As if getting up at 3 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight back to the Midwest wasn't torturous enough (I am not a morning person), I woke up with a backache - which I'm sure was due to a combination of six days of schlepping my laptop and light samples around DC and North Carolina followed by "sleeping" in a rock-hard hotel bed. Right after I went through the TSA checkpoint, I twisted or did something else to aggrevate it even further (I swear it was like someone stuck an ice-pick in my right kidney area) and must've yelped or did something else that brought attention to my pain because the security guard posted by the exit (to prevent people from going back to the gates after leaving the concourse) asked if I needed a wheelchair. I was too embarrassed to take him up on it though.
I just couldn't wait to get home so I could take some of the leftover Tramadol my doctor gave me for my shoulder pain after the car accident. Funny... It knocked me out like it did a couple of weeks ago (I went to bed at around 4 p.m. and didn't wake up until close to 7 a.m. this morning) but I didn't get the same lessening of misophonia triggers that I did the last time. Perhaps the reason why it helped desensitize me to triggers last time was because I had been taking it for over a week an a half but when I took it yesterday, I had been off of it for over two weeks. At least my back is feeling somewhat better...
On top of the backache yesterday, I discovered as soon as I got to the airport that I lost my earbuds (again). This time I really lost them and was afraid that I might've left them on the hotel night stand. Luckily, my coworkers still had one day of presentations where we held our workshop so I texted one of my teammates to see if I accidently left them in the conference room. Sure enough, I did. (He found it laying on the floor.) I thought maybe traveling wouldn't be too terrible, because the first leg was 6 a.m. and I had multiple pairs of earplugs with me. Boy was I wrong. I sat behind a couple with a young kid (must've been only a year or two old) who not only wouldn't sit still, as soon as we got up to cruising altitude, the kid started wailing away. Even wearing my good earplugs, the crying was very loud. (I can only imagine what it was like for the other passengers who didn't have any kind of earplugs/earphones.) So, as soon as I landed in Atlanta, I looked for someplace where I could find a replacement for my earbuds. (I figure, it's always good to have a backup pair...)
I just couldn't wait to get home so I could take some of the leftover Tramadol my doctor gave me for my shoulder pain after the car accident. Funny... It knocked me out like it did a couple of weeks ago (I went to bed at around 4 p.m. and didn't wake up until close to 7 a.m. this morning) but I didn't get the same lessening of misophonia triggers that I did the last time. Perhaps the reason why it helped desensitize me to triggers last time was because I had been taking it for over a week an a half but when I took it yesterday, I had been off of it for over two weeks. At least my back is feeling somewhat better...
On top of the backache yesterday, I discovered as soon as I got to the airport that I lost my earbuds (again). This time I really lost them and was afraid that I might've left them on the hotel night stand. Luckily, my coworkers still had one day of presentations where we held our workshop so I texted one of my teammates to see if I accidently left them in the conference room. Sure enough, I did. (He found it laying on the floor.) I thought maybe traveling wouldn't be too terrible, because the first leg was 6 a.m. and I had multiple pairs of earplugs with me. Boy was I wrong. I sat behind a couple with a young kid (must've been only a year or two old) who not only wouldn't sit still, as soon as we got up to cruising altitude, the kid started wailing away. Even wearing my good earplugs, the crying was very loud. (I can only imagine what it was like for the other passengers who didn't have any kind of earplugs/earphones.) So, as soon as I landed in Atlanta, I looked for someplace where I could find a replacement for my earbuds. (I figure, it's always good to have a backup pair...)
I should preface what I'm about to write with a correction to one of my previous blog entries. Many times I've referred to my favorite coping device as the Jabra Rhythm noise "cancelling" earbuds. A reader recently corrected me with a comment stating that what I have is actually "sound-isolating" earbuds, not noise "cancelling." I appreciate the feedback and want to set the record straight especially since this incident yesterday gave me a perfect opportunity to obtain a pair of true noise cancelling earphones. The store at the airport had several options from which to choose and I was surprised when the salesperson let me try a few of them out. (She had a whole drawer full of earbud covers of all sizes and several demo devices too, so it's not like my ear cooties would've contaminated anything for the next person. I tested one of the more expensive pairs (thinking, "You get what you pay for," but found that the back of the earbuds had a very heavy/bulky piece on the back that made it very awkward to wear. I tested a couple of others but wasn't too thrilled with them, either for the same reason or because I could still hear a lot of surrounding sounds in the store, even with my music being played very loudly.
