I cannot wait until they finish construction in the housing development directly behind me. Every morning (whether I need to get up or not) for the last 2 mos I have been awoken at 6 am by the sounds of hammering, saws, etc. It wouldn’t bother me if they didn’t do it so early in the morning. Yes…I realize people are buying homes back there and I know it will stop…eventually. But right now it’s a pain in the ass to be woken up by that every morning.
And I’d really like to find out what’s making that wierd noise/ song every afternoon. It kinda sounds like “If yer happy and you know it clap your hands” but at the end it goes “Booooing!”. I suspect it’s a taco wagon, but as it’s on the OTHER side of my fence and I never see it I can’t be sure. It’s really wierd though because it’ll do that six or seven times in a row and then stop. I only hear it late in the afternoon between 4 and 5 pm, which is what makes me think it’s a taco truck.
That made me laugh out loud, thanks! Is it perhaps an ice cream truck?? Hear that noise and run for your wallet – kids screaming “ice cream truck!!”. The ice cream truck men sort of gave me the creeps, luckily we’ve moved to a new area and the ice cream truck cometh no more.
I dunno…if it is, then there are two. There is one that comes around 3 in the afternoon that plays a cutesy version (sans words) of “Do Your Ears Hang Low” that I’ve gotten ice cream from before. The other truck of unknown origin just plays that one line of “If You’re Happy and YOu know it” (sans words also) with the “Booooing!” over and over about 20-30 times in a row and we cannot figure out what it is because we never see it, only hear it.
In the summer, I start early so I don’t die of heat stroke. I leave by two-ish when it’s 102° in the shade. But, I usually try to keep the noisy work til a little later in the morn. Many construction people don’t care, tho. Sorry.
The roach coach (on big jobs) usually comes at noon-ish, so I would suspect it’s an ice cream truck playing that freak song. If the job is big (many workers) and the weather’s hot, the ice cream trucks definitely come around.
Once again, I apologise for the noisy early guys in the trades. Sometimes, tho, you just have to start early.
I actually feel sorry for the Mexicans who work on these houses, NCB. They get up at th e crack of dawn, work their asses off until it’s dark (literally…I’ve seen some of them out there roofing houses at 7 or 8 at night on my walks) and don’t get paid enough to buy a house like they are working on probably.
IDBB
Hey, be grateful they’re not doing work under your house. For the past few months the landlord and a bunch of workers have been fixing the foundation under my house. I’ve got a big heater on the floor of my hall that basically is a whole opening into underneath the house (if that makes any sense) so you can hear EVERYTHING under there. They THROW shit up against the house (I’m in an old Victorian with weak and thin walls) causing me to jump about 10 feet and BLAST music which comes up through my heater and is so loud, I can’t even watch TV or anything (can’t hear it). Not to mention the fact that I can hear them screaming to eachother in Spanish. Granted, some of the music’s not bad and I’ve found myself dancing around my kitchen to some songs, but for the most part, it’s just annoying. Luckily, they start at about 8:30 when I’m leaving for work, and are gone by 6ish, when I get home. I could’ve left work about 2 a couple of weeks ago, but choose to stay late b/c I didn’t want to have to deal with all that when I got home.
Oh, and they also worked on Memorial Day. The fuck? It was a holiday for cryin’ out loud. Needless to say, I made plans to go out real quick.
I think they’re done because I haven’t heard them for about a week but there’s still a huge pile of dirt on the side of the house and the back where some of the tenents (there are 5 of us) park is still blocked off. Don’t know how long they’re planning to leave it that way.
Sorry for the hijack. I think the noise is probably a taco truck. We’ve got one of those too but it’s just bells. The bells the BELLS!!!
A Taco Truck? Okay, can I die and go to heaven? We have nothing like a taco truck around here. If I want tacos, I actually have to make them or haul my butt to the taco place for tacos. And we have no good taco place around here. What I wouldn’t give for a Chinese-run taco joint (NYers will know exactly what I’m talking about…). I could’ve lived on those tacos.
Usually the Roach Coach will show up at 9am for the mid-morning break and again at noon for lunch. They usually play some sort of a tune so that all the workers know its there.
Three is a pretty normal quitting time, start at 6am and work eight hours, with a lunch break and you’re off at three, but I’m not familiar with the Roach Coach coming at quitting time.
