Monday, February 12, 2007

What the Heck Are They DOING Up There?!

A little over a month ago, we had some new neighbors move into the apartment above ours. The first sign of trouble was the fact that the apartment is the same size as ours, but SIX people moved into it: 3 adults and 3 children. The next bad sign was that the two women in the family are on the heavy side, which means they can't help but make some noise when they walk. Now I am by no means trying to criticize them for their weight (I'm the last person that could do that!), but it sure makes it unpleasant to live directly underneath the floor they're walking on. And really the noise they make while walking isn't the worst of it. They're just dang loud people. I've lived in apartments for several years, and I've NEVER experienced anything like this. So you have the heavy walking, plus the shouting, children crying, nailing things into the wall at 11 p.m., loud TV on til after midnight, and hip-hop music blasting at 8 a.m. on Saturday for crying out loud.

But even all this is not what motivated me to write a post about it. The straw that broke the camel's back for me is that every evening after dinner, I have no idea what they're doing up there, but it really sounds like they're rearranging furniture - scrapes, bangs, booms, thumps, and crashes. So the other evening while Justin and I were attempting to watch Wheel of Fortune (We could see it, but we sure couldn't hear it very well!), I was hypothesizing about what they might be doing up there. Here are some of my ideas:

1. They've put in a bowling lane, and they're trying to get the coveted turkey.
2. They got a pet pony, and they're riding him in laps around the living room.
3. Jello wrestling.
4. They want to join the Russian Circus, so they're training a dancing bear.
5. Choreographing a treadmill routine like the OK Go video I posted on here several months ago.
6. Breeding miniature buffalo that have a nightly stampede across the dining room.
7. Experimenting with the explosive properties of household chemicals.
8. Water balloon fights. (That might explain the loud dripping noise whenever they take a shower!)
9. They're training for the Olympic Trampoline event, but the ceiling is too low and they keep crashing to the floor.
10. Half pipe.

Justin says that I'm silly and it's just the sound of the kids playing. But come on! Are kids really that loud?! It's certainly made me aware of how wrong it is to try to live in an apartment with children! I won't be making that mistake, Lord willing. Coming up with silly ideas about what they might be doing, though, makes me laugh and keeps me from being too angry about the noise.

So does anybody else have any ideas about what they might be doing up there?

8 comments:

Corrie said...

Other ideas...
-Having a dance party with one of those dancing mats?
-Playing a rowdy game of Twister?
-Practicing to join the US Olympic gymnastics team?
-Maybe one of them has restless leg syndrome and they are trying to walk it out?
I'm telling you what...get a SOUND SPA! They have them at Target for $12 or so. We sleep with one on and it drowns out the dog barking next door. It is amazing for sleeping purposes, but probably wouldn't do much for Wheel of Fortune viewing!

JTapp said...

Corrie, we're not far away from getting a sound spa. Joni has adopted my practice of using ear plugs at night.

Kristy said...

I think they are the new Jackson 5 but with 6. They have to practice their routine before they take it on the road. Also, there will be no getting mono for you. Mono and pregnancy don't mix well. And we won't be able to get tuna if you are sick. So I forbid it!

Shelly said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Joni said...

just to clarify Kristy's comment, SHE is the one who is pregnant, not me! i can't get mono because then we couldn't go eat tuna together because SHE is pregnant! didn't want any confused friends or parents out there thinking there was news i hadn't told them yet... :)

corrie! restless leg syndrome! i love it! we probably won't be getting a sound spa because as justin said, i have taken to sleeping with earplugs and it's wonderful! i'm planning to blog about that later in the week, so check back for exciting updates! :)

Unknown said...

Maybe they are running an illegal terrier racing ring... I am convinced that is what is going on above us!

Mollie said...

Well...I lived in an apartment once where the upstairs neighbors practiced their SKATEBOARDING moves in their living room....above our heads. You know, jumps and things like that. It was really interesting when watching an intense or scary movie! They always seemed to crash just when things were most intense! Yikes!

Anonymous said...

Well, let me tell you... with two kids our house can be quite NOISY! Grandma will call to talk and ask who all is over. "Just us, grandma" I would say. I understand about indoor hockey practicing, indoor roller blading, indoor radio control car racing, etc. This is why we do not live in an apartment :-)

When their apartment happens to be quiet (if that ever happens)just bang on your ceiling and play your music loud. If you are like me... I went to the neighbors at 1am in the morning and just banged on his bedroom window until he came to the door. Then I proceeded to ask him to please take his loud barking dog in the house!!