Hard Hats and Cymbals Required at All Times

For the last two months or so, Jenn and I have been enthusiastic participants in an exciting project headed by the Tondabayashi City Department of Public Works (Department of Loud Noises and General Obnoxiousness). All said, our apartment is a pretty sweet set-up: three tatami rooms (one for sleeping, two for sitting), spacious kitchen, bathtub, flower boxes, balcony, and all the spiders we'll ever need. More on all of this later, honest.

If I did have one tiny, niggling, eensy-weensy little complaint about our home, it would probably be the non-stop, 24/7 construction going on behind our house. Now, I didn't think to take a picture back when the lot was still vacant, but when we moved in, the lot behind our house looked much like this:

Not bad, huh? For the last two months, however, they've been building a couple of new apartment buildings right behind us. Now, they've progressed to this point in the construction (actual picture from our balcony, promise):
I suppose it's probably a miracle of modern construction that they were able to build these houses using nothing but hammers, nail guns, dynamite, bagpipes, and teams of irritable howler monkeys. And you all know me, I'm the world's biggest fan of construction, especially of new, faceless apartment buildings on previously empty land amidst hundreds of nearly identical apartments; hell, there's nothing I love better than surrendering what little view I have in the name of progress! Plus, in Japan, apartment buildings are called "manshion." Class-y!

No, my real problem with this particular construction project is one of selfless concern for the workers. I mean, working every day (including Saturdays and national holidays) from 7 a.m. until well after dark? How awful for them! This is why unions are needed, to prevent the ruthless exploitation of OH MY GOD WHY DON'T THEY STOP ALREADY. JUST YOU TRY TO SLEEP WITH THIS S*** GOING ON OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW AT 7 A.M.:


*Ahem* Anyway, the really bewildering thing is that the 7-8:30 a.m. shift is usually taken by just one guy. I realize that my experience in construction is rather limited, but when I'm the only guy at work, I'm usually not doing my busiest, noisiest work; I'm a lot more likely to get a few hours of Freecell in. Or, y'know, go home.

Thanks for commenting on these posts, everyone, it's very encouraging! Assuming we don't die of burst eardrums, we'd love to hear more!