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I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

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Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#101
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many young people today can't comprehend a story unless it's broken down into small texts, like a child book, twitter, or any other chat app. As this is their only exposure to text. If you are a parent, force your kids to read books!

Have you got data to support that?

Well, I posted a Medium article at work that would take 55 minutes to read and a millennial corowker balked at how long that was.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#102
Another possible source of unexpected extremely loud noises: cleaning things with compressed air. If you blow it through a small orifice of the right dimensions then it can act as a whistle. The energy will be concentrated at one frequency, and compressed air generally blows a lot harder than lung power.

I first heard of this from a Youtube video, possibly from one of AvE's, although it could have been from somebody else's.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#103

My hearing was ACTUALLY permanently damaged when a sticky iron weight fell on a leg press machine at a 24-hour fitness about 5 years ago. The weights looked like these: http://www.presentationzen.com/.a/6a00d83451b64669e201156eb4... One extra weight slab was "stuck" to the group that was supposed to get lifted. It was stuck because the weights at the gym were grimy from many years of use without being cleaned. The ex…

That happened to me too, don't think I got any permanent damage but that sound is super loud. Still a bit scared of that machine for no other reason than the sound.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#104
post #54

An unmentioned physiological consideration, remembered from a lecture long ago... The rapid onset of the sound is an important factor. The ear has muscular reflexes that lessen the damage of loud sounds, but only if the onset of the sound takes longer than the time it takes the reflex to kick in. The toilet tank sound probably had onset approaching that of a square wave, so this neatly evaded the reflex. Evolutionari…

To that end, Mercedes-Benz is playing around with technology to create a loud noise before the airbags deploy in a crash. The ideas is that by triggering this loud noise reflex, the ear will protect itself from the louder noises of airbag deployments.

Various cars have that already.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#105
post #45

I have mild tinnitus in one ear, from what I suspect was a friend screaming into my ear that she was going to the bathroom at a noisy club. I'm relatively lucky, my hearing is still better than most, but it does suck. I've decided I will never go to another club, and in bars I wear ear plugs. I have more to lose, since any additional damage will likely make my tinnitus more severe. Seriously though, hearing is one of…

I get to visit clubs/shows every few months and I always use a pair of musician earplugs, (Etymotic, standard - not custom fitted). It gives a nice and even attenuation, which after few minutes you don't even notice (other than perhaps slightly elevating very low frequencies relative to the rest). Your mind is very quick to normalize the volume level anyway, no matter if you're with or without protection. Why suffer…

It is so refreshing to come out of a club early in the morning, pull the earplugs out, have the rush of cold air enter your eardrums and there be no ringing.

On the plus side, I find it way easier to understand people talking to me in the club when I have them in.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#106

My hearing was ACTUALLY permanently damaged when a sticky iron weight fell on a leg press machine at a 24-hour fitness about 5 years ago. The weights looked like these: http://www.presentationzen.com/.a/6a00d83451b64669e201156eb4... One extra weight slab was "stuck" to the group that was supposed to get lifted. It was stuck because the weights at the gym were grimy from many years of use without being cleaned. The ex…

I totally know what you mean by "static". Have had that issue in my left ear for decades. Not really even sure what caused it originally. Iirc I get the static at realty high decibels of some kind of frequency.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#107
post #79

> This predicts 138 dB of sound. I doubt that one can calculate the sound amplitude accurately without doing experiments or complex simulations here. It's possible that the toilet bowl or lid focused the sound like a satellite dish, and the protagonist's ear was in the exact wrong place at the wrong time. Visual aid: https://blueandgreentomorrow.com/energy/in-pictures-new-wave...

Which is also mentioned in the article: "This lid was concave up like an antenna, near my face when it hit, focusing the energy into my face."

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#108
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fixing a toilet is dead simple, as are most household tasks. Either you'd have to be very rich to not have it be worth 1 hour of your time, since a plumber will surely be $100 at least, or you can't be bothered to watch a couple short videos on youtube.

Handyman is more like $50, and it's insurance against permanent hearing damage, breathing fiberglass, etc.

Or, Handyman could also drop his toolbox at the right angle and then you just paid $50 for tinnitus.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#109

My hearing was ACTUALLY permanently damaged when a sticky iron weight fell on a leg press machine at a 24-hour fitness about 5 years ago. The weights looked like these: http://www.presentationzen.com/.a/6a00d83451b64669e201156eb4... One extra weight slab was "stuck" to the group that was supposed to get lifted. It was stuck because the weights at the gym were grimy from many years of use without being cleaned. The ex…

My gym actually has a few machines were the weights regularly get stuck like this. I never considered this to be a danger. Thanks a lot for sharing that. I'll pay more attention to that in the future.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#110
post #45

I have mild tinnitus in one ear, from what I suspect was a friend screaming into my ear that she was going to the bathroom at a noisy club. I'm relatively lucky, my hearing is still better than most, but it does suck. I've decided I will never go to another club, and in bars I wear ear plugs. I have more to lose, since any additional damage will likely make my tinnitus more severe. Seriously though, hearing is one of…

This can also happen when holding your upset child and they scream near your ear. Be careful, parents!

Yup have occasional tinnitus in my left ear from one of my children screaming in it while I was holding them.
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