A Year of Adventures in this Apartment

I have lived in my current apartment for over a year now and all in all, it's been a positive experience. I haven't had any major mechanical problems occur, the neighbors are generally problem-free (although I'll add more to that in a bit), and I live right in the heart of the city, close to any kind of store, business, or restaurant. I have been a witness to some pretty strange events at times, however, and some of those experiences I will share with you. Not only that, but something that has developed lately that is driving me insane.

A pet peeve of mine is when someone exits or enters the apartment building the same time as you going in the opposite direction and not even making eye contact or leaving the door open for you. That has happened to be on a couple occasions here and it bugged the crap out of me. I mean, talk about rude. Generally that occurs with the younger, college-aged people that live here (and I think a few of them have moved out over the past year). I don't care whether the person is in a huge rush and is late for an engagement (more often than not, they are in a hurry to the bar anyways). How much extra time does it take to say hi or leave the door open for you? Not even 15 seconds! The majority of the time, though, I usually don't run into anybody going in the opposite direction as I.

One neighbor of mine that lives across the hall from me is an older gentleman, probably in his 50's. I haven't really dealt with him much, but on a couple of occasions I've bumped into him. He doesn't seem like the friendliest person in the world. He does seem to get frequent visitors and even a young girl stays with him at times (I'm guessing it's a grand daughter of his). Her bicycle is even sitting out in the hallway as I type, where it's parked pretty much all of the time (which I think should be stored in his apartment if she's not around). There have been a couple of nights where he's drunker than a skunk and he's got the music cranked up really loud. It generally doesn't bother me because I usually sleep with ear plugs anyways, but I hate to be living above or next to him. And it's not like it happens all of the time, just once in a great while. Still, it's the middle of the night and he's got the music blaring (one night, it was country songs) and he's singing along, quite terribly. I have to wonder if he's been smoking dope during those nights, too. And don't park too closely in front of the steps of the building, either. Otherwise he'll go on a profanity-laced tirade, in front of his grand daughter, no less (which I witnessed one time, seeing that my window is right near the front door). Just stay out of his way, is my best advice.

Another incident occured probably in May of this year. A younger couple, probably early 20's, was coming home from a night at the bar. The guy was driving, and the girl was incredibly drunk. She stumbled out of the car and was sicker than a dog. All of a sudden, she leans ontop of the hood of her car and starts throwing up. And naturally, they had to park right in front of my window, although I did have my blinds closed. But hearing the commotion, I had to see what was going on. So I did catch the tail end of what she was doing, with her boyfriend helping her into the building after she puked outside. And don't you think if something like that happened to you that you would clean up the puke the next day or the next opportunity when you felt better (something as simple as throwing a bucket of water on it)? Well she didn't. The next day, crows were even picking at it. The puke stayed on her car and on the sidewalk until it was washed away by rain. I don't think I had ever been more disgusted at the human race after being a witness to that ordeal. I just can't believe some people can be so piggy and disgusting. She basically swept the incident under the rug and probably thought no one else knew it was her. That's where she was wrong. Thankfully, she has since moved out of the building.

Now recently, someone's smoking has been driving me crazy. I don't know if it's been the people in the apartment next to me (which I know they smoke) or the person above me. But the smoke smell wafts into my apartment and it really starts bothering me. I even smell it during the middle of the night and it's hard for me to sleep when I smell it. I don't mean anything negative to anyone reading this who might smoke, but I wish the people who live in this building could at least wait until the next morning to light up a smoke rather than to do it during the middle of the night when people are asleep. The smoke smell hasn't been a problem for me up until the last couple of months. And it's not like it's an everyday occurance, but it does happen two to three days a week (and sometimes more).

One final incident occured in the fall of last year. A younger couple must've had a disagreement of some sort and the guy locked the girl out of the apartment upstairs. She was knocking, beating on the door, crying and pleading for the guy to let her back in, but he wouldn't let her. This went on for up to a half hour before finally the old guy across the hall from me shouted, "shut the f--- up!" He never seems to be afraid to say what's on his mind.

