My upstairs neighbor had been making strange rhythmic thumpings on the floor for the past few weeks. In his sunroom which is just above my sunroom, wherein resides my computer. Where I'm sitting.

My original theory was that he was indulging in African tribal dances (a la Tarzan movies) (this is more amusing if you know that Jeff is a very sedate looking Causcasian about my age (who is a video editor and listens to all sorts of music at volume, but I am not bothered).

My son thought that perhaps he was playing Dance, Dance Revolution, which is also amusing to imagine.

Now, my lodger has nailed it. She says it sounds like when a young relative of hers was learning drums, and practised upstairs in their house

So, Jeff has apparently been learning to play drums, and practices at home. In his sunroom, which, as I have mentioned, is just above my sunroom, wherein resides my computer. Where I'm sitting.

It's still amusing.

I live in a condo, so there is a unit above me and one behind me, and I hear random sounds, but nothing invasive or annoying from my neighbors. I do hear water running, and think, Oh, Jeff or Bill is showering.

However.
This morning, and not for the first time, the water was running when I got up. And every time I went back there. For at least six hours!

It's August, there's a water shortage, and even though the condo association pays the water bill for all of us, our fees are high. And then I thought, what if he's dead drunk and lying in the tub and has drowned? (I have a morbid imagination, but if you'd met my neighbor, you'd understand. Mundungus Fletcher type)

So finally at noon, I went to Mundungus and rang his doorbell, and asked "Are you all right? The water's been running all morning?"

And he said, "But our water's free!"

So I 'splained to him the economic facts of life, and suggested that he jiggle the handle. Frankly I doubt that was it, or it would happen more frequently. Anyway, it's not running now.

It is February, and finally back to being cold, and it was drizzly most of the day, and I've lived here nearly a year now,
so of course I took myself to plant nurseries to try to get ideas for my patio. The first one I went to (Habersham's in Midtown) was very nice and said that they didn't have much there to give me ideas, but that I was welcome to poke around. I did see a couple of plants that might be nice, even so, and an interesting assortment of plants to be walked on. Pike's had more plants, and lots more inside (pots and gadgets and such), but nothing really piqued my interest.

I have a 8 foot by 8 foot patio, in the corner between my bedroom and the sunroom (computer room), with a wall about 4 feet high on the other two sides. My neighbor's patio is directly above mine, and dirt and grit and leaves sift through the gaps onto mine. I'm on the West side of the building, and there is a wooded hillside directly behind me, so it's mostly shaded.

( Possibilities:Collapse )

Ideas on container gardens? Good plants? Horror stories for bad examples?


I am officially utterly weirded out. My Mundungus neighbor just appeared at my door having locked himself out of his place. He's used my phone and my bathroom, paced around, turned on the TV (and not watched it), been reading over my shoulder, asked me to order a CD on Amazon for him, had water, sat down to eat 4 bites of a sandwich he had with him, and is now outside smoking . That is in 15 minutes. He asked to use my bathroom twice, actually using it once after going into my bedroom to pet the cat. Without asking ARGH. Smoked again, tried to read over my shoulder, used the phone several times more, and finally settled down to watch the TV he asked to see. But kept shifting between the chair and the stool.

His mother came after 45 minutes with a key, and they're gone.

Thanks to shadowycat for answering my Ping on YIM so quickly. It's good to have someone around to notice if there is a problem.

As I walked from my car across to the mailboxes (away from my building), my neighbor, the Good Ol' Boy grits-eatin' version of Mundungus Fletcher, called out loudly.

Him: (loudly) How do you like living by yourself?
Me: Fine, when I get a chance to find out. {Note below}
Him: (loudly) What time do you go to sleep at night?
Me: It varies.

Once I got back to a non-shouting distance, he said he wanted to know my sleep times because he wanted to know if his music disturbs me. Frankly, if it disturbed me, I'd be more disturbable awake, since I sleep very soundly, but that isn't his business. Then, he started worrying about the memo our condo association had put out about a break in, and I said, "Yes, and that is why I didn't want to answer about being by myself." And Mundungus was aghast at his gaffe -- he said. I don't announce my habits loudly across the world for a reason. If he wants to know if his music disturbs me, then the right question is, "Is my music too loud?"

I mean SHEESH! Personal questions, no sense of keeping his voice down.

Oh, yeah, and now he's claiming he's in his early 30's. Yeah, right. If he's that young, then he's been rode hard and put up wet.

Note: My kids have been staying with me over the holidays, and I've only been alone for a couple of nights. NOT what I want announced to whoever is in earshot!