three by three rib

It's very strange typing with earplugs in; I'm used to being able to hear the keys a little better than I can feel them. And every time I scratch my nose, there's a weird sort of echo chamber thing going on.

Yes, the sonic warfare with the kids in Unit 1 has escalated. Not only do they have sex pretty much all the time, not only are they still walking around at night in their heavy shoes, not only can I make out every exquisite detail of his plentiful expectorations, but last night the people in the apartment above them, Unit 5, had a loud party. So the boy from Unit 1 apparently went up to talk to them, and when it didn't quiet down, started yelling shut the fuck up.

Repeatedly.

So I went upstairs to Unit 5 to ask them nicely to turn it down (I could also hear them), and then I went up again at the same time Unit 1 was there complaining, and I explained to both of them that I had had it. I believe I used the words efuckingnough already. No, I'm not pleased with how I handled it, but I was a little fragile. Unit 5 looked at me and apologized, Unit 1 looked at me like he was planning to slit my throat as I slept.

Not, of course, that I've been able to sleep, with all the noise.

So anyway, I came back downstairs, and twenty minutes later this terrific thumping started on my ceiling. No, it's not the bed, I know what that sounds like. Someone up there was banging something very deliberately against the floor, at irregular intervals, apparently until they passed out from exhaustion. This afternoon, it's just really loud talking.

Hence the plugs. The orange foam kind. At some point, I'm going to go up and try to talk nicely with those people, but I'm not in the mood for it yet.

The good news is that I've finished one of my knitting projects. This is a huge deal, as you all may remember from the sock monkey story; not only did I finish something I started, but it's a knit thing. The first knit thing I've seen through to the end. There's all kind of symbolism to this, but I just want to say that I was very pleased last night, putting it on and admiring it in the mirror. It's a scarf, knit in 3x3 rib, and I couldn't believe how...real...it looked. I stood there, turning this way and that, and said, wow, it's really a scarf.

I'm having a hard time getting across how cool this is. Trust me, it is.