Weekly haiku

Constant urban din
Muffled to oblivion:
Cotton wool earplugs.

I always used to hate earplugs, found them almost 'impossible' to wear. I was acutely conscious of the alien intrusion into my delicate ears, and actually seemed to become hyper-sensitive to noise as a result, to suffer a hellish sensory acuity, as in The Fall Of The House Of Usher: I was both tormented by the creaking and rustling made by the earplugs themselves and listening out more intently for the muffled outside sounds that were still faintly but annoyingly audible. I was convinced that earplugs actually made it harder for me to get to sleep.

However, during my recent travails with the builders outside my window, I have taken to blocking up my ears with tiny wads of cotton wool each night - and it has transformed my life! Even the continuous, thunderous tap-tap-tap of my water pipes has been dulled to innocuousness. I think this, rather than my alcohol purge this month, may be the main reason why I have suddenly rediscovered the knack of sleeping 8 hours a night.