finding myself more interested in what the world finds interesting than what passes for American "entertainment" these days. I prefer movies from Hong Kong to those from Hollywood. Oh, and I'm a huge fan of the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Simon Pegg collaborations. British comedies go over better with me than the dramas, though. Sadly, I've watched a few Irish and English [[hence the "British" reference) gangster films in which the accent is so strong, I've had to read the English in subtitles.

[144man]

I keep subtitles on for all entertainment programmes, American and British, because they all now seem to contain some incoherency.

[westgrandboulevard]

I'm very lucky with my health to date [[and reach national retirement age for males next summer) but I do have tinnitus.

I find distracting noises can sometimes interrupt my ability to hear other voices.

I haven't watched it yet, but Daphne Du Maurier's "Jamaica Inn" has just been remade for TV [[144man may have already seen it?) and there was 'a technical difficulty' with the sound in transmission of the first episode. The clips I heard were very muffled, almost to the point of inaudibility.

Hundreds of people complained [[which means thousands probably didn't, and will just have turned it off...), and some had to resort to subtitles.

On the subject of accents, some of our own in UK are indeed difficult enough even for the natives to understand. It's not a bit of good to me when someone is speaking my own language, if their regional accent is so strong, it distorts the words, and I can't understand them.

Of all the varied and interesting American accents I've heard, there's only one I find really hard, which is that rapid, staccato monotone, delivered at speed with an Irish/American nasal twang. It's as if it is boring into my skull particularly, because of the higher pitch, the female version - for example, the ladies who present TV current affairs programmes, or newsreaders.

I'm trying to think of an example in showbusiness - I believe Bernadette Peters would be a candidate, but might need to check it out.

[Jerry Oz]

I also suffer from tinnitus, WGB. To make things worse, I was diagnosed with acute hearing loss in both ears when I was seven years old. It's on the borderline of needing a hearing aid for each ear. Mostly, I have difficulty hearing women's voices when they have high pitched voices. I can barely hear when people whisper. I find it to irritate me when something I'm listening to is even slightly too loud, preferring to listen to television through headphones than cranking the volume. I watch everything on TV with sub-titles, whether I can hear or not.

[westgrandboulevard]

I'm concerned to read about your hearing, Jerry, although I would guess you simply have adjusted and worked your way around it, as best you can.

How does your tinnitus manifest itself in tone, and when did it start?

I'm really surprised, but very interested that you find high pitched female voices tricky, as I had naturally assumed them to be clearer and, therefore, easier to follow?

[Jerry Oz]

There's no need for concern, for I've grown used to it and it does not appear to have worsened. Well, Mrs. Oz might disagree since I often ask her to repeat something that she said when I'm not ready to listen. The ringing in my ears is high pitched and that is perhaps why I have more difficulty with hearing female voices. I'm not sure when it started, but I'd suggest that I probably noticed it sometime in my high school years. It's not usually a problem unless I'm in an open space or somewhere that has noise in the background. Then, it seems like words drop and I lag in conversations as I have to figure out the missing word in context of the discussion.

[westgrandboulevard]

Mine started after having my ears syringed in 1996. It has never left me.

Like yours, it's a ringing sensation. Most of the time I don't seem to be too aware of it, but more so when everything is quiet. I call it 'my constant friend'.....

Although I say 'I don't seem to be aware of it', I do wonder if I am, in a subtle fashion, and feel I have to attend a little more to conversations around me. Then add to that a little fatigue at times, and it's very tempting just to tune out!!

[Jerry Oz]

I tune it out most of the times, but sometimes it gets loud enough to be a distraction. For the most part, my hearing seems to be constant even when the ringing gets loud. When it's at its worst, it's more of a colossal irritant that degrades my focus than something that makes it harder to hear. Except for those pesky female voices...

[westgrandboulevard]

Same here. If anything, I'm over-amplified with my hearing.

Sometimes, I wonder if the whistling is the effect of me listening to my own blood in circulation.

I'm told blockers are available, but I'm not ready for those yet.....

[Jerry Oz]

I tried a supplement that allegedly helps but it offered no help. I suppose I'll wake up in heaven one day and know that I made it because it will be so quiet there after a life of a constant ringing sensation.

[westgrandboulevard]

That's definitely something to help keep up our hopes!

[Jerry Oz]

Well, not so much... If I have to die before I'll get a little peace and quiet, I'll just live with the constant symphony.

[westgrandboulevard]

Curiously, if I use ear plugs, the ringing sound in my head doesn't seem any worse - but I also have this nagging feeling that I'm missing out on hearing something...

