Like Fingernails on a Chalkboard
Mar 14th 2007
Suzanne EnochMy Life As A Plebe
I’m a bit annoyed at the moment. The family who lives directly behind me is apparently having an entertainment wall unit put
in. Either that, or they’ve loaned out their back yard to Noah, and he’s building an ark. Full sized.
It’s not that I object to noise, or to entertainment wall units. But this is the fifteenth day in a row with skill saws, power screwdrivers, hammering, some sort of board tossing and I think maybe a matinee performance of “Stomp” 
going on twenty-five feet behind where I sit to work. Forget going to sit on the patio, even though I live in Southern California and it’s 78 degrees and sunny today (yesterday it was 93, but that’s just wrong).
So I put on music, but it’s hard to write a funny, clever, sexy first meeting between a hero and his girl when every thirty-eight seconds or so I get pulled out of Regency England and back into the earsplitting screech of modern-day technology. Closing the back door helps, but nothing – NOTHING – makes it go away completely. It’s driving my finches crazy, too, and Atticus Finch has pulled out most of his tail. Now he looks like a puffball with wings instead of a bird. It’s very sad.
Anyway, it’s disrupting my schedule. I am a creature of habit. I distract easily. I’m becoming psychotic. I have a book due June 1st, and I’m writing the FIRST meeting between the two main characters. If that is the ark they’re building, I don’t know what I’ll do when the animals start to show up. Argh! This is worse than people not using their turn signal!
Is there just SOMETHING, some little, usually innocuous thing in your life that just drives you up the wall? What do you do to get past it and get back to work or relaxing or whatever you would rather be doing?
38 Comments »
38 Responses to “Like Fingernails on a Chalkboard”
Keri Ford on 14 Mar 2007 at 5:52 am #
I live on a farm, so I’m often gifted with the noise of tractors and four-wheelers running around. And in the summer, I get an added bonus of not only lawn mowers, but bush-hogs hooked to the tractors.
I saw where you said you’ve tried music, but what about headphones? That drowns out everything but my husband tapping me on the shoulder to ask questions. And that only works because he keeps tapping until I pause my music to hear whatever important thing he HAS to tell me.
Karen Hawkins on 14 Mar 2007 at 7:10 am #
Biggest Pet Peeve: People (especially those who live nextdoor to certain writers who shall remain nameless) who think they know how to play the synthetic drums and play the synthetic drums at levels that would make most members of The Rolling Stones scream, “TURN THAT CRAP DOWN!”
Suz, I feel your pain.
Another Pet Peeve: People who SAY they’re going to ‘leave you alone now and let you work’ and then keep coming back into the room every two minutes to ask things like ‘Would you like a drink?” “Do you mind if I clean out your fridge?” “Where is your Windex?” “Is it ok if the cat drinks from the dog’s water bowl?” “I’m going to go out into the garden for a while. Where are the pruning sheers?”
Mom, I love you, but “I need to work” means exactly that.
terrio on 14 Mar 2007 at 8:07 am #
I live on the third floor of an apartment building and my neighbors seem to find it necessary to listen to hip hop music at a wall-vibrating volume. You think it’s bad when that thumping SUV pulls up next to you at the light and your rear-view mirror vibrates? Try having it move your chair. And when I walk out my front door, I can’t tell which apartment it’s coming from so I can’t even figure out who to report! Argh!
Since my Suzanne Enoch books are still sitting on my TBR pile *raps knuckles in shame* perhaps it’s good that you slow down…
I’d second that headphone idea but encourage listening to some wonderful classical. That might help.
Karen Hawkins on 14 Mar 2007 at 8:43 am #
Does anyone have a pair of those sound blocking earphones? Do they really work? Would I be able to hear my mother through them?
Just wonderin’ ….
RachelG on 14 Mar 2007 at 9:20 am #
I’m trying to feel your pain. Really, but ninety-freaking-three degrees? I’ll come back later when I’m not so bitter.
Keri Ford on 14 Mar 2007 at 9:39 am #
Karen — If you’re talking about those earphones you wear to protect your ears from shooting a gun, then no, they don’t work
Got some with my pistol a year ago, instead of completely blocking out sound, of say the TV, it just sounds like the TVs down in a dry well. And they gave me a headache because unless they fit tight, the weight of them pulls the continually off your head. But I’ve heard other writers swear by them (but the only swearing I did consisted of the 4-letter kind).
