[NAGDU] Hearing past noise

[carcione at access.net]

I'm having some trouble hearing past noise.  I don't know if my neighborhood
is getting noisier (I think it might be), or cars are getting quieter, or
I'm just getting older.  Probably all these things are true. 

There are jets flying over to a nearby small airport, a freight train
rumbling past a couple blocks away, and the dreaded landscapers from Hell
whose racket can drown out sound for at least a block.  Today there's a big
truck working on the road near our house.  I listen the best I can, but once
in a while Igloo still has to use his Seeing Eye superpowers and stop to
keep us away from a car.  Not too often, but I'd prefer next to never. 

Do people have strategies for hearing past noise?  I don't think I need
hearing aids yet, but wouldn't they just amplify all the noise anyway?

Tracy