
I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet - shawndumas
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/979583605637877760.html
======
fragsworth
My hearing was ACTUALLY permanently damaged when a sticky iron weight fell on
a leg press machine at a 24-hour fitness about 5 years ago.

The weights looked like these:
[http://www.presentationzen.com/.a/6a00d83451b64669e201156eb4...](http://www.presentationzen.com/.a/6a00d83451b64669e201156eb409b4970c-450wi)

One extra weight slab was "stuck" to the group that was supposed to get
lifted. It was stuck because the weights at the gym were grimy from many years
of use without being cleaned. The extra slab, when it reached the top, finally
detached and slid down maybe 20-30 inches, and made a sound that everyone in
the gym heard, but right next to my ear. A few people even made angry faces at
me for being a noisy lifter.

Ever since then, to this day, I have had tinnitus in that ear, and many sounds
come in like "static", for lack of a better explanation.

All I can say is be careful with those weights if they get sticky, and if they
are near your ear...

~~~
lttlrck
It may recover with time.

When I was a teen I dismantled a shotgun cartridge and removed the shot and
paper charge (lots of tiny paper discs). I stuffed them down the thick end of
a car telescopic antenna cut to about 4” with the end folded over. I threw in
a couple of pieces of lead shot, tamped it down with a piece of paper, stuck
the tube under a rock and set up a paper target 6” away. I was optimistic.

Then, with a friend, held a lighter under the closed end. Fortunately I was to
the side. Predictably it fired out the back... it was very loud.

Possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. It could have gone wrong is so
many way. The adolescent brain is a strange thing.

The ringing lasted a few years but went away.

~~~
brandall10
I'm 42 years old and spent much of my teens and early 20s going to loud rock
shows, raves, etc.

I was rather stupid and always tried to get right up to the PA speakers at the
front. I did not wear hearing protection. Many times I left shows with ringing
for hours and that feeling like there is cotton stuffed in your ears for days.
Not a handle of times - dozens of times.

By my mid 20s it appeared I had tinnitus around the 8k area, which really
freaked me out and immediately caused me to change my habits. Also around this
time I got into headphone audio in a big way. I got an SPL meter and made sure
to never go above 85dBs for extended listening sessions.

By my mid 30s the tinnitus had dissipated considerably. Now it's effectively
gone, at least that I can tell (ie. not aware if there is psychological
compensation happening). My hearing is great too, right ear at 17.5 kHz, left
ear at 16.9.

[http://www.electronicbeats.net/can-we-cure-tinnitus-by-
liste...](http://www.electronicbeats.net/can-we-cure-tinnitus-by-listening-to-
music-or-using-an-app/)

~~~
dvtv75
I'm 43 years old, and in my 20s I went to a few loud rock shows. I had the
same experience as you for days afterwards, but at the last one I attended
without hearing protection, something funny happened in my right ear. It was
like someone turned the tone control right down, and loud noises would distort
so badly I couldn't make anything out.

A while later, I was watching a Scrubs episode where one of the characters
ruptured an ear drum. That sound closely matched what I remembered hearing, so
I've worn hearing protection to every concert since. Even had people make fun
of me for it, but as soon as I say "probably ruptured an eardrum at a
concert," they stop laughing.

I have tinnitus from a different cause, though. When I was very small, 5 or 6
years old, one of my mother's boyfriends would haul me around by my ears. I
remember that my ear started ringing one day, and it never stopped.

I have two tones in one ear, and I think three in the other. 37 years later
and it's as bad as it ever was, sadly. I have learned to just tune it out, but
I can still hear it if I choose to - annoyingly, when I choose to hear it, I
have to wait until I forget about it.

edit: Forgot to note, the ringing is very, very high pitched. Remember what
CRT televisions would sound like when you turned them on? Higher pitched than
that.

~~~
toothbrush
I literally cannot understand the mentality of people who'd make fun of you
for wearing hearing protection at gigs. I go to a lot of gigs (like multiple
times a week) and "simply trusting" that the sound engineer won't push the
volume up into hearing damage territory is... naive at best.

