I am going to vomit.

The piledriver arrived this morning. We were woken up at 7:41 by this horrible, metallic screeching and I knew. Sure enough, Inky and I looked out the window and there it was. The dreaded piledriver. If you live pretty much anywhere in New York City, you're familiar with these giant crane-like machines. If you've never experienced one, you can watch this video, complete with dry British commentary.

My building isn't some bunker-like structure—it was constructed to house poor people (because the non-rich have always been such a priority!). As a result, the whole structure shook like there was an earthquake going on when there were only bulldozers and augers next door. My sense of humor is completely gone (sorry!) and I'm just really worried I'm going to come home from work tonite and find my building uninhabitable or worse. Do I bring my cats to work? My computer? This sucks.

UPDATE: Much like math tests I've taken, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, everything I own is shaking, but the building—so far—isn't lurching. It's deafeningly loud and definitely not pleasant, but not as terrifying as I'd predicted. Phew!

Comments

[caryn]

Take anything off a high shelf that might fall. Any framed pictures you might care about, wine glasses, etc - you get the idea.

I don't know what to do about the cats. when this happened to me i was cat-less. i would worry about my guy now, though.

Take pictures, keep a log, what time they arrive, what time they stop (if you're around). you never know if you will need it.

[mariaaaaa]

Guuuurl, I feel for you. Years back San Francisco International built a new international terminal and the noise nearly drove be BATTY. And it was miles away not next door.
My friend had a whole complex go up behind her old ass apartment building. She said her building swayed too. Her advice is to document any too early/too late/too Sunday work and dust and vacuum a lot (the demolition then construction will bring up a lot of dust.)

[Cupcake]

Yeah, I asked the Hasidic men if they were going to use all 20 or so piles, and they said, "What, you want us to waste them?!"
Well, no - but I'd prefer you didn't pound them all in next to my bedroom window. (7:30 a.m. on the dot! I woke up and checked!)