Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I'm Still Alive

I've tried to keep this site light and cheery, but lately things haven't been going that well for a number of reasons. So I haven't posted anything for more than a month and even thought of giving up blogging. Besides being extremely busy at work (I'm my own worst enemy in that regard - I'll run myself ragged until I'm completely drained and then get depressed), the noise issues in my apartment are taking their toll on my mental health. I hear my upstairs neighbors walking back and forth in their apartment as if there were no barrier between us, and they refuse to get carpeting in their living room. But worse, I was idiotic enough to buy an apartment adjacent to an elevator. It turns out that parts of the elevator machinery seem to get lose (it's a very old building), and when they do, I get clanging and thumping in my apartment that vibrates through my very soul. Making it worse, is that dealing with the management company and the superintendent has been a nightmare. They'll eventually call in some mechanics after I complain enough and make some adjustments that seem to help, but the problem always returns after a couple of months. To add insult to injury, they act like I'm the problem and claim that they don't hear the noise and that noone else has complained. However, I'm on the second floor and the closest one to the elevator motor so of course I'm bearing the brunt, and it's complete BS that they can't hear the noise. I've spoken to a couple of the porters, and they know exactly what the sound I'm hearing is. (And this is supposed to be a top-notch building.)

Anyway, today I had some soundproofing folks from City Soundproofing over to evaluate the situation. They were very professional and made me feel better because they totally validated my belief that the elevator noise is excessive (yes, I realize I'm paying them and it's in their interest to make me feel that way). They're going to go back and formulate a proposal but they tell me that although we may be able to treat the ceiling, there's not much I can do about the elevator noise on my end. So tomorrow I'll go back to the management company and start this dance again. It's really draining.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, Regina here. I'm glad to see you back and posting -- I know what it is to come up with something wonderful and good for others to read while some many other things are going on. I, for one, hope you keep blogging. I'm sorry for the apartment woes -- we had similar issues in our condo up North and finally just ended up selling the place. At first it felt like we gave in but then the peace at the new place (and fresh areas to design) took over. I do hope it gets better -- can the soundproof guys do something with that one wall next to the elevator? Well -- just know someone is sending you good thoughts from down here in Florida.

LMS said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LMS said...

Thanks for your kind words, Regina. We'll see what the soundproofing guys come back with. Believe me, even in this market, selling may definitely turn out to be the best option. Can't put a price on mental health, you know. Speaking of blogs, yours is looking lovely (note that I've added Garay Artisans to my favorite sites!). I truly envy that you do what you love and are passionate about. We should all be so fortunate. You go, girl!

Anonymous said...

Wow -- thank you on both the blog and the compliments! It's been a lot of hard work, but I am a lucky person to do what I love. BTW, I made it easier to get on our blog and made it Fauxology.com -- just so that it wasn't such a long thing to type. Keep us posted on the home...