I’m losing it. I feel like I’m living in a college dorm with a bunch of teenagers. My next door neighbor, a guy in his 40s, recently invested quite a bit of money in a large TV, with large speakers, and then a large sound system which he apparently has now wired throughout his apartment.
The problem is this is an old building. No one apparently knew what insulation was when it was built. Whatever he does for a living, he does from home. (I think he’s in sales of some kind.) When I’m working from home our studies or extra bedrooms back up to one another, and I can hear him on the phone. He can hear me too – and sometimes we talk through the wall.
Given this fact, you think it would have occurred to him that his new sound system might be problematic with the neighbors.
Apparently not, however. At any time, day or night, the TV or the stereo goes on and no matter what I’m doing, I can hear it. I can’t sit and watch a TV show in my own living room without this base going. I can’t sit in my study and work in the evening without music blaring. Even when I wear earphones with my own music cranked up as high as they’ll go to try to drown out the sound, I can still hear it.
We’ve got a problem. His point of view is that he’s got a right to listen to his music, unwind etc. My point of view is that I’ve gone out of my way to accommodate him. I wear earphones. I frequently pick up my work and go to Homers to work etc. But, I think I should be able to sit in my apartment and watch TV or work without having to listen to his stuff. Tonight, for example, I’ve been trying to work and because of what I was working on, I couldn’t pick up and go somewhere else.
Either the music is so loud that I can hear it quite well in my apartment, as if it were in here with me – or all I hear is the base – a pulsing thump that has the effect on my nerves of someone running their fingers down a chalkboard. It doesn’t help that I’m not a huge country or jazz fan – his two favorite types of music.
When I was in college and had this problem with dorm noise, I was quite ill. I felt like all the noise at all hours of the day and night had my nerves constantly going. I’d be so tired, and never knowing if you were going to be able to take a nap, or sleep at night etc. was highly stressful for me. I felt like I could never get the rest I needed.
When I was ready to go back to college I threw down the gauntlet and announced to my family that I refused to go back to school unless I could live in an apartment where I had more control of my space. I said I’d be willing to drop out of school and work for a while if that’s what it would take – but there was no way I’d go back to dorm life.
That’s the way I feel now. Something has to change. If the landlord isn’t willing to do something (when I knock on the door no one ever answers, probably because no one can hear me) then maybe I need to move. This constant noise issue makes me feel like I’ve just taken 15 diet pills, and I’m jumpy and edgy and feel like I’m going to crawl out of my skin.
If it were a once-in-a-while thing, it wouldn’t be a problem. But, when my neighbor is home it’s almost constant.
I don’t want to move! I like my apartment, even though it isn’t up to the standards of some of my friends. (They think I live in “the hood.”) It’s a good size. I don’t really need more space than what I have. The rent is reasonable. And, most importantly, I can walk to pretty much anything I need. There’s a grocery store, gym, dry cleaners, drug store, several antique shops, restaurants, art galleries, coffee shops and my church etc. all within walking distance. And, I can take the bus to work.
To my friends in New York or Washington that might not seem like a big deal – but for me, in Midwestern suburbia – it doesn’t get any better than this.
But, maybe just for grins I should look around the neighborhood and see if I can find a house to rent for roughly the same price. Years ago I lived down the street in a house and the rent was only a bit more than it is here. The rental market seems a bit stressed right now, so maybe I could find a deal. The trouble is there’s no way I can take care of a yard. I’d have to find a place cheap enough that I could afford to pay a lawn service on top of that.
It would be nice to move to a place where I could get a dog. I’ve wanted a dog for years, but my lease prohibits it.
The problem is this is an old building. No one apparently knew what insulation was when it was built. Whatever he does for a living, he does from home. (I think he’s in sales of some kind.) When I’m working from home our studies or extra bedrooms back up to one another, and I can hear him on the phone. He can hear me too – and sometimes we talk through the wall.
Given this fact, you think it would have occurred to him that his new sound system might be problematic with the neighbors.
Apparently not, however. At any time, day or night, the TV or the stereo goes on and no matter what I’m doing, I can hear it. I can’t sit and watch a TV show in my own living room without this base going. I can’t sit in my study and work in the evening without music blaring. Even when I wear earphones with my own music cranked up as high as they’ll go to try to drown out the sound, I can still hear it.
We’ve got a problem. His point of view is that he’s got a right to listen to his music, unwind etc. My point of view is that I’ve gone out of my way to accommodate him. I wear earphones. I frequently pick up my work and go to Homers to work etc. But, I think I should be able to sit in my apartment and watch TV or work without having to listen to his stuff. Tonight, for example, I’ve been trying to work and because of what I was working on, I couldn’t pick up and go somewhere else.
Either the music is so loud that I can hear it quite well in my apartment, as if it were in here with me – or all I hear is the base – a pulsing thump that has the effect on my nerves of someone running their fingers down a chalkboard. It doesn’t help that I’m not a huge country or jazz fan – his two favorite types of music.
When I was in college and had this problem with dorm noise, I was quite ill. I felt like all the noise at all hours of the day and night had my nerves constantly going. I’d be so tired, and never knowing if you were going to be able to take a nap, or sleep at night etc. was highly stressful for me. I felt like I could never get the rest I needed.
When I was ready to go back to college I threw down the gauntlet and announced to my family that I refused to go back to school unless I could live in an apartment where I had more control of my space. I said I’d be willing to drop out of school and work for a while if that’s what it would take – but there was no way I’d go back to dorm life.
That’s the way I feel now. Something has to change. If the landlord isn’t willing to do something (when I knock on the door no one ever answers, probably because no one can hear me) then maybe I need to move. This constant noise issue makes me feel like I’ve just taken 15 diet pills, and I’m jumpy and edgy and feel like I’m going to crawl out of my skin.
If it were a once-in-a-while thing, it wouldn’t be a problem. But, when my neighbor is home it’s almost constant.
I don’t want to move! I like my apartment, even though it isn’t up to the standards of some of my friends. (They think I live in “the hood.”) It’s a good size. I don’t really need more space than what I have. The rent is reasonable. And, most importantly, I can walk to pretty much anything I need. There’s a grocery store, gym, dry cleaners, drug store, several antique shops, restaurants, art galleries, coffee shops and my church etc. all within walking distance. And, I can take the bus to work.
To my friends in New York or Washington that might not seem like a big deal – but for me, in Midwestern suburbia – it doesn’t get any better than this.
But, maybe just for grins I should look around the neighborhood and see if I can find a house to rent for roughly the same price. Years ago I lived down the street in a house and the rent was only a bit more than it is here. The rental market seems a bit stressed right now, so maybe I could find a deal. The trouble is there’s no way I can take care of a yard. I’d have to find a place cheap enough that I could afford to pay a lawn service on top of that.
It would be nice to move to a place where I could get a dog. I’ve wanted a dog for years, but my lease prohibits it.
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