Until she decided to move and rent the apartment to new tenants.
I tried to be neighborly - did the new neighbor thing. But the first day they (Brits) moved in, they started slamming things on their floor. "Oh sorry, noisy moving men..." And then it was, "We have 3 kids. They're used to living in a house and not having to share with others." Otay, so rent a villa! For what they are paying for the place upstairs, they could get an entire separate villa somewhere (somewhere where you could hang your bras on your terrace where no one would mind, eh? Think we ALL didn't notice your unmentionables hanging in the wind like we live in an Egyptian boarding house? Nobody needs to see all that. Buy a freekin dryer!)
So this has been going back and forth for several years now. I've asked them to come down and listen to the noise from their apartment. I've asked them to come down if my noise ever gets to be too much. They never have. I kinda wish they would have because then I could gauge the level I should keep it at. I went upstairs the last time to say something and dude slammed the door in my face. Not nice. (He later came down to mine after I shouted up the stairs and I had the opportunity to slam my door in his face. Touche.)The response by the lady of the house (the sensible one) has been, "It's your right to be noisy. It's your home." I don't agree with that. I share the home with neighbors and it isn't my house. I don't live alone. I can't be noisy. ... and neither should they. Granted, they shouldn't have to walk around like mice (put down some carpeting - you get a 30% discount) but they don't have to walk around like elephants either.
She made a big deal of stating time and again that they have THREE children. Hey, if I had THREE children, I would want to live in a separated home or somewhere where my THREE children wouldn't bug the heck out of others and scare the bejezus out of their little dog. Me, I don't think that children are an excuse to disturb others; but many out there will probably disagree with me. If you can't teach your kids appropriate manners maybe you should make other living arrangements. Maybe in a place where the neighbors have kids too - and are more understanding.
I have a dog. She has better manners than my upstairs neighbors kids. She doesn't bark all the time....
Je, I guess I'm not terribly understanding. I'm a hard working person who wants to come home to peace and quiet. I pay extra for that. I want to sleep late on the weekends and take naps after a really hard day.
Bitchy? Perhapseee...So anyhooo..
Today I came home and happened to look at their window - the one right upstairs from my bedroom. They have a BASKETBALL HOOP installed on the wall right above where my bed is! WTF! Game on. I'm going to buy Bose speakers this week. "Surround sound" will have new meaning. I have LOTS of children; all invisible; all wildass redneck; all like to party. Rock on with your bad selves. ....'Invisible Baby Bubba, you put down that layamp!!'
Desert Girl,
ReplyDeleteUse the brain - be crafty - several strategies you can use
1) take them to court,
2) Go to Dubai for a weekend, but before you do leave various alarms (set LOUD) for 330am, 6am, etc (Gee, so sooorry - I forgot...hehe)
3) make a recording of desert dog yapping away - play the tape while you go camping.....
fight back
revenge is a dish best served cold while you're away at 330am - hehehe
Lol!! That is terrible. Have you tried white noise, when all else fails? I have an ocean sounds track I purchased on iTunes, and I use it to help our baby get a nap when her older brothers are playing in our small home. I just put it on repeat and let it go for hours. I know you really just want peace and quiet, but drowning them out with something decent might be a (not-so-close) second!
ReplyDeleteAC/DC's greatest Christian hits will do nicely and so will George Jones.
ReplyDeleteI think that possibly the basketball hoop was intentional from these vicious, vindictive people. I would either move or go on 'an eye for an eye' campaign against the basterds, but that could get ugly and if they are Kuwaiti, they'll just call the police on you and that could cause a problem for you as an expat. The WORST people, the RUDEST people, that I have ever met in my life, I met in Kuwaitand they were from all nationalities. In addition, I am no longer impressed by someone having a PHD. I have met a slew of idiots with PHD's. AND I am sick of the rude elevator etiquette and for people putting their ass in my face when I am sitting on a plane. Half the stuff people do here will land you with a fist in your face in many countries. Thank you for letting me vent this morning!
ReplyDeleteMy upstairs neighbors are BRITISH.
ReplyDeleteCan you believe that shit?? I always think of the Brits (and I believe rightfully so) as the more quiet, well-mannered types (while we 'mericans tend to be more brash).
I'm ready to open a big can o'whoop ass.
