Day 116

Today is the 4th day of the 17t week,  the 26th day of the 4th month, the 116th day of 2023 [with only 242  shopping days left until Christmas], and

• Administrative Professionals Day
• Alien Day
• Audubon Day
• Confederate Memorial Day
• Denim Day
• Get Organized Day
• Hug a Friend Day
• Hug an Australian Day
• International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day  - The Chernobyl accident in 1986 actually wasn't in Russia, altho Russians built the reactor, but happened in Ukraine.  It is widely considered the worst nuclear disaster to date.
• International Guide Dog Day
• International Noise Awareness Day
• Lesbian Visibility Day 
• National Dissertation Day
• National Help a Horse Day
• National Kids and Pets Day
• National Library Outreach Day
• National Pretzel Day
• National Richter Scale Day
• National Static Cling Day
• Stop Food Waste Day
• Walk at Lunch Day
• World Intellectual Property Day

Quote of the day:

"What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel… is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become"

~ Ursula K LeGuin, The Language of Night

Anyone who has ever lived in a multifamily property, whether you are an owner or a tenant, is intimately aware that no one person is an island.   Odors seep in at times, filtering thru the hallways.  Sounds sometimes intrude - the bass of loud music, a very loud argument, kids screaming while playing in common areas.  For the most part, if you are in a well constructed buildings, these intrusions are uncommon - even so, the little things can get pretty annoying (( don't get me started on those who sign a lease that states they are moving into a no smoking building, then proceed to puff away, spreading cigarette smoke everywhere )).    But there is one thing every single building and therefore every single resident has in common.....

No matter how new or old the building is.  No matter how clean you keep your unit.  It doesn't make a difference that you have everything sealed in plastic storage.  You are going to see scurrying critters when you turn on the light at night in the kitchen because the little buggers live in the walls, behind the appliances where it is most, even nesting next to electrical outlooks or in HVAC units where it is warm.  They come up out of the drains in the kitchens and bathrooms.  All you can really do is make sure you are not providing them with encouragement by leaving dirty dishes in the sink or not keeping the grout in your tub/shower area both clean and in good repair.  And management can have pest control come in regularly

Over the years of apartment living, I the routine pretty much down.  No open boxes - contents have to be decanted or in a plastic bag.  Nothing left in the sink overnight and the dishwasher is not a place to keep dirty dishes.  Pet food has to be carefully stored, cannot be out in the kitchen but has to be served elsewhere, and wet food cannot be out overnight.  I cannot control how my neighbors keep their places though.

I am working from home today because pest control is scheduled to come.  Since this new owner took over some four years ago, my property has experience a lot of issues - the new owner didn't want to pay for services they didn't feel necessary, and apparently they put pest control in that category.  Things got out of hand quickly and they got reported to the county, after which there was all kinds of remedial catching up that had to be done.  However, they  till don't come as regularly as they used to and sometimes they arbitrarily skip some apartments.  That's bad news for those skipped because the little critters like to migrate over from the treated units, and I have had to complain when my place hasn't been treated in over six months.  

When you live in a building like this, it is the little things that get annoying and get under your skin.  You either learn to cope with it or when it gets to the point you when it really stresses you out, then you move

Of course the stress of moving is an entire different subject!  Let's not go there right now....