Today started relatively early, a 0515ish start to try and get some work done before Jude and the children get up at 7. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays I pick the children up at 1530 and so to all practical purposes, my day finishes at 1500.

The other reason for getting up early and getting some work done was that I was due at the hospital at 1100 to have some hearing aids fitted. For me this feels like a Big Thing. I know that it isn’t and that it’s a really common thing, but having a hearing test was something that I put off for years.

So actually getting to the day when they were fitted, and then pottering around trying to get used to them has had me get more and more fed up through the day.

Part of the problem has been that everything is now really very loud. Well, obviously not everything. They’re programmed like a super complex graphic equaliser. Janet, the audiologist, was lovely and showed how she was fitting the amplification to the hearing test graph. However, my hearing loss is right in the mid-range frequencies and it turns out that there is a *lot* of noise in that range. The cat is really very loud – her miaow now sounds ferocious.

Internal sounds are louder and feel odd as well. My voice is loud and different, my breathing is louder (especially when exercising) and there is a curious resonance when I whistle a single note that makes it sound like a 60’s science fiction special effect. If you see someone walking down the street, whistling a single note and chuckling to himself – it’s probably me.

The price for hearing everything loud and crisp is that my ears are a bit sore. I’m told that I’ll get used to having the ear pieces in, but it might be down to some waxiness and I probably need to make sure everything is completely clear to avoid any uncomfortable chaffing.

As the day wore on, every ear-piercing pin drop was starting to grind me down. The children sounded like they were playing at volume 11, and the soreness in the ears all added up to make me feel a bit old, a bit not-working and a bit low. At the heart of it, I’m only feeling sorry for myself and I’m sure it’ll pass after a couple of days.

They didn’t stop me getting my janathoning in. I was down for a New Rules Of Lifting workout. Last week it had felt a bit easier, so I upped the resistance and weights a little. All felt fine, but difficult at the end of the reps. Which I suppose is how it’s supposed to be.

We’re going to catch up with the Sherlock episode tonight. For the first time in a long long time I’ve asked for the TV to be turned down. It’s a whole new world.