Chit Chat and All That...

[Damocles]

What the fucking fuck is up with his weird father daughter relationship. I swear he would fuck her if it was legal!

I know! It's so f*cked up @Steph1710!

Now...

This is how I see my Tinnitus Talk family:

@Elmer B Fuddled is my dad.
@aura is my big sister.
@Damocles is my strange older cousin.
@Exit is the guy I have a volatile relationship with.

Okay. Well then, as your (strange) older cousin, Steph; I forbid you from cavorting with that scrub @Exit.
You don't want none of that!

I've heard of it. It's probably worth giving it a go. I hate being poorly all the damn time!

I'll get you some. It's practically all they sell in the Waitrose near me...

My girl has a runny nose and eye pain.
This is the last thing I need, for her to be sick... and me too.

I had a very long day at work.
I barely slept last night.
And on my way home, I heard a very loud noise on the road (something like a firecracker).

What's happening in my ears now is insane, very high frequency sounds and... a lot of other things.

I can't live in a stress and noise free bubble.

Is this the way it's gonna be from now on? Super spikes every night just from normal days and everyday sounds?!

Why are you not wearing hearing protection when you're out @aura?

 

[Exit]

My girl has a runny nose and eye pain.
This is the last thing I need, for her to be sick... and me too.

I had a very long day at work.
I barely slept last night.
And on my way home, I heard a very loud noise on the road (something like a firecracker).

What's happening in my ears now is insane, very high frequency sounds and... a lot of other things.

I can't live in a stress and noise free bubble.

Is this the way it's gonna be from now on? Super spikes every night just from normal days and everyday sounds?!

Are fireworks open for sale all year in your country...?

Sorry hun.... Love you...

 

[Steph1710]

Now...

Don't, @Damocles. I'm so horny atm. Even in my ill state, I managed to crack one out. I started watching old Mr Bungle footage, and that was enough for me...

I'll get you some. It's practically all they sell in the Waitrose near me...

Yes please. I am dying.

(strange) older cousin,

Strange older cousin that I would still make out with at a family party. When no one was looking.

Steph; I forbid you from cavorting with that scrub @Exit.
You don't want none of that!

But... but... he is from Norway, and I haven't slept with a Norwegian yet!

*edit* I wanna know what he sounds like when he climaxes.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

Sorry hun.... Love you...

Man when was the last time you told me those words!? jk haha.

 

[aura]

Why are you not wearing hearing protection when you're out @aura?

I didn't know I should do this. It's not fkn WW II out there...

If I do this, I'm afraid that my ears will become more and more sensitive... and that i will have to use earplugs every day!

Isn't that the main rule, protect but not overprotect?

 

[Exit]

Okay. Well then, as your (strange) older cousin, Steph; I forbid you from cavorting with that scrub @Exit.
You don't want none of that![/USER]?

Who, me...?

And @Steph1710, you left out @Wrfortiscue lol.

 

[Exit]

Man when was the last time you told me those words!? jk haha.

Hmm a couple of days ago I think

I didn't know I should do this. It's not fkn WW II out there...

If I do this, I'm afraid that my ears will become more and more sensitive... and that i will have to use earplugs every day!

Isn't that the main rule, protect but not overprotect?

Nah you're one of us now @aura...

Even over the ear headphones will do some use...

Excuse me, I'll have to go outside in the rain spying on my asshole neighbours to check if it's the one I think it is... (straight below me!)

I swear to god if I get terminal, some bugs will join me...

 

[Exit]

On a side note, the girl I chickened out of meeting was not happy today.

She'll be back November and considering whether to hug me or punch me in the face! Well she left out the word hug!

I'm starting to like that little rag

 

[Damocles]

Isn't that the main rule, protect but not overprotect?

@aura, if I had continued listening to the people that perpetuated that rule, I would have been dead by year 3 of my tinnitus.

 

[aura]

@aura, if I had continued listening to the people that perpetuated that rule, I would have been dead by year 3 of my tinnitus.

Well it seems to me that you've missed the chance of going to a better place

Joke aside, are you protecting you ears... everywhere?

 

[aura]

And @Steph1710, you left out @Wrfortiscue lol.

Ouch.

 

[Steph1710]

@Steph1710, you left out @Wrfortiscue lol.

Well I did type where @Wrfortiscue falls into my Tinnitus Talk world, but for some reason, I deleted it. He was the guy next door which would hook up with me if I gave him the chance, but he never would because he is married. So instead, we're just good friends who share a mutual love of food.

 

[Steph1710]

If I do this, I'm afraid that my ears will become more and more sensitive... and that i will have to use earplugs every day!

I slowly gave up wearing earplugs all the time. But sometimes, I sure wish I had been wearing them. It's such a gamble.