Please folks, use protection. I like Etymotic earplugs, but to be honest i'm
not even sure if they're "heavy enough", but my pain threshold is pretty low i
think. In any case since i've been consistently using ear protection i've
almost never had the ringing thing after concerts, which makes me rather glad.

~~~
projektir
It seems to be in the same bucket as people not wearing seat belts and making
fun of you if you ask them to wear one in a car with you.

If it's not something everyone does, and if you mention you do it for safety,
the reaction is often rather negative. I think people don't like the idea that
they might have been doing something very unsafe this whole time.

~~~
tripzilch
Well if I'm passenger in a car with someone who won't wear seatbelts then _my_
reaction will become rather negative until they put the damn things on. If we
got in a car accident, I may be secure with belts, but I don't want _their_
body parts flopping in my face either.

------
nate_meurer
A little PSA: there is some evidence that magnesium can help prevent/cure
acute noise-induced hearing loss. Google returns several reputable studies.

Also: earplugs, earplugs, earplugs. I keep foam earplugs on me at all times. I
have some in my fifth pants pocket, I keep some in a pill container on my
keyring, some in my backpack, in my car, etc. I cut them in half; the half
size fits easier and takes up less space, and the slightly lower sound
attenuation is actually more useful for me in most circumstances.

I go through a lot of ear plugs this way, and a few years ago I realized that
some of them degrade over time such that they become roughly half as
effective. The closed cell foam seems to wear out somehow. I started wearing
these degraded plugs more and more often, to the point that I now wear them
most of the time. Always when I'm out of the house, and most of the time at
home as well. They can be cleaned by soaking in alcohol. Alcohol works well on
ears too, but most people's ears need no or very sparse cleaning.

I've worn these low-performance earplugs nearly non-stop for years now and my
hearing has recovered some of the sensitivity of my youth. When I started
leaving them in all the time I was a bit like an elderly person, asking people
to repeat themselves frequently. This went away as my sensitivity improved,
and after maybe six months my plugged hearing was as good as my formerly
unplugged hearing.

Now I kinda feel naked without them. If I'm doing something loud, like working
on a table saw, I'll put in fresh ear plugs, or wear extra protection like
muffs.

~~~
JohnJamesRambo
This is one of the weirder things I’ve ever read here and I read a lot of
strange behaviors here. You wear earplugs full time man, that’s not normal,
you are missing out on unimpeded hearing due to a fear of hearing loss that
likely is not based on science. Normal level sounds don’t degrade hearing as
far as I know and loud sounds aren’t that common, certainly not enough to
warrant wearing earplugs full time.

[https://www.american-hearing.org/disorders/noise-induced-
hea...](https://www.american-hearing.org/disorders/noise-induced-hearing-
loss/#intensity)

You could expose yourself to 8 hours a day of a lawnmower at 90 dB and 90% of
the population would be fine.

~~~
matte_black
It’s not that strange. I wear earplugs (although they are low profile hidden
ones) if I’m going to a loud venue, such as a really loud bar, or club, or a
concert. It increases my enjoyment of these places and also makes it easier to
have conversations with people.

~~~
Exuma
Key phrase being... " if I’m going to a loud venue"

The guy above wears them 24/7

~~~
nate_meurer
Well, I probably should have said, "nearly non-stop during waking hours". I
leave them out at night.

Also note that my "all-day" earplugs are these certain ones that have lost a
lot of their effectiveness due to aging or something. I go through enough
earplugs that I end up with a lot of these. I'm guessing I get about 10-15 dB
out of them, and my ears/brain have adapted to this level of attenuation so
well that my "plugged" hearing is functionally as good as other people's
unimpeded hearing. For example, I listen to music and TV at the same levels as
everyone else, and I'm not asking people to repeat themselves any more than
anyone else.

The habit of keeping them in at all times during waking hours just ensures
they're in place when I need them, like when I drop a dish, or a sticky weight
falls on a weight stack at 24-hour fitness, as in the top post in this thread.
Shit like that happens all the time to me, and I got really sick of saying,
"damn I should have had earplugs in."

EDIT: Also, cut them in half. Much more usable for me, they're almost as
effective, and hardly noticeable. Very rarely does someone notice that I have
them in.

------
0xfaded
I have mild tinnitus in one ear, from what I suspect was a friend screaming
into my ear that she was going to the bathroom at a noisy club.

I'm relatively lucky, my hearing is still better than most, but it does suck.

