Aaarrrggghhhh...
 

I have a quick question.... we are having a massive construction project in our
neighborhood. They will be in front of us today after the garbage truck comes.

Included here is the picture. Should I turn off my computer? Will the vibration
hurt the drive? In the old days, there used to be a warning. But my husband
says no.... not any more?

Please advise!

They are digging a new water main, and putting in new manhole foundations.
They will be here soon! Gotta know!

This photo is 2 doors down. The machines are IMMENSE!

the vibrations shouldn't cause any problems. i would be worried about the fine dust that may creep in.

what about your own sanity while this is going on? :eek:

Oh, it is horrible. Two days ago they ruptured the water main and we had no water for 1/2 a day. (this was an accident).

They are putting in a new main in the whole area...since we are VERY OLD...
Our cat trembled ALL day yesterday until they turned the immense machines off.
Today they are digging a test hole for our line to see if we are copper..and the neighbor whose line is right next to ours. If either one is NOT copper they will be digging up my whole garden in the hill! (We just had our line replaced one summer about 4 yrs ago so we think we are copper..the house next door is a rebuild on an old lot 25 yrs ago...and they think both are copper now).

They will be coming today...digging up the whole curb area across the street (no houses on that side--just my wildflower gardens).

I will be keeping all doors and windows shut. The fumes off these monster diggers were horrible yesterday...clouds and clouds of diesel. And both of us are sneezing and gakking majorly too.

I expect more vibrations today since it will be closer. :yikes:

oh yikes mrsD :hug: I feel for you or the kitties with that going on so close around you

hope they get the job done quickly!

Probably the main thing would be if they hit the power lines and cause power surges or something like that.

electrical more than vibrational - but you can set the computer on a cushion of some sort as long as it isn't going to cause any kind of overheating or anything..

hard drives are pretty tough - I think if they are dropped or if a magnet is placed near them are the big issues.

but your HD is new so if it is really bad you can turn the whole computer off and it will "park the heads" - that's what I read years ago so I don't know if it is even necessary anymore.

Just think about all the abuse laptops take in cars , on those roller totes on rough ground, on and off desks etc.

that's the gist of what I skimmed on a quick search about hd & vibration/damage

Thanks...
 

They changed course and went further up that street! Told DH
"tomorrow" will be our turn.

When they quit for the day I'll be over there snapping more pix.

Our electrical comes in from the back. We live on a high hill, and the street
is down below us. We now have buckets of water and two 2L dispensers
standing by. They told us we would be "warned" but then they hit that main at the corner (said it wasn't where it was supposed to be) we were caught short.

They are removing the curbs...since they are putting the new main under there.
Then when all done, the road will be repaved...which that part we do like.
Our area was built in 1915...so everything is narrow, and VERY old.

I have to remove some things (rocks) from the edge of my gardens, so Kevin is coming on the weekend to help. I am going to move some plants too.
I just hope we won't have to move 6 feet up to the sidewalk...I think we may escape that plan.

What is amazing is that the digger down in the street is big enough to reach
the roof of any house here (2 story) from down THERE! The scale is just not like anything we have seen here ever.

The other two cats are ignoring everything. It is Oreo who is deeply affected.
She is afraid of thunderstorms, the garbage trucks, the mailman, the street cleaner is a biggie.

We took her down there last night, here is a picture, to show the scale.
She got that close then ran off, and I barely got to catch her in the frame!

Thanks Jo...we have a battery APC surge protector thing so it would beep like mad if we lost power and
give us 15 min to shut down. If both of us were going to be gone, I'd turn everything off. We lost a powerpak
and whole unit several yrs ago during a tornado alert...so I am very paranoid about computers now.
Thanks for the advice!

This corner which is 2 houses away from us... had a big sinkhole problem. They are removing the
whole manhole now to fix that. So I guess it was jinxed.

Mr. & Mrs Quack Quack....
 

Major problem with THEM.... they are confused, and are right on the machines.
We had to go down to them and shooo them down the wall and get them out of the street! (just now) The operator of the
digger notified us.

Oreo went nuts this morning...I went down to talk to the guys...even got some supplement hits in there! (how cool is that?)
But she heard my voice down there, and drove my husband nuts.

So we had a talk... I told her it was okay, I was talking to the MEN.
So now she is sitting in the backyard on a bench under our umbrella (for shade).
I swear she understands language like no other cat we have ever had.

