Finding Me Time

As we get to what is usually a busier time of year, it’s important to remember to take time to restore sanity (or be creative in insanity, depending on who you are).

Here are some good tips for doing just that.

Settling In

A good friend came to my place today to do a very good thing: help me organize the random stuff that doesn’t really have a place, but needs one so that I know where it is when I need it.

Take Christmas decorations as a for instance.  Until today, mine were stored in a large, cardboard box that was quite literally falling apart.  Since I use it twice a year (unpack once, pack once), a box falling apart wasn’t a big deal as it didn’t get much wear and tear.  But the box was larger than needed and did tend to leave behind cardboard particles that could smell odd and were generally unpleasant.

So, a plastic tub was purchased and the contents of the box were moved.  The box is broken down and ready to be turned into something more useful by the recycling wizards from the Ministry of Recycling Useless Stuff Into Neat Things (I hear they are working hard on pogs, but not getting anywhere for the moment).  Now, my deocrations are stored neatly in my various closets along with a small assortment of other plastic tubs and containers for sheet music, candles, high school and grammar school memorabilia, etc.

And I know where it all is for whenever I need it again.  The next move, hopefully a long time from now, will likely contains less “I didn’t know I had one of these” moments.

Bottom line: about $40 for containers and a cheap paper shredder (quite possibly the most therapeutic device ever created).  I may need more, but these are cheap and easy to come by.  Plus, thanks to the paper shredder, I should have more room in the closet once I can combine two filing cabinets of crap into one of useful documents.

The Last Word

Upon turning in my keys, a forwarding address and reason for moving was requested. They were actually requested when I gave notice at my old apartment, but I didn’t want to give them yet for good reason.

For completeness, here is the contents of the letter. This was delivered to the management of my old apartment on August 7, 2007 with my keys.

To Whom It May Concern:

Here are the two keys to apartment XYZ as well as the pool and mailbox keys I was issued when I moved in.

Also, here is the forwarding address that I did not put on the move-out form as I didn’t have it yet:

[Hidden for obvious reasons]

My reason for moving, which I also left blank at the time, is due to excessive noise in the complex at late hours of the night and early in the morning. There are frequent loud parties in building !, particularly !XY and !XZ. !XZ is prone to the slamming of doors and loud arguments at any hour of the day and night. Asking the neighbors in !XY to turn down music during the quiet hours listed in the House Rules was never very effective. Most often, “quiet” was still loud enough to feel vibration from the subwoofer in the floor and walls on the opposite side of my apartment from !XY (the wall shared between XYZ and YZA would almost always shake during the parties in !XY).

I did call the police once, but was met with them yelling obscenities through the walls (an act they did apologize for two weeks later). After that incident, I felt that more calls to the police for noise complaints could endanger my safety. Further, the parties in !XY typically included people standing on the balcony/porch area yelling at each other or to people in the parking lot. Generally, apartment XYZ is not a pleasant place to live and so I moved out.

I suggest that the management walk past building ! any night of the week between 8:00 p.m. and midnight. Chances are that you will be able to hear my reason for leaving from the bottom of the staircase leading to !XY and XYZ, if not from the sidewalk or guest parking area.

The on-site management and maintenance staff at [Name hidden] have always been helpful, even when handling complaints about noise, regardless of the end result. [Name hidden to protect the innocent] was particularly kind and helpful and deserves praise for the job that she did here.

I sincerely wish you the best as you continue to offer a mostly pleasant place to live. However, I strongly suggest creating a quieter place to live in order to get better tenants. Stricter enforcement of the rules regarding quiet hours would be a good start.

Sincerely,

Robert
Former Resident

The New Place

I’m fully moved to my new apartment (those who actually know me should be getting an email with my new address and such unless I don’t have your email address).

Ironically, the thing that I’m excited about the most is that the fan and light in the bathroom are on different switches (they were on one switch in the previous place).  I actually heard myself shave this morning with just the light on. The shaving nirvana that I’ve heard guys talk about seems a lot more credible when there is quiet to be had during the process.

In more interesting news, the neighbors are quiet here.  There is the usual apartment complex noise (people walking around, driving in and out, playing tennis on the courts near my place, etc.), but this place is a library compared to my neighbors.  And I like the background buzz.  Gives a sense of community to the place without the community keeping you up at night.

I went to my old place to get a few final items last night around 8:30 p.m.  My neighbors, who had learned just yesterday that I was even moving, were throwing a celebration party of sorts.  I’m not self-centered enough to think it was completely about me (I’m sure there was plenty alcohol to help give the party purpose), but this party was by far the loudest yet.  I got my stuff, felt thankful that I wasn’t sleeping there anymore, and went home to get a very, very quiet night’s sleep.

Hopefully the quiet trend will continue for a long time.

One Last Party

It is my last night in this apartment. In less than nine hours, I and as many friends as can make it will be loading a truck full of my stuff.