Julia London on 14 Mar 2007 at 10:33 am #
Trucks. They are building some houses in my hood, and I have most of the windows open. Every five minutes one of those things rumbles by and it drives me NUTS.
I was complaining to my husband the other day that I can’t even enjoy spring (don’t throw anything, Rachel! It gets really really really hot in the summer, so that will make up for it!) because of all the trucks. He gave me one of those looks and said, “Life is so hard sometimes, isn’t it?”
Well, yeah. It is.
Judy F on 14 Mar 2007 at 10:40 am #
This Past sunday I thought I take a nap, I haven’t been feeling that well and thought a nap would help.
I live in a four family apartment. My bedroom is basically over the garage/basement. First the lady upstairs has her piano in the basement, she decides to play for a while. Ok she finally quits, the cat and I snuggle back down then bam the idiot neighbor who has the other side of the garage decides to work on his motorcycles. Varoom Varoom anyone. grrrr…
Karen Hawkins on 14 Mar 2007 at 10:55 am #
I want to be able to Turn Off my ears. My ears AND my sense of smell because those cookies in the kitchen won’t let me write.
Keri … you have a gun? You’re one cool chica! I want one, but my dh says not until I learn to count ALL the way to ten before I get mad instead of doing the whole “even numbers” thing. Sheesh. Some men are so PICKY.
JuliaL, tell your husband that we goddess-types are delicate beings who need to be treated with kid gloves, sound proofed rooms, and a very understanding attitude. I mean, isn’t that the whole POINT of being a goddess?
gannon on 14 Mar 2007 at 10:57 am #
Karen, I have a friend that has those sound-blocking headphones and he says that work great! May have to invest in a pair myself to drown out whiny children, husband and other distractions.
RachelG on 14 Mar 2007 at 11:02 am #
Chain saws. At 7 a.m. on a Saturday and Sunday. Last summer my neighbors decided they needed to cut down several pine trees and the crew they hired started at 7 a.m. There is nothing worse than chain saws that early in the morning, especially after a late night of too much wine.
Suzanne Enoch on 14 Mar 2007 at 11:07 am #
KarenH, might I make a connect-the-dots observation and ask whether your mother might perchance be visiting? That probably really cramps your writing style, since we all know you write in the NUDE.
I’m thinking of shifting my lunch break, since right now it coincides with the wrecking crew’s. Then I could write while it’s quiet and eat while they’re sawing and hammering. That gives me an hour, anyway. Sigh. Headphones might be a good idea. I’ll see if I can dig mine out.
Karen Hawkins on 14 Mar 2007 at 11:13 am #
Suzanne, I have YOUR mother’s email address. AND you sister’s, which might be even better. Don’t make me use them. The words ‘nude’ and ‘mother’ shouldn’t be in the same sentence. It’s one of those rules all writers should live by.
I’ve been thinking about your problem, Suzanne and it dawned on me that Christina Dodd sat around and drooled when she had a work crew in her yard. Maybe you should grab a set of binoculars, climb the stairs to your second story, and see if any of them put you in a romance writing mind frame? If they are, let me know and I’ll stop this waste-of-time-writing-thing and come over and help you dro– I mean, watch.
I’m just sayin’ ….
Suzanne Enoch on 14 Mar 2007 at 11:18 am #
Yeah, I thought of that, Karen. I got a look at them the other day. Picture Gilligan and Sipowitz from NYPD Blue with a butt crack. No, they’re just loud. Not drool-inducing.
Karen Rose on 14 Mar 2007 at 11:28 am #
Cones - the ones they put in the road, not the ice cream variety. I like the ice cream variety, although I pinky-promised my karate teacher I’d just say no to the ice cream variety for a while. Dang. Now I want one.
But I digress. Cones. I picked the wrong profession. If I’d bought into construction cones way back when, I’d be a rich girl now. I HATE cones, especially the ones they put up and give their own zip code ’cause they’re permanent. And how many times do you REALLY see them working on the road that is blocked off by these CONES. Not enough. Why they must block off a mile of road when they can only work on a little at a time is beyond me. It’s a conspiracy. Gotta be!
