Well, it's happening again- only this time they want to renovate the inside of the building, meaning our apartments- new vinyl flooring, new plumbing, high pressure toilets- whoo hoo- in the ceiling heaters, led lighting all over, and we get to go live in an extended stay motel while this is going on. Or at least several motels- one of my friends has lived in six different motels; she's not even sure what town she's in anymore.
    I am not looking forward to this particular circus- I'm afraid the clowns will carry sledge hammers and nail-guns. And trying to keep track of a fractious cat in a motel is probably going to be the ninth circle of hell. But we will see...

Out of the Ozone

I'm back- and I now have windows and doors, a bedroom blind, and a really neat piece of petrified wood one of the construction guys saved for me- he found it while digging out the new patio space. Apparently, the building sits atop an old quarry- which explains the humungous rocks in all the flower beds. Still waiting for outdoor screens, new patios, fencing, and repairs to the ceiling- destroyed accidentally during construction- and just noticed a crack in one of the windows- there goes the argon gas- but it could be worse.
    I'm still startling every time I hear hammers, and Mr. Boo is so stressed out he actually got sick with the kitty trots- antibiotics cleared that little wonderfulness up- but we're still hanging in there. The current bets are being placed that the construction won't be finished until Easter, with some adventurous souls willing to gamble on July 2012- just in time for the supposed apocalypse.

And Still We Wait

   I don't think there's any such thing as new windows and doors- I think it's all a horrible joke. If it wasn't for the debris surrounding the entire building, I would think that the entire project was an altered state of some sort. And now it's raining- Fall has arrived. I've never seen an entire apartment building full of such annoyed tenants- it's as if the place has the worst PTSD on the planet. Most of us are sleep-deprived as well- the City decided to do a big road construction job on 56th- and while we're glad that potholes are being fixed, we could really do without the pneumatic jack-hammers pounding away all night. And the dump-trucks spreading gravel. And the yelling flaggers and workmen. We've got 24 hour chaos, right here in River City, whether we like it or not.

   Yep, Twilight Zone in the flesh. Particularly the mysterious Inspectors- who descended one day to take scrapings off our popcorn ceilings- and who acted all twitchy when I told them that I knew what they were testing for- should I say it- dare I say it- I bet you know what they were worried about!  But I'm not supposed to tell anyone. I can bet it wasn't anthrax they were expecting. Actually, we're hoping this means they have to move us into the mythical Apartments of Joy while they remove it all- which they should have done in the first place before any of this silliness got started. Renovating a building with tenants still in it is just plain wrong. We're still not supposed to talk to the construction crew- but it really is such a lot of fun to pop out at them from behind siding and shrubbery- they startle so well!

   I'm missing my privacy fence. Too many weirdos from 56th can now walk right up to my windows. I hate keeping the shades pulled all day, and Mr. Boo is tired of having to wriggle his 16 pound body through the blinds just to keep an eye on the squirrels. He seems relatively immune to the noise from street and building, unlike his CatMom. But he is getting very clingy when I go to leave the apartment- I guess noise with Mom is better than noise without Mom- cats can be very subtle in their psychology. Unlike the tenants. Nothing subtle about pissed-off tenants. Lot of doors slamming around here!

A Brief Interlude

Hello, Kiddies- I'm waiting for the next construction storm to arrive, the removal of old windows and doors for new and improved windows and doors. After spending last week thoroughly rucking up my walls carving the holes for the window and slider, the guys told me that this is the week for installing the glass- I don't know if I trust these guys to handle glass objects- seems kind of risky. Mr. Boo is not much impressed- but he does like to roll around in the Sheetrock dust until he turns his black parts white- creative camouflage of some sort. The spider festival has slowed down considerably- maybe they give off some sort of warning smell when you squash them- some kind of pheromone that shouts "Don't come in here! Crazed woman with the Slipper of Death!" Now, I really don't take pleasure in smashing spiders- honest- but I take less pleasure in getting big honking spider bites all over my body- especially if some of these critters are Hobo spiders. Nuff said.
   I'm still hoping to snap some pix of the carnage we're living in, but as I can't afford a digital camera right now, it'll be a bit before I get them developed and onto disk- yes, I know, I'm still living in the stone age- so sue me. You try living on $674 a month, and hope to buy a decent digital cam. Oh, well, maybe for X-mas. Hint, hint.

