and the neighbour saga continues.....

First of all, sorry about all the ranting and raving about the neighbours but they are kinda sucky and if I don't rant now, I'm gonna keep thinking about it til I drive myself crazy. Feel free to skip this post but if you read it, do we really sound unreasonable?



So, I've already whined about it but just as a recap, the dude next door (I don't remember his name and at this point, can't be bothered to know it) was playing really loud music on Sunday past midnight (he started at like 5pm) and was ignoring us when we banged on the wall (which is universal for turn it down/shut up) and had the gal to turn up the music when I went to knock multiple times on his front door. This isn't the first time we've gone to talk to them about it. The first time was when he had friends over and played really loud music for almost 12 + hours (until 4.30am when my bro woke up for work and decided to tell them off before he left). That was a Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning. The second time one of us went over to complain was last Sunday night/Monday morning.

This Sunday, he did it again. It seemed like he was starting to form a pattern so, Merv went over to tell them to turn it down which they did. And then he started it up again at 4.30 am. So, Merv banged on the wall (he turned it down an tiny bit) and minutes later I went over to tell him to shut the $%&*@#$^! up and ended up arguing with him because I was trying to explain the circumstances but he was drunk (he accused us of being unreasonable!) and wasn't listening. Merv came out later and didn't help much...probably made it worse. What is with guys and their stupid macho posturing bs? Seriously?!? How is this helping?? I may not be a guy but even I know that you don't touch/pat a disgruntled drunk guy and tell him what to do. Nor do you start complaining about hearing his arguments and loud sex. Arguments...yeah, fine but don't bring up sex. *facepalm* Eventually, I just told Merv to give it a rest (drunk dude no comprende) and drunk guy to talk to us tomorrow when he's sober.

Our complaints:
- The walls are thin - we can hear them talking (muffled but there), walking around, closing doors, arguing (at least once a week), having sex, heck we can even hear them washing their hands after the toilet flushes.We figure if we can hear them, they can hear us so we try to keep it down and it would be nice if they at least tried too. I even make it a point to tell Merv to tone it down if I think it may be too loud/too late (he gets annoyed at me when I do it) but his music has never been remotely close to what they turn it up to.

- We don't mind the loud music - at a reasonable time. They can party through the night later in the week/ during the weekend but let us have peace for the first part. The only time we've complained has been during the start of the week. I'm starting to think he doesn't know when the bloody week starts for regular people. We've asked that they keep it down from like midnight/1am on Sun night/Mon to Wed night if possible. Thurs through Sat and occasionally Wed, they can rock out all night long which would annoy us but we won't complain. If it's a national holiday or a special occasion then whatever is fine. Is that unreasonable??

That's it. All we're asking for is a little consideration the first part of the week. I know I shouldn't bother but I can't help but wonder if anyone else would think we're being unreasonable. Are we?

His reasoning (and my scoffing at them):
- He's a 'DJ'.  
Yeah, and I'm the president of the US of A. I'm sure he's got the equipment (it sounds like he does and his bass makes my couch dance) but I don't think he works otherwise. I can't see how that is a justification of anything. Just because you're a DJ doesn't mean you have to practice your craft/display it to friends in the wee hours of the morning. Do it during the day when your crappy song line up ( it's like he repeats the same three songs over and over for hours on end) won't keep your neighbours awake and piss them off.

- Apparently the people who lived in our unit before us used to blast their music at all hours of the day/night and he didn't complain. He says we're excessive in expressing our discontent.  
Seriously?!? It was the SECOND time that we talked to him (third attempt on our part) in the entire time we've been here. Also, what the heck does that have to do with us?!??!? So you were a pussy and didn't complain about their loud, shitty music. So what! If that was the case, he should understand our situation and NOT BE AN ASS since he's been in our situation before and knows what it's like.

- He doesn't see what the big fuss is about since he's seen the lights on in Merv's room at various times of the night (like at 2, 3 or 4 am). He pointed it out when we cited my sis having early morning classes and Merv having to get up to work at 4/5am).   
I can't believe he thought that was a valid point. So Merv stays up late when his schedule permits or he falls asleep with the lights on or he saw the lights on when Merv was getting ready for work. Is that a crime? Is that supposed to make it okay? There are three people living here. If one person is awake it doesn't mean that everyone else is too.

- He rarely has people over/ His friend he hasn't seen in a long time came to see him. 
That's nice but can't you guys get your bromance on at a decent time of day/night?!?? And why the heck can't your friends stop by later in the week if you plan to party?


- It's Superbowl Sunday.  
Right. Superbowl Sunday parties are forgivable. Except when it's a party of 2 about 10 hours after it ended. That's just lame and in no way (at least to my mind) justifies turning up the volume like it's a frat party at 4.30am. Also, talk about delayed reaction. Slow? Yeah, just a bit.

- His girlfriend works at 6am and has blah blah days off.  
This I just didn't understand at all. Is he trying to say that if his gf can sleep through his loud, annoying music and go to work at 6 then we should be able to do so as well? If that's what he means then at least I know why they argue so much - she's sleep deprived and cranky all the time. Plus, shouldn't he be be more sympathetic to our situation as well as hers then?

- He's a good neighbour. He helped us move our couch in.
Uh, yea. He actually used that.  I'll admit that he's pretty good about putting the trash cans out but that's about it. Helping us move our couch in does not make a good neighbour.

- He's intoxicated and uneducated.
He totally lost me here. Intoxicated I can understand. it would explain why the conversation was redundant and a waste of my time but it's not an excuse. The uneducated thing might just be because I kept trying to tell him that Charl needs to go to school early in the morning. But I'm pretty sure he and Merv are both at the same levels of being "uneducated" aka never got a college degree (it irks me when someone tries to use it as an excuse).

I can't remember if there are any other lame excuses and he never came by to talk to us so I guess we're good for now though I'm not sure how much of our conversation he remembers (despite the fact that i had to repeat myself countless times). However, if it keeps continuing in the next few months, we're gonna get the landlord to talk to him or if it is really bad at the time, call the cops (not to report them or anything, jeez could you imagine the pain in the butt the paperwork would be? but to hopefully get the cops to get them to turn it down). I told him all that because they're obviously not taking us seriously (and sometimes threats work better than anything else) but I did stress the continuing part since we don't typically like being tattletales. Charl wants to just tell the landlord now and Merv is all for calling the cops next time it happens but I think we'll give them a few more chances.

Whew. I feel a lot better now. But that might be the 9 hour baking session I just had in preparation for CNY. I've got ambitious plans and it wasn't so bad today (5 different types of cookies - one was kind of a let down, two were awesome, one needs refining and the last baffles me) but tomorrow, I'm moving from the baking bit to the frying part. Mmmmm.