I've decided I will never go to another club, and in bars I wear ear plugs. I
have more to lose, since any additional damage will likely make my tinnitus
more severe.

Seriously though, hearing is one of those things you don't think about until
it's too late. Protect your ears.

~~~
flyinglizard
I get to visit clubs/shows every few months and I always use a pair of
musician earplugs, (Etymotic, standard - not custom fitted). It gives a nice
and even attenuation, which after few minutes you don't even notice (other
than perhaps slightly elevating very low frequencies relative to the rest).

Your mind is very quick to normalize the volume level anyway, no matter if
you're with or without protection. Why suffer permanent damage then?

~~~
berberous
Which ones? I have these ([https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Fidelity-Earplugs-
ETY-Plugs-...](https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Fidelity-Earplugs-ETY-Plugs-
Standard/dp/B0044DEESS)) and to be frank, I dislike wearing them -- it just
sounds worse.

That said, clubs/shows play music way too loud, and I occasionally hear the
beginning of tinnitus, so I 100% agree that people should get a pair.

~~~
__david__
Those are the kind I use. They try to be flat but there's really nothing you
can do to stop concert level bass from getting through, so they end up being a
bit boomy. I've found that I can move them in or out of the ear to adjust the
dampening. If they are in too far I tend to not like the way it sounds. I like
it at the most minimal dampening I can get. It sounds good and it still keeps
me from getting concert-ear.

Also I've noticed that I can hear the music much better with them in (when
it's too loud I have a hard time distinguishing pitches—singers often sound
like the Chipmunks) and some groups don't fare well when you turn down the
volume a bit (they use volume to mask lack of ability).

------
kbutler
> An audiologist friend told me to go to an ENT physician if not better by 48
> hours or the damage could be permanent. Much longer than that and it would
> be too late to try any of the interventions

This seems like poor advice. If there is significant, realistic concern about
permanent damage, I'd suggest checking immediately, rather than give it extra
time...

~~~
cian
Yes, I always find it amazing how patients can have a sudden sensorineural
hearing loss and wait days before presenting.

In my opinion patients and the public should treat it as urgently as a sudden
sight loss.

High dose steroids are regularly prescribed in this sort of scenario in an
attempt to minimize damage, and are likely to be more effective the sooner
they are given.

~~~
autokad
After hurting my neck in the shower, Me calling primary care: The earliest we
can see you is next Tuesday Me skipping primary care & going to ER instead:
After a 2 hour wait, I get condescendingly asked: why didn't you go to your
primary care?

That's why patients wait days before presenting.

~~~
astura
Then you get the $10,000+ bill because your insurance won't cover ER visits
for non-emergencies

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2017/10/16/anthem...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2017/10/16/anthem-
at-odds-with-your-decision-to-visit-the-er-and-refusing-to-pay-in-certain-
states/)

[https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
politics/2018/1/29/16906558/a...](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
politics/2018/1/29/16906558/anthem-emergency-room-coverage-denials-
inappropriate)

~~~
raverbashing
Or you live in a country with no BS medical pricing, take 2 zeros from that
value and you get a more realistic pricing estimate for places in Europe (or
pretty much elsewhere, probably lower, apart from Japan and Australia, I'd
say)

~~~
charliesome
In Australia presenting at ER is free, for any reason.

~~~
raverbashing
Thanks for the clarification (though if it's a non-emergency your wait might
be longer - but that is valid regardless of the country)

------
macintux
I very recently thought I might have permanently damaged my eyesight.

I was working from a library, and stood to start closing up for the day. As I
started to close my laptop, the screen (hi, glossy MacBook Pro) directly
reflected the sun behind me.

For the next 15-20 minutes a significant portion of my vision in both eyes was
wavy. I could still safely drive home, thankfully, but it was a severe
distraction.

While I expected it to eventually clear up, it struck home how fragile my
career is. (I know it's possible to be a blind software developer, but I'm not
sure I could afford to take the short-term hit, assuming my employer wouldn't
pay me to spend months relearning how to live and work.)

