Earplugs

Great article on Slate today about earplugs. The great Wikikarmel recently purchased a pair of noise reduction headphones, which are basically earplugs with headphones in them. I must say, I love them. They are great. I can still hear the world around me (don't worry Mom (or Official Mother of Wikikarmel ("OMOW")), I can hear cars as I am crossing the street), but everything is muted. It's like I'm in my own world. I'm in Wikikarmelland!* Seriously, though. When I'm on the train platform, the screeching of the trains doesn't bother me. When I'm walking down the street, sirens and people yelling are muted. I sometimes walk down the street with the headphones in my ears and my Ipod off and listen to myself breathe like Beller suggests. And they are very comfortable. The best part, though, is that I can turn the volume down. I used to listen to my Ipod at almost full volume; now I rarely go above a quarter. Too much of this bad boy** when I was little has ruined my hearing.

Two problems I have encountered:
1. When sweating, the headphones become loose. The noise reduction is achieved by creating a seal in your ear. When I sweat (such as when I am marathon training), the seal breaks and the headphones slip out of my ear. This is probably my own fault though. There are 6 or 7 different ear pieces that I can try- I'm probably not using the right one.
2. When it's really cold out, the cord 'freezes' and you can 'hear' the cord banging against your body. Not really a big deal though..


*Editor's note: yes, it's true. I am a dork.
**My particular bad boy (and I'm not sure why I am sticking with that name- I don't think I named my set) was not nearly as nice. It was a four piece and was orange.
***I currently 'rock out' to this bad boy. I should give him a nickname...*