[sambeau]

A taxi driver once told me great story about an old man in his local bar. * pushes light gently to provide suitable on-boat ambiance *

'Gunner' McIntosh (or similar: this was Glasgow, Scotland) had been deaf since he operated a big anti-aircraft in the Second World War. He would sit in the corner of the bar and the regulars would have to shout at him to be understood.

According to the taxi driver, the night before giving me a lift, he had walked into his local bar and bellowed a greeting at the old man, as usual, and in response the old man had jumped out of his skin.

It transpired that earlier in the day, during a medical check-up, a doctor had discovered both his ears had been blocked by a massive build-up of earwax and behind that there was ancient cotton wool that had most-likely been placed there by a young Gunner McIntosh during the war.

Once removed, he said, he had the hearing of a healthy 21-year-old man.