 

[Steph1710]

I forgot to mention to anyone who cares - I am off to Italy in October, for my birthday!
I am flying there, and it will be the first time flying since I developed tinnitus and hyperacusis.

Needless to say, I am a tad nervous about it.

Have any of you guys flown yet?

 

[Damocles]

Well it seems to me that you've missed the chance of going to a better place

Joke aside, are you protecting you ears... everywhere?

Everywhere outside of my apartment.

Simply put, I no longer leave my piece of mind in the hands of other people (only those I most trust).

I tried for years to go about my life as I had done pre-tinnitus, and all I reaped was frequent spikes, panic attacks, and eventually, almost dying of the constant stress.

After some life changing events, I was done. I changed everything.

So yeah, my safe place is my home and I get adequate sound enrichment there (enough that my hyperacusis has subsided to nil) - but I wear hearing protection everywhere else, hence, I'm habituated as f*ck, rarely suffer spikes, and sleep like I never had tinnitus.

 

[Exit]

Well it seems to me that you've missed the chance of going to a better place

Joke aside, are you protecting you ears... everywhere?

@aura, I wouldn't be here chatting you up if I had protected myself outside... well you would find me only in a success story thread! I would leave it dead same day to not jinx myself!

Since you have a car I suggest earmuffs. Use them when you leave the apartment, take them off in the car. Windows closed! On again on your way to the hospital and off again when inside hospital.

Do not put your health in the hands of strangers!

You could start with just over the ear headphones. I don't think it's a good idea to put earplugs in and out all day long.

A kid on a skateboard took everything from my recovery. Before that I woke up better and better everyday for a week. No reactivity and just a hiss I heard inside in a quiet room... (some faint ii and eee when blocking my ears.)

 

[Toney]

Have any of you guys flown yet?

I've been on two flights recently. One was at 85 dB, and another was at 75 dB, all of somewhat innocuous white noise. Typically, I think smaller planes are louder. Put on earplugs and you should be fine. If you're going to Italy from England the flight shouldn't be more than a few hours. Don't sweat it.

EDIT: Let me add that I took some Sudafed for the flight. One thing you don't want to risk is having a pressure imbalance in your sinuses, spiking your tinnitus.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

@Steph1710, well thanks for at least attempting to virtually not have sex with me lol. It's the thought that counts. Happy early birthday! Not sure about travel as I'm curious about flying as well.

@aura, @Damocles, @Exit, I agree about wearing earplugs outside. I was doing great not wearing them as I couldn't hear my tinnitus as bad but unfortunately people suck. MRI messed it up further.

Now I learned my lesson and wear earplugs in the car and outside where I can't control the sound.

@Exit, what happened with the skateboard?

 

[Steph1710]

That is appalling, Steph. Absolutely nobody deserves that kind of evil, and yet you are beaming in every photo. Don't ever let your tinnitus, or your past for that matter, drag you down.

@Ed209, I cannot thank you enough for your kind words. It is encouragement and love shown from other people, like yourself, that has always gotten me through the dark times. <3

I am generally a happy person, like you see in the photos, but I still struggle sometimes. I have certain triggers, but I guess that's trauma for ya.

My mom had a horrible childhood as well which still haunts her to this day. She tried to kill herself this year via an overdose, and she was very lucky to have survived. I can understand the remnants this shit can leave upon a person.

Oh my goodness!! Ed! I am so sorry I didn't read your message properly sooner! How is your mum now!?? Physically is she okay? See, this is what makes me so mad still! She didn't deserve this. And see what impact the actions of others do to people, even years after it has happened.

How are you coping Ed? This obviously not only impacts your mom, but also everyone around her, who loves her. I hope you are alright too?

I am so glad her attempt to take her own life didn't work, because why the hell should she have to leave this earth because of the abuse and mistreatment that others inflicted on her. Being a victim of abuse, especially through childhood, is life altering, and an incredibly hard thing to survive, and live with. I sincerely hope your mom is in a much better place now?

Both you and Dave have done well to somewhat come through the other side. I think it stays with you on some level, but it doesn't define who you are. Our lives become our stories, and as long as you have plenty of awesome times then it's mainly good stuff that you relive.

Thank you Ed. I think what both Dave and I share in common, is that the lack of love we were shown, has made us have more joy and love for those around us. We are both people who relish the company of others, and find joy in meeting and connecting with others.

Not in a bragging way, but I have many close friendships with many people. My friends are such a mixed bag, and I really enjoy that. Because, yes, there's a lot of terrible, awful people out there, but there are also a lot of kind, good hearted, well meaningful people out there too. And you @Ed209 I can tell, are one of those.

 

[Ed209]

How are you coping Ed? This obviously not only impacts your mom but also everyone around her, who loves her. I hope you are alright too?

