About a year ago they were re-pointing my apartment building, floor by floor. At one point they were right outside my bedroom window with their little jackhammers tearing out the masonry and replacing it with new mortar and bricks.
The interesting thing is I managed to sleep through it - which is very possible if you are tired enough.
-- Modified on 9/23/2005 5:19:11 AM
OMG. On Sunday afternoon some guy was having a screaming fight/breakup with his girlfriend and had his balcony doors wide open so you couldn't miss a word if you tried. Then on Monday, there was a craft services truck set up in the lane behind my house for a film being shot around the corner that ran a generator from 8:30 am to around nine in the evening. Tuesday, 8:30 am, a guy gets to jackhammering in the parking lot of the building next door. Something about trying to find a leak into the underground parking lot below. Ditto 8:30 am today. *Plus* there was a painter using a compressor to paint the building behind ours.
I know everybody was just doing their jobs, and Mr. Breakup probably had other things on his mind than the neighbours, but jeez! what are the odds of four different deafening/annoying noises happening in three days within 200 feet of my building?
I'm expecting tuba practice or someone setting loose a herd of squealing pigs out there tomorrow!
What kind of noise drives you bonkers?
-- Modified on 9/21/2005 7:11:59 PM
Gee whiz Patooie...you've crushed my soul with your oatmeal-sharp wit! How will I *ever* recover?
-- Modified on 9/21/2005 10:21:50 PM
Good God! That would truly suck. Anybody else with a noise story?
About a year ago they were re-pointing my apartment building, floor by floor. At one point they were right outside my bedroom window with their little jackhammers tearing out the masonry and replacing it with new mortar and bricks.
The interesting thing is I managed to sleep through it - which is very possible if you are tired enough.
-- Modified on 9/23/2005 5:19:11 AM
Nothing irritates me more than those two... Now, if I am "hittin it" real good, my hope is the noise will shield your glee and take your mind off the bastards or will I still be saying "Houston, we've got a problem?"
Isn't it funny how noise doesn't even have to be loud and it'll still do you in? That happens to me sometimes when somebody in the building somewhere has their bass cranked for hours and you hear this faint metronome 'thump''thump''thump'. It's not that it's loud; it's just that it's there, and once you're aware of it it's really hard to ignore it.
-- Modified on 9/22/2005 12:15:01 AM
The ticking of a watch or clock will prevent me from going to sleep. As such, I have to leave my watch clear across the room to avoid hearing it. I also, have my big-ass digital clock clear across the room, so that when it goes off in the morning my sorry ass has to get out of bed to turn it off (otherwise, I'd fall right back to sleep). B/c my eyesight is so horrendous, I can't tell what time it is when I stir in the middle of the night until I find my eyeglasses (usually quite difficult) on the nightstand, put them on and wait about 30 seconds for my eyes to focus in on the clock. If I do all that I've usually woken myself up pretty good. If I don't, the curiosity of not knowing what time it is drives me nuts and makes it difficult to drift back to sleep. I know this is a stupid cycle, but it annoys the crap out of me. Fortunately, now that I'm getting older and have to get up and pee, I just walk past the clock and note the time.
This might be a little different than the noises you described that annoy everyone; but I am a sound engineer by trade, meaning that I set up and/or finely tune the large speaker systems for concerts, theater, etc. The oddest noises can irritate me as I have trained my ears to listen for many discrete little sounds. For example, a whistle can sound like feedback.
Furthermore, every form of entertainment seems like work to me; so much so that I cannot enjoy it. Going to a movie theater with me can be a real chore as I listen to all the little imperfections of the highly sophisticated "All Digital Surround Sound". And God forbid that there be karaoke at a bar within one square mile of me, I just cringe.
Not only do find myself noticing an annoying sound, but then analyzing and identifying what frequency, how I would correct it, etc. Just an occupational hazzard of having to troubleshoot these things day in and day out.
here's something interesting to try, sit completely still in what you consider a "quiet" enviroment (no radio, no TV, etc.) and just listen; some pretty interesting sounds we live with though if you stop and listen