Great Article! I read it aloud to The Wife, she an I had a good laugh about it.
I already knew a bit about all this, but you managed to clear up a few questions related to the NRR ratings that I had, by not actually..... answeri...
.........Well, I THOUGHT you were clearing that up, why would you do that to a person?
Anyway, I forgive you.
One thing should be noted: most of these plugs are available "corded" to help prevent losing them so easily. I obtained a box of the corded MAX and corded Laser Lites. With each new set of plugs, I tie a small knot in the cord near one of them, to differentiate between the right and the left (I use the Mnemonic "That's 'KNOT' Right!" to remember which ear it goes in).
I also sometimes clip the cord, but leave a short length sticking-out of each plug: ~3/4" for the Left, ~1/2" for the Right ("LONG= Left"). For those whom occasional, persistent ear infections are a fact of life, cross-contaminating from one ear to the other is a Bad Thing(tm).
Oh, and those custom clear silicone plugs work pretty-good if you lick them before insertion. Perhaps that was the trouble?
;^D