don’t throw away your Yahbas …….. yet
‘In ear’ earbuds. A stupid name which suggests that some earbuds are ‘out of ear’ in defiance of all logic. The ‘in ear’ label means that they have silicone attachments which jam a bit further into the ear cavity – thus offering the wearer greater confidence that they will remain in place. Apparently by delivering the audio deeper into the ear there is also a reduction of external sound combined with enhanced bass reproduction. Impressive stuff eh! Actually, the fact that they do tend to stay in place is good enough for me – I just can’t achieve that with standard buds.
There is a catch however – the silicone attachments come off too easily. The first time you notice one is missing you can’t help checking to see if it’s jammed into your ear – an exorbitant auditory impediment as Dr Iannis described it in Captain Corelli (your summer homework is to read that book if you haven’t already). Needless to say, it NEVER is to be found in the ear – usually it never is to be found at all. Without the attachment the earbud can’t be used – it won’t stay in place, it’s uncomfortable and the sound is badly compromised.
Now, regrettably and controversially, I shall suggest that you avoid Yahba in ear earbuds. I was really pleased with mine until I lost an attachment. In my naivety I asked the retailer if they could supply spares – no they couldn’t. Contact Yahba directly they suggested. I’ve done that twice now – and they steadfastly refuse to reply. If you are considering throwing away your Yahbas because of a mislaid piece of silicone can I please have the one that you still have? Of course, if you find yourself very hard of hearing in one ear it may be that you do after all have an exorbitant auditory impediment. Don’t be tempted to use a cocktail stick however – seek professional help. I’m reminded of an incident years back when a colleague was absent mindedly ‘itching’ his ear with a pencil – stood too close to a door which unexpectedly opened. You don’t want to know the rest!
(This blog is proud to claim that its Health & Safety stance has earned it the Literary Medical Practitioners Association bronze award – the only web based column to have received that endorsement).
Isn't life a ........
It's 4 months since I poked the keyboard in blog mode - why have there been NO letters of protest? Oh, I remember now, no one actually reads this stuff - is that why I stopped? Can't remember. The other thing I couldn't remember was my login to blogger.com - nearly gave up after trying all my known aliases - I was at the point of saying sod it when it all came back to me. Isn't life a little tease?
I'm feeling a bit low currently. Someone who I am very fond of and hoped would become a good friend (I'm talking mates here, not lovers OK?) has made it plain by her refusal to respond (yes, it is a she - that's not illegal is it?) that I am not to be admitted to her friends circle - but to be kept at arms length until a favour is needed and then pushed away again. If only real life was as easy as MySpace - where with a click of the mouse you can turn someone you've never met and don't know anything about into a 'friend'. Isn't life a bitch?
Major embarrassment at work. I organised a World Cup competition (very complicated, entrants had to forecast the scores in every one of the 64 games and earned points for how near they were to the actual score). I do it every 2 years (World Cup and European Championships) and it's controlled by an amazingly complicated spreadsheet that calculates everything once the results are fed in. It's such a complex sheet (hidden cells with nested functions, macros etc) that I have to spend an evening working out what it does whenever I dust it off - and I wrote it!!!! That was years ago when I was a fair bit cleverer than I am now. Anyway, we had 132 entries - each paying 2 pounds (sterling) and each night I would update the spreadsheet and next day publish the current points table at work so people could see how they were doing.
After halfway I began to figure prominently on the leaderboard. With a week to go I was on top spot and then just pulled away. I won my own competition having been in charge of the data and the device for calculating the points. How dodgy did that look? I'd bought a trophy and ended up keeping it myself as well as collecting a healthy cash prize. When I gave the second prize (£40) to a delighted runner-up she gave me a bottle of wine as a thank you for organising the competition. I said "Don't be silly. I WON the thing - I don't want a gift from the runner-up" but I was forced to accept that too. Isn't life bizarre?
And now a commercial. Darkhorse Radio is the best indie music show in the UK (and probably the world - but I can't officially claim that yet, the survey is still being processed). You can hear it at
www.DarkhorseRadio.com
at the bottom of every show is a 'Play' button. Click on that and enjoy a rich variety of excellent music from independent artists - the best from around the world. It's FREE - you don't need an iPod!!! It's played over the internet not the radio and it's bloody good! Maybe I should mention that it's my podcast. If you send me an email I'll tell you how to have it delivered into iTunes automatically. Isn't life a delight?
There is a catch however – the silicone attachments come off too easily. The first time you notice one is missing you can’t help checking to see if it’s jammed into your ear – an exorbitant auditory impediment as Dr Iannis described it in Captain Corelli (your summer homework is to read that book if you haven’t already). Needless to say, it NEVER is to be found in the ear – usually it never is to be found at all. Without the attachment the earbud can’t be used – it won’t stay in place, it’s uncomfortable and the sound is badly compromised.