~~~
colanderman
Glossy screens really ought to be buried in the trash heap of technological
hype history. They're worse in every way than matte screens (and dangerous, as
you point out) unless you live in a dark cave. It continually amazes me that
so-called "high-end" products use them.

~~~
scarlac
> They're worse in every way than matte screens

I was of that opinion until I decided to test it out. It doesn't hold up.
Clarity is the main factor, I found. A matte screen must by definition diffuse
light, which causes image to become blurry - and visibly so.

A glossy screen, for all it's annoying features, is just clearer and colors
have an easier time being represented accurately. And most modern glossy
screens now have anti-glare as well.

~~~
colanderman
Screens should diffuse the image somewhat, to eliminate the high spacial
frequency components pixel edges create. Not that a matte screen has ever
prevented me from resolving individual pixels in a screen, even high DPI ones.

And sharp reflections on glossy screens make color-sensitive work difficult.
Diffuse reflections are much easier to adjust for. Can you better support your
claim that glossy monitors represent colors better?

------
trott
> This predicts 138 dB of sound.

I doubt that one can calculate the sound amplitude accurately without doing
experiments or complex simulations here. It's possible that the toilet bowl or
lid focused the sound like a satellite dish, and the protagonist's ear was in
the exact wrong place at the wrong time.

Visual aid: [https://blueandgreentomorrow.com/energy/in-pictures-new-
wave...](https://blueandgreentomorrow.com/energy/in-pictures-new-wave-of-
tidal-energy-research-as-wave-tank-opens-in-edinburgh/)

~~~
Zitrax
Which is also mentioned in the article: "This lid was concave up like an
antenna, near my face when it hit, focusing the energy into my face."

~~~
trott
Thanks. The spherical wave assumption used in the calculation is not
compatible with the focusing effect, and could be wildly wrong in this case.

------
TipVFL
Tangentially related, I just suffered hearing loss from a completely
unexpected source. After discontinuing anti-depressants I developed fairly
intense tinnitus in both ears, and after 3 months it hasn't gotten any better.
It's bad enough that I can't sleep at night without music playing fairly loud
(loud for night, probably a pretty normal volume for music listening).

I researched and discovered that it's a known, somewhat common side effect,
and it may be permanent. I count myself as a bit lucky, since it sometimes
causes permanent deafness.

I'm pretty sure if my doctor had mentioned the possibility of going deaf, I
would have chosen a different treatment.

~~~
howard941
Which medication?

~~~
TipVFL
Remeron, also known as mirtazapine.

~~~
howard941
Thank you for the data point. My psych offered that for consideration as a
replacement for anxiety-inducing Effexor XR / Venlafaxine. I will explore
alternatives.

------
maj0rhn
An unmentioned physiological consideration, remembered from a lecture long
ago...

The rapid onset of the sound is an important factor. The ear has muscular
reflexes that lessen the damage of loud sounds, but only if the onset of the
sound takes longer than the time it takes the reflex to kick in. The toilet
tank sound probably had onset approaching that of a square wave, so this
neatly evaded the reflex.

Evolutionarily, one can understand why there was no need to protect the ear
from loud rapid-onset sounds... those sounds don't exist widely in nature,
e.g. a roaring waterfall roars continuously. Someone could smash two rocks
together right next to your ear, but the fact that the rocks didn't smash your
cranium is perhaps more important. :-)

~~~
inferiorhuman
To that end, Mercedes-Benz is playing around with technology to create a loud
noise before the airbags deploy in a crash. The ideas is that by triggering
this loud noise reflex, the ear will protect itself from the louder noises of
airbag deployments.

~~~
eeZah7Ux
Various cars have that already.

~~~
inferiorhuman
Such as?

------
acjohnson55
I wonder if another issue is that the hard surfaces of the typical bathroom
would make the energy reflect more before dissipating. Even worse if the
dimensions of the bathroom lead to resonances with 3.5kHz.

Bathrooms are famously reflective, producing the reverberation that makes
shower singing sound palatable.

------
mrob
Another possible source of unexpected extremely loud noises: cleaning things
with compressed air. If you blow it through a small orifice of the right
dimensions then it can act as a whistle. The energy will be concentrated at
one frequency, and compressed air generally blows a lot harder than lung
power.