I am so glad her attempt to take her own life didn't work, because why the hell should she have to leave this earth because of the abuse and mistreatment that others inflicted on her. Being a victim of abuse, especially through childhood, is life-altering, and an incredibly hard thing to survive, and live with. I sincerely hope your mom is in a much better place now?

I haven't been too good this year. That's probably an understatement. After the passing of a close uncle, who was my mom's twin brother, there was a falling out in the family that got quite ugly. There's been a ton of other stressful shit thrown into the mix with health problems not only for myself and my wife but for our daughter as well. Some of the stories I've heard of my mom's upbringing are so horrible, that even her therapist cried once. They were terrified of their dad because he was violent and not a nice person. When their mom was weak and was dying of cancer he used to batter her black and blue in front of them. It was so bad that my mom would jump on his back trying to protect her mom but he would just fling her off and keep going. She only had weeks to live and was still getting battered. When she finally passed, he left her dead body in the kitchen in an open casket so that the kids would have to eat breakfast and get ready for school whilst looking at their dead mother. She said every day they'd hear his motorcycle pull up and they'd physically tremble with fear. As with many families at the time, they had holes in their clothes that were all the wrong sizes, and there would be oranges in a bag for Christmas, and that's about it. He never bought them any decent clothes or anything. He used to spend all his money on strangers in the pub. They had a pet chicken which they named, and after so many years, he made them wring its neck so they could eat it for dinner. They were all in bits crying and he didn't care.

Such was her luck, that when she was made to work in a shop as a kid, the shop owner abused her. It couldn't get any more fucked up. She said that when her mom died, her 6 brothers and sisters were all hysterical saying why did they take our mom and not him? This meant that my mom had to take on the job of being the mother and had to bring up her siblings when she was only a child herself.

When she finally got away and lived her own life, she was ok. It wasn't until she was about 48, or so, that she suddenly had a nervous breakdown out of nowhere (at this stage she had also had about 6 miscarriages; she was desperate to have a family). When my brother and I were kids we didn't understand what was going on when she became severely depressed. She went from being the life and soul of every room she walked into, to being a wreck of a person on antidepressants. We didn't get it. Around 12 years ago after seeing her constantly crying she finally confided in me to tell me about the darker parts of her history. It made me feel physically sick. I'll never forget that day for as long as I live. My brother doesn't know about it, and she doesn't want him to know. I envy him in a way because he's somewhat shielded from carrying this burden.

A few years back she started to cut her legs really badly. Then she took her first overdose. Fast forward to this year, and she tried again after the death of her brother.

 

[Leila]

What do you think of it?

It's on my reading list too... apparently the whole Silicon Valley theories are somehow based on some of Ayn Rand's thinking... or that's at least what I heard...

Hi Juan,

It took me a while to get into Atlas Shrugged because for one, the two industries Rand picked to build her novel around, were seriously alien to me and not something I would have read up on for fun and for another, the print of the book was so tiny and the pages so thin, that the whole thing had a rather intimidating feel to it.

Once I got into the story, however, I couldn't stop reading.

As for the principle of capitalism or the Silicon Valley theories, I think it's been the other way around. Rand grew up in a country where the mind and the ability of a person was only rewarded for what it was capable of contributing to society as a whole. Which, in her eyes, led to a lot of wasted potential, because a society that keeps putting more and more demands on the people whose talent / workforce / ideas keep your society afloat in order to allow for an ever growing group of needy to keep living in comfort is doomed to fail.

When Rand came to the USA and experienced the possibilities and rewards of capitalism first hand, I think it confirmed everything she always expected to be wrong about socialism.

Her book is an ode to capitalism in its purest form - so the question really is: what was first?

The deeper I got into the story the more I became intrigued with how current affair Atlas Shrugged really is. As somebody who's grown up in country with a very good welfare system, a closed system that's originally been created to keep the people contributing to it in comfort in old age or in case of an emergency preventing them from supporting themselves, I've asked myself time and again what is going to happen once the people paying into said system will come to realise that their system's been opened to the world and that they've basically been played for fools... Well Atlas Shrugged gave me a pretty good idea.

I found it shocking how predictably current developments have been for somebody willing to look at the bigger picture with a rational mind as much as 70 years ago. So if you've got the time, get your copy of the book and give it a try. Not every word and plotline is award-worthy but its overall content will be an eye-opener. Well, at least, it has been to me

 

[Steph1710]

Wow! Spiking because two people today have managed to scream at the top of their lungs, right next to me... Left ear is going crazy.

 

[Deamon22]

I forgot to mention to anyone who cares - I am off to Italy in October, for my birthday!
I am flying there, and it will be the first time flying since I developed tinnitus and hyperacusis.

Needless to say, I am a tad nervous about it.

Have any of you guys flown yet?

Hey Steph, I have flown a few times since tinnitus, the first time was a few weeks after onset (8 hours in a loud Boeing without earplugs ). Never had any problems, nowadays I use normal foam earplugs and if it is especially loud, some noise cancelling headphones on top.

