Tuesday 26 June 2012

Under siege


Last summer with scaffolding front and back - all summer...  this 'summer' with building sites front and back - all year...  the diesel generator is quiet, but it fills our compact but adorable city apartment with noxious fumes on the front and, on the back, well, the night-scented stock has not yet come into stunted bloom, and the gull's chicks (not that I am particularly fond of the brutes) seem to have disappeared overnight.  I suspect fowl play.

I have had a pleasant communication from the developer closest to us, and I really believe that - under the circumstances - he is the best of the bunch.

The poor sod who I am shouting at in the above video is only trying to earn a hard living - 6 'till 6, for fuck's sake - so I feel a bit guilty about recording the little video in which he stars, but war is war, and we are under siege.

I wouldn't mind if they were doing something worthwhile, rather than tarting up our city fathers' front door-step.  The trouble is that this is actually OUR front doorstep, and the city fathers live quite a distance away from here.

Tonight I am rather depressed - I hate confrontation, no matter how justified, so I suspect I will end up with a bruised nose.  I'm off to bed now at 1.30 a.m.

13 comments:

  1. Interesting to hear your voice! You sound so sophisticated. And so young! I first read the blog and then watched the video. When you stated that you were shouting at the poor sod, I got ready for all kinds of language. But you are so polite!

    I feel your pain, though. Noise can be like that little drip of water on your head during torture. When it goes on too long, it becomes unbearable.

    I recommend those foamy little earplugs that you can stick in your ears. Once they expand you can sleep like a baby.

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    1. It obviously all got a bit too much last night, mainly due to the realisation that it has only just started. Also, the council omitted to warn us that all the work would be carried out AT NIGHT, and I only knew this from what the builder said.

      Basically, because there are so few domestic residents in this part of town, they don't give a fuck about complaints. I only wear ear-plugs when firing shot-guns - I like to be able to hear if anyone is creeping up on me in the night, but this may not even be possible without ear-plugs from now until march.

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  2. It won't help the noise, but the council SHOULD reduce your rates. I send my sympathy.

    I was just listening to the BBC World Service, where they were talking about a football match between El Salvador and Honduras. The match was played in El Salvador, and the visiting team from Honduras were put into a hotel in one of the busiest parts of town. The terrific noise went on all night and no-one could sleep. The El Salvador team (who had all slept well) won the match, and it resulted in a war between the two countries which became know as the Football War.

    Noise can have far reaching consequences!!

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    1. We have thought about asking for a council-tax rebate, but I think I would not be responsible for my behaviour when they refuse on the grounds that they are spending our money purely in order to IMPROVE our daily lives.

      My parking permit from the council carries the words: : 'BANES (council, etc.) - Making Bath a better place to work, live and play' (or something). My friends has written the word 'Bollocks' under his.

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  3. Iris took the words out of my mouth.. your voice sounds a like a young radio 4 presenter from something like FRONT ROW,,,, as for confrontation
    just throw some water filled balloons at him
    it would make for a more entertaining video

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    1. Well at least nobody has mention Robert Peston, so that's a relief. I wouldn't dream of attacking the actual workers, and I even feel guilty about taking it out on them, for want of councillors at that time of night.

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  4. It has just dawned on me that - because they are going to be working down there all night as well as all day - the job is, in actuality, going to take 18 months and not the 9 they have told us about. How it could possibly take 9 months to replace a bit of pavement is absolutely beyond me in any case!

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  5. That's intolerable, you have my sympathies Tom. I suppose that is the reason why I love the countryside although the tractors are busy with their haymaking at the moment and the sparrows are squawking a lot. (Jeremy Vine actually...)

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  6. I think you ought to ring up the councilmen an half past eleven and ask them for a suggestion or two about how one is supposed to sleep when the construction workers are allowed to work from 6 till 6. You figured that as a councilman, he'd want to hear from one of his constituents to voice his concern about the wellbeing of all who live on your street where the work is taking place.

    I don't like confrontation, either, although i do speak up when i feel i need to--Himself thinks that's still far too often, but he'd rather fume and stew than say anything. I'd rather have it out, let it be known, and see if there can be some sort of solution.

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  7. oh god he has an attractive swedish follower... god help us

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    1. She can't be Swedish - she's not blonde, John. Wait a minute, I've just remembered ABBA... One of those had a beard, didn't they?

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  8. No Twitter and No FaceBook - see previous posts. No Swedish decor inspiration either, I am afraid.

    I have this sneaky-weaky feeling that you might just be using my blog for a bit of advertising? I dare not look up your website - I know how liberated Swedish attitudes are to bathing, etc.

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