Rats and rabbits are both born knowing that death is inevitable. Rats cope with this by living an epicurean existence, basking in simple pleasures and love of their fellow rat. Rabbits cope by believing in Puritan style predestination.
“There’s a people in town they got a- they got a- they wanna suspend me in a tank of water in absolute blackness. That’s called sensory deprivation. They’d charge me a hundred dollars — I said Hell no: I’ll listen to Leonard Cohen records, get the same thing for nothin’.”
For weeks now, I have been pleading with the city to stop running trash pickup in the morning. The trucks are loud, folks, and I am very tired after having wrenched until the wee hours of the night trying to get my shitty old car to run.
Mostly, I'm offended by the racket of diesels and airbrakes. Now, don't get me wrong. The miniature jet engine noise of the turbocharger on the trucks are positively fantastic. If they just did brutal, street-shattering drag launches past my house all day long, like a normal person, I'd sleep like a baby. It's the sound of the abrupt stop that really jars my subconscious into full rage mode. It's the sound of work.
If the city would just push back the pickup schedule about an hour, then I'd be able to get an extra hour's sleep, and that means I'd be way more productive when I am angrily awoken by the sound of several tons of steel crushing the refuse of my neighbours. Still, my city councillor refuses to give me a meeting in order to discuss my concerns, giving the classic excuse that there is "a restraining order."
Don't worry, though. I've found a solution for the time being. If I don't stay up all night fixing my car, I get a nice long sleep. And if I leave it stranded in the alley, bleeding oil out onto the dirt, it gets in the way of the garbage truck, too, so it's extra nice. Sure, the garbage man throwing rocks at my window and swearing is loud, but I have no problem at all sleeping through people getting mad at my parking. I'll be up in time for the tow truck: they have loud brakes.