under the dome

[the_siobhan]

I came home today to find out that the neighbours are getting their roof replaced. This has resulted in large amounts of defunct roofing materials raining down on our front walk. Trying to get through the basement doorway resulted in my hands and feet getting coated in the stuff and having to figure out how to get my hands washed and my boots off without spreading it all over the rest of me or the basement.

I've been through this before so I expect a lot of mess. In the past though, roofers have always dumped the detritus into a waiting bin. These guys are just dropping it onto a tarp spread on the front lawn so it's bouncing all over the place. If we want to leave the house at all today we'll have to wash off the door just to be able to lock up the house without getting coated in black powder.

In other news I got to ride one of Toronto's brand new subway trains yesterday. The recorded female voice they use for station announcements sounds exactly like the ones used in 70's science fiction movies set in the twenty-first century.

Comments

[greylock]

What are the chances that there is asbestos or some other nasty?
Because you could make their lives very difficult through judicious use of the local authorities via littering laws if nothing else.

Frankly, they sound like they are being z-grade dicks, and the kind of people who need to be slapped down for the sheer crapitude of their work practices.

I admit, I have no idea what your house looks like (my brain says it is close, but not semi-detached) and I have no idea what their roof might be made of... but it seems like what they are doing isn't right. I've never seen roof replacement anywhere near that messy in my life.

[the_siobhan]

No asbestos. That hasn't been legal here for years.

The thing is, it has to go somewhere Their front yard wouldn't fit a bin (tiny, raised and with a whacking big air con fixture in the centre) and if they parked it on the curb our street is so narrow it would effectively block all traffic for the day. The back yards are huge but they butt onto the railroad tracks so there is no rear access at all.

Anyway, they cleaned it all up once they were done. And keep in mind that these are also people who have put up with going on six months of reno work right next to their bedrooms, so I'm very disinclined to be shirty about it.

[greylock]

And keep in mind that these are also people who have put up with going on six months of reno work right next to their bedrooms

Oh yeah, you lose the rights of moral indignation when you become "those people", especially if you start at the crack o' dawn. Which I am sure you wouldn't. ;)

[greylock]

Also, you are Stephen King and I claim my UKP5!

[jo]

I've managed to catch the rocket three times now - the most recent being Friday morning. And you're right about about the voice. Though I must say she sounds much less depressed than the voice on the regular trains.

[the_siobhan]

I was amused to find out that the station delay announcements were just as crappy as they've always been.