Not a fan of white noise

Every weekday, and most weekend days, the house builders have a machine turned on that makes a continuous droning noise. I used to think it was a compressor, but it would be more logical for it to be a generator. It's much louder than a hum, much softer than a blare. It's just there, and it's unfortunately louder than the threshold of what I can tune out. It's incompatible with working at home (which is what I do, much of the time); it's incompatible with relaxing or watching TV; it's most decidedly incompatible with sinus headaches. The work crew is not itself loud, nor inconsiderate; they're friendly, and the noises they make are just part of doing their job. Nevertheless, I can tune out random hammering a whole lot better than this, and even wearing earplugs is insufficient. By the time they stop, which is usually somewhere between 4:30 and 6 p.m., I'm usually too drained to perk up and find the concentration I needed earlier. *sigh*

I know I'm fussy. After all, I did perform radical surgery on the beautiful computer my project bought me, brazenly replacing the heat sink fan, the case fan, and finally the power supply in a Quest for Quiet. But I find myself checking the forecast and hoping for another day of pouring rain, like last Tuesday, when the workers had to give up, and I had an entire afternoon available to read and do thought-intensive work. It's good to learn not to take things for granted.