Wake-up Call

I've spent a lot of time complaining about the noise lately. Pretty much all summer, while construction on a new shopping center continues close by. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

We have a noise ordinance in our village, one that ostensibly allows residents a peaceful rest until at least 7 AM. And while I do need to get up earlier than that, I prefer to sip my coffee in peace and let the boys sleep in awhile longer. I'm sure the families that live even closer to the main construction site would agree.

And I'm sure they've lodged more than their fair share of complaints, regarding 5:30 AM wake-up calls. We have another site, directly behind our back fence, that have since been silenced, for the time being.

Anyway, I can only imagine the conversation that may have taken place, causing this morning's noise of a different sort ... a helicopter.

"Hey boss, I got a great idea ... how about a helicopter?"

"A helicopter? For what?"

"To move that stuff up onto the roof."

"But we already have a crane. Why would we need a helicopter?"

"The noise! Picture it: you get woken up by a different noise, look outside and see a helicopter. Cool! Grab a cup of coffee and watch for awhile. It'll be past 7 before anyone bothers to complain!"

"Hmmm. You have a point, but it'll be expensive."

"No noise ordinance violation ..."

"And the crane is probably safer, too."

"I know a great helicopter pilot. Perfect safety record. And we could get some good publicity, too. You know that local paper would send out a reporter and definitely want some pictures."

"Hmm, publicity. Ok, let's go for it. Call your guy and set it up."

6:45 AM ... "Hey, where's your helicopter?"

"Oh, he'll be here at 7. He couldn't take the chance of a noise violation on his license."



update: 8:15 and he's still at it. I even took some video to show the boys when they get up!