Omigod! The noise--and the men!

I've neglected to mention that our primary residence is currently under siege--we live in a condo that was recently discovered to be falling down. Well, not quite.... but almost! Apparently the original builder saw no need to protect the outside walls from the New England weather and built the units without any water vapor barriers. What was he thinking? It's not like rain and snow are a new phenomenon here in Massachusetts. As a result, years of harsh New England winters have eroded the inside of our units, leaving us with almost no barrier between the outside walls and the interior of the rooms we live in. Pretty scary....

As a result, all 91 units in our complex are undergoing massive reconstruction, including new roofing, windows, skylights, and siding. The windows come first, and those are going in today. I have 7 young, muscled men climbing in and out of my unit with saws and hammers. Because I work at home, it's put a terrible crunch on my work output. It's not so much the noise, which I'm used to. I'm just way too preoccupied with all these tanned, buff guys who keep popping up within a foot of my desk (or the toilet or the kitchen sink) to secure the windows in the right spot. Probably wasn't such a great day to take a diuretic, given that the bathroom is freely visible to the work crew (and the neighbors)!

Once the windows are replaced (by tomorrow afternoon), there is still interior painting of the sills and sashes to be completed "sometime within the next 2 weeks." Meaning, of course, that we cannot replace the window blinds until all the painting is accomplished. Given that most of our unit faces the community driveway, I guess we'll have to rethink our typical late-evening and early-morning clothing-optional garb.

Dreamed last night of stainless steel appliances and restaurant-quality stoves.....