It is great to have an alarm clock, but here at Imperial Plaza I don’t think I need one for the normal getting up in the morning. It is normal at around 7:30am, Monday through Friday, to hear a leaf blower cleaning the sidewalks and streets. Therefore, for that time of morning I do not need a manual alarm clock, only for very early appointments. Even with the windows closed I can still hear the leaf blower and I am on the seventh floor. It is still loud.

Then between 8am and 8:30am the trash truck comes to pick up from the dumpster. I hear the beep, beep, beep of the backup alarm and I hear the hydraulics of the truck raising the dumpster. Then I hear the clanging of the trash being dumped from the dumpster into the truck. The next thing I hear, which really gets to me, is the truck backing up, loudly beeping all the way. And all of this noise is from the building beside mine. The truck then comes to my building and the noise starts all over again, only closer. I don’t need an alarm clock with all of this going on.

I am well aware that all of this is necessary. I am also acutely aware of how immaculate our lawns and streets are. The trash rarely fills to overflowing, except on a long holiday weekend or someone moving in or out. Who can complain about that? With me and my wife always going to bed late I guess we will have to put up with the morning noise. It’s a small price to pay for the enjoyment that we get afterward. I will never complain about it because I do not want Brookdale Imperial Plaza’s Management making drastic changes and mess up the good thing that we are having. Retirement is beautiful and I want to keep it that way.

I remember when I had my house I had to do all of the work myself. Once or twice a week I had to drag my trash cans from the back of the house and put it on the edge of the curb for trash pickup. When he came to lawn care, I did all of it including the bushes and hedges. How can I gripe about having it all done for me at no cost. My grandmother and my mother used to constantly say “do not look a gift horse in the mouth”. This is truly a gift horse and I’m trying hard not to look at it and pout. I am thankful for what I have and don’t want to mess it up for anything.

Thinking about timing, it is ironic, while trying to get this done, testing of the fire alarm was being done. There wasn’t a notice that this was to occur where usually we would have some type of warning. Then again, the warning that was usually given was inadequate. We usually have a testing once a month at 10am in the morning. The notice for the morning test is usually put out the day before, or it should be but, I have been complaining ever since I’ve been here, that notice usually go out in the wee hours of the morning (night?). Everyone is asleep when the notice comes out and, if you don’t check your message box in front of your door when you wake up early, you will not get the notice. When the alarm sounds you will be wondering if it is real or not. I usually look out my door into the hallway to see if a notice is in my message box. If a message is not there, then the alarm is real. If a message is there, then it is a test. I am usually already up and messing about because the leaf blower and the trash truck have already sounded an alarm (LOL).

So, here at if Imperial Plaza, there are all sorts of alarm clocks. This have only been three out of a few others I can think of. However, it is better than when I had a house and had to do all of this myself. Now, as I have a cup of coffee and look out my window, I can say those were the days when I had to do all of that myself. I smile as I reminisce. (slurp…aaahhh)