So there you have it, some of the most note-worthy situations in this apartment building during the last year and two months. My goal is to stay here until at least next summer or fall, and then start looking for a permanent place of residence. That's when the house hunting will begin and then I'll have a place all to myself. But until then, I'll stay situated in this building. Like I said, it isn't all bad. The majority of the time, things are pretty peaceful and I never seemed to be bothered. It definitely could be a lot worse.

A New Neighbor

Nearly two years ago, I wrote a blog on my TAIC message board about the passing of our next door neighbor in my hometown. Here is an exact copy of that blog:

April 28, 2005
You know, there's a certain song re-made a few years back by the Counting Crows called "Big Yellow Taxi." There's a line that goes "you don't know what you got 'till it's gone." Well it seems to me that line couldn't ring any truer yesterday and today. Our next door neighbor of 30 years (ever since my parents lived in our house) passed away yesterday morning. I wouldn't say we were extremely close neighbors, but we did help her out a lot and she was always kind and courteous to us whenever we saw her. Ever since I can remember, I've seen her mowing her lawn, hanging clothes, driving her car in and out of the garage, shoveling snow off the roof, walking down the driveway to get the newspaper, sitting on her front porch...and the list goes on. But suddenly, it's no more. Needless to say, she was old (83) and had increasing health problems over the years. In the last year, she had too many health problems that ultimately lead to her death. But it's not easy saying goodbye. Our faithful neighbor of so many years will no longer be there next door. That person to call in case we ever had any problems. Eventually we'll have to get used to the idea of having a new neighbor living next door; and it's completely unfathomable right now. So is the thought of that house staying empty until we get a new neighbor. There's so a lot of uncertainy, a lot of anxiousness, and really lots of reflextion. Our neighborhood is changing by the years and there's nothing to stop it. People move in and out; people die and people are born. It's actually the story of life, and it's occuring within my neighborhood. At least I can say I hold a lot of memories of my neighbor - all of them happy ones. At least nobody can take my memories away.

I bring this up because nearly after two years, it appears we are finally getting a new neighbor. I remember how empty and quiet the house next door and its yard seemed during that spring and summer after the neighbor lady died. It was an awkward time - and an even more startling thought then was fathoming us having a new neighbor. It just seemed totally impossible! But as the months went on, my family grew accustomed to it. Now, we are used to not having a neighbor and the adjustment period will once again begin. But the nice part is, I know the individual that is buying the house. He and his wife will be moving in during the next few months and he's someone that I hung out at school with - most notably during my senior year of high school. He's a good natured, honest individual that I know will take care of things over there. I know that he is not really a confrontational person and I have never seen him get very angry at anyone. Knowing this, it pleases me that he will become the owner of the property next door. He'll be someone I can visit (besides my parents) whenever I make the trek home on my days off.

It'll be interesting to see what he does with the place. The previous owner took great care of the property while she was alive. The year before she died, my dad pointed out to her a maple tree that was severely rotted and had the potential to fall on her home and cause serious damage. Not soon afterwards, she had a tree cutting service come in and cut down not only that tree, but two others. One of the other trees was this ugly looking white pine that rose many feet in the air and was 15 feet from our house. We always disliked this tree and even though it was real close to the property line (still on her property though), it still posed a threat it we ever got a bad wind storm. So my neighbor agreed to have this tree cut down as well (my dad even said she didn't like that tree). She always maintained the home and the property around it, but the place is in need of additional maintenance. The house will need to be re-painted or re-sided, windows re-painted or replaced, and a new roof installed on the back garage. These are things you notice while a house sits vacant and remains up for sale for many months. I have no doubt in my mind he'll make the place one of the best looking houses in Chatham once again.

In the meantime, nothing has changed. The property next door still looks quiet and unassuming. And with two feet of snow on the ground, the new neighbors probably won't be officially moved in for awhile yet. However, it won't be long until my family gets accustomed to having a next door neighbor once again.