But on a good note - I got a new computer and am back to writing again, so life is good.
JulieLeto on 14 Mar 2007 at 11:54 am #
Susan, I do feel your pain. I’m about to start a renovation of my kitchen and wondering how the *&^!% I’m going to write during this time. My pet peeve, however, is my neighbor’s dog. He barks…constantly. Con…stant…ly. The owner will be in the backyard with him, watching him bark as if it is amusing. One day, that little dachsund will…oh, I can’t hurt a dog. But the owner? Beware!
JulieLeto on 14 Mar 2007 at 11:54 am #
Duh, that’s SUZANNE. See what happens when the dog barks??? Sorry!
Sherri Browning Erwin on 14 Mar 2007 at 12:01 pm #
The neighbor’s children! Bad enough that they have two preschoolers who love the outdoors, but they host a biweekly play group of about fifteen screeching toddlers. I can’t open the windows or write on the porch when they’re outside, and they break my concentration even when I’m indoors with windows shut. I could tune out my own kids when they were little (I mean, when I had the option, not when they needed me and no one else was around, of course). But these neighborhood children are impossible to ignore.
Kay on 14 Mar 2007 at 12:02 pm #
Hey Karen, welcome back to the digital world.
Speaking of road cones, we haven’t seen those around here for a while. We only have two seasons in MN– snow removal and road repair–and we are in the transition period now. I’m sure I will be railing at them in another month or so.
As for construction noise…..A block from our house, one of the older houses was torn down, and they are putting up a McMansion. I swear I can feel the ground vibrate when they drop a load of lumber.
Yesterday, it was above 60, which is a BIG DEAL here in MN, but I had to shut the windows until 3:30 because the pounding from down the street was insane.
It is a sin to have closed windows when it is above 60 in March!
It isn’t warm enough to tell if there are real men under the construction garb. Maybe it will hit 70 before they are done–that is shirtless weather for outdoor workers here—but they are calling for more snow this weekend.
Karen Hawkins on 14 Mar 2007 at 12:49 pm #
Suzanne, I think you need to call the company and complain. If they sent construction workers to make all that noise, the LEAST they can do is offer some Worthy Beefcake to make it all worthwhile.
I know they have them; I’ve seen them on calendars.
Hey JulieL! Barking dogs are bad and yes, I believe in some areas of Tennessee and Texas, it is legal to shoot the owners of said massively barking dogs, especially if you’ve asked them thrice while turning around, clicking your heels while saying “There’s no place like the pound. There’s no place like the pound. There’s no place like the pound.”
Hmm … I wonder … Suzanne, can you turn up your Star Wars music really, REALLY loud???? Will that work?
colinfirthfan on 14 Mar 2007 at 12:51 pm #
Rachel, it is in the mid 70’s here in Northern California. S’all I’m saying.
Karen, that’s right. Xtina Dodd even posted pictures of her work crew on Squawk Radio. Mmm. Mmmm Mmmmm.
Funny coincidence - there is a work crew in my office building right now converting one of the conferance rooms into a computer lab (I work for a large software company).
There is a young guy right outside my office whose pants are falling off and I can see 5 inchesof maroon boxer shorts. Makes me want to pull his pants up (just like I do to my 3 yr old).
I think this is a sign that I am getting old…
*sigh*
Sabrina Jeffries on 14 Mar 2007 at 12:59 pm #
Noise-cancelling headphones are the bomb! BUT there are some caveats. I find that they really work best if you’re playing music. The music combined with the noise-cancelling feature virtually blocks out everything. People can be having conversations a few feet away from me, and all I see is lips moving. Without music to counter-balance the other noise, they’re not nearly as effective, but music alone isn’t nearly sufficient.
Secondly, some headphones are better than others. I tried some that were practically useless. My Aiwas are fabulous, but I don’t know if those are still being made. I couldn’t find a second pair when I went to Best Buy. I bought the new Sony ones instead, for hubby, but neither of us have tried them yet. When we do, I’ll let you know how they work.