[Jerry Oz]

My curious thing is the fact that if I permit myself to think about the din, it gets louder. At it's worse, I'd swear that I'm losing my mind. I know that there's no actual sound there, but for it to get "louder" is frequently problematic.

[westgrandboulevard]

There is definitely a sound there, even if only you can hear it.

I have read that, in our own interests, we should concentrate on selected sounds which we welcome [[e.g favourite music, birdsong etc..), tune in on those - and, by so doing, 'tune out'
on the unwelcome sound in our head.

Are you especially aware of your tinnitus [[i.e. dinnitus) when you're absorbed in a pleasant activity?

[Jerry Oz]

No. It seems to become more or less intense without any outside influence. For example, I can hear it right now but I can also hear most sounds about me in the warehouse. There was a point last night that it was more obvious as I was watching a DVD. Sometimes, I hardly notice it; others I cannot miss hearing it. 90% of the time, I'm firmly in the middle where I hear it but it doesn't bother me. Today is one of those days [[so far).

[westgrandboulevard]

I only seem to hear mine when I'm noticing it. It doesn't compell me to listen to it.

I think I must go for quite long periods without noticing it, simply because my mind is on something else.

However...there is often a drowsy, woolly feeling around my head area [[but which could be just fatigue) that tends to trigger it, past a certain degree.

[Jerry Oz]

It occurs to me that I don't have a particular problem with it when I'm sleepy or tired. I don't recall lying awake due to it. Is yours in one ear or both?

[westgrandboulevard]

Interesting question. I'd say both but, having just cupped my hand separately to both ears, it does seem more pronounced in the left ear.

I would say that it is often MORE pronounced when I'm sleepy and tired - but that may be because [[a) I'm tired and [[b) there are less other noises at that time of night, and I'm in abstract thought mode, not paying attention to much.

No, I don't recall ever being kept awake by it.

[Jerry Oz]

It's buzzing louder in my left ear right now but I don't know that it's always the case. About a month ago, a co-worker thought it funny to grab an air horn that was on my desk and blare it from approximately three feet behind me. Both ears were ringing and my right ear actually was hurting. Fun times.

[westgrandboulevard]

That incident should have been reported.

It might be OK outdoors at a match , but not indoors, in a confined space, at close quarters. Irresponsible behaviour. Suppose your ear drum were to burst, as a direct consequence?

[Jerry Oz]

I wouldn't report him because he's a fellow manager and the incident was atypical. If that sounds hypocritical, it's because it is. But after working with someone for 15 years and knowing him quite well, I'm not going to bust him for that.

My first reaction was to punch him, but that would have gotten both of us terminated.

[westgrandboulevard]

Just after I pressed 'Post Quick Reply', the thought did cross my mind "What was an air horn doing on the desk....?"..but perhaps it is routinely used at your work...?

[Jerry Oz]

Nope. It's there in case we have a safety emergency and the PA or fire alarm systems are down. The horns are to get people's attention and tell them to get to safety. In no circumstance should they be considered toys or playthings.

[westgrandboulevard]

That's what I thought.

Oh well, you'll just have to watch your back even more.....

[Jerry Oz]

I'd be less upset if it was a typical gesture from a bonehead than I was from someone who knows better. Regardless, I'm hoping that I won't be there much longer, so I probably won't be looking over my shoulder after the summer's done.

[westgrandboulevard]

Look forward with hope. It's impossible to do that, and look back at the same time

[Jerry Oz]

I too often want to cry when I look back. I left a lot back there that I miss.

[westgrandboulevard]

Perhaps what you miss may be regained, even if only in spirit, at a later date....

[Jerry Oz]

From experience I have learned that you cannot recover what time has claimed. You sit there with your friends from 30 years ago in awkward silence, realizing that you sadly have nothing in common anymore. At the end of the evening, you part with the empty promise of coming together to do it again "sometime" while you both are hoping that the other didn't mean it.

It's okay to move on. It's a part of living to realize that things typically work out for the best, so those memories will always be there, even if the relationship won't. [[I hope that's not depressing...)

[westgrandboulevard]

Not at all. That's absolutely the way it is - so we have to make the best of it.

Today will soon enough become one of 'the good old days', that we're tempted to look back on... [[which takes us back to that song "The Way We Were"...)

There has to be a point to everything we do, even if it's a wish to sometimes sit alone, in quiet solitude.

It doesn't matter how good friends we were with someone 30 years ago. If they aren't a part of what we do today, and what we wish to do tomorrow, then they belong to yesterday. And, of course, we belong to their own yesterday.

Ideally, we should create something new every single day, or tackle an established routine in a different way, all in the business of taking us forward.

