I mentioned that we seem to’ve moved straight from winter to summer? I took Harriet out back at about 11:00 last night, and Mr. Upstairs had his AC running. Now, I’ll grant that it’s warmer in upper apartments than lower ones, but it couldn’t have been that warm up there. I mean, I had to go get a blanket because I got a little chilly while watching teevee.
Air conditioning!?
In March!?
I really ought to stop complaining about the jerk upstairs, but I just can’t help myself. I heard him vacuuming yesterday afternoon, which made me happy. If he vacuums during the day, he probably won’t be doing it at 3am, right? So later on, when I went to take out the dog for her pre-dinner potty break, there were big, grey tufts of crud all over my patio. It was like a tumbleweed and a dust bunny had a litter of frankenspawn. O gross! Milton had dumped his vacuum canister over the balcony, instead of emptying it in the trash like a normal person.
There’s a mean, vindictive part of me that wants to pick up the mess and dump it on the carpet outside his front door.
Pandora basking by the space heater
The new furnace was installed today, and it is working beautifully. I’m looking forward to actually sleeping tonight, instead of listening to Mr. Upstairs, who is–even as I type–dropping free weights on the floor above my head. Really, I can’t think of a single nice thing to say about the guy right now, so I’ll just leave it at that.
Doodle
gel pen on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
I got a call from the maintenance guy this ayem, and they are going to be here bright and early tomorrow to install the new furnace.
I don’t know which I’m more sick of, not having heat, or sleeping in the “warm” living room. Last night, Mr. Upstairs spent the entire night–starting at about 11:00!–cleaning. First, it was the dishwasher, which is not, alas, a quiet model. Then, he commenced vacuuming–again, kinda loud! At about 12:30 he started rearranging furniture. At 2am, he recommenced with the vacuuming. In between the aforementioned events, there was much stomping around and dropping of heavy objects. I think he was intentionally trying to make me cry.
What in the hell is wrong with him?! I just don’t understand how a grown, adult human could think that sort of obnoxious behavior is acceptable. Was he absent on the day they studied sound waves in physics class?
And then there’s Miss Pandora, bless her heart. Somewhere in all the upstairs noise-making, I managed to drift off to sleep, only to be abruptly awakened by the sound of the vertical blinds clanging together. It was Pandora, running back and forth, along the patio window. “Clank clank clank” is not, as it turns out, very good music to sleep by.
Doodle
gel pen on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches
Just to cap off a perfectly irritating day, Mr. Upstairs is rightthisminute jogging on his treadmill. While listening to some sort of thumpety-thump rave music. Also, the front hallway smells like pee.
Calgon, take me away!
I usually have some sort of white noise going to block out the noise from upstairs, but while the electricity was out, it was deathly quiet. I guess Milton doesn’t know how to read or otherwise amuse himself quietly, because he spent half the night banging on his frigging xylophone. His mother really ought to box his ears for that.
Milton seems to have acquired a xylophone. I’d post more, but my ears are bleeding.
I also picked up a new bed for Harriet while I was out yesterday. She needed somewhere comfortable to sleep while I’m in the studio. Even though it’s carpeted in here, the floor is cold (damned heat vents are up by the ceiling!), and she’s a delicate flower.
Harriet was disdainful at first, and for awhile I thought I may have actually bought a cat bed by mistake. Eventually, Harriet decided to give it a try. She spent yesterday afternoon and most of this morning sleeping in it. I’m glad I opted for the one with the nesty sides, because I think it’s a big hit. (And, as you can see by using the cat–who is on the petite side–for scale, Harriet is on the small side herself. I was afraid at first that the bed wouldn’t be big enough, but once she curls up, there’s room to spare.)
I wish I could have slept the morning away lazily, but I had to get up for Mr. FedEx. It’s a good thing I did, too, because he showed up at the crack of dawn. And now, even if I wanted to take a nap, I couldn’t, because Mr. Upstairs has his teevee blaring away. I think he must have had custody of his children this weekend, because there were small pitter-pattering feet, very loud cartoons, and the world’s longest one-fingered rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on the keyboard. The last was cute for about twenty minutes, but after that, my ears started to bleed. Also, the front hallway smells like someone cooked rotten pork with ginger and oranges. O ick.
I think Harriet may have the right idea. We were waked up at the ass-crack of dawn by Mr. Upstairs plonking away on his keyboard. Electronic harpsichord at 6am is really beyond the pale, I think. I have a feeling there will be napping later today.
I adore the duvet cover in the picture. It came from my mom. Both sides are shades teal (I love teal), but the “right” side has some thin red and yellow stripes I’m not too keen on. It occurred to me that I could flip it over, though. Et voila, problem solved. It’s a heavy, crispy cotton, too, which feels nice. I filled it with a fat, ugly comforter, so it’s wonderfully squishy and crunchy, all at the same time.
The bed side table in the upper left in the picture is the one below. It was really ugly, but sturdy and a nice size and shape. I decided it would be much improved if it were sporting a decoupaged the shit out of it.
I’m happy to report that Mr. Upstairs has finally achieved the next level on his favorite video game. Well, to be truthful, I’m not exactly happy to report it. It’s more like the new music accompanying this level of the game is a welcome change from the days-on-end drone of the music from the previous level. At last! Something a little different!
I can also report that he has thus far kept his New Year’s resolution to exercise daily. He’s up to 20 minutes a day on the treadmill, and has been known on occasion to break into a slow–and blessedly brief–jog. Unfortunately, the treadmill is in the second bedroom, above my studio, which is where my computer lives. Usually, I’m on the computer at about the same time the treadmill revs up. The sound of the sky falling can be a little distracting.
I still can’t figure out if he’s gainfully employed outside the house. His schedule is:
So, you can see why I’m perplexed. Either he doesn’t sleep, or he doesn’t work. Either way, it’s only for five hours, and that ain’t natural!
Another thing that perplexes me is that I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no carpet in his apartment. At least, not in the living room and dining room. I not only hear his footsteps loud and clear, but when he wears shoes, I can hear them clattering on an obviously bare floor. The lack of carpet surely contributes to the conduction of noise to my apartment. In fact, it seems to amplify it. (Addendum: I asked my across-the-hall neighbor, who works for the property management company, and she said there is carpet upstairs. Very odd.)
Photos: Duck in Birdbath [This Mr. Upstairs Update has nothing whatsoever to do with ducks.]
red paper boat 