Jerk Alert

UPDATE - thanks all for the encouragement! I just called the management office at the complex and they are going to give him a call to let him know about what to expect when living in an apartment, the normal noises that you can expect to hear in an apartment, etc. They also will mention to him about the loud noises he's making and how they are unacceptable. They told me there are quiet hours from 10 pm to 7 am so I am really going to make an effort to be quieter after 10. I don't want to give him ANY ammunition, ya know? They are also going to let him know that they spotted his garage door open today and that's unacceptable, so that way its not like I tattled on him about the door. Sigh, I really hate confrontation.

The continuing adventures of the neighbor chronicles...

Last night, I got home around 8:15 pm, fixed myself and the kitties dinner and then washed my dishes when I was done. I watched tv while I ate (at a reasonable volume, nothing was blaring) and washed my dishes without the radio or anything else on. Then around 9 pm, I unpacked my bags and organized all my goodies up for my blog picture. I guess all this ruckus was just too much for my neighbor. After all, I'd been home for 45 minutes and I guess he thought that was more than enough time to settle in for the night and go to bed.

I'm not sure exactly what he's doing, but it sounds like he has a softball that he's hurling against the walls and ceiling. I swear I can hear it bounce around down there. Then he proceeded to walk into his kitchen and bathroom and SLAM every cabinet door that he has. SLAM! THUMP! (bounce, bounce) SLAM! THUMP! (bounce, bounce) This went on for about 15 minutes or so and then he settled down and all was quiet. I then talked on the phone to my darling boyfriend, wrote my blog post, checked some email, etc. Then I headed off to bed around 10:45 or so. I watched the news for a while with the volume on low. Gigi unfortunately was not ready for bed and was playing with a toy mouse out in the living room. She was running around (all in the living room, not in the bedroom) and I could hear her, but its not like she's crashing around, knocking things over. Apparently this noise was also too much for my wonderful neighbor and he voiced his complaints by banging loudly on the wall.

Then this morning when I left for work, I found that he had left his garage door open. We share the garage, so the open door means that anyone could get to my car. That's no biggie, since that's the same as if I had parked in the parking lot. But this also means anyone could take the lawn furniture in my garage or get into the building. I don't know if he left the door open deliberately or if it was just a mistake - he has things in his garage too that could have been stolen. But I'm going to move my furniture upstairs this weekend. Its getting nice now anyway, so I'll put my chairs out on my balcony.

I've chosen to just ignore his childish behavior. I feel like he's trying to bully me into keeping quiet, which is ridiculous. I pay to live there too, and I'm not holding wild parties or screaming at all hours of the night. Its totally ludicrous for him to expect me to not walk around my apartment at 9 pm. I don't want to start a war, stomping on the floor/ceiling at each other so I'm going about my life, pretending I don't hear his THUMPING and SLAMMING. But its not really fun and I don't really look forward to going home at night like I did before he moved in. Jerk.

Sigh. The joys of apartment life, huh?