You can move away from a pothole problem.
But, like a sanskara, it is always waiting, ready to pounce.
You may recall that there was a massive pothole in front of my old apartment last year.
It was so big it became an installation, an obsession and a political statement - and eventually made it into John Kass's column in the Chicago Tribune.
You can read all about it here.
The city eventually covered the pothole with a giant metal plate - which as of yesterday is still there.
* * *
A few months ago, a small but very deep pothole appeared right in front of the new apartment.
Beneath the pothole was a huge hollow area that was far wider than its narrow, visible diameter.
The pothole stayed the same for a couple of months, never getting bigger.
And no one stuck anything in it.
Because, you see, it wasn't a menace.
Then, last Friday, there was a lot of noise in front of the building. It sounded like workers doing something.
Later, there were loud metallic thump-THUMP noises at irregular intervals.
They kept going on all evening.
They were LOUD.
Thump-THUMP. Thump-THUMP
Finally, I went out to investigate.
It seems that the workers had placed a giant metal plate over the pothole.
But they didn't nail it down.
So every time a car went over - which was often - it made a thump-THUMP noise that reverberated throughout the apartment building.
The sound went on all weekend. All day. And all night.
Thump-THUMP. Thump-THUMP.
On Saturday I called Dreyfus, and he could hear it over the phone - even though I was inside the apartment, with the window closed.
(It didn't bother me too much at night because I sleep with earplugs. Because loud neighbors can also follow you).
On Sunday I noticed that someone had placed wood shims under the plate, so that it wouldn't make as much noise.
And today I noticed this cryptic stuff...
...which is never a good sign.
Yet it did nothing to stifle the sound.
Thump-THUMP. Thump-THUMP!
(If only it went Ba-DUM-dum instead.
Now that would be funny).
Mystery is why loud neighbors and potholes follow my CK? Must think upon this...
ReplyDeleteMethinks it is due to my deeds from the past.
ReplyDeleteDon't tell us that the hole still exists.....hahahaha. Shall I order a construction firm from here?
ReplyDelete:)
Nice to read (Lindas blog) that you think of Ashtanga again more.
I suspect that a German firm would fix it correctly the first time (and in a timely manner).
ReplyDeleteI've always been into the ashtanga. And I have almost always done another practice at least once a week, in an effort not to be "rigid."
The new hole looks very bad, looks like a leaking water main is washing away the road base. Think sinkhole, like in Florida. Don't park near it, unless you car is over-insured.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, Chicago is a real let down concerning fixing infrastructure.
Good job King Daley!
I just spoke to the neighbor. He first called in the pothole three months ago.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the markings denote plans to re-do the sewers. Fingers are crossed that it'll wait til spring (they're doing it near a church where I teach and it's getting done - barely - at a snail's pace).
I probably think about leaving Astanga far more than CK does! I don't think you consider divorce at all do you?
ReplyDeleteThat would drive me mad, the thump. Oi. I can't sleep with ear plugs either.
I keep waiting for it (the ashtanga) to fall away (because of my long-term affair with Dharma Yoga), but it won't. It has me. I know it does because I fall ill when I don't practice it for awhile.
ReplyDeleteDreyfus gave me several types of earplugs to try and one of them finally worked. It's that or move, because the neighbors upstairs are moving back and forth along the super-creaky bedroom floors and then banging around the bedroom every two hours, all night, every night. I did not sleep for months. Until the earplugs.
Maybe in a past life you were a drummer in a rock and roll band and kept the neighbors up. Or maybe you were a workman and didn't build the floors properly and "forgot" to put in insulation.
ReplyDeleteSomeday write a blog about Lincoln Towing... I bet you'd get 20 comments easy. ha.