Marlboro Man

[NightrainSrt4]

This afternoon I'm working on my MAME cabinet mod (worklog coming soon) only to hear the guy next door out on the balcony yelling. Mind you, I've only been using the jigsaw for about 45 seconds (another 2 minutes maybe 3 1/2 hours before that) so I stop. He's yelling about not being able to sleep (3PM in the afternoon). Being considerate I say to myself screw it and come back inside and will just work during the afternoon tomorrow.

I wasn't violating any town ordinances, nor was I violating any clause in the lease. I'm about to leave a note on his door stating, "I was considerate enough to stop what I was working on, the least you can do is be considerate enough not to toss cigarette butts onto the cars below". He's a chain-smoking emphysema ridden rude old man who tosses all his butts onto my cars every single day.

I don't know why I was considerate. I had a minute and a half of cutting left. I should have just finished what I was doing and ignored the old geezer, but I'm too damn nice. Bleck.

Suggestions for next time?

[Twigsoffury]

Suggestions for next time?

"Do you mind if I call you before I saw next time? Or if better, here's my phone number so you can call me when I'm sawing and tell me to cut it out."

[Neodymium]

"Do you mind if I call you before I saw next time? Or if better, here's my phone number so you can call me when I'm sawing and tell me to cut it out."

TOF is being too nice...you're within your rights...it's not like your're doing anything after 7PM...like partying (which works just fine ) and being loud...I don't know any law that says you can't do anything on your own property and I don't think the db level is anywhere close to disturbing...and on a jigsaw?...I would, instead of giving the guy options, like "call me" (no offence, TOF ) and giving a stranger your phone number, I would rather say, "so when is a good time to do this?" or "does 4PM work for you?"...if he keeps going off about the noise, just ignore him, you gave him the options ... my 2

[Locum51]

I'd say treat him like he treats you.....i'm the same, in the respects that i'm too damn nice to do anything, but some times you just have to go tell him to go suck a fat one.

If the cops come around because he called, tell them that you were considerate multiple times and "asked him" to stop throwing cigarette buds on your cars...multiple times....of course if your cops are like mine, they'll brown nose the old man and tell you to stop when he asks. V_V

[Neodymium]

....of course if your cops are like mine, they'll brown nose the old man and tell you to stop when he asks. V_V

Amen brother...same cops here...

[Omega]

Honestly, I say do what you're gonna do and let him deal with it.

If he continues to throw cigarette butts on your cars, even after you ask him to stop, then I see no reason why you should offer him any more courtesy than he offers you.

If he works nights and there is a legitimate reason why he has to sleep through the day, too bad. You're not breaking the law. Next time he tells you to knock it off, tell him earplugs are cheap and keep working.


My neighbor behind me would always cough really loudly and overtly whenever I was working in the backyard, cutting wood or playing with the dogs or whatever and eventually it got to the point where she was being extremely loud because she was trying to get my attention without just coming out and saying anything. So I asked her if she wanted me to call an ambulance for her, since she sounded like she had a hard time breathing...

Frankly, you can't take the time out of your day trying to accommodate assholes. If it's not the jigsaw, it'll be something else. You're within your rights so who cares? I'm pretty sure he'll live if he has to hear 2 minutes worth of jigsawing one day out of the month. So long as you don't do it in the middle of the night, I see no reason to worry.

[Neodymium]

Just as Omega said...you could be using a juicer or vacuuming in the house...those things are even noisier

[d_stilgar]

I would just keep cutting next time.

When I first got married my wife and I lived in this crap apartment and I worked from 11PM to 5AM three nights a week. I was playing music one afternoon at like 2PM, and it wasn't even that loud and a neighbor knocked on my door and asked if I would turn it down because her husband worked nights and was trying to sleep. I politely declined the request.

The deal is (and it was the same for me) that I chose to work that great job with the crappy hours and so did he (at least a similar). Both of us were obviously desperate enough to keep doing it too. However, when you choose to do something like that you choose everything that comes with it, including the knowledge that when you are going to want to sleep other people will be awake making noise. I knew that, but he apparently thought that the rest of the world should accommodate.

Same thing goes for apartment living. The old man will complain, but it's his choice (or at least circumstance) that he lives in an apartment and he can just deal with it.

That said, there's no need to be rude about it. As for the cigarette butts, hopefully you can get him to stop. It's littering and probably even vandalism if there was ever any evidence on your car.

[NightrainSrt4]

I think I'm just going to pull the fabric from the bathroom and do what cutting I need to do in there, as it will be the easiest spot in the house to clean up afterward. On top of that the bathroom fans are extremely noisy, so a handheld jigsaw / reciprocating saw / whatever they call them now or days isn't going to be a whole lot louder.

I would just use a handsaw but these few cuts I needed to make just would have taken forever.

I know it sucks when someone is being loud living in the apartment building. Luckily, unless someone is really screaming at the top of their lungs you can't hear much of anything as it is pretty well sound proofed. The problem is he leaves his slider door open as he probably can't breathe otherwise with the cartons of smoke in the apartment each day. The apartment management has tried to kick him out, but apparently him throwing cigarettes onto peoples cars wasn't enough to get the okay from higher ups. They said something about trying multiple times as there have been tons of complaints, but its apparently harder when the building has low income residents; it's more strict about what things you can evict for I guess.

[Mark_Hardware]

I'd drag my mitre saw out.... That thing is ridiculous, I won't use it without earplugs. Which I guess would be a double win.