Do you hear what I hear?

My colleague who sits immediately to my left is a pretty nice person. She also is a fan of what I think is the most annoying radio station in the world - 97.2FM. She listens to it 5 days a week, from 9 to 6:30 and it's starting to drive me barmy.

It is a Chinese radio station that consists of the following totally annoying segments (from what I can guess):

1) Songs by singers with vibratos that are longer than 8 seconds. There are a few of these. They sometimes do them in duets too, for added enjoyment. It must have been considered a great musical feat during that era (190s or whatever), to be able to trill like a songbird every 15 seconds. They really take synchopation to new depths here.

2) Advertising by Homeway Design. This interior design shop must have a master contract because they are on every station. And TV. With what is probably the most annoying jingle in the world. Honestly, the only one that I have hated with an equal passion is the Springcoil mattress ad, where there is the high pitched loud sound of a spring uncoiling. It was like scratching your nails on a blackboard.

3) A call-in request programme for fogeys older listeners. They tend to be long winded, have hearing problems and request songs that bring to mind soft focus lenses and rainbow spectrum lighting. And Rahima Rahim in a white dress with a diamante hair clip holding a slim mike with a big pagoda ring on her finger.

4) An evening segment where 2 Chinese DJs pretend to be Indian and mimic the Tamil language as they present their show. This seriously irritates me - both because of the bold bigotry, but also because it's the segment that my colleague enjoys the most and hence turns up the volume! Grrr!

I have taken to plugging in my headphones when I need to concentrate, so that I can block out her radio, but that's not a good long term solution. It also means I can't hear the phone, or my boss calling. Which can be a good and bad thing. Heh heh.