No reason to panic - I can hear again.

My trusty ipod survived the day to day abuse for more than two years. Yes, I've gone through my fair share of headphones (I'm on pair #4), but the core of my music survival has stood by strong. In the morning it's out of my bag, into my pocket, and on to the subway. Turned off and into my bag, bag thrown onto my desk. Work. Bag picked up, ipod thrown on for trip home, then turned off and tossed on to my desk/bed/living room table. Charge when necessary. Repeat.

Then out of the blue I turned it on one day to find the sound only coming out of one earbud. WTF. First I thought it was a headphone problem. Nope. My ipod was on its way out. Apple Customer Care informed me it would be at least 60 bucks to fix. Eff.

Younger brother to the rescue. He found a quick fix online, found the necessary part on ebay for less than $10 and bingo bango bongo - fixed. Sounds great, works great, and it cost me less than a pitcher of beer. Thanks bro.