Last week I had an awful shock: A GPS unit I ordered emitted a fierce blast when I turned it on (near my ear). After that I couldn’t hear words and there was a jangling around any sound. After measurements were made, a 3-week course of Prednisone was prescribed. I struggle through phone calls and can only converse if the person looks at me directly. Recovering my hearing can take quite awhile, and there are no guarantees. But it's good for reading through my stack of unread books and catching up on this blog.