It is pretty bad tho...the digging is now in front of our home. Our water went off again today 3 hrs.
This is a picture from today:
I am on our stairs looking down on the street--- our hummingbird banner is pretty funny.... LOL

Anyway this is before this massive machine started digging the trench to bury the new water main. Behind it is a river. And behind that is downtown, office buildings etc.
This is where we typically park our cars.
And the bucket for this digger is totally out of range!

I DID turn off the main computer --the ground was really shaking. I used the laptop upstairs instead. Just being careful.

The second picture is later in the day, they are lowering the main pipe into the trench...this is in front of our next door neighbor (who escaped and has not returned home! )

Tomorrow will be more of this.... until they reach the end--the dead end! LOL

I have to say it is going quickly...they are very good at it.
They told me today, they found mastodon bones 3 miles north of us! Recently.... so who knows what they may find here? LOLOLOL

edit-- okay... Mr and Mrs QuackQuack... have figured it out. They just came in from the neighbors roof (see the Pet forum).
I think they finally figured that coming up the traditional way--up the hill, from the street which they do most of the time
was not going to work. I was worried that they would get squished! So now I am relieved!

I really miss the peace and quiet when any work projects are happening on our road.
One year we had log trucks and dump truck running back and forth constantly, we are on a rock road so the dust and noise was horrible.
Sometimes they would leave a trailer or second dumper box parked out in front of our property and not even on the edge of the road.

I can relate!
 

I tell you... the attack of the orange barrels here is sickening.

Our area is OLD... right in the middle of a major metro area.
When I see orange I get palpitations!

And we had huge repaving of the highway behind us and in front of us all last year. They worked 24/7 to get it done quickly (8mos)... we heard them all night long. Not to mention the dust/dirt. We don't have central air...so we have to have some windows open (during the hot times)...It was a nightmare.
Just when they finished both sides...now we have THIS... I say ENOUGH already.
I have DREAMS with beeping sounds in them... BEEP BEEP... duh?

Mrs. D.

what do you mean, the attack of the orange barrels??

Mel

Mel...
 

You don't drive, where you live in NY. So I guess you don't pay attention to
the roads much. Don't have to.

They put orange barrels out when doing road construction. And where we
live it has been a nightmare. All of our freeways have them, major roads etc.
One time I had to temp at a place, and I could not get to it... every road leading to it was filled with orange barrels! (I was really frustrated with that!)

Here are two new pictures:
#1== parked digger in front of our house
#2 == Oreo has become BRAVER and is now exploring the monster as long
as we are there with her to protect her.... LOL
#3== this one is funny too... (she really only explored for a minute or two--I had to click fast with the camera).

Mrs. D.

You must be going out of your mind with the noise. I know me. I'd go out and shoot someone.

I need to live in "PEACEFUL ACRES".

If you get my drift.

And I was a disco banging momma in the 1970's.

and now I need quiet and peace.

How boring is that??

I'm just happy to get up without my feet burning. That's a good day.

I have lots of them because of the B-12 I guess.

Oh, because I started the 1 mg (down from the one and a half), of the xanax that I told you about last week. Well, I didn't want to go BACK TO ONE AND A HALF. So I just stayed at the 1 mg at night before retiring.

boy, were you right about the body doing the spasm thing.

I was full of spasms for 5 days or so, and presently they are easing up. I had no idea. I looked up xanax withdrawal and it said "some people have no problem, some people have physical symptoms". It also said exactly what you said "do it slowly".

So I'm not jumping down the dose for at least 6 months. Then I'll go down by a quarter. I'll have seen my doctor by then. Don't see him too much because I go to Cornell. I don't much like going to doctors (I like Dr Fred, he's the bomb), but I don't like doctor visits.

Every muscle in my body is sore. And my joints. It's like I ache all over. It subsided a great deal since I first began. I should have gone down by a quarter. But now that it's 8 days or so, I'm staying at the 1 mg.

I had maybe 2 headaches since this all began. How do you differentiate between arthritis pain (from the weather), and xanax withdrawal?)

I mean, I ache, and then for a while (like when I was watching Don't Forget the Lyrices with Alan last night), I forgot everything and we were both up and singing along.

Then around 10:30 p.m. (it's always right before I am to take my xanax), my belly starts shaking, I don't feel good, I look up at the clock and I go. "Oh, time for the pill". I'm perfectly fine 15 minutes later.

Also, it said in the withdrawal symptoms that when you stop taking it, the reason you took it in the first place, well, it may come back.

