Sleeping with earplugs, anyone?

[ny biker]

We have already learned our lesson about living on any floor but the top. We lived in houses for years, then moved into an apartment for a bit over a year. We were in the top floor, and we could still occasionally hear the couple below us, when they had a party with kids running around. But they came up and asked us to tone it down when we were playing with our dog (throwing her stuffed dog for her to retrieve). We had no idea how loud a 16 lb. dog running on carpet must be above their heads. So, that stopped us from playing indoors with her the rest of the time we lived there.

Now we live in a first floor condo. We thought the noise would be minimal since this is a brand new concrete building, but we hear the people above us walking across their floor like elephants, we hear music, etc. Never again. We will only live on the top floor (if in a condo/apt) or in a townhouse, or in a single-family home. Even the top floor is not great because of worrying about our dog making noise and bothering those below us.

Earplugs are a way of life for me!

The key is that you actually care about bothering your neighbors. The **** who lives upstairs from me knows she is bothering me, and she doesn't care. She prefers to pretend she is the only person who lives in the building.

And she's a dentist. Considering the ungentle way she lives (always slamming things), I can only imagine how awful it is to be one of her patients.

Oh, and did I mention how she treats her dog? When she first got the dog, it barked nonstop for hours while it was home alone. So I left a note saying that the dog was in distress. I really wanted to say that the noise was bothering me, but I figured I'd get better results if I concentrated on the dog's well-being. Anyway, instead of training the dog, she dealt with it by always taking the it with her when she leaves the house. Which means she's leaving the dog in the car while she goes shopping and runs errands. In all kinds of weather. I have no idea what happens to it while my neighbor is at work all day.

I've lived in apartments and condos for 30 years now, and the noise transfer does vary depending on the building. Unfortunately the place I live now is really bad for up-down noise transfer. On the other hand, I never hear a peep from the people next door.

The best was the pre-war building I lived in when I was in NYC, and the apartment I had in Chicago at the corner of Clark and Fullerton. Though the one in Chicago had lots of street noise, especially sirens.