I work for a newspaper's web site and long before the pope was so ill i'd volunteered to work today for a friend who had a vacation planned. now, instead of having a stressfree boring work day (8-4) i'm on pope watch. We only have one person in the newsroom during the weekend.
There's a lot of construction happening on my floor, and in addition to the two 75-pound jack hammers, i have to deal with loud music coming from the worksite down the hall. The pounding jackhammers are more like white noise, but the music makes it hard to concentrate on the news and editing. I asked one of the men if he could turn the music down, and he looked at me like i was crazy, and said "it is down."
Then he proceeded to stick his finger up his nose and start digging. After i got the look of absolute horror off my face, i told him that what he just did was disgusting and went back to my desk. I feel a bit guilty because they turned the music off, and that wasn't my intention.
I am not laughing at your misfortune, but the thought of some big, gross construction worker (probably with a belly hanging over his belt) sticking his finger right up his nose in front of you is too much. I don't know what else to do but laugh!
I can empathize with you about the noise. We have tenents above us in our office building and they moved out on Monday. There was constant pounding, like someone was beating on the floor (our ceiling) as though it were a drum. All. Day. Long. I had a headache by the end of the day, so I think I know how you feel. Hopefully you get through your day without having to take an Advil!