When I first came to Kuwait, I lived in a Frost apartment with really bad noise (I think I had a drywall partitiion between me and the trailer trash neighbors). They put their 2 year old in the living room next to the drywall and let it scream ALL the time (when the apartment was large enough that if they had put the child/devil-baby to sleep in a back bedroom, I never would have heard it).
This went on and on. I complained - and to Frost management. I cried. It was awful.
I finally got "creative" and borrowed a nasty nasty porn movie from a friend (believe that as you will) and let it play - LOUD - 24/7. Problem solved.
BTW - I LOVE your comments! THANKS
We have had the same problem...we can hear the neighbors 2 floors above, plus the one above us! This is the second batch of neightbors..the owner did not renew the lease of one and the other one left all by herself..humduallah! (They were all American) now we have new families, one American and from African country...more noise, slamming gates, running kids, crying kids..we're looking for a new place..Our Kuwaiti neighbors in adjjacent villas are quiet, always apologize if they have had a party that lasted later than 10pm....like the alarms idea!!
ReplyDeleteVery strange especially coming from brit's i wonder which part of England they popped up from !
ReplyDeleteWooww put down that coffee! Maybe you need to trade apartments, then get a horse. by the way British women LOVE to called 'fat old cow'. I learned that real quick when we lived there and our neighbor had a sweet puppy, she actually called it her 'puppeee', in reality a HUGE German Shepard, she accused us of making him bark and we hadn't even been there for 2 months. Brits have a HUGE problem with neighbors, they have tv shows about it.
ReplyDeleteSo be prepared to be up against some professionals.
Gail
Lol, hey desert girl wanna play some hoop? lol. Seriously I feel you on this one. As hard as it may seem there is someone out there worse off then you. Me for example . . . yes I was much worse off at one time. I’m a male, I lived in a very nice apartment, I am not gay but my then neighbors were. There bedroom was right next to mine and you can only imagine the sounds I heard throughout different times of the day and night. It became so bad that I actually knew their schedule and planned around it, lol.
ReplyDeleteI became stuck in a situation where as I did not know how to approach and handle in a respectful manner. When I spoke with male friends about it they laughed and said “”be careful your next ha ha ha ha ha ””. Then family “”ha ha ha ””. Female friends “”OMG!! Ha ha ha ha what does it sound like? Ha ha ha””. One day it all stopped. I’m thinking “finally I can get sleep at night and spend less time at the swimming pool, ect.” So I’m walking back to the apartment and I see my neighbor walking towards me on his way to the swimming pool (skin tight bikini shorts, girl friend not with me at that time) and he stops and said “Do you like your apartment? Is there anything I can help you out with? Here’s my calling card, call me, maybe we can do dinner”. I looked at him and said “”dood, are you serious?” So that respectful manner crap I mentioned earlier flew out the window. The Police arrived on the scene within 20 min. I lived at my apartment for no longer then 3 months!!
Apologies as this may be a little off topic .......But by any chance do you still have that Hasty Porn Movie by any chance ??
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - March 7. Dude, if it was a "hasty" porn movie, it would defeat the purpose, n'est pas?
ReplyDeleteAnd no, I don't. The Man "threw away" (aka - took it to his friend's F flat to watch later) all my porn about 5 years ago.
i'm british, been here over 21 years and would never want to be in the same block of flats as brits. Not because i don't like brits but i know when it comes to noise they probably wouldn't be too co-operative if you made any suggestions re: their noise. Been through that in england and you get nowhere.
ReplyDeleteWe've had plenty of problems here in the past thru neighbours, but i usually find the best way is to go and complain when they have guests. Embarrass the hell out of them. They'll either quieten down or move (tho most brits are fairly thick-skinned).
Now we have our current neighbours fairly well trained and they try to keep the noise down.
Play loud Harley exhaust sounds on your Bose speakers...or we can get a few bikers to rev their engines at 3 AM.
ReplyDeleteYou go girl!! mrlnavy
ReplyDeleteDG- Is there an update on the Basketball hooping neighbors? It's March Madness here in the States so I am just curious if they are watching?
ReplyDeleteWhat about an Ethiopian living top next to your apartment and walking like elephants plus the kid plays basketball? and on Thursday night a whole night Party, dancing like in fire with their steps that I'm feeling the apartment would collapse on me? I hate these them very inconsiderate.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny,
ReplyDeleteGot a word for you: move. That was my solution. People are assholes and your peace of mind is much more important.