What’s your obstacles on the way of listening

Great, funny topic.  Thanks OP!

No evening noises except my old basement furnace in winter.  Pretty amazing since the old houses here are tightly packed - but it's a residential side street.  The furnace can intrude during quiet musical passages but is less noticeable when things get loud.  Still, it adds noise no matter the volume.

Soon to come - the 17-year locusts here on the East coast.  Natural, inescapable cacophony.  My 4th experience: 1970, 1987, 2004, 2021.

No wife = less noise, even when not listening.

@cd318

Entertaining post!  To some of your comments:

I rode London's ("tube") a lot in the mid-late 90's.  Got a big kick out of "Mind the Gap."  Only the Brits.  A few times I rode it all the way from the West End to the far East End.  One could hear the accents change as riders boarded and departed along the way.  Probably the same in NYC.

Where I live, public transit has dedicated elderly seating.  If it's crowded, most folks honor it.

A suggestion for the blender (it only lasts seconds but it's a jolt if you don't know it's coming).  My sister uses a super-cheap blade coffee grinder at her place (instantaneous jump to 100+ db on quiet mornings).  Before I start it, I warn everyone it's coming.  I've told my family why I do that, but they don't get it.  Your wife doesn't need to get it - just ask her to warn you.

I'm pretty old, but I never ever expected to see punk and Percy Faith mentioned in the same paragraph.