Sometimes, when you live in our apartment, you hear a chainsaw going off at 6:30 in the morning. We haven't quite figured out the reason why this chainsaw would be on and sawing about as loudly as possible at such an ungodly hour, but the non-negotiable fact is that it is. And we just lay there, the helpless victims who want nothing more than to be able to sleep for an hour and a half more.
At roughly 12:30 am, it isn't rare to hear the girls that live above us walking into their apartment. Unfortunately, in order for them to do this, they have to walk right past our bedroom window. Their comings and goings are often accompanied by shrieks, loud exclamations, and louder boy companions. One time, a group of these hoodlums were gathered directly outside our window, talking as if they were all at least half a mile away from each other. Good heck. I crawled across our bed, and Drew, to the window, pulled the blinds away and knocked very loudly. I added a nice, "Shut uuup!" for a dramatic effect. They all looked shocked, but followed my orders. I'm sure I looked terrifying.
There are other times that we hear sirens. We are fortunate enough to live in extremely close proximity to the fire and police departments. This is a good thing because if we ever had a fire or a burglar, it would get taken care of at record speed. This is bad because of the sirens. I don't mind them too much, unless they go off when I'm trying to sleep. Then it gets old.
Almost directly next door to our apartment is a convenience store. Even for a convenience store, it is very convenient for us. I have really enjoyed the benefits of living so close to this place (aka: chocolate and Diet Dew less than ten steps away at any time I darn well please), except for one time, the other day. On this particular afternoon, a man had parked his black car outside of the store while he went in to do a little shopping. The only problem was that he left the music playing in his car on, with the windows wide open. Bigger problem, the music was played by some horrific metal band at full blast. Let me repeat the fact that he wasn't even in his car. The music was just echoing through our street. He must have stayed inside for roughly twenty minutes, and I wanted to drive the car into the store.
We are also happy to report that we live right down the street from a lovely old bar. That was sarcasm. Some strange (and considerably inebriated) characters have been known to wander past our apartment, making obnoxious noises. They also, at times, choose to break bottles and leave cigarette butts. Lovely. So lovely.
But, on the bright side, the rent is cheap, the windows let in lots of light, and our landlord recently blessed us with a new water heater. It heats water in such a way that a warm shower can last for more than five minutes, and the bathtub fills up completely
before the water gets cold. Amazing.
