Forced To Change Living Patterns

When a new house is being constructed next door, you are really forced to change some of your habits.

For example, construction work typically begins at around 8:00 a.m. in the morning. And I don't know why, but workers seem to enjoy doing the loudest work during this time of day like jack hammering, or banging concrete with mallets. I'm a late sleeper so I also used to wake up late in the morning. But now, I have an automatic construction alarm clock. My body has been forced to adjust to waking up earlier.

The noises are a source of irritation for me. So I have been forced to purchase noise cancelling earphones. If I need more sleep, I'll have to pop these earphones in and listen to some YouTube channel for minimizing the noise, like "brown noise with rain" or "seashore noise for sleeping". Sometimes they can be effective and I'm able to get back to sleep. But other times, there are some sharp or loud noises that can still get through, so I'm forced to stay awake. I'll then probably play something louder like Manila Jazz Bar Classics just to divert my attention.

If the noises are an irritation for me, I can just imaging the poor workers' ears who are at ground zero of the source of noise. (Although it feels that the noise is only about 1 or 2 meters away from me). Though they are probably used to it all year round since it is part of their work, they are the ones suffering long-term hearing loss and not the owner. They are sacrificing their future health to survive today.

I've also gone back to blogging. Writing about what I'm experiencing can serve as therapy of sorts so that my full attention is not on the noise, but on composition.

I've also adjusted my bathroom habits, if you know what I mean. It's embarrassing to be doing number 2 when construction workers are on the other side of the wall. So I'm training my body to do the deed after construction hours so that most of the workers have gone home. The same goes for taking a bath. There are still a few workers who remain onsite, and that can be another source of anxiety for some. But I understand that they need to remain onsite to protect the construction materials and tools that remain onsite.

But to the owner, this is probably of no concern. To him, what is important is that his house is built. The experience of his neighbors are not his, so why should it matter to him. Things are only important to us when we are the ones affected by the events happening around us.

We are only at around the 2nd month of construction and projects like this might take a year or more. But in the same way that God was merciful and gracious to me yesterday, all I can do is hope that He will bestow the same to me during the duration of this project.