Needless Noise
I am going to borrow a page from Smivey’s site. I want to talk about something that sucks: Leaf-Blowers. Some idiot was blowing leaves at 7 in the morning. Some of us stay up late working and sleep in, at least until 8 or so. It is even worse to be awoken by the cacophony of a whirring engine when you have been fighting a headache for over a week.

My wife, who also stays up late working, was also awoken by the inconsiderate neighbor or the inconsiderate neighbor’s landscapers. She grumbled, got up and turned the fan on our window air conditioning unit, even though the morning was pretty chilly, with the hopes of drowning out the noise. She then crawled back into bed. Her getting up, however, signaled to our dog that it was morning and time to get up (which means he will soon get breakfast). He bounded out of his bed and did his “I am getting fed soon” dance. We had to groggily mumble from our nest for him to go back to his bed, which he finally did, letting out a long disgruntled moan as he plopped himself back down. Needless to say, the fan didn’t really drown out the noise, and we really did not get much more sleep.

Who blows leaves so early in the morning? These appliances are evil. The make a huge racket, they only move the leaves and dirt from one place to another, usually a neighbor’s driveway or yard, or out into the street where they clog the drains. They also create huge clouds of dust. I have been driving down the street and seen a huge dust cloud coming from a driveway. I quickly roll up the windows and cut the vent air so as to avoid breathing a handful of airborne dirt. Of course, as I drive by I see some idiot with a leaf blower. We have enough air and noise pollution as it is without these annoying appliances. Leaf-blowers both Blow and Suck!

[Thanks Smivey for letting me plagiarize your idea, which I did without asking].