This happened last night. I could not sleep. I was thinking about my son, about Alan. I knew this was part of the process, so I got up, made a cup of tea at midnight, watched some tv. And in 10 minutes or so, went back to sleep. Got up at 7:30 a.m. because the people were talking in the backyard right underneath my window. Alan can sleep through ANYTHING.

Don't know what will happen tonight.

I DO KNOW what happens after all this is over. My brain starts to make new pathways and it mentioned neurotransmitters, and my brain will heal and my memory will get better (that alone, is worth this). I've been sedating myself at night and I never fully realized what I was doing.

The article also said that most of the people on xanax also drink. Thank god, I do not do this.

So I shall take one day at a time, and hopefully, as the days (or weeks) pass by, the achiness will stop.

I read where it can take 3 weeks to 6 months for the withdrawal.

I never took it during the day. But I never should have used it as a sleeping aid. I realize this now.

I do learn.

So I'm off to Dunkin (with my new hairdo).

Their coffee is calling to me.

Take care.

Melody

I am so sorry you are going through all that noise and dust and inconvenience. Is there a way for you to get out of the house and go to a friend's or to the library ? Also can you cover the computer with some sheets and turn it off to be on the safe side? I don't know what to suggest for the cats. I am sure animals suffer just like us because of all that 'progress'...

Oh, well, it should be over at some point and then just think how thankful you will be!

Thank you for the thoughts...
 

They finished our area (one set of pipes) for now... until more next week...some manhole stuff. Then comes the repaving..which will smell bad.

The dust is a problem because they left sand everywhere. So far it is not windy. The sand is very fine stuff.... like powder. Messy...

The biggest issue is where to park our cars. We have put them behind our house on the highway on the grass (illegally--but the police promise to not ticket us).
and getting in and out there is pretty scary.... hubby doesn't mind, but I do.
At night he brings them around and park in front again. (I am afraid they will be stolen where we are forced to put them at night. (we live on a high hill...it is all hard to explain.)

The lingering anxiety is hard to describe...I didn't realize it was bothering me.
But I am having trouble sleeping. The one neighbor only lives in her house occasionally...they fixed it up and are trying to sell it...now for 4 years..but no one is willing to buy it--all the stairs, etc. So she did leave and is living where she usually lives. The others have a back entrance which we do not.
The not knowing when the water is going off, is very inconvenient, even tho we have now saved water. You have to bathe like at 2am, to be sure!

Oreo still does not like it... but at least she is not trembling like the first day.

Mrs. D.

Well, whatever you do about the anxiety, I KNOW you're not going to be as foolish as I was with the Alprazolam. lol

If I had construction going on 24/7, I'd buy those noise cancelling headphones and use them to watch tv. or listen to music. They really do work.

They cancel out all outside noise and you only hear the tv, radio, ipod, etc.

Have you ever tried those? The airplane people use them on the runways.

Even if you are not listening to anything, you an still put them on and they blot out all the noise from the outside.

Sunday...
 

Well, we were told to remove 36 inches of my garden for the removal of the
curb and connection of the new main to the our service.

So my son was wonderful and came in to help us... this picture gives some
record to this massive job. He and my husband removed tons of rock and the first step in our walk which we use to get to our cars.
That is my husband walking along in the background.

There is another area to the left as well.

So I did the plants... removing what I could remove and putting them into flats so I can put them back later. (I don't know if they will survive however) I did 3/4 of them. I also did some petunias, and pansies for another project.
And I supervised which was a biggie....LOL

A former neighbor came by with her friends and we did the tour of the yard and other things and she was horrified. I haven't seen her in ages, so that was a nice bonus.

What is really bugging me is that cars driving thru (this is a very private neighborhood) are driving fast and stirring up the dust, worst than the workers. That is just so inconsiderate! Doesn't take much to peeve me lately!

Needless to say, I am tired, and I hurt. Duh!

P.S. the crocs shoes, were great. They got all dirty...so I just hosed them off... like new! ;)

edit to try a new smilie... sort of how I feel this morning:
:Wheel:

cough cough
 

The dust is killing us....

They won't be back until next week... thank goodness.

But 2 of our cats are acting ill, and my husband and I are not great. I got some generic Zyrtec today, in hopes of being able to function tomorrow.
(the Benadryl is too strong for us).

Today a big truck came down to the end of the dead end and filled up a big tank from the fire hydrant, and then sprayed the whole street. So we are NOT ALONE. Blech