A Day of Rest

Kind of.

See, I've been living in the middle of a construction zone since January; original story posted here. They started the development in January, then the house construction in the middle of May. The City of Surrey allows home construction from 7am to 10pm, Monday through Saturday. That's pretty much how long it has been going on for... 13 hours a day, 6 days a week. Hammers, saws, machinery, trucks, yelling... endless noise. You can see by the hours allowed, that when you live next door to a constuction site, you don't get a break from the noise. So much for the City of Surrey proclaiming that every individual has the right to quiet enjoyment in their home. Unless you live next door to a construction site. Then you can pretty much guarantee noise for 12 months straight.

Yesterday, I honestly thought I was going to be committed to the mental institute. They were running a compactor on one of the houses across the street till 9pm. Not sure if you've experience the joy of a compactor, but having lived through three construction waves, I am up close and personal with it. It lets off a charming noise the whole time it runs, and it shakes the house on the foundations. You can be working in the kitchen and the whole floor vibarates under your feet. Which is very unnerving. Especially when you're also suffering with the weather, and a father who is driving you to the brink of insanity.

I say that it was kind of a day of rest, as I still had to deal with dad, and three arguments over pills today... 8am, 12pm and 4pm. I called to get him to take them at each time, and he said that he had, that he hadn't. I didn't know where he was at. I have to put the pills in hidey-holes on the Sunday's when the nurses aren't there. It's the only way I know of, short of going over there, that he's got the pill into him. I can't leave them out, or he'll eat them like Tic Tacs. I call him at pill time and tell him where the pills are. He finds the pills, and takes them. Or not. I finally had to go over there at 4.30 to see where he was at. Sure enough, he missed his pill last night, and again at noon. And took his noon one at 4, telling me that he'd found an "extra" one. If he had taken all his pills, there wouldn't be an "extra" one. Think you're confused!? Try that every day. For two and a half years.

I emailed my brother in Sydney the other week with the subject heading: Operation Get Me Out of White Rock! I whined on and on about how I needed to get out of here for many reasons... and especially because dad needs more care and attention than I can give him. He emailed back and called it "Op GMOOWR"!

So, Op GMOOWR steps this week:
a) Painter lined up to come and take a look at dad's apartment walls, and determine which walls need to be painted... starting to get dad's place ready to sell.
b) Before the painter comes, I will need to wash all the baseboards, as they're really dusty and dirty.