Dear Boy Next-Door,

The BBQ Pit
1

When you moved in, I do not recall signing up for a twenty-four hour a day concert series entitled “Boy Next Door Practices Guitar and Fiddles With His Amp All Day*” I have not been particularly enjoying this free concert, especially the part that involve using the amp to make my entire apartment vibrate.

I suppose I’m glad that you have an interest in music, it’s a nice hobby. And as far as I can tell, you don’t really suck or anything, so that’s a plus. And you are never extremely loud for long periods of time. However, you do seem entirely oblivious to the fact that one whole wall of your apartment is also the wall of my apartment, and that it is, at most, 2 inches thick. Now, I think it would be harsh to issue some pronunciamento, along the lines of “Those who live in tiny, cheap apartments cannot play instruments” but for the love of God, just by living next to you I did not sign up to listen to YOUR music all day long! Even if it isn’t overpoweringly loud, it is extremely aggravating.

And another thing, while I’m writing. The intercom system in our apartment building does not work. You can buzz folks in, but you can’t talk to them. Fortunately, you and I both live approximately 6 feet from the main entrance to the building, so when someone buzzes that you’re not expecting, you can just open the door or look through your peephole to identify them. Well, I can. You, however, must spend long periods of time playing with the non-functional intercom, shouting into it at your friends (a whole 6 feet away at the entrance) and occasionally thumping it in an attempt to repair it. You guessed it, this intercom is also on the wall our two apartments share. I can hear all of this, and it’s fucking annoying. Especially when that one friend of yours plays “Shave and a Haircut” with the buzzer.
Literally all day. He’s a communications student at a local art college, but he must not ever go to class, because he was playing guitar for almost 12 hours yesterday.

2

I once lived in an apartment whose doorbell had somehow gotten cross-wired to another apartment’s. There was either no intercom or it didn’t work (I forget which), so when my doorbell rang I had to either walk down to the front door to see who it was, or just buzz them in and hope it was for me instead of them. What made it worse was that the damn bell sometimes rang throughout the night, and if no one buzzed them in they would start yelling. I finally started disconnecting the doorbell every night and told all my friends to call before they came over so I would be expecting them.
Complaints to the landlord were useless, as his only concern was collecting the rent, but fortunately a year after I moved in he sold the place. The new landlord started a major renovation, which included evicting or non-renewing all the undesirables and fixing things like the doorbells.

3

Melandry, *?

4

I will never live in another apartment complex again. I’d have to start a new thread to explain the everyday hell I’ve been through over the years. But loud neighbors I lived with peacefully. However needle junkies begging for favors, insain people who think they are confederate soldiers leaving bones outside your door, and neighbors with guns who just walk in any time they wish…apartment complex living sux.

You have rights as a renter. Go talk to your land lord or lady…

5

Just what I needed, Wikkit, an asterisk!

Why thank you! :slight_smile:

6

Oh yeah, could you put it just before the ‘Literally’?

7

Last time I lived in an apartment complex, my drummer and I rented out a practice space, but I still needed to be able to play/record when then mood hit me. When I needed to play very very loud in the apartment, I would unplug the speaker to the amp (a relatively simple procedure on most guitar amps), and plug in my headphones instead. Sure, headphones don’t produce the same lovely sonic wall as 2 12" speakers, but they also don’t get me yelled at by neighbors, landlords or the cops:D