Having "Me" Time

We are creatures of habit.  I'm a creature of habit and once you're accustomed to something, changes affect you whether you realize it or not.   Moving house this time I realized for the first time how one could get accustomed to living with 'noise' in centre city.   I lived at my condo for a decade, next to the skytrain and a busy main road.  Though the walls were thick and not a sound could be heard from neighbours, sound waves travelled up almost 20 stories to my window.  Sitting my room, I'd hear sounds of the skytrain rolling by until late at night.  Sounds of motorcycles and cars zooming by seem to somehow travel upwards and straight to my window.  During New Years, if the office building opposite me had a party, I could hear the karaoke and the announcements.  Sounds of construction across the road penetrated my wall of glass. They all became background noise that I didn't care about. At this new place, I'v...

This morning, I woke up to an eerie silence. The usually busy road on which my apartment is located was empty. The skytrain which runs above it, had stopped their service since yesterday. No one walked on the roads. The police had closed of a number of roads for safety's sake and they were right to do so. Last night, the anti-government side (either protestors or is it a third party terrorist?) used guns and fired bombs. They burnt rubber tires sending black smoke billowing into the air. And all this, the red shirts say, is a "peaceful demonstration." I just wonder how they can say its "peaceful" if they are in possession of firearms? The logic bewilders me. Never-ending rounds of military bombs are being used on the authorities. Illegal trades of military weapons obviously exist and we must stop it. It reminds me of all those deals we see in action movies and on the news. It is a reality. There are those gaining from the disruption. Confrontation...