talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

One of the things that made studying for final exams far more efficient was a set of Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones. I had put off getting a pair of these for years now, thinking them a little pricey. They're headphones, after all. But after trying them out, I found I almost couldn't concetrate without them, and they therefore join the talbotlucas.org category of exceptional things (which includes "God's yogurt" and "God's machine").

After sitting in the Law Library's main reading room for an hour or so, I took them off and realized that without them the place sounded like a train station. Unlike my usual library visits, which are punctuated by nearby conversations, coffee slurping, cell phone ringing, idiotic Microsoft "welcome to Windows" music, this was blissful. And more importantly, productive, because I wasn't interrupted every few minutes by one thing or another. I had tried the Sony noise reduction earplug headphones, but soon found the sound of my own breathing and swallowing just as annoying as the outside noise I had been trying to block.

I went on and on about these new headphones to Terrence, and I think he was initially under the impression that the final weeks of law school were turning me into a loon. Then he tried them. And now...he loves them, too. They let him code without being interrupted by traffic noise, the barking of our neighbor's dogs, or my talking back to my email. These are the same model that are supposed to be quite effective at blocking the ambient noise on airplanes, and I'm thinking of testing them in other locations, just to see what a difference they make.

I love when technology improves my life rather than complicates it.