Thursday, November 4, 2010

November 4, 2010

So this morning I get awakened at 6:45am by the sound of doors SLAMMING in the Appliance Repair Shop below me. From 6:45–8:15, when my my alarm was set to go off, I couldn't sleep. Every 5 minutes, a door would swing open and slam shut, jarring me just as i might have had a chance to reclaim some lost sleep.

When I woke, this is what I heard:

Worker 1: It's Thursday and I gotta pull the dishwasher and all this shit out.

Muffled noise.

Worker 1: In and out like every hour.

Worker 2: Cackle, Cackle, Cackle!

Worker 1: It ain't right. I'm down here, calling Oscar....

Can't make the rest out. Just here some generator noise.

The phone starts ringing, I think the Foreman is calling someone. Rings 4 times.

Foreman: Hey, what's up? Hey listen, you guys got 236, 630?

Can't understand the guy on the other end.

Foreman: 6A, yeah.

On the other end: Yeah.

Foreman: You guys got this one?

On the other end: Yeah.

Foreman: Ok. You gotta pick up paint?

On the other end: Yeah, we got it.

Foreman: Ok, my guy's on his way. Thanks.

Pause

Foreman: Jose, Jose, Buddy.

Worker 2: Cackle, Cackle, Cackle!

Foreman: Hey guys, he's out there waiting.

Worker 2: Cackle, Cackle, Cackle!

Someone is barking, literally barking.

Another Worker (singing, reggae style): A yah yah yah yah yah yah.

Foreman: Buddy! Jose!

Some back and forth that I can't understand.

Foreman: Hey Crieh! (Really not sure about this name, but hopefully will become clear in the future)

Some rumblings and generator noise.

Foreman: Alright, well just go around and see....I haven't seen him, I still gotta find out who shows up.

Woman Worker: Tile Guys

Worker 1: Carpet.

Foreman: Right, with the tile guys, they're a little bit of a complainers. I call the unit up and they like, "Oh my back. I can't get in there."

Worker 2: Cackle, Cackle, Cackle!

Someone says something.

Worker 2: Cackle, Cackle, Cackle!

Another sleepless morning in Stuy Town.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

November 2, 2010

Phone rings.

Stuy Town Appliance Repair Shop:
Hey Lara, how you doin' this morning?
Listen, I got a call for a surveying job at 276, 630.

Some back and forth that I can't understand

Stuy Town Appliance Repair Shop:
There's no carpenters that have it and I can't get a hold of the exterminators

Some more back and forth that I can't understand

On the other end:
Retransmit please, retransmit.

Stuy Town Appliance Repair Shop:
2565 Appliance Ring (not sure about the ring part)

A woman is speaking spanish in the background.

On the other end of the line:
You say you can't get a carpenter or an exterminator?

Stuy Town Appliance Repair Shop:
Yeah. The carpenters don't have it, the tile guys can't do it. So it's just us and the exterminator or what?

I can't make out what the guy on the other end is saying—something about the exterminator.

A door slams.

Not sure what any of this means, but this is what I heard on November 2, 2010, early in the morning.