Yesterday I had my annual visit to my audiologist, who also happens to be an ear, nose, and throat specialist. It's official, I no longer have a moderate to severe hearing loss. I now have a severe to profound hearing loss in both ears. Wish I could blame it on Marshall, Fender, Ampeg, Sunn, Orange, Crate, Peavey, Bogner, or Mesa Boogie, but I can't. It's a condition inherited from my mother. Only good thing I can think of today is that I won't hear any of the rattles, squeaks, chain rubbing noises that irritate so many other riders. Of course, as I pass other riders with my chain sounding like a grinding tool, They'll think, "There goes a real Fred." I'm blessed that my accuracy in understanding speech is between 85 - 95% when I can see the person's face. My audiologist said that she was disappointed she couldn't sell me a new set of aids, because I'm at the limit of what aids will do. She then smiled, laughed and said, "There goes two months payment on my summer home mortgage."