Agreed @MDB, some folks speak, for the sake of speaking, they don’t really have anything important to say, but silence somehow disturbs them… Myself, I don’t really appreciate small talk, although it has its occasional uses, as a prelude to what’s actually on someone’s mind, and the speaker is marking time, in order to find the correct words… Strangely enough, over the last 6 months or so, my wife (Elspeth) voice has altered quite significantly, and I now struggle badly, even in the quiet…I don’t think it’s my hearing going down, as I am hearing everyone else just fine, Elspeth is quite vocal, and you might even term her as loud, when we worked in the same social work team, I could hear her plainly in the next room, usually with the door closed 
Perhaps because she has now retired, and doesn’t talk as much, her voice has weakened? Anyway, it causes some friction, that I am not listening, the truth is half the time, I’m guessing, lip reading or usually both… Cheers Kev 
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