Scaling back noise

by YankeeJim | June 19, 2010 at 04:47 am

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I lost 100% of my hearing nearly two weeks ago. It came back about 50% and it is likely I will be hearing discernable speech in another week.

The experience went from scary, to I can live with it, to let’s make it better.

Sounds surround us in layers, based on our ability to receive and filter it. At full sensation, I can imagine one can hear a pin drop against a backdrop of silence. Yet, we really don’t experience silence, unless we are in a remote desert on a plane of sand on which the wind isn’t blowing. Even then, I have learned that we make our own internal noises. Every swallow and every scratch creates perceptible sound.

Unwanted sound is noise, I guess.

In my current state, I went to the balcony at 05:30 am overlooking the busiest interstate in the Nation’s Capital. There was a gentle breeze and several cars driving by and it was most pleasant. With just enough noise in the background, I wasn’t bothering myself with my internal noises.

I thought, would it not be great to be able to regulate noise such that you could just turn some off or turn it down? I think that is what might happen when I get a hearing aid. Maybe, I will be able to regulate the environment better.

People need to pay attention to their noisy environment because too much can and will cause damage. I can do without hearing, I have learned, but it is surely better to have sound as a cue in life. Don’t honk for me, but if you are about to run me down, honk at me.

“City leaders scale back scope of noise limit proposal

By Rachana Dixit The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va.
Publication: The Clover Herald (South Carolina)

Feb. 18--The City Council has indicated it would like to pursue stricter noise regulations for restaurants in only two small parts of the city, instead of applying new limits everywhere except downtown.

Councilors leaned in that direction after hearing a public outcry from musicians and those involved in Charlottesville's restaurant and entertainment scenes. The possible amendment to the city's noise ordinance that councilors will consider in March would limit maximum amplified noise levels in restaurants to 60 decibels in the city's Neighborhood Commercial Corridor districts -- downtown Belmont and part of Fontaine Avenue -- between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The levels would be measured from the residential property line, according to city officials.

The 60-decibel cutoff, which would deviate from the 55 decibels originally proposed for downtown Belmont and part of Fontaine Avenue, was introduced by Councilor David Brown and supported by Councilor Satyendra Huja at the council's Tuesday meeting.”