Feel free to ask away, I asked the same questions.
-My doctor had me on a table and had me turn my head. He then numbed my eardrum. Then poked a hole and put the tube in. Each ear took about 3 mins.
-Painful? ehhh, yea it can be, but only for two 10 second times and thats when he pokes the hole in your eardrum. Sounds more painful than it really is. The anesthetic does its job.
I did it on my days off and the next day I flew back to MSP for work, had no problems at all.