[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

If it was just a case of the TV being at a uniformly high volume I could take the appropriate counter measures, ie ear plugs. Unfortunately there are a number of complicating factors.

(1). Dad will sit close to the TV with his hearing aids turned up to maximum and the sound turned down to a level where I cannot comfortably hear it.

(2). Dad will run down the batteries of his hearing aids because he has been running them at full throttle. See (1) above. Upshot: I am deafened by TV.

(3) As pointed out TV dialogue volume varies markedly especially during some of the news programmes. Dad will make constant adjustments to the sound so he can comfortably hear it.
Determining 'comfortable' in this context may be complicated by (1) and (2) above.

(4) If a particular reporter or performer that does not feature on his popularity list makes an appearance, the mute button is pressed in short order. No one else (me) has any say in the matter.

(5) Loud music accompanying any documentary also gets the 'mute button' treatment. If there's dialogue going on at the same time, well that's just too bad. It won't hurt if we (I) miss it.

(6) Use of the mute button does not take into account the fact that the underlying volume might well have increased substantially by the time the mute is 'unpressed'.
Particularly jarring when his batteries are about to expire. See (2) above.

(7) The perfect storm is when his hearing aid batteries are low, the TV volume is set high, and he unmutes when the transmitted sound is at its maximum, just at the time when I happen to be walking past the TV.

In comparison, Krakatoa's explosion in 1883 sounds like a lamb sneezing 200 yards away.

....WHAT??