My last night. I’m moving because of noisy and inconsderate neighbors. So it is fitting that they are having a party tonight.

The noise has been worse and it’s possible they have stopped for the night (they often start back up later). Still, it seems fitting.

I’m not a vindictive person, or like to think that I’m not. Still, I hope they stay up all night long. Tomorrow morning will be something they, for once, might be unable to sleep through.

Really Ready to Move

The neighbors (I don’t have the same creativity as excavation) are being particularly snotty this evening.

I love BBQs, personally. The smell of the meat and veggies cooking and the sound of searing food product is part of summer life.

I do have a problem with BBQs that take place on other people’s stairs when they are trying to go in and out of their apartment. It’s not like there isn’t a huge amount of open space where I live that people can gather on. And yet, people who like to call each other ni**ers (all white boys, by the way) at the top of their lungs and black widows seem to be inexorably attracted to my stairs.

At least I can kill the black widows.

And the music thumping in the background shaking the soon to be taken down pictures on the wall. I’ve given up on calling the police. I may get one more week of peace, but I don’t care any more. I’m on vacation and heading to Comic Con tomorrow. Calling the police tonight will automatically take off four days of the week of peace anyhow since I won’t be here to enjoy them.

Only one more week of this when we return from San Diego. Four days of all out nerdery and geekdom that I’d be looking forward to even if I didn’t have these neighbors (getting away from this place for four days is a bonus). You can follow my exploits this week on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rcymozart or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=515641130.

Quiet Down

In the long string of posts about noisy neighbors, there is a glimmer of light.

I did a slightly strange/stalkery thing last night. I went to the new complex in the evening and walked around my building for a few minutes.

Where I live now, you can hear my neighbors from quite a distance. Last night, I could’ve heard a pin drop.

I’m leaving some good people behind in my current place (not in my building). I’m glad that we have other touchpoints and I will continue to see them after I move. Knowing the new place is quieter on an average night is good, but it stil bittersweet to leave in some ways.

Outta Here

I turned in my 30 days notice to my apartment management today.  As of August 7, I will officially no longer be a resident of Park Villa Apartments and my neighbors will no longer have anyone to call the cops for them when their parties, yells, or shutting doors become too loud.  Somehow, I think they’ll manage.

That said, moving sucks.  More than just about anything I have ever experienced, it sucks.  I can think of a couple of things that have been worse, but not many things.  I have friends moving to Arizona (which might as well be cross-country for all the work involved) and I can only imagine the factor to which that sucks more (aside from leaving friends behind).  The end result is good, but too abstract to compare positively to the present, non-abstract reality of moving.

I’ve got resources for boxes, utilities to call (thankfully only three, I think), addresses to change (hoping for a PO Box that will make this easier next time), a truck to rent, and willing and able hands to round up for the move itself.  All that in about 3 and a half weeks.  No problem, right?

A Quiet Fourth

In an odd turn of events, it seems that my apartment complex residents didn’t set off tons of firecrackers late into the night on July 4, 2007.

In the past, this festive day has brought tons of firecrackers for the entire day.  These have ranged from the hand-held sparklers to shooting aerials off directly into obviously dry trees.  This year, there were firecrackers a bit during the day, but the complex was eerily quiet the entire night.

Maybe these mid-week holidays are a better idea than most people give credit…

Hunting

I’ve decided to step up the pace on looking for a new place to live.   After continued noisy neighbors and a kidnapping in the apartment beneath me (I don’t know if they were the kidnappers or the victims), it’s pretty clear that I should get out of Dodge.

The problem with finding a new place isn’t just the place, but also the money.  Moving isn’t cheap, but it isn’t prohibitively expensive either.  Further, there is the gamble of ending up in a worse situation than the one I’m in now.  Lastly, there is a chance that I’ll be spending much more on rent than ever before to get a place in which I can sleep through the night.  The idea of a $200 increase in rent for my budget is not exciting.

I’m lucky to have friends who have offered to let me move in with them.  The situation is probably as good a deal as I can expect.  However, I have to decide if I still want to live on my own or not.

I’m taking the afternoon off from work tomorrow to hunt around Redlands for decent places and get a ball park about what living on my own in another place would look like.  Luckily, I’m not so strapped by a lease that I have to move in a certain time frame.  If a place won’t have openings for a while and I’m willing to wait for it, I can (which also helps with having more time to actively save money for said move and any other expenses that come up).  There’s also a chance that I’ll end up in a two bedroom place (gaming room, here I come) for a decent rate.  Or I’ll move in with my friends.  There’s a lot to consider and I’m glad to be starting to gather information to make that consideration easier.

Moving is stressful and the decision for a new place is even more stressful for me.  A lot of the next week or two will be spent processing the decision at various stages of rationality.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to stay grounded in reality and not let the variables of the decision become more immense than they actually are.