Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Um, Please Stop Bauen For Me

The cranes are back.

Here's what's going on around me:

In my building they are revamping a coffee shop to make it into a clothing store.

In the building directly across the street, they are remodeling a clothing store.

In the building directly next to mine, they are remodeling an eyeglasses store.

In the building kitty-corner from mine, they are getting ready to demolish it and build an office building.

Heaven help me.

The worst part is, almost all of these places have big posters up in their windows that say, "Wir bauen für Sie um." (We're building for you.)

Please. You're jackhammering at 7 a.m. You're throwing metal stuff into metal bins. And all that scaffolding is not exactly the icing on the cake.

Look, I've been in Switzerland long enough to know that there's some sick non-existant award for who has the shiniest store/apartment/office/clock tower that everyone is competing for, but just because you want to win, do not claim to be doing it for me. Because the next time one of your customers complains that they're getting wet from my garden hose, I'll just have to say, sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but um, I'm watering for you.

8 comments:

Diana said...

Very funny! Sorry to read about the noise though.

Chantal said...

Fact of life in CH I guess ;-)

Kathy said...

I feel for you. Same thing happening here. Last summer was worse, with the entire street torn up. They were working on it through the night sometimes. But we're still getting early morning jack hammers from time to time.

Chantal said...

Sorry to hear you're experiencing the Bauen too. Sometimes I think I should move, but what's the point? You cannot escape the cranes of Switzerland...

Emily said...

Yeah, they are bauen-ing for me too. The noise on my street is really not helping my writing. Today, the jack hammers started at 6:45. I'm not a langschlafer, but that is a little too early for me.

Chantal said...

What ever happened to quiet hours?

Anonymous said...

They just took down the scaffolding on the building next door which has been there since I arrived in Switzerland. the building in question is now a quite startling burnt orange in colour. having said that at least for the first time ever I have experienced "Swiss Quiet" on a day other than a Sunday and been able to sleep in past 7am. Now all I have to do is work out this Swiss kezboard+ Nothing is where I think it should be.

Chantal said...

I had about a year of quiet in the four years I've lived in Switzerland. The amount of construction they do in this country is staggering. I just got notice of a new project this week--they are knocking down a perfectly beautiful building. I just don't understand sometimes.

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