How are you all doing? I’m just clawing myself out of another hole, and it’s not going very fast… I don’t like whining in general and certainly not on here. First of all, everybody’s got their frustrations (especially now) and second, it’s boring to read or listen to if it’s getting too much. And it is getting too much for everybody lately. But I do need to vent a little, so just bear with me this time, okay?
First of all, Kyoto is in another COVID-19-induced lockdown with the same old spiel of “avoid going out”, “keep your distance”, “restaurants and bars close at 8”. It started on Monday and will end on May 5th, on the last day of the Golden Week holidays. I’m getting so tired of this. And what’s really annoying is that Kyoto is actually doing rather well. The problem is Osaka, where only yesterday they had 1000 new infections (with 2.6 million inhabitants, but still), and with people from Kyoto commuting for work every day…
So yes, more “stay at home please” orders for 3 weeks. I’m thrilled. Just thrilled. It wouldn’t be that bad if staying at home all the time were pleasant. But the construction works in front of my office window, which have been ongoing for months already, have reached new noise levels.
Of the six buildings that were there before, nothing is left. To be honest, it was actually quite interesting to watch the apartment building being torn down. They used huge claws to bite into the gutted building where only the concrete walls with the windows in them were left, and bit by bit they demolished it and carried it away on large trucks. It’s amazing how dexterously a skillful person can operate these enormous pieces of equipment.
I was happy when the building was gone and I thought I could look forward to a bit more quiet. But no, they are now digging up the foundations which is a completely different game. The walls on the outside are much more massive, and huge chunks are “bitten” of in one piece and then crushed individually. As I said, it’s a completely new level of noise. And it’s going on from 9 – 5 with a one hour lunchbreak from 12 – 1 and two shorter breaks in the morning in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of continuous background noise that the brain filters out after a while either.
This constant noise is very stressful.. When I have work where I need to focus, the noise recedes into the background and it’s fine. But most of my work is rather creative, where I need time to think about how to do something. And there the noise is very disruptive. Not all my work can be done in my favourite coffee shop, so I am doing some after the workers quit for the day. Sadly, I can’t sleep in and even when I’m not working, it’s hard to relax during the day.
Oh well. Right now, I can at least keep my windows closed, not that the single-glazing is doing much good. But with the cherry blossoms being long gone, it will get hot soon, something I usually combat by opening up all windows. I have no idea what I’m going to do this summer. Let’s just hope it won’t get too hot this year…
Thanks for listening! I’ll try not to whine too often. It’s really not fun to read…