Today marks two years of living in our apartment. Sadly, we also came to the decision today to start looking for somewhere else to live. I haven’t written about it lately, but things have just escalated to the point where we are inconvenienced on a daily basis by our neighbors.
First we have Mr. Stompy. He lives above us and walks heel first back and forth throughout his apartment at all hours for hours on end. Lately he’s been waking us up anywhere between 3-4 am for his nightly bathroom break. You see, not only does he stomp everywhere he goes, but he also drops the toilet lid every single time he uses the bathroom. There’s just nothing like being jolted awake by that sound.
Personally, I think he does it on purpose to aggravate us, and I will tell you why. For almost a year we didn’t hear a peep from upstairs and the same couple has been living there for years. Then one day the creaking floorboards began, and it was all downhill from there. After getting the creaking fixed, the stomping began. It’s so bad that you can actually FEEL it, not just hear it. One week, not too long ago, it was very quiet upstairs. At first we thought the neighbors must have went on vacation, but then one night we heard the vacuum cleaner running. A few days later, Joe happened to spot the guy going into the building with a suitcase. So we figured that the woman must have been alone during that week. Therefore, he is the noisy inconsiderate jerk.
I had a bit of a freak-out Saturday morning because of this guy. Our property manager had already left him a message earlier in the week to call her regarding the noise, but he had yet to call her back (not sure why, since he’s ALWAYS home). So Saturday morning I’m trying to sleep, and all I hear/feel is STOMP STOMP STOMP. It started around 7 am and continued non-stop for over two hours. He’d take occasional rests, because I was able to fall asleep a couple of times, but then he’d start back up and I’d be jolted awake again. I just flipped. I threw open the bedroom door, grabbed the broom, and took the handle to the ceiling, pounding several times while screaming “I have had enough!” Of course he didn’t stop … he probably got a sick sense of satisfaction that he had finally pushed me over the edge. I was so furious that I was shaking uncontrollably. I called the apartment management and told them if they didn’t talk to him ASAP that I was going to go up there and (I quote) strangle the hell out of him.
I don’t know what is going to happen with this, but I’ve come to the conclusion that sinking to his level is the only option we’ve got left. So if he doesn’t knock it off by the end of the week, I am going to start setting my alarm clock for all hours of the night and bang on the ceiling. If I have to have a constant reminder that he’s up there, then I’m going to remind him of my presence as well. I’ve already had to change my work schedule to accommodate the fact that I can’t sleep past 6 am, I’ll be damned if this son of a bitch is going to be waking me up in the middle of night every night as well.
So that’s issue #1. Issue #2 is the cigarette smoke that won’t go away. First it was the guy who lived two floors above us. Now it’s the people who moved in across from us. Our heating/cooling system is not a closed system, so the smoke just travels within the walls. We’ve had just about everything sealed in the apartment and it still happens. Recently it’s gotten even worse. Before this weekend, we only smelled smoke when running the heat. Now it seems to be coming out of the vents even when there’s no air flow through them. Our bathroom often smells like cigarettes, as does our bedding. I’m starting to think it’s the reason why my heart feels like it’s racing most of the time – like I’ve got small amounts of nicotine in my bloodstream.
The worst part is that Joe’s son has asthma and allergies and he was over this weekend with our place smelling like smoke. I’m not 100% sure if it had anything to do with it, but he had red itchy eyes and a high fever. But can we really take that chance? We can’t continue to live here if he’s going to possibly suffer.
So anyway, we’re going to be moving as soon as we find a suitable replacement for this place. It’s really too bad as I like this place a lot and it’s our first home together. But what choices do we really have? We’ve already been informed that there’s nothing more they can do for us regarding the smoke smell, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste the time and effort in moving to a different unit, only to have the chance that another smoker either lives, or moves into, the building. It’s just not worth it.
The property manager is willing to let us break the lease, so we don’t have to worry about that. I just hate that it has come to this. I’m aggravated that we’re going to have to move twice within a year since we’re buying a house soon. Not only that, but we’re finding it difficult to find a place that’s priced similar to ours that includes all the utilities that are currently covered in our rent.
It’s unfair that we have to leave thanks to inconsiderate people and a shitty ventilation system, but what can you do?