[Jerry Oz]

I love your last sentence. Part of the frustration that you read in a lot of my posts is probably because I'm acutely aware that I'm not having a lot of good new days to add to the collection of good old days. I've got 51 years of memories and the best and brightest of them seem to be the oldest. I'd love to think that I'm going to ask my wife in 20 years if she remembered something good that happened this week. But my life is somewhat mundane and uneventful.

Don't get me wrong, I love almost everything about it, especially her. I can honestly say that I'm still in love with her, which is a particular blessing after 22 years of being married.

However, as time ticks off of the clock I wonder more frequently if I shouldn't be doing - well - more. I don't buy the old excuse that I'm not the man that I used to be. But, I don't do the things that I used to do and I'd be better with that if I'd replaced them with something comparable. I guess you can call me a restless soul.

[westgrandboulevard]

I'd say you're happy but, yes, restless and somewhat unfulfilled.

Would making a simple plan perhaps save a lot of the time spent soul searching, and reflecting on the past?

[Jerry Oz]

I really don't do a lot of soul searching. You have been the unfortunate reader of what would probably be in my journal if I kept one. I've been a little uninhibited to write whatever comes to mind in these threads the past few months. I apologize for that, by the way. Sometimes my thoughts spill out and I don't know what they are until I read them. But, I am most definitely frustrated and restless. That doesn't mean that when I take stock of my situation, I'm blessed beyond compare or complaint just that I'm looking at egg on the counter instead of the 11 in the carton.

[westgrandboulevard]

I've just read your last post three times. Sentence number five is the key.

I believe you to be a very creative personality, but as yet without a clear purpose.

Time to log off and shut down. Speak again in the morning....

[Jerry Oz]

I hope you have/had a great night, amigo.

[westgrandboulevard]

Good morning! I had a good night's sleep, although a little slow getting going today.

It's Partner's Day here for us, quietly celebrating 35 years of sharing. Said partner not too happy, as it sounds like a cold may be coming. That's one thing I DON'T want to share...!

[Jerry Oz]

I'm not extremely happy myself... Bit my tongue on Monday and it's progressively getting more painful as it heals. I habitually rub it against my teeth and the top of my mouth for no real reason other than to remind me to be miserable... I'm guessing that by Friday morning at the latest it will be gone. Ouch!

[westgrandboulevard]

That's a sign of tension. I do exactly the same, which leaves me with tension around the mouth and lips. I also have the habit of placing a ballpoint pen in my mouth : - for example, when using keyboard, as now.

It's a clear ballpoint, but my teethmarks become clearly visible, even though the pen does not have a long life.

It's quite common for me to bite it in two.....

To prevent rubbing tongue along your teeth, whenever tempted to do that, instead try pressing your tongue onto the roof of your mouth.

[Jerry Oz]

The location of the sore at the tip of my tongue makes that problematic. I'm eating nuts for lunch right now. I typically use my tongue to free the meat that compacts on my molar and that hurts as well. it does not seem to hurt as bad at this moment as before, though...

[westgrandboulevard]

There must be millions of us, every day using our tongue to chase around our mouths, hoping to dislodge pieces of food stuck in teeth ! LOL

It's not a good look to the face, and is one of those 'old people' mannerisms...but we still do it.

The gums recede, leaving little pockets, and that's where the trouble starts.

I keep telling myself I should absent myself from any company, and discreetly use some dental floss....

[Jerry Oz]

"Old people mannerisms"? LOL. I wonder which other of those I have? My wife hates it when I use my left hand to pick a piece of recurrently dry skin from behind my right ear. For some reason, I can't get it with my right hand. The callous comes as a result of the safety glasses I have to wear for work and although I should be able to ignore it, I kind of feel for it with a finger and quickly remove it.

[westgrandboulevard]

Haven't you noticed the little mannerisms and habits older people often have with their mouths?!

That one-sided movement, which means there's at least one or two teeth missing, something is irritating them, and their tongue is constantly searching.

Or, the clenched jaw, which indicates the same, plus tension. Their facial expression then gives the appearance of someone chewing on a wasp.

And that doesn't really begin to cover what happens when the dentures are not fitting as well as they might.. or if there are little or no teeth left, at all...

As for the little places of dry skin and callouses : once it's there, and for as long as it stays there, you're sure to be picking at it...!

[Jerry Oz]

I regard the little movements that you describe as one of nature's ways of warning is to stay away. If you see a snake rattling its tail, a blowfish puffing up, a cat extending her claws, or an old man clinch his jaws while glowering at you, it's best to take it as a sign h to leave them alone. Mean old people get louder than you might think and they can hurl swear words at you that you've never before heard [[and don't want to hear again).