What are you going to visit in Italy? If you need or want any advice just ask me

 

[Damocles]

I'm so horny atm. Even in my ill state, I managed to crack one out. I started watching old Mr Bungle footage, and that was enough for me...

I haven't slept with a Norwegian yet!

*edit* I wanna know what he sounds like when he climaxes.

Yeah, I have this weird game. I like to see how many places I can do it. Kinda like 'masturbation terrorism'. It's my way of saying fuck you to the system. My partner doesn't approve.

@Steph1710, you truly are a sexual terrorist.

Like this guy:

Remember him?

 

[Exit]

@Juan, I actually just wanted to ask you if there's any good websites for checking out houses for sale in Spain? Do you have a website for the entire country for example?

I'm thinking southern Spain but open for everywhere with warm winters I do speak Spanish.

 

[Exit]

@Steph1710, well thanks for at least attempting to virtually not have sex with me lol. It's the thought that counts. Happy early birthday! Not sure about travel as I'm curious about flying as well.

@aura, @Damocles, @Exit, I agree about wearing earplugs outside. I was doing great not wearing them as I couldn't hear my tinnitus as bad but unfortunately people suck. MRI messed it up further.

Now I learned my lesson and wear earplugs in the car and outside where I can't control the sound.

@Exit, what happened with the skateboard?

I was going for a walk in a hiking area but with tarmac.

Protecting against every bike and dog. Went past some teenagers and noticed one had a skateboard on his back. I just walked quick and didn't think he would use it... 5 metres away he tossed it on the ground and made 2 loud screeches...

My earmuffs were in my hands... :/

End of my life.

 

[Exit]

Wow! Spiking because two people today have managed to scream at the top of their lungs, right next to me... Left ear is going crazy.

So sorry.... What happened...?

 

[Stacken77]

If I do this, I'm afraid that my ears will become more and more sensitive... and that i will have to use earplugs every day!

Everywhere outside of my apartment.

Simply put, I no longer leave my piece of mind in the hands of other people (only those I most trust).

I tried for years to go about my life as I had done pre-tinnitus, and all I reaped was frequent spikes, panic attacks, and eventually, almost dying of the constant stress.

After some life changing events, I was done. I changed everything.

So yeah, my safe place is my home and I get adequate sound enrichment there (enough that my hyperacusis has subsided to nil) - but I wear hearing protection everywhere else, hence, I'm habituated as f*ck, rarely suffer spikes, and sleep like I never had tinnitus.

Hi @aura.

I'd just like to second what @Damocles said. We don't need to be exposed to +80 dB road or city noise to have our sensitivity to sound under control. I think we can, for instance, wear double protection in public places, or when driving, without any risk of getting more sensitive. It's when we protect literally all hours of the day, I think we can get more sensitive since we may completely block out all higher frequencies. This is just speculation, but I think that can cause uneven sensitivity across the frequencies in the long run. But as long as you get sound enrichment in your home, you ought to be fine.

Stacken

 

[Juan]

I found it shocking how predictably current developments have been for somebody willing to look at the bigger picture with a rational mind as much as 70 years ago. So if you've got the time, get your copy of the book and give it a try. Not every word and plotline is award-worthy but its overall content will be an eye-opener. Well, at least, it has been to me

Yes, I got it on eBook. It's on my (very long) reading list. Now I am re-reading Danilo Kis, Natsume Soseki and a few more... but Atlas Shrugged is definitely there.

I agree that a bad copy, with tiny print, can ruin a reading experience. For me it is better to read paper books but eBooks are a marvel to carry for holidays, and what would be heavy books around...

 

[Juan]

@Juan, I actually just wanted to ask you if there's any good websites for checking out houses for sale in Spain? Do you have a website for the entire country for example?

Yes, we have idealista.es, fotocasa.es, pisos.com etc... idealista and fotocasa are the biggest. I am very much into real estate, although I do not work professionally on that field.

I'm thinking southern Spain but open for everywhere with warm winters I do speak Spanish.

I still do not understand why tourists come here in summertime. It is just blazing hot haha...

I actually have been thinking the other way around for a long time (I'm slow to make decisions, which is probably not a good thing): purchasing an apartment in Central or Northern Europe to go there in summertime.

Actually I looked at Riga and a bunch of other places. It's maybe a bit of an abstract idea, since I do not speak the language, which is very important..

If prices were not so high I would love to own an apartment in Norway. A few months ago I looked at Toyen in Oslo.

My friend said she paid €250.000 EUR for her 60 sq m apartment near Toyen (this should have been like 2013 or 2014) and the website I checked quoted apartments of that size in that area for like €450.000 EUR. Maybe I was not checking the right real estate website for Norway...