What are usually the first words out of one's mouth every morning? Good morning...coffee...gotta peepee...? Those might be the words of choice for most people, but usually the first words uttered out of The Big Finn's mouth every morning are either "Fu**ing Primus" or "Fu**ing Migros"!!!
So far, I have very little to complain about as it pertains to our new apartment. I like the layout, the location, the proximity to grocery stores and downtown Basel, etc., etc. Overall, I'd have to say that we made a good decision to move to this place. One of the benefits - proximity to grocery stores - also brings up one of the problems.
We live right next door to a Migros grocery store. Migros, along with Coop, is one of the two major grocery chains in Switzerland. Mrs. TBF and I overwhelmingly favor Coop, but it is convenient having the Migros next door in case we run out of something and need it in a hurry. As a matter of fact, you can take the elevator down into our parking garage, walk out of our parking garage door, and walk right into the Migros parking garage without ever going outside. This gives you an idea of how close the Migros is to our apartment.
Not only is there a Migros next to our building, but there is also a company called Primus located right next door to the Migros. So if you look out of our bedroom window, you can see both the Migros loading dock and the Primus loading dock (the Swiss apparently do not believe in location, location, location when building houses). Here's the problem...
Anywhere from 4:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. I begin hearing familiar sounds from my past. As most of you may know, I was an account manager for various transportation companies during my fifteen or so working years. These sounds are the unmistakeable sounds of pallet-jacks and fork lifts loading pallets onto a trailer. After these noises subside, then comes the unique sound of a diesel engine starting, and then the sound of a truck driving off. When I hear these sounds, I moan out either "...fu**ing Migros" or "...fu**ing Primus." Up until this morning I was never quite sure which one it was. However, this morning, thanks to Dominique, I witnessed the culprits in action.
This morning, at 4:50 a.m., Dominique jumped out of bed which pretty much gives you about a two-minute window to get her outside for a pee (give her a break...she's old). I threw on some clothes, brought her up the stairs to the rooftop garden area, and she took care of business. As I rubbed the little balls of sleep from my eyes, I noticed light and motion coming from below. Lo and behold, I saw three Primus employees loading a delivery truck at 4:55 a.m.!!! "FU*KING PRIMUS!!!!!!!!"
Now the question becomes whether or not I go about the arduous task of filing a formal complaint (how Swiss of me!). I'm pretty sure they're not allowed to make noise until 7:00 a.m. To their credit, it did seem like the guys were trying to be quiet. But, it's one of those situations where you're trying to be really quiet, and then you end up making more noise than if you just moved about normally.
Yup, I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. I guess I can take on Primus and Migros which will leave me with only one more interrupter of my precious R.E.M. sleep.
A couple of Saturday nights ago, I was reveling in the fact that there was no way Primus and Migros would be waking me up early on a Sunday morning. So, I went to bed looking forward to hours and hours of uninterrupted sleep. Before I knew it, it was 9:30 a.m. on Sunday morning (I think I went to bed at 2:30 a.m.), and I realized that something loud had woken me up. When I finally got my wits about me, I realized what had woken me up - "FU*KING CHURCH BELLS!!!!!"
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