I wound up settling on a pair of Phiaton PS 20 NC "Noise Cancelling Earphones" that, according to the packaging, said had 95% noise reduction. (See inset photo.) Actually, according to their website, these "Luxury Noise Cancellation Earphones" (yes, they do say "Luxury") were named PC Magazine's Best Noise Cancelling Headphones in 2013. I'll admit that they were still a little bulky in the back but compared to the other devices I tested, the sound quality was awesome and I could play the music much louder than any of the other devices. They wound up costing me about $106 (after tax) and I had very high hopes for them.
Unfortunately, the second leg of my flight proved to me that my $35.00 sound-isolating earbuds are a heck of a lot better than these "Noise cancelling" earphones that cost nearly three times more. As soon as I got on the plane, I immediately put on my new Phiaton devices. Just turning on the earphones (they have a little battery compartment on the cord), I could hear my surroundings get a little muffled. The sound quality of my music was wonderful and just as I started immersing myself in Lita Ford, one of the flight attendants gave an announcement over the loudspeaker... And I heard everything she was saying! I was so disappointed. I've never heard airplane announcements when I wore my Jabra Rhythm earbuds. (I've mentioned in past posts that I don't even hear coworkers standing right next to me when I'm wearing them.) I couldn't believe it.
All I can say is thank goodness my coworker brought my Jabra Rhythm earbuds back with him. Not sure what I'm going to do with the Phiaton earphones, since they don't seem to be good enough to block out sounds (let alone triggers - which I haven't tested yet). If I can return them somewhere, I might try to get a couple more pairs of my Jabra earbuds as backups instead.
I would like to end this post by saying that although I swear by my Jabra earbuds left and right, what works for me might not be the optimum solution for someone else. Everyone has different needs and comfort levels. Perhaps other people would find the Phiaton earphones work great for their needs or maybe the weighty back piece wouldn't bother them as much as it did me. Definitely try to take any new devices for a test drive - and find out the store's return policy - before spending a lot of money on any new technology.
I wound up settling on a pair of Phiaton PS 20 NC "Noise Cancelling Earphones" that, according to the packaging, said had 95% noise reduction. (See inset photo.) Actually, according to their website, these "Luxury Noise Cancellation Earphones" (yes, they do say "Luxury") were named PC Magazine's Best Noise Cancelling Headphones in 2013. I'll admit that they were still a little bulky in the back but compared to the other devices I tested, the sound quality was awesome and I could play the music much louder than any of the other devices. They wound up costing me about $106 (after tax) and I had very high hopes for them.
Unfortunately, the second leg of my flight proved to me that my $35.00 sound-isolating earbuds are a heck of a lot better than these "Noise cancelling" earphones that cost nearly three times more. As soon as I got on the plane, I immediately put on my new Phiaton devices. Just turning on the earphones (they have a little battery compartment on the cord), I could hear my surroundings get a little muffled. The sound quality of my music was wonderful and just as I started immersing myself in Lita Ford, one of the flight attendants gave an announcement over the loudspeaker... And I heard everything she was saying! I was so disappointed. I've never heard airplane announcements when I wore my Jabra Rhythm earbuds. (I've mentioned in past posts that I don't even hear coworkers standing right next to me when I'm wearing them.) I couldn't believe it.
All I can say is thank goodness my coworker brought my Jabra Rhythm earbuds back with him. Not sure what I'm going to do with the Phiaton earphones, since they don't seem to be good enough to block out sounds (let alone triggers - which I haven't tested yet). If I can return them somewhere, I might try to get a couple more pairs of my Jabra earbuds as backups instead.
I would like to end this post by saying that although I swear by my Jabra earbuds left and right, what works for me might not be the optimum solution for someone else. Everyone has different needs and comfort levels. Perhaps other people would find the Phiaton earphones work great for their needs or maybe the weighty back piece wouldn't bother them as much as it did me. Definitely try to take any new devices for a test drive - and find out the store's return policy - before spending a lot of money on any new technology.
RSS Feed
