I suspect that many, including non Albert operatives, have suffered the same fate regarding hearing. I know that my usual adornment for "a few minutes nap" in the hammock usually entailed the yellow pellets, covered by either Ear Defs, kept from my linie days, or, a Mk4 Headset. None of it seems to have helped when communicating with my fellow human beings, but it has at least given me an excuse for missing every utterance that SWMBO utters
Smudge
