Monday, April 23, 2018 12:54 AM

I am stuck in a beautiful world of drones and murmurs. Due to an ongoing cold and other recurring issues, most sound around me, other than from telephones pressed against my ear, becomes a vague unintelligible blur. The upside: all of the background music in our lobby at work sounds like Harold Budd. The downside: I have trouble understanding what people talking to me in person are saying. I text my team telling them this and apologize for appearing to be ignoring them. My boss texts back, "As long as you hear what's on the phone, we forgive you."