I first heard of this from a Youtube video, possibly from one of AvE's,
although it could have been from somebody else's.

~~~
dvtv75
I bought a compressor a couple of years ago, and good grief is that thing
noisy.

I always wearing hearing and eye protection when using it, and I'm glad for
it. First time I tested the emergency release valve, I didn't know which
direction it would release the air. If I hadn't been wearing safety glasses, I
could have lost my eyes as it released directly into my face. I now have a
rule of not allowing anybody in the workshop with me while using it, if
they're not wearing both hearing and eye protection.

------
jjw1414
I wouldn't make this up even I could. I am LITERALLY fixing the toilet
mechanism with the tank lid off and checked HN while waiting for a hot glue
gun to heat up. I'm thinking Pulp Fiction divine intervention.

~~~
ehsankia
I guess we take it as a given since no one here is talking about it, but why
does the toilet lid need to be so overly heavy? Is there any specific
functionality that requires it to be out of that material and so big?

~~~
lsc
you can buy light plastic toilet lids if you like, in fact, they are rather
cheaper than the more solid kinds.

I don't think there's really anything wrong with plastic toilet seats, but
they feel less good, I think, than the heavier, more solid toilet seats.

The worst, in my mind, are the foam/shag carpet covers. those just seem wrong
and gross - I mean I imagine my reaction is completely irrational, but I
remember once I moved into a very cheap aparment; the toilet seat was sealed
plastic covering foam in a way that the toilet seat was actually cushioned.
something about it really squicked me out; the first night I went to the
hardware store and bought a regular solid toilet seat and installed it.

Personally, I like keeping a heavy seat and just installing a dampener hinge,
though I suppose that wouldn't help if you drop it during installation.

~~~
randac
This thread is regarding the lid to the toilet cistern, not the toilet lid
itself.

~~~
lsc
Ah. A reading comprehension failure on my part. thanks.

------
abakker
I work a lot in a wood shop/metal shop. I’ve always been a big proponent of
ear protection. Recently, I’ve been using shure in ear monitors for blocking
small sounds and supplementing with ear muffs when real tools are on. However,
I’ve started to just wear those in ear monitors around even without listening
to anything. The ear plug feature is actually really great. I can get on muni
or bart in the Bay Area with them and listen to a book at 3-4 clicks of iPhone
volume. It’s pretty great to get used to things being quiet.

~~~
jads
I've tried Shure (and other) earphones like this before, but could never stand
the rustling of cable noise. Does that bother you at all, or do you have any
recommendations for stopping it? I've tried shirt clips and cable loops, but
nothing ever worked. For now, I use either over-ear noise canceling headphones
or just AirPods.

~~~
djmips
Is there a Bluetooth option?

~~~
abakker
Yes, there is. I have it, and have found it to be quite good.

------
aylons
More than a decade ago, when I started listening to podcasts during commuting,
I was worried I was cranking the volume too high to compensate fot external
noise - trains, buses, traffic, etc.

So, I decided to buy a Shure sound-isolating phone. These are monitors for
musicians in stage to hear to what they are doing while avoiding the extreme
PA towers next to them. They're expensive, but high-quality and isolate noise
VERY well.

Before, I listened to the podcasts at literally eleven or more (sounds like a
joke, but that crappy MP3 player went from 1 to 12 or 15). After that, I
listened at level 2, and even when the podcasts were over I left the earphones
for ear comfort and protection.

Sadly, the model I had did not had replaceable cables and eventually, the
cable worn out. Now I'm back to JBL earphone, which does help a little bit,
but nowhere as near a Shure monitor. After reading OP and the comments, I'm
considering spending the extra money on a monitor again.

~~~
sulam
I have had the same solution to the same problem for enough years now that I
finally realized I could have just invested in some custom in-ear monitors and
pay it back in terms of new headphones purchased after non-replaceable cables
wear out. I did that over 4 years ago now and haven't regretted it yet.

[https://jhaudio.com](https://jhaudio.com) if you're looking for a specific
recommendation, but there are many alternatives.

~~~
aylons
Thanks!

I'm definitely not an audiophile and I listen mostly to voice podcasts, such
as NPR programming. Besides sound quality, is there any real advantage on
these over low-end, detachable-cable Shure?

~~~
sulam
I'd check the level of noise isolation, since that is likely to be the main
difference. Custom in-ear with wrapped tips (Comply) seems to be the best you
can get (roughly -26 dB). They aren't total isolation -- I have fairly good
hearing and can still hear people talking next to me if there's nothing
playing through them -- but put any kind of sound through them at almost any
volume and I might as well be alone.

