yoshimi battles the pink robots.

There is quite the fight of wills going on right now in my little triplex and it’s both amusing and irritating. First off, let me just say that I think it is very annoying that I’m living in a cute little collection of apartments in a shitty neighborhood with shitty neighbors. Even though it doesn’t really look like Melrose Place, the life I envisioned in this little “courtyard” is so displeasing and disappointing, the furthest from MP that you can get.

Anyway, the “family” at the end has for whatever reason decided they should have control over the entire property and make all the rules for everyone else, as it suits their needs. The particular battle happening right now, a battle that has been going on for several weeks, has to do with lighting. Let me briefly explain. There are four property lights, two covering the parking area and then two inside the “courtyard.” My family doesn’t mind the parking lights. But the lights for the “courtyard” have become a real problem for us. One of the lights shines directly into the living room and Ry’s bedroom. And the other light shines directly into my bedroom. And these aren’t soft, pretty lights that turn off and on when they sense motion, which I wouldn’t mind. No, they are bright glaring lights that turn on at sundown and go off at sunrise. In other words, they are on ALL NIGHT LONG. It looks like daylight shining through our blinds. I’m not exaggerating. They’re Altoids-intense, my friends.

These lights were operational when we moved in last year. At that time, the bulbs were a orangey glowy sort, not all that pleasing, but not obnoxious beyond reason. They created a small glow into our rooms, but nothing we couldn’t deal with, we got used to it. There were times when I just wished the lights were gone, because they were so unnecessary, and I had even thought about finding a way to turn them off, but then they just stopped working, back in December, right after the property changed owners. So for many months there was no problem and no obnoxious lights and life was great.

The whole lighting situation surfaced when the “family” at the end decided one day that they didn’t like how dark it was when they brought their three small children home at 11pm at night (which in itself is annoying, because every night, without fail, they come home with crying whining kids and you know why? Because three small children should be in bed sleeping at 11pm at night not running around all over town with their selfish parents and I know I am getting sidetracked here but it truly drives me bonkers). So the “mother” of the family talked with property managers and the maintenance guy came along and fixed the lights and the battle began.

The first night of the lights, we tried to live with it. We really did. But the were a real distraction. Not just a minor annoyance, but a major issue. Like I said, I would have accepted those orange lights, or even better, if they had installed motion-sensor lights. But they didn’t and those bright glaring lights shone into our living space all night long, disrupting our relaxation and sleep. And I don’t see why I should have to live so uncomfortably for the neighbors just because they think it’s too dark (which it isn’t at all, the house next door to our triplex has motion lights that come on when you walk by and they’re so bright light up our courtyard).

So, the next day Gordon took out all the light bulbs. Ahh, calm and peace, at least for us. A few days later, new light bulbs appeared. We again tried to accept the lights, but to no avail. So Gordon unscrewed all the bulbs, but left them in the sockets this time. It’s been this way for a few weeks. Tonight however, swords were unsheathed. When we came home, the lights were working again and this time there was a note on the wall. It said: “To ALL residents….due to bad lighting blah blah blah, please don’t mess around with the lights, blah blah blah, The Management.”

Oh boy. OH BOY.

Now, we’re leaving in two days. If there hadn’t been that note, well, I would have just dealt with it. But that note…it really got to me. I don’t like those people to begin with, they are extremely unfriendly and from what I’ve witnessed, they don’t respect their children very much. And I know for certain that the property managers did not come to our triplex at 6pm on a Saturday, which is when we left, to fix lights and leave notes. Which means that they typed up the note themselves and assumed that because it said “The Management” we’d sit up straight and drink our milk and eat our vegetables.

Needless to say, the lights are off and our apartment is blissfully dark.

Everyone knows it was us messing with the lights, so the fact that the note was there and the line said “To ALL residents” with the “all” part in bold and underlined, and the lights were fixed only AFTER we left (I was home just about all day long), was just the thing to push my buttons. If our courtyard was truly in the dark, if it was impossible to see, I might be more understanding. But there IS light, you CAN see and those fuckers only have to walk MAYBE 5 total feet in the “semi-dark” before they get to their place, which is lit up like Times Square.

I know no one else in the world cares about this situation, but I feel better having vented about it. What is it with people needing 100000-watt light shining over every single step? A little bit of darkness is okay, it’s good, it’s natural. christ in a tin can, people need to end this crazy obsession with bright lights and just enjoy a little night. It’s good for you, good for the soul.

And don’t even get me started on the parking issue we’ve had with the very same family. Seriously, don’t get me started.

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