…BECAUSE THE WALL NEXT TO ME IS VIBRATING.
They’re reflooring the labs on the level below me (level 2), which is involving much drilling. Conversation is out of the question, and I’m kicking myself for not having brought my shiny new Bose noise-cancelling headphones with me from Bath yesterday. The message informing us of this work from the deputy head of school read:
This work is known to generate high noise levels and this may propagate through the building structure causing noise nuisance on Levels 2 and 1 in particular and just possibly on Level 3.
“Just possibly”, my arse.
Edit: Stores are handing out free earplugs which, while they don’t block all the noise, do turn it from painful levels to merely irritating. The reflooring work involves the use of powertools to strip off the cement skim that was used to level the floors in the labs, which explains the amount of noise. I feel most sorry for the blokes in stores, whose office has an open front that faces out onto the lab where the work is being done.