~~~
aylons
These Comply tips seems perfect to me! Now I'm thinking on fitting them on my
current JBL instead of upgrading my phone.

Many thanks!

------
truculation
Remember yesterday's 'caloric restriction' supplement?

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16717935](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16717935)

Turns out it might also help with noise-induced hearing loss:

[https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286408.php](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286408.php)

 _> Additionally, the team found that NR was equally effective when given both
before or after the mice were exposed to the noise._

------
amelius
Related: birds have the ability to regrow sensory hair cells in the ears after
they have become damaged, [1]. Perhaps someday we'll be able to transfer this
ability to humans.

[1]
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17891722](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17891722)

------
rdiddly
A rubber gasket on the tank lid would be nice. Quieter when placing it, and
probably quieter when the tank is filling.

~~~
gowld
Also less likely to shatter when placing it, which is the primary cause of
needing a whole new toilet.

------
robinduckett
The word you're looking for is cistern. Other related parts of a toilet,
include the ballcock, a name which I find particularly amusing.

------
bambax
When I fix things in my house I usually wear ear muffs -- and gloves. Not sure
I would have, just for tinkering with the toilet tank, but I will now!

(It's amazing how many things can go wrong and hurt you.)

~~~
legohead
And goggles of course!

------
protomyth
_A safer toilet bowl lid (!) should bust apart on impact, using up the energy
by breaking molecular bonds._

Please, no. We don't need to substitute one injury type for another. I can
only imagine the cuts that would result from a lid that breaks. A plastic or
rubber liner on the top of the toilet tank would be sufficient.

------
11thEarlOfMar
I once completely lost the hearing in my right ear. It was muted one day and
completely deaf the next. I made an urgent appointment with my doctor and he
said, "It's a virus, you're hearing will return in a week." I said, AYFKM? No,
he wasn't kidding me. A week later, it returned in full.

~~~
biggieshellz
You got really lucky. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (what you had) is
often permanent.

------
coupdejarnac
I've made a few free iOS apps for tinnitus, if anyone wants to try. They use
masking therapy, so while not a permanent fix, they might help a little.
[https://bxtel.com/serene.html](https://bxtel.com/serene.html)

------
kjdsiheioahef
Unless you have experienced long term severe tinnitus + hyperacusis + hearing
loss, it's impossible to understand how much such a combination reduces
quality of life.

Sorry you have to go through this, OP.

------
dayjah
Now we’ll have stickers saying: “These toilet lids are known to cause deafness
in the State of California”...

</s>

------
cbanek
One other interesting point that could come up but wasn't in the calculations
is the reflection of the sound of the toilet tank lid hitting the tank. Most
toilets are put into little nooks with just a few open inches between the
toilet and the wall it backs up to, and maybe a foot on either side of the
toilet, making a little alcove. Sound will reflect off the walls rather than
dissipating in all directions, which is effectively bringing you closer to the
source of the sound, or making it louder.

------
PeterStuer
I actually got tinnitus from a Toshiba laptop 2,5" hard drive. The high
pitched noise it made got worse gradually over time. By the time I realized
it, it was too late.

------
ccajas
I very much believe that story. Damn ceramic made objects, they are loud af. A
lot of ceramics have this peculiar property that puts them very high up on
"noise to impact" ratio, or whatever you want to call it.

I remember my mom always complaining about not damaging plates because you can
accidentally drop it from one inch and hear an unpleasant clattering. Because
the sound it makes you'd think it fell much higher than that.

------
Keverw
That's insane! Never would of thought it would mess with your hearing. I
figured just a nasty mess to clean up.

Our toilet seems like it wants to run every so often but usually wiggling the
lever helps. I hate lifting that thing up, always imagine what a mess it would
be if you dropped it.

I wish they made the tank lids out of plastic.

~~~
lsaferite
You could go the wall-mount toilet rout like you find in Europe. The only
ceramic there is the bowl itself.

[https://www.homedepot.com/p/300820608](https://www.homedepot.com/p/300820608)

~~~
krupan
That looks much harder to get into the tank to fix things. Is it?