The Sky Is Falling!

   The construction is out of control- and the building looks like a bomb hit it. And we have spiders- big scarey black hunting spiders the size of a half dollar. The cat is terrified, so I have to send them to spider-heaven on the flat of my sandal- I am not amused. There is steel scaffolding covering the entire building now-and the guys in the work crew are doing their level best to try to kill us by  lobbing tools and still-filled water bottle  off  the third floor. And the only hard hat to be seen is lying in the shrubbery on the south side of the building... Are they actually accomplishing anything? I'm not sure- but they're making a great deal of noise hammering, sawing, and throwing debris off the roof with abandon. The current plan seems to be centered around the balconies, specifically, building the new balcony roofs, and possibly fixing rotten railings- it's hard to tell- some days we have a full crew, others, one lonely guy gathering debris. The under-sheathing of the building is now open to view, and at least it's fireproof cladding- a good thing to know, as we have yet to go smoke-free. And as we also have a few drunks as tenants, this is a bit terrifying- one cigarette in the bed, and it's all she wrote- at least we have a fire station two blocks away. The management decided that the crew needed protection from the tenants, and sent out a notice that we were not to ask them any questions about the construction, as it messes with their focus- focus on what? And can't these guys multitask? Were they that low on the bid? In any case, there is no way this project is going to be wrapped up by the end of August- I've seen better work done by an ant pile- and a lot more quietly too.

Let's Get Medieval

BOOM. That was the sound of our main transformer box blowing up on Monday, July 11th. Thirty plus years of old wiring plunged us into a total blackout- just us, no one else in the neighborhood. Everything came to a screeching halt- except the Exit signs- they apparently have batteries. Tenants started to come out of their apartments like so many startled rabbits- explosions tend to do that around here. These same tenants will steadfastly ignore fire alarms, but a good explosion is never to be missed. Only one tenant had the mental wherewithal to call CityLight- and that started an influx of CityLight repairmen- by the end of a very long day, we had a small platoon of repair trucks crowding the parking lot, and seven to ten electricians trying to fix the problem. Oh, and Management appeared- they looked rather nauseous when informed that the new asphalt in the parking lot might have to be dug up to find the destroyed wires- probably because the Feds are coming for inspection in two weeks. Longest time I've ever seen Management hang around- it almost scared the tenants all over again. Anyway, thank the Gods for surge protectors- they really do work! As the day wore into night, B.B. and I camped out in the back yard, watching the CityLight guys work, in between ushering folks up the stairs- no elevators- and dealing with other needs. We were the only two with working flashlights- LED and Krypton bulbs- so much for our safety meetings. But kudos go to CityLight for getting us back online by 10:49 p.m.- those guys really worked hard for us, and deserve tons of respect and thanks. But the night did end on a weird note- B.B. points up in the night sky and shouts "What the h-ll is that?" at everyone- and we all look up to see a bright orange-red light moving quickly across the northern sky- no running lights like a plane or helicopter- just this incredibly bright light, and no noise whatsoever. And suddenly, it winks out, just like that! We all knew we had just seen a UFO- what a great way to finish off the day!

Are They Done Yet?

That's the question my cat was asking a couple of hours ago as the booms and snaps of fireworks and other artillery shivered off the building. Good thing Tuesday's a work day, or it would have gone on until the wee hours. We could actually feel some of the blasts- those would be from that handy quarter stick of dynamite everyone seems to carry in their back pockets these days... As a person with PTSD, I loathe the 4th- just another excuse to get drunk and fire off explosives- and if you've ever lived in the country, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Guns and booze- the American Way! I'm also burned out on fireworks- the pretty kind- how many times can you ooh and awe over the same thing you've seen every year of your life, and then fight the traffic home from the waterfront? I'd rather sit out in the boonies as far away from other human beings as I can get, just looking at the stars, and the odd meteor shower- anything, just as long as it's quiet...!