JISHOU, HUNAN — “Drill, baby, drill” is not just a slogan for Sarah Palin’s energy policy. Unfortunately, it’s also an apt description for what I have to listen to morning, noon and night when I am home.
The university is running out of dormitory spaces, so last month the uni tore down an unused water treatment plant and started construction of a new dorm, right down the hill from my humble abode. The project has included drilling and jackhammering though the limestone for the foundations and underground whatnot. Constantly. It starts around 6:30 am and, except for meal breaks, continues all frakking day until about 11:30 at night.
It’s like having Con Edison outside your apartment almost 24-7. (Sorry, that’s a New York reference, but substitute your local utility company — “dig we must” — if it makes you happier.)
The jackhammers stopped about 10 days ago, thank the stars. Now we just have to listen to two of these impact drills banging away all day.
I’ve been watching the construction as it progresses. Considering rate at which they are working, I am guessing that the uni wants this new dorm finished and ready to be used before the fall term starts in September. So far, the crew has built three retaining wall from concrete, mortar and chunks of limestone wrested from the hillside, and chiseled out the trenches for the foundation walls.
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