Mr. Eveready

Tonight is a beautiful night! The windows are open, the crickets are chirping and there's a nice breeze coming in from the window. It seems peaceful. Then I hear something else, a lot monotonous sound. I know it's not the sump pump (I know for sure because it broke today, getting fixed tomorrow.) It must be...

Mr. Eveready!

Who is Mr. Eveready you ask? He is my neighbor, we share a common wall in my row home and the wall is thin, very thin, I'm sure it does not meet the code requirements for thickness and soundproofing. He likes music, of the loud screaming variety with...you guessed it...low monotonous bass lines!

Mr. Everyeady has been a source of conversation for me since I moved here over a year ago. When I was first moving in, coming to the house on weekends and nights to paint and get things ready for moving day I had a situation with the smoke detector one night. It kept beeping. I had not batteries to replace it with. I saw my new neighbor outside, introduced myself, apologized in case he could here the repetitive beeping and I said I'd be coming back with a battery tomorrow. He offered to go out and buy me a battery. I declined. I was a little freaked out by this offer. I know most people would think this was really nice but as a single woman moving into a new home it seemed a bit forward of him and I was instantly uncomfortable. I went about my evening, went home and came back the next day. Upon arrival I came up to my door to find that two 9 volt Eveready batteries had been taped to my door...and thus was the birth of...Mr. Eveready.

He is a kind, caring next door neighbor, who happens to annoy me a lot of the time. He is loud, he listens to loud music, he talks on the phone loudly, and runs up and down the stairs with a force in his feet that sounds like an elephant is going to come crashing through the wall. He also has a fantastic habit of jumping from about the 5th step from the bottom onto the landing causing the house to shake and scaring Mortimer.

The bathroom seems to have the thinnest wall in the entire house. I think that that is just about the worst room to be able to hear your neighbor in. I have herd him use the bathroom, get sick in the bathroom and then there was that awesomely awkward moment where he and a lady companion were in the shower. Each time I tip toe out hoping that he doesn't hear me and then in return have the knowledge that I have heard him.

I know that this is just sometimes what comes with homes being connected. In a way I think it's good for me. I tend to want to live in a secluded area that is far way from all people. It forces me to acknowledge that I'm not alone in the world and that others are around to witness my life. It also helps to point out all of my insecurities with being friendly to neighbors and people I wouldn't otherwise be friends with. But for tonight, I would just really like Mr. Eveready to turn the volume down!!!