Well, it's been 18 months since I first applied, but I finally had two hearing aids fitted by the public health system. I can hear!! It's the first time in my life that I can listen like a relatively normal person. First impression; the world's a fucking noisy place, but I love it.
I had one aid in the spectacularly deaf left (fact, not pun) ear for a few years, but that broke when I was destitute and picking bananas in Oz after Sept 11 killed the tourist trade in Queensland. Since then, I have missed women chatting me up the most. "WHAT WAS THAT?" doesn't get you laid, no matter how many times you say it.
