Escape to the sounds of silence  Peace and quiet are
increasingly hard to find in a city, but headphones and ear
plugs can seal out the din.  I live in New York, N.Y., a place
that's never quiet. It's not just traffic noise, people noise,
music in the streets, or the cumulative effect of all the
buildings' air conditioning exhaust fans. There's a low, deep
hum that always throbs to the beat of a city of 8 million
people.  Judging by the number of folks wearing headphones on
the subway, I'm not the only one using music to mask the noise.
The subway may be one of the loudest places you can be in this
town, but restaurants can get painfully loud, especially when
they play music over their sound systems, which makes the
customers talk louder and louder. It seems like the later in the
night you go to eat, the louder the interior noise level will
be. Bars are even worse.  Ear plugs are cheap and can help
protect your hearing.  (Credit: Steve Guttenberg)  True silence
is hard to come by, and when you're in a fairly