Construction in the City

I experienced a very Carrie (of Sex and the City) moment this morning. My city has been full of construction since…well, the entire summer so far, and the newest addition has been sparkly new curbs. I was trying to cross the street to get to the office, and I guess I stepped on the wrong part of the curb, because all of a sudden all these construction guys were yelling at me, “heyyyyy, heyyyy, get off the curb! Get off the curb!!! Off the curb lady!!! Ohhhhhh, ohhhhhh off the curb!!” Geez, I thought construction workers only behaved like that in movies and/or TV shows! It’s not like the curb was roped off or anything! How am I possibly supposed to know that I am not to be stepping on it?

A similar thing happened to Carrie in one episode of Sex and the City where she stepped on some freshly paved sidewalk, and the construction workers had about the same reaction as I experienced this morning, except there might have been swearing. The whole thing would have seemed much more charming had it happened in NYC, because you almost expect it, but in St. Catharines, it was just…rude. How about starting with, “excuse me, but could you not step on that curb”, instead of ramping it up to full on yelling right away. Plus, it’s 8 o’clock in the morning, I’m not fully awake yet! Anyway, lesson learned: avoid the curbs in construction zones.

While I am on the topic of construction, I think I will rant a little bit longer. I enjoy watching large machines operate as much as the next person, okay, not as much as the guy who sits outside EVERY morning for hours to watch the big machines do their thang, but holy crap, when giant, metal, spiky things on wheels (wow, don’t you love my knowledge of proper machinery names?) are swinging 10 feet above your head, it becomes slightly scary. I’m not sure what the safety protocols are in this city, but you can be driving your car down the street, la de da, then all of a sudden, a huge backhoe (there it is!) shovel is hovering just mere feet above your car. Why allow people to drive down the road? My car is small, and I’m pretty sure it would be crushed instantly by a backhoe. The same thing happens when you are walking down the sidewalk. I’ve found that the best way to avoid getting hit with a random bit of machinery as you round a corner, is to first make eye contact with whatever construction worker is running said machinery, and wait until he waves you by. If you don’t do this, walking the downtown streets can be a leeetle dangerous. I suppose it is a good lesson in learning to watch out for your surroundings, but as a person who is easily distracted by life, I could be walking along minding my own business, when randomly, the song Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys pops into my head, and I’m suddenly lost in my own little world of wondering if The Beach Boys just improvised that entire song as they went along, because it is so haphazard and who was Barbara Ann anyway, and the next thing you know I’ve fallen into a large pit or something. Danger!

I’ll be excited when the construction is over with…I will not miss the constant noise or the mini earthquakes that happen in our office. It’ll be nice to have our downtown back to normal, and it’ll be nice to be able to return to my daydreaming state without having to worry about potential calamities.

One Last Tribute to the Old Neighbourhood...

I don't want to dwell on the past, and it is not like I am even sad anymore about not living downtown. Yes, I despise having to drive to work, and then pay for parking, but everything else I'm dealing with just fine. I do miss the characters of downtown though, they made for such good stories.

There used to be this guy, he always wore a red coat, jeans, and a winter hat. All he did all day was ride his bike, around and around the same route. ALL DAY. I"m not sure where this guy lived, or if he even lived anywhere really, but I found him extremely interesting.

This guy didn't just ride he bike, he swore and gave the finger to every car that passed him. Every single car. Up would go the hand, the finger would wave, and it would inevitably be accompanied by something along the lines of "screw you" or more likely "f*ck you!!". He would viciously wave his hand, the one with the finger raised, until either that car disappeared, or another one appeared, and he could start all over again. It happened to me several times. I often thought to myself, "what would happen if I shouted something back, or if I gave HIM the finger".I ultimately decided that it would upset the balance of things, and the situation could end up going horribly horribly wrong. Swearing and finger giving is his THING, and I sure didn't want to take that from him.

The strange part is, I walked by this man on several occasions. When I was walking, he never swore at me, and he never gave me the finger. One time, I even worked up my courage and said "hello", to which he simply replied like a normal person, "hello". So I don't know, I guess he just had some sort of inner rage towards cars. All cars. Perhaps he was bitter because he couldn't afford one himself, and his only mode of transportation was the bicycle. Or maybe he was really worried about the destruction to the environment caused by cars. Who knows! I'll sure as hell never know, because I never see him anymore. It kind of makes me a leeetle sad, because I really do want to know. I should have worked myself up into saying more than hello when I had the opportunity.

I haven't met anyone like that down in the North end yet.

Finally...

Ahhh, the feeling of my own familiar keyboard is quite lovely. It is very hard to write anything at all when you have to backspace after every word. I'm in the midst of getting my desk set up, and it is pretty damn great. It has been YEARS since I've had a desk to actually put my computer on, and honestly, I forgot how wonderful it is. Not to have the laptop actually on my lap, burning my legs. Not having it on the kitchen table, with papers and random office supplies scattered everywhere. Yes, I love my desk.

I am almost settled in my new living arrangements. I have a couple more pictures to hang, and a couple more boxes to unpack, but other than that, I'm pretty set. Living in a different area of town is really weird, especially after living right downtown for so many years. Life in the North end...well, it feels like a completely different city almost. Things are a little calmer, there are a LOT less crazies (as in, I haven't even seen one!), and people seem...nicer?

I've only lived here a short while, so it is hard to tell if these initial observations can be trusted with any amount of accuracy. Time will tell on those matters.

I must say though, it is quite lovely to leave my car parked here, and not worry that it is going to get a)broken into b)destroyed. Nothing ever happened to my car downtown, but I always went to bed with this sense of, "i sure hope Priscilla is okay when I get up!".

It is also nice walking to places without constantly looking over my shoulder. I developed a habit when I lived downtown of constantly checking over my shoulder and clutching my purse to my chest whenever I passed a sketchy looking individual. It's not like downtown st. kitts is downtown ghettoville, and I don't want to give it a bad rap, but I find it is better to be cautious then to have some druggie run away with my purse.

But I must say, as close as I am here to the water, and to cleaner air, I miss downtown. There is a certain kind of energy there, it's in most downtowns really, that just isn't present in other areas of the city. I miss walking to work (so very very much), and I miss being able to walk to the market on Saturday mornings. Driving to the market on a saturday morning just doesn't have the same appeal for some reason.

I'll learn to live with it though, it is just the way it has to be for now. Also I work downtown and spend a large portion of my day wandering around down there, so it is not like I am cut off completely from the hilarity and uniqueness that is often downtown life. "Maam, do you have change, I need to get the bus to Sarnia". "Dude, you need to make up your mind, last week you lived in London, this week you live in Sarnia...pick one! And no, I don't have change, sorry.".

Anyway, it is going to take some adjusting, that's for sure, but in the meantime, I am going to do my best to become a North end girl. There has to be something great here somewhere. And if anyone is going to find, I'm pretty sure I will. I have a nose for these sort of things. I'm going to hop on my pink sparkly bike and explore away.