Sound Off

Sitting at my desk, I am within earshot of two different paper-shredding machines. One, a heavy-duty device, is in a closet which shares a wall with my office. When it's run, it sounds exactly like our garage-door opener at home - a dull, low throb that's I can feel in my gut. The other, lighter weight machine is across our office suite, and it sounds like someone crumpling a massive sheet of paper - a crunching, crinkling sound. Neither sound is very pleasant, but both are all the more annoying for their uncertain duration: they can just go on and on and on, or they can stop abruptly.