re: hearing aids
...hearing aids are the most useful things in the world if all ya want to do is make your ears sweat. Most of the problem I have is with women who want to giggle while they talk or who all want to talk at the same time or who are five rooms away and want to talk to ya as if I were standing next to them. I think they do it on purpose so they can change their story and accuse you of being deaf when you don't remember what they said the same way they remember what they said.
BTW: Ya can now buy a pretty good one across the counter without a Prescription from an ear doctor. If ya going for one with a doctors prescription, think in the neighborhood of $6,000 bucks.
...and even when you understand every word the wife says, ya still won't know what she's talking about.