Production lines

I suspect that the next few blips will alternate between the big building site opposite us (which will block at least some of our view) and the balcony garden. I tested this morning, and although the line was relatively weak and slow to appear, it was definitely a positive test. So no trips to the office for me this week….everything has pivoted online or been cancelled (in one case because the host had covid as well…). As I don’t feel that bad, I will probably get through a fair amount of stuff this week - possibly more than by going in to the office. However, it will be lonely. On the other hand, now I don’t strictly need to self isolate so I was able to go out for a socially distanced walked during the afternoon, which was a bit huffy and puffy as I’m quite full of cold. But at least it was some fresh air.

Anyway, getting back to the building site…we’ve been mystified by what they have been up to for the last few weeks, but it seems to me that they’ve been taking out a few feet of top soil and replacing this with the crushed concrete from the enormous pile that was over on the right - and is still partly there). The top soil is in the pile at the front of the picture, and today it has been shovelled into lorries which have trucked it away in regular convoys. It’s obviously a mystery where it’s gone. Having replaced the top soil with crushed concrete, which has been flattened down by a roller, today they got busy at the back of the building site with a new toy, namely a pile driver. We were relieved that it doesn’t appear to be percussive pile driving, which would have been awful for us, but some sort of screw driving. There is noise, but it’s not too bad. They have had a system set up this afternoon with a concrete lorry and a concrete pump, pumping the concrete straight into the holes. Or so it seems…

It’s obviously going to take a long time to build these several hundred dwelling units….so there will be plenty of time for me to observe more closely how it is done.

I had a busy and sometimes tricky day at work, which resulted in my restating that I will never, ever take the equivalent week to last week as annual leave in the future again.