~~~
Daniel_sk
They can be completely serviced from the button cutout - you can remove any
parts through it (it was designed this way). I think almost all newer toilets
in Europe are wall mounted. It looks better, it's very quiet (refill), saves
space and works exactly the same... Here is an example video how to take it
apart
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es8SJ-1CFcU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es8SJ-1CFcU)

~~~
et-al
It's serviceable, but it looks harder to access than a visible-tank toilet. At
the 3m mark in the video, my hands are instinctively cramping just by looking
at that tight space.

The difference is like working on a car in the 70s versus a Japanese compact
car from the late 90s.

------
miko1293949
> Beef has an outsize environmental footprint. Per gram of protein, beef
> requires on average 50 times more land and produces 100 times more
> greenhouse gases than do beans and other plant-based proteins. Replacing 30%
> of the beef with mushrooms in the roughly 10 billion burgers that Americans
> eat each year would reduce emissions equivalent to taking 2 million cars off
> the road, according to the World Resources Institute, an environmental think
> tank in Washington DC.

How do they make this calculations? Is it a proper way to present scientific
data on the best scenice journal in the world?

~~~
vollmond
You seem to be on the wrong thread, fyi.

------
ryanmarsh
I have some hearing damage from IED’s, small arms fire, and such. I’m
concerned about further hearing damage but what really terrifies me is
Tinnitus.

The stories I’ve read are scary. People turning drugs to make the sounds stop.
I already hear nearly constant brown noise. I can’t imagine what a high
pitched sound would do to me. Glad the author was ok.

~~~
dvtv75
As someone who's had it for.. what, 37 years, let me tell you that you
shouldn't let it terrify you. You can train yourself to ignore the sound.
Doesn't mean you don't hear it, just that you won't pay attention to it most
of the time. When properly trained, it's little more than an irritation.

I'm more terrified of arthritis than I am of tinnitus.

------
EamonnMR
I once toasted a bread roll with a very round upper surface. It was very hard,
and I was curious about breaking it. So I whacked it with a spoon and
instantly all sound in the ear facing it was replaced by a ringing which faded
slowly away over the next couple of minutes.

------
oblib
I did a lot of metal work when I was young, hammering and grinding steel. I
have tinnitus in both ears.

Ginko Biloba does a good job of getting rid of it. I have to take it daily or
it comes back, and it takes a few days for it to start working, but it sure is
nice to get rid of it.

------
logingone
In the UK employers have to provide eye test vouchers for employees who use
screen display equipment. I keep thinking that if the government knew anything
about dev environments they'd be providing us with free hearing tests instead.

~~~
icebraining
I don't get it, why?

------
abalone
Apart from all the good discussion on hearing loss... now I’m thinking about
“safer” toilets.

Why are lids made from ceramic anyway? I get why the bowl is, but the lid?
Beyond the loudness / hearing loss issue, it’s just so darn heavy!

~~~
kuschku
> Why are lids made from ceramic anyway? I get why the bowl is, but the lid?
> Beyond the loudness / hearing loss issue, it’s just so darn heavy!

I've never seen a toilet that had a ceramic lid in Germany.

Is this just a US thing?

~~~
abalone
Ok, as an American I have to say I marvel at the toilet technology in other
countries. For example you guys often have two buttons on your toilets -- a #1
and a #2 button. It _just makes sense._

What are the lids made out of then?

~~~
adrianmonk
You can buy a toilet with two buttons in the US as well. Home Depot's web site
says they have 17 of one model of them in stock at the store near me.

~~~
abalone
Yeah.. and yet most of us buy the Ferguson.[1]

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL2YRDzpTL4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL2YRDzpTL4)

------
goldenkey
On a related note, a fun fact: the sound of the Saturn V rocket taking off
would instantly vaporize anyone close enough. This is also true for the
recently launched SpaceX Falcon assembly / Merlin rockets.

------
tnorthcutt
Tank lid, or bowl lid? The author repeatedly switches between the two.

~~~
sah2ed
Tank lid:

> _" I was fixing the mechanism inside the tank of the toilet. The only thing
> left to do was to put the ceramic lid back on the tank. Unfortunately it
> slipped out of my hands and banged on the ceramic of the toilet rim."_

I'm guessing every other occurrence of "toilet bowl lid" is a typo due to the
medium being Twitter.

~~~
adrianmonk
Or the tank lid slipped and hit the bowl. That's not where it's supposed to
go, but gravity might take it there anyway if you fail to get it on top of the
tank.

