July 25, 2006

Silence is Clearly Over-rated

I realize that I am in the construction industry, and in choosing this field, I have chosen for my life a bit of noise. Specifically, construction noise. I knew that coming into the job would involve days of pounding, drilling, hammering, sawing, etc... And I still feel that I could not live my life without the sweet smell of sawdust on a regular basis. However... Enough already!

I am surrounded by construction and the associated noises for 3/4 of my day. I wake up in the morning, not to an alarm but to the construction crew across the street. Every day, punctually at 7:30, they begin. And always with the skill saw. It's like they do it to torture me. I come to work, where there is a major apartment complex being built about a half a block away. And the noise from there is immense. Since the office doesn't have A/C, we need to leave the windows open in order not to faint in the heat. Which means noise. Traffic, trucks beeping, men yelling, all in addition to the rest of the construction noise I've just left.

Last week the people across the street decided to replace the paving in their front garden with something softer an friendlier, like paving stones. Which meant 3 days of jack hammer just outside my window. Today, as I write this and eat my lunch, I am serenaded by Opera on the radio and the banging and jack hammering from our basement. They are fixing a massive wall leak finally, (the electrical socket was literally hanging out of the wall by a thread) but that involves more construction. Right below me. I just can't catch a break. If I don't want to pass out, I have to deal with the noise. But if the windows are open, I can't hear the phone. I just want some %*"^@$!! Quiet!! Is that too much to ask?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done! I can see you on Iron Chef Ireland: Chef B - a cross between Todd English and Mr. Bean.

-Luke

D-Vaz said...

Oh you're srewed!

Anonymous said...

i will be sure to bottle up some surf & seagulls for ya with your next package. try some of those soft ear plugs or maybe metallica. love ya-jenn