Some neighborhoods have a vegetable truck, they play slightly different music than the ice cream truck, maybe the vegetable truck decided to swing through the new construction site for now.
At lot of jurisdictions have regulations against beginning loud work until 7 am, 8 am, or 9am. You might find out what is applicable in your area and call to remind the job supervisor/realty company what should be happening.
If you don’t have a such a rule, you might call and remind them what being a good neighbor sounds like.
What really irks me is the really loud radios, though, not the hammering. I can only stand so much '80s ballad rock.
The taco trucks around here tend to stay in one place, much like the hot dog vendors.
Every summer we also get an annoying ice cream truck making the rounds, at least that’s what I think where the “Hello!” is coming from. Yeah, whatever it is has a sing-song woman’s voice shouting “hello” with the accent on the “lo” then some musical piece which I have yet to identify.
I know I would be PISSED if anyone started a construction project at 6am! 7am I could deal with as I am up anyway and getting ready for work - but not on a weekend!
We lived just across a fence from a parking lot that developed a big sinkhole. When they finally started fixing it, they were informed REPEATEDLY by our homeowner’s association board that they were not to make noise until at least 7 a.m.
So the morning they started at 6:15 for the third day in a row and I went screaming out in my pajamas, hair unkempt, radiating fury, to rip the supervisor a new one, it was really fun to watch him grovel and crawl. But hey, it worked. (His excuse was it was a new guy who didn’t know any better. Not that I bought it, but hey, at least he apologized about 2700 times.) No more pre-7 a.m. noise.
Check your local ordinances.
Now if I could just get the idiots who live behind me and are working on their house, apparently at the rate of about 2 new shingles a day, which takes them all day, to stop blasting their radio ALL DAY LONG…
As long as you know the ordinance, I’d call the police actually.
Make sure you call the non-emergency line and ask the dispatcher to send a patrol car by to chat with the superintendent. Nothing gets people attention like having two policeman stop by and tell them next time they’ll be slapped with a healthy fine.
Kaf–where I live there IS no non-emergency number…heh heh heh. We know this because a few weeks ago we had somebody break into our backyard and attempt to lift our new grill. When we called information to ask what the NE number was for the local police, the operator told us there WASN"T one so we called 9-11.
I’m gonna check on the ordinances and what not, if I decide to be arsed. Right now I’m usually getting up around 6:30 am for work anyway so while it’s not really waking me up, it is slightly annoying to hear ghettoblasters at that hour of the morning blasting Telemundo music.
IDBB
OSHA might be interested in LOUD radios. It impares your ability to work safely. Headphones will get you a fine. But, if you can still hear the radio over a skil saw or a hammer drill, it’s illegaly loud for a job site. (That’s just kind of a seat of my pants understanding of OSHA regs)
Regulations vary from municipality to municipality regarding hours during which construction activity may take place, but common sense also dictates. I don’t operate noisy tools prior to 0900 unless certain that I won’t upset neighbors. I’m packed up and gone by 1700 so people can have family time and eat supper in peace. Maybe my productivity suffers, but I have no angry homeowners or neighbors, either.
If a tradesman is being an asshat, don’t call the police. Licenses and Inspection is the department who holds authority over construction projects.
No loud rock music from my radio-I listen to NPR Classical/Jazz.
One circles past my workplace and neighborhood at least twice a day. The odd thing is, I’ve never seen anyone buy from it. There’s a freaking school right across from my workplace, (even in the summer there are usually kids on the playgrond) and my neighborhood is packed with kids.
What the hell? Don’t kids like ice cream any more? I don’t like it myself, but then again, I’m a bit odd. I thought most people did. The truck creeps down the street, playing Ice Cream Truck Tunes at deafening volume (the soundtrack is interspersed with strange bursts of children’s laughter-- at first I thought it was supposed to sound like a flock of turkeys until I listened more closely) but no child ever approaches it. I’ve often wondered why. That creepy gobbling laughter couldn’t be enough to dissuade children from the powerful lure of ice cream, could it? Even the construction workers next door never approach and it’s been hot as hell around here lately.
It’s really wierd though because it’ll do that six or seven times in a row and then stop. I only hear it late in the afternoon between 4 and 5 pm, which is what makes me think it’s a taco truck.
