There are two sounds I cannot stand, that set my teeth on edge and destroy all powers of concentration. One of them at any one time is bad enough; two simultaneously is devastating.
White noise, the sound made by old computers like mine, is the first and most common. The sound of a backhoe or some other large mechanical earth-moving machine is the other. Both sounds have been running at the same time since early yesterday morning, and well into the night. The white noise I can turn off when I switch this computer off for the night. The other noise I can do nothing about.
I went out into the street at 7:30AM today to see what was causing the persistent outdoors sound, and found that in the next block a row of houses has been flattened and ground is being broken for a massive development of townhouses.
Yesterday, I thought the noise was all the garbage trucks doing some special rounds picking up mile after mile of cut shrubbery dumped on all the verges. It was normal garbage collection day and this special day as well. Trucks were everywhere in the streets. They masked the noise of the backhoes. Eventually I tried to mask all the noise with loud music.
Now the backhoes are driving me mad. They began at daybreak, and don’t stop. I am so worn out today that all I want is peace, utter peace, and quiet. I am not going to get it, I suspect.
9:09:32 AM 
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