What?

My ears felt funny when I woke up this morning. Not plugged; I know what that feels like. Not painful; I know that one too. Just funny.

I could definitely hear better from my left ear. The other, while still working, was also giving me a funny whooshing sound. I kept hoping it would clear up before I left for work, but it didn't.

It made me feel dizzy. I had a hard time concentrating on my work. Shortly after lunch, I decided I'd brave the hospital's emergency room.

The sensation in my ears is most annoying when there are several sources of noise in one room. The emergency room was about as bad as it gets: A TV blared kids' shows in the corner; several conversations went on throughout the room; plus the normal comings and goings of any hospital.

I don't like waiting in emergency rooms (who does?), but I pride myself in being The Patient Guy. After three hours, a small group of waiters were starting to grumble about how "totally unfair" it was that they hadn't been served yet. About that time, a woman wheeled her obviously hurt partner into the room. He was called in within minutes. That drove some people crazy.

"I mean, how long has he been here? I've been waiting for two hours."

This woman was mad enough that she tried to squeeze some answers from the triage nurse. After a few minutes, the woman walked back to her seat in a huff.

"She says patients are admitted based on priority. Huh!"

I got in after four hours ("Huh!") and found I'm not going deaf. I have fluid in my ears. It's probably a holdover from my cold, and will take care of itself.

"I'm flying on Wednesday," I told the doctor. "How's that going to be?"

"Oh, it's going to hurt."

Hurray!