My little scream and me.

I live in a small picturesque town in the heart of the English countryside. My house is on the side of a 9 mile range of hills, and it is a beautiful place. The hills rise up out of the ground and dominate the view for miles around. When I was driving all over the country for a living, it was a great antidote to the white line fever, induced by 15 hours or so of looking at the road! I knew I was nearly home.
Whenever possible, we take our 2 kid's walking to the top of the beacon. If we have visitor's, a trip up the hills is always a requirement. To the west, the Tolkeinesque hills of Wales. And to the East, the Cotswolds.
Friends are always inclined to make the classic comment, "Gosh. It's so peaceful up here." Who can blame them. It is! I will always agree, and smile in that knowing way.
The trouble is that I don't really know what they are talking about. It's not peaceful at all. Yes, it's beautiful and the view is stunning on a clear day. But peaceful? Can we go down now?
All I can hear is a whistle, a little scream. It's in my right Ear, just a little outside and above where you would put your little walkman headphone. It does'nt go away. It's always there. And it complements the permanent post-gig ringing that I seem to have in the middle of my head.
In the mornings it can be particularly viscious. I often wake up and spend the first hour or so trying to be nice to everyone and tune it out with a strong Coffee, Radio 4 and a Cigarette. (Good God! I hear you scream. That's exactly what not to do. Well I'm sorry. I've been listening to Radio 4 all my adult life and I'm not about to give up now!)
I am going to write about it and my day to day life dealing with IT, my partner, my kid's, and the balance that has to be struck to win the war with Tinnitus and stress. I don't know who is going to read this blog, and it may be that nobody reads it at all. If I ever write one sentence that is of any help to someone else dealing with the same condition, then I have done something useful. It's just that it might make me feel better too.