Sleep in the City

Sleeping in the city has proved to be a major hurdle for me. I live across the street from a bar, on a street that is heavily used by commuters, on a hill, with a stop sign. On a good day this means it will be quiet from around midnight until the newspaper delivery guy races around the block at 330. Then there is a break until 5ish when commuter traffic starts.

The worst night is a warm Sunday night just before recycling day. The bar crowd hangs around outside the door, smoking and carousing. There will be a fight or argument at closing time. The rattle, bang, clang of recycling pickup starts at 4AM., finishing just in time for regular trash pick up, the prelude to commuter traffic.
It doesn't help that my only two days to sleep in are Monday and Thursday. By sleeping in I mean, until my daughter's alarm clock goes off.
Now, in the summer the light and birdsong will have me up by 5 anyway. That does mean it is important to sleep through the earlier disturbances.
For the winter I have already moved my bed as far away from the windows as possible. In mid summer the neccesity of a fan will help to white out the noise. The spate of warm weather that brought open windows highlighted the need for a solution. I am trying ear plugs.
Bits of tissue provided some releif, so I went to the drugstore for more professional choices. I ended up with bits of silicone that you fashion into a plate to cover your ear canal. More comfortable than plugs I have tried before, and marginally better. Also, strangely claustrophobic. They seem to amplify the noise inside my head, which I suppose is blood and air flow, and they are warm.
They do seem to help. I need to be already asleep for them to allow me to sleep through traffic. I don't know yet if they will muffle human screeching enough to sleep through the bar noise, they don't stop me from hearing the dog snuffle at my side asking to go out, but if I could sleep soundly from say 2-5, that just might improve my mood.