Recently, I was working at the library with my earbuds in, when I noticed a buzzing noise. Strange, I bought these things less than a month ago. I considered bringing them back for a refund, but I procrastinated.

Today, I was noticing the buzz again, and I started thinking: I don’t remember hearing this buzz when I’m anywhere but the library. I tried moving the cord around, trying to get the buzz to stop. It was intermittent. The wiring must be bad somewhere, but I couldn’t figure out where.

I moved my legs a little bit, and noticed that the buzzing would stop and start again based on the positions of my legs – which made no sense. Then I noticed that picking my feet up off the ground made a difference in the buzzing noise. How weird. Then it occurred to me: maybe the buzz had nothing to do with the wire. Maybe it was due to a bad electrical ground. I pulled the laptop plug out of the wall, and the buzz disappeared. No wonder I hadn’t noticed the buzz anywhere except the library – it was due to a bad ground.