------
rosstex
I have a lot of earwax build-up, so whenever I wear earplugs they stick out
stupidly. But this thread has scared me to death, so I think I'll keep on
using them.

~~~
verisimilitude
Oh oh I have something to help you! I used to struggle with them sticking out,
too -- but since I watched this video:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S6dthcSVIM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S6dthcSVIM)

I can pop them in and you can't even see them when you're looking at me head-
on. You _have_ to use two hands to put them in -- pulling up on the ear is
essential. The roll-down information is helpful, too.

Now, I can yawn and move my jaw every which way and the seal is never broken.
Actually changed my life, since I wear earplugs for most of the night and a
lot of the day.

~~~
rosstex
Thanks for your reply, I'll try this! Anything to look less foolish.

------
emmelaich
This story would be even greater with diagrams / animations.

------
llsf
This toilet lid clearly messed with the wrong guy !

------
calebm
Great and to-the-point analysis.

------
cfv
Super interesting reading!

------
emodendroket
This is a neat story, but I continue to wonder why people use "tweetstorms" to
write long-form stuff like that.

~~~
z3t4
Many young people today can't comprehend a story unless it's broken down into
small texts, like a child book, twitter, or any other chat app. As this is
their only exposure to text. If you are a parent, force your kids to read
books!

~~~
kristianc
Have you got data to support that?

~~~
z3t4
yes and no, I got told by a teacher. I tried looking at PISA et al. but it's
really hard to find data. So I just take the teacher's word on it. It would be
really interesting to see actual data. Even if the teacher and school plan is
wrong I don't think it's bad to read more though.

~~~
kristianc
I mean, if you got it off a teacher it is one example from one cohort from one
age group in one country, so it isn't anything close to data.

------
cup-of-tea
Once when I was camping I decided to try to use a plastic bottle as a pillow.
I put my head on it sideways and the plastic made a really loud pop and my ear
instantly started ringing really loudly like nothing I've experienced before.
I was deaf in that ear for about a minute while it rang and it terrified me.
Luckily it went away.

More recently something happened to that ear. It started to get water in it
every day then stopped getting water in it but now I have tinnitus in that
ear.

Ears are extremely sensitive and it doesn't take much to damage them.

~~~
ehnto
You may have a sticky wax or otherwise blocked ear that was trapping the
water. Wax or other buildup in the ear can cause tinnitus (and of course
attenuated hearing, ranging from imperceptible to completely muffled).

It would be worth going to see a doctor and get them to check inside your
ears.

You certainly wouldn't want to spend weeks thinking you had permanent tinnitus
or hearing loss when it could be as simple as an ear flush. I can tell you
that from experience.

------
fwdpropaganda
Damn, this is one smart plumber.

~~~
LukeShu
_Dr. Philip Metzger is a planetary physicist who recently retired from NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center, where he co-founded the KSC Swamp Works. He now is now
at the University of Central Florida -- but still a part of the Swamp Works
team_

\-- his website

~~~
fwdpropaganda
Jesus Christ, so they don't pay him enough and he's fixing toilets on the
side?

~~~
lotsofpulp
Fixing a toilet is dead simple, as are most household tasks. Either you'd have
to be very rich to not have it be worth 1 hour of your time, since a plumber
will surely be $100 at least, or you can't be bothered to watch a couple short
videos on youtube.

~~~
gowld
Handyman is more like $50, and it's insurance against permanent hearing
damage, breathing fiberglass, etc.

~~~
lotsofpulp
As an independent contractor, if you're charging $50/hour, I question your
finances/skills unless you're in a very low cost area and even then it's
pretty unbelievable. The risks for household tasks are so rare that they do
not come into calculations, it's like worrying about tripping every time you
take a step.

~~~
amelius
Isn't there a saying: most accidents happen at home?

~~~
astura
Umm... I would assume most accidents happen where you spend most of your time.

------
chrisper
How long until California requires a warning on every toilet and restroom?

(Yes, yes I'm joking)

------
jk2323
In the second World War, the tank of my uncle took a full hit on the turret
while fighting the Russians and he was the only survivor. Tell him about bad
hearing after bleeding out of both ears. :-)

------
tobyhinloopen
well that sucks

