The leaf blowers are out in force again at my apartment complex. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BE SO LOUD? I h a t e  them. I hate them 8000 times as much as I hate those stupid security sticky plasticky guard things which they put on new CDs and DVDs here – it’s a major 15 minute demolition project opening one a new CD, and by the time you have, the box is scratched and broken. I strongly dislike those. 8000 times is a lot.
From a distance of 10 feet, a leaf blower is 18 times louder than normal conversation. 75 times louder than a mouse’s squeak. A mouse which had a squeak as loud as a leaf-blower would be 15 feet tall.
I’m starting to understand the leaf blower situation a bit better though. They are at their most annoying during the summer, when the guy who looks after the grounds can be observed of a morning trying to blow 15 leaves into a pile. This takes about 2 hours of frantic and noisy blowing, as compared to picking up the leaves, which would take 3 minutes, or using a broom, which would also take 3 minutes.
At this time of year, however, there are lots of leaves on the ground, and it’s wet, so I can see that the leaf blower might be a more necessary tool. Blowing the leaves into neat piles seems to be much easier now. I think wet leaves blow together better. There’s a lesson for us all. Still,
EVEN WHEN THE LEAF BLOWER IS A GOOD TOOL FOR THE JOB, IT IS TOO LOUD.