Construction and Destruction

When I left for work this morning, there was a road. Tonight – not so much.

OK, short of drawing a map that would lead any future cyber-stalkers directly to my doorstep, I’m going to have to describe the situation, and you’re going to have to use your imaginations. Imagine a 4-lane county highway. Running parallel to it, across what used to be a huge corn field but is now home to a hotel, a bank, a couple of strip malls, some restaurants, and a gas station, is the two lane county road that is Darwin’s favorite amusement park. Not the road itself, but the cars that travel along it, just one yard away from ours. If I come off our neighborhood road and turn right, I can go a couple of blocks, make a left, then another left onto the big 4-lane road, go a half mile or so, then go right (east) on Highway 10 which will take me most of the way toward work. If I come out of the neighborhood and go left, I can go down a hill, then make a right onto Highway 10.

For the past six months or so, the “go right out of the neighborhood” hasn’t been a viable option, because where you get on the 4-lane highway leading to Highway 10, they are building an overpass. You can get through there, most days, but you never know for sure, so it’s best avoided. I prefer to stay on smaller roads anyway (less traffic, less chance of some moron running me off the road), so I always turn left out of my neighborhood.

Fine. I made my left this morning, and noted a large number of bright yellow highway department vehicles assembled along my usually quiet little two-lane route. I figured they were gathering or staging or whatever it is that work crews do, in preparation for another stage of the construction of the overpass.

Wrong.

Coming home this afternoon, as I made the turn at the bottom of the hill to start up the home stretch toward my house (and my hungry dogs), I saw a multitude of flashing lights, men in hard hats, and backed up traffic. On my little road. It took me about 10 minutes to travel what normally takes a minute and a half. And the pavement on which I had driven this morning is now gone. I drove to within two blocks of my house on dirt.

While the construction (destruction?) ended a couple of blocks short of the turn to my street, where are they parking some of their official vehicles? Right along the road within full view of my deck and my bay window.

First, I have to wonder who decided, in his or her infinite wisdom, to completely demolish and reconstruct the only alternate route for people who are reluctant (or unable) to access the “main” route due to the overpass project.

Second, I demand to know why they must park where it will upset my dogs. Specifically Brody.

We’ve already discussed in a recent post why my neighbors must cease using the outdoor areas of their own properties. It upsets Brody, which leads to about a billion repercussions, most of them annoying and/or destructive in a major way, within my household.

Apparently construction crews camping on his very doorstep are disturbing in the extreme.

Exhibit A:

Just slashing the screen and leaving hunks of it on the floor isn’t enough when faced with an army of big yellow trucks with flashing lights. Nope, not for Brody. Only complete annihilation of the screen is sufficient to vent his protective rage.

(Side note: Across-the-Street West’s kids, of which I can only count two, though they seem like about eight or nine in number, are in their driveway squirting each other with the hose, and squealing at the top of their lungs. Obviously, they are girls.)

All I can say is that Brody is damned lucky that I was the one who arrived home to discover his work. Tom probably would have killed him, despite the fact that Brody would have had no idea as to the reason for his swift obliteration from existence. Tom would have felt awful later, but at the moment would have found it hugely satisfying.

I have removed the completely destroyed screen, as well as the smashed frame for said screen, and I have to say that the window looks better without it. But now there is nothing between Brody and the window, and I’m very concerned about what results that will have.

I’ve left Brody outside – for now – because of the shrieking kids (and their unsecured dog) in the driveway across the street, but sooner or later we’re going to have to figure something out. I guess he’s going to have to be blocked in the hallway or downstairs, away from all the visual stimulation.

Or maybe I’ll need to quit my job and be a full time stay-home dog-mom. Which I would totally love to do, except for the fact that if I don’t work, we might not have a home in which I could stay, because the bank keeps insisting that we send them a ridiculous amount of money each month for the privilege of staying here.

For now, I’ll go sit on the Sofur and enjoy the view out of my screenless window while I give this further thought.