Brandy on 14 Mar 2007 at 1:36 pm #
Pet Peeve? MY IN-LAWS! Just mention them and my heart rate increases, as well as my blood pressure. I won’t go into why, but will say they are the defintion of controlling, manipulative, selfish people. AGH! And *whimper* they’re coming over today for a short visit. Not like they asked if we had plans or anything, right?
Another one: one of my neighbors thinks it’s GREAT to make his motorcyle as loud as possible at 6am every morning. Did I mention I’m a light sleeper and it’s a very loud motorcylce. *sigh*
anneriailin on 14 Mar 2007 at 2:24 pm #
Pet Peeve–the kids in the neighborhood and their mother that feels the need to yell at them from the second floor window in that kind of shrill voice that starts at the bottom of your spine and goes all the way up to your head. UGH. I really really like to have my windows open in the spring, but I’m also kinda glad to close them in the summer when the a/c goes on.
–dorothy
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not all who wander are lost
Ann in IL on 14 Mar 2007 at 2:54 pm #
The sound of leaf blowers at 6am on any given Saturday/Sunday. ‘nuf said.
But what REALLY drives me up the wall is people mis-pronouncing words or adding a syllable that is NOT there. For instance, jewelry is NOT pronounced jew-ler-ree. Another one is “chester drawers”. I want to scream “it’s chest OF drawers.
Anne A. on 14 Mar 2007 at 3:20 pm #
this is the most hated pet peeve and it’s always been like this for me. All those complete people who chew with their mouths open. I mean seriously last time I checked we weren’t dogs we humens CLOSE YOU DAMN MOUTH!!!!!!!!! It is beyond gross and it makes my skin want to crawl right off me! My roommate in college had this problem and I can remmber how I just wanted to record her and make her listen to how gross she sounded!!!!!!!!!!! She had no clue!
Suzanne Enoch on 14 Mar 2007 at 3:36 pm #
Oh, amen to leafblowers, Ann — I mean, what’s the point? Put the trash in someone else’s yard to the tune of 50,000 decibels?
And train whistles at 3 am. You KNOW they’re doing it just to wake everybody in a 2-mile radius up.
claudia dain on 14 Mar 2007 at 4:01 pm #
Slamming doors.
I can’t stand the sound of slamming doors.
Now, I’m not just talking about a violent, ‘I slammed it on purpose’, door slam, but those loud, abrupt SLAMS that just happen when you have PEOPLE in the house and those people aren’t you.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In, out, in, out, inout, inout, inoutinoutinoutinout.
Karen Rose on 14 Mar 2007 at 5:03 pm #
Bad Closed Captioning really irks me. I have a hearing impaired family member and the closed captioning is always on the TV. I found with my own hearing impairment that I get a lot of benefit from the CC. But some shows are so badly captioned that I have to turn the channel - I can’t understand a single word.
Oh, and teenaged boys who wear their pants down around their knees. Ick. Are they trying to attract girls with this look? Ick. And why don’t the girls tell them they look like complete and total dweebs?
MizMacgyver on 14 Mar 2007 at 5:29 pm #
I think one of the worst things is when you are talking to someone and they talk over top of you. I just want to say “Wait! I am not finished!” So you sit there quietly and nod, or say yes, no, and then they say, “why don’t you ever talk, is everything okay, you are always so quiet???? Someday I am going to answer them and say “Because YOU won’t shut up long enough!”
I also hate it when someone finishes my sentences. I am sorry, but you aren’t in my head and I honestly don’t think you know me well enough to finish my sentences. Sometimes I don’t even know what is going to come out of my mouth so how do you know? Now if I am trying to say something and lose a word (yes, I do that often, the brain cells haven’t been the same since the 60’s) that is a whole different ball game. I will be trying to explain something and all of a sudden I go blank, I will ask, someone please tell me what word I am looking for. But is any of the sentence finishers around then? NO, of course not, that would be just too, too easy.
Sabrina Jeffries on 14 Mar 2007 at 6:10 pm #
My pet peeve is ice cream trunks. Yes, ice cream trunks. They always manage to drive by just when I’m taking my nap. I take about a ten-twenty minute nap every day–I’ve been doing it since I was a girl. It’s my power nap. I NEED my power nap. So when the ice cream truck comes by and drives all around my neighborhood for a half hour, it REALLY messes with my schedule. Fortunately, it only comes in summer.
