Directly outside our window is a new constructions site, formerly a 7-Eleven, where they will be putting up a new condo development. I have to say, it was very satisfying to see that backhoe tearing apart the 7-Eleven. I wish I could see the same thing done to a McDonald’s. It somehow resonates with a 30’s socialist image (workers, rise and smash the capitalist oppressors!).
Well, it didn’t gather a cheering mob, but it fuelled the watercooler conversation. Actually, the local cube-dwellers have taken to watching construction sites as a spectator sport. Yes, it occasionally gets that dull around here.
For example, there’s an old, rotting house — also visible from my window — undergoing renovations. It’s been the subject of intense debate because, after raising the house on jacks and inserting a new ground floor, they seem to be replacing every single beam and board in the structure. What, may I ask, is the point of renovating a house if you’re going to basically rebuild it anyway? Don’t tell me it’s to preserve a heritage site. There’s nothing left of the original house!
Back to the condo. A coworker of mine (let’s call him Bob) has a certain obsession with construction cranes. Wherever there’s a crane, Bob’s there with a camera to catch them erecting the giant tower. He talks about them frequently. I once caught him photocopying the architectural plans for one after-hours. I hesitate to ponder the significance.
As for me, I watch the sites because they seem to take so many bits of things and bring them together to make something. The former site of the 7-Eleven is a big hole in the ground at the moment, but in only months, it will be a four-storey building — homes for those who can afford it. But before then, it will serve as a blessed distraction from the daily geek work.
(By the way, should anyone happen to figure out where I work from my daily blogs, I should mention that the opinions expressed on this blog don’t necessarily reflect those of my employer.)