My friends are amazing. I am super fortunate to have them, and that they pick me warts and all.

The work wife stopped by today, a little unexpected but she called first she knows the rules. We spent hours sipping and talking and I am low key amazed that the conversation is so simple.

I’ve spent a lot of time over the years figuring out how to keep people at arms length and for the most part when I let down those defenses I am rewarded with an amazing human being to call friend. I am tired but I am also petty.

I know those things don’t seem to go together but it’s me, sometimes you just gotta nod and keep up.

When I first moved in here there was an Asian couple who lived upstairs. Never heard a peep from them. They ‘renovated’ the apartment when they moved out and the Asian couple were replaced with a single white male college student. He had an annoying habit he picked up after winter break of stomping when he first walked into the apartment, but otherwise not a peep. Even on football Sundays when he’d have friends over and they were all yelling at the game, it was pretty tame.

About a month ago, new neighbor #3 moved in. At first I thought it was a single male, but later that day the female SO arrived. I was mildly disappointed for a number of reasons. The first few days were loud. Not music or TV or arguing, but walking. Nicole, you live on the ground floor, you can’t ask the people not to walk in their own home. Right, except these two walk and it sounds like they are going to come crashing into my living room at any second.

These aren’t Philly or Baltimore rowhomes where there are layers of concrete between us. Yes you might hear SOME of the footsteps of the people upstairs but what they are doing is different. They can’t seem to do something as simple as walk from the kitchen to the balcony without the ceiling shaking. I have yet to see them move in a stick of furniture yet they are always in the living room and noisy. At times my front window shakes. Again, from them just seeming to ‘walk’. I gave it a couple weeks, after all it takes time to settle into a new home. What they are settling is beyond me, again no furniture seems to have arrived, but I tried to be patient. The day they moved in I even gave them a care package – toilet paper towel paper disinfecting wipes and a few trash bags.

I’m a pretty quiet neighbor. I still don’t own a TV [although that is going to change VERY soon]. I play music usually through the Portal which is not exceptionally loud. I do fuck kinda loud, but since his accident Iron Man and I have had infrequent visits and the other person I don’t invite here, not to fuck anyhow. Even then, its 3 hours or so of me orgasming and then back to Nicole being quiet.

I could take no more and I wrote a note. Dear neighbor, you may not be aware but you’re causing a distraction, please don’t. Here’s a book even as a good will gesture! Yep I gave them one of my books. I wrapped it in a nice gift bag and put it on their doorknob. I didn’t even knock to disturb them. No change. It’s like I wrote the note in Chinese, because they are still upstairs walking like 56 elephants.

Sigh.

Ok I thought. At some point this week when I see them both home I will just knock and ask nicely if they can be more considerate. That way I can also see if they got furniture, although WHEN they would have brought it in is beyond me – I’ve WFH almost every day for the past month and when I’ve been out on a date or whatever I’ve only been gone a few hours.

Then I went to take out the trash. Now, my apartment comes with an assigned parking spot. I almost never use it. It’s far from my unit, it is not well lit over there etc. I don’t invite trouble for the most part. Me not using it doesn’t make it less mine though, and what do I see when I drive past the dumpster? The neighbor is parked in my spot.

Sigh.

I have another neighbor who actually asked if they could use the spot, and to THEM I said sure. Again, I rarely use it. They were respectful to ask though, not just assume because I wasn’t using it they could.

Instead of going full Nicole though, I left a note on his other car. Please move to your assigned spot you are parking in mine. I won’t know until tomorrow or so if he moves it. I hope that he does. It would be better if he does.

I would rather not go full petty Nicole. As it is partially petty Nicole is up doing laundry at 10pm because why extend courtesy without reciprocity? Full petty Nicole has yet to be unpacked since my arrival in California. She’s looking at me from the bench though, letting me know she’s ready. I’d prefer she sit and rest, and that at this point is up to the neighbors. She’s ready to go a year though if necessary. Like others here in the city though, sometimes you just gotta fuck around and find out.