Nicole Jordan on 14 Mar 2007 at 7:13 pm #
Try living next door to a screeching cockateel! (or tu, whichever is the largest). You think it’s hard writing a first-meeting scene, Suzanne? Imagine writing a love scene and trying to infuse it with passion and sensualtity when that %^$)(^)(& bird starts his act right across the yard from your office window. I’m generally an animal lover, but countless times I was tempted to march over there and do in that bird. And I would have if I hadn’t been afraid of getting thrown in jail. I have never in my life been so glad to move houses!
You might buy some ear plugs, foam or rubber. Those work better for me since headphones tend to give me headaches. And running an electric fan, whether you need the cooling or not, provides some nice white noice to drown out a lot of sharper sounds.
I sympathize with your plight, but believe me, you still have it better with the hammers and sawing than with that dangblasted bird.
NicoleJ
Kelly Ann on 14 Mar 2007 at 9:03 pm #
Suzzane, I have a solution to your problem. Adopt Karens philosophy on writing, type in the nude, but on your back deck. I bet they will stop working until you go back inside!
My Pet Peeve….When I am in the middle of doing something (cooking, cleaning, reading) and someone from another part of the house starts yelling to me! Mommmmmmm, will you come here? Hun, where are my such and such or what are you doing? etc. Or they start talking to me like I can hear them! I’ve had to make a new rule…. don’t talk to me unless your standing in the same room with me because I won’t answer you, even if I can hear you. This kind of thing even happens at work. Why do you have to call to me from another room? Come to me if you want to talk with me. Why do I have to always stop what I’m doing to come and hear what someone else thinks is important? Trust me, it’s not important enough to make me stop what I’m doing and search you out. Plus, if I wanted to talk to them I would search them out! I sometimes wish I had a tranquilizer gun. They wouldn’t even know what hit them! And I could remove the dart while they are sleeping, so no evidence!
Kay on 14 Mar 2007 at 10:16 pm #
Sabrina,
They still have icecream trucks? Wow. I thought they were gone along with disco.
dbrown3400 on 14 Mar 2007 at 10:56 pm #
Bad grammar, especially the use of ‘me’ or other third person as first person - Tom and me are going to the store. I really love it when someone says, “Tom and me is going to the store,” but the exchange of third person for first drives me crazy! The next is when someone uses “then” instead of “than.” Or “we’ll discuss this between the group” rather than “among the group.” You get the idea.
Is the use of ‘me’ as first person becoming accepted?
I had great grammar teachers. I try to watch what I write because mistakes break my rhythm while reading. Too little time as it is!!!
Donna
Suzanne Enoch on 14 Mar 2007 at 11:42 pm #
Hm. Me writing in the nude out on my patio. The glare might cause any low-flying planes to crash.
I totally agree about some of those mispronunciations and other grammar boo boos. If I want my sis to flip out, I just ask her if she knows anything about “nucular power”. Heh heh.
ericaleigh on 15 Mar 2007 at 4:00 am #
Ann A. good call on the open mouth chewing, majorly disgusting. That has always been one of my biggest pet peeves and not just for the viewing pleasure but the oddly sickening sound of smacking lips. Get a clue people and learn to breathe through your nose when you chew it will help big time. Other annoying animals are geese. We live with a few ponds in our backyard area and the geese love to congregate there ALL the time. Its especially wonderful on a Saturday/Sunday morning, well any morning really, to hear their honking and bickering back and forth. Besides being noisy they leave really wonderful presents EVERYWHERE on the lawn. Beware don’t tread without shoes!!!
Susan K on 15 Mar 2007 at 12:30 pm #
I cannot stand when people don’t use their turn signal. I can’t stand my neighbors who don’t know how to gently shut their front door and can only slam it. Which is really loud in my small apartment. I also agree with Ann A. about chewing with your mouth open. I have a co-worker who not only does that but also speaks with her mouth full spewing bits of food all over and answers the phone with her mouth full. Yuck!