There goes the neighbourhood

Was roused at 6 am this morning by my neighbours fighting and not for the first time. As usual, they were screaming at each other. This time, their fight revolved around underwear.

Her: I WAS WEARING FUCKING UNDERWEAR!!!
Him: [...INCOHERENT...]
Her: I DON’T HAVE ANY TO GIVE!!!
Him: YOU’VE GOT A WHOLE FUCKING DRAWER FULL OF UNDERWEAR!!!

[...]

Yeah. Mokay.

Did I mention that it was 6 am? Not a problem for our neighbours! They argue and fight at any time of night or day. In fact, I wonder when they manage to find the time to sleep. Typically on weekends they begin partying at, oh, 11 pm, and are usually still at it when I roll out of bed at, say, 10 am the next morning. On occasion they even appear to be having a good time. In between screaming at each other and breaking things, that is.

Not that they are purely nocturnal. The other day I heard them going at it in the middle of the afternoon. The screaming started near their front door, which was open, and ended with the front door slamming while the shouts continued, muffled, inside. That particular argument went something like this:

Him: DON’T I HAVE THE RIGHT TO GO OUT??? HUH??? DON’T I HAVE THE RIGHT TO GO OUT??? YOU’RE ALWAYS OUT WITH FUCKING WHASSHERNAME [insert name of girlfriend] AND I...!!!
Her: [... INCOHERENT...]
Him: I DID FUCKING TELL YOU!!! YOU WERE FUCKING SLEEPING AND I WOKE YOU UP AND TOLD YOU I WAS TAKING THE CAR...!!!

Finally Him stormed out and slammed the door, only to turn around and scream that he’d break it down if she didn’t let him in. She didn’t, and he somehow forced his way in, only to repeat the sentiment inside when he encountered the next door. Nice!

Incidentally, these kids are around 20 or 25 years old and moved in a few weeks ago. They live in the next building to ours, which is connected to our building at a 90° angle and they’re one floor down, which means that, when their window is open, which is always [it is broken], and our bedroom window is open, which is always [YT needs fresh air], we can hear everything. Including the blaring noise of their TV set in the evenings when we’re in bed. [Newsflash: inane dialogue from late-night TV shows on Skjár 1 is not an aphrodisiac. Who knew?]

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: ‘That Alda Kalda seems like a pretty tough cookie, why doesn’t she just go over and knock on their door and ask them to turn the TV down? Or better yet, send EPI?’ Reasonable enough, except there’s the small issue of the canine to consider. They’ve got the sort of canine that eats people for breakfast. Plus there’s the fact that Him is tattooed from his wrists and up to the base of his jaw [one of those black minimalist jagged tattoos that are all the rage now] with a skinhead haircut and a nasty mean expression permanently plastered on his face. And the fact that he moves around like a powder keg ready to explode. And that, when you look in through their window, the swanky furniture and expensive surroundings seem completely incongruous with their young age. And that, even at the age of 20, staying awake for 24 hours at a time isn’t the sort of thing you do without a little help. I’ll say no more. Except: I’m extremely grateful that God invented silicon earplugs.

MEANWHILE THE WEATHER IS BENIGN
Nothing much happening on that front. Overcast, relatively mild and not much wind –nondescript, really. Went out for a run at lunchtime and it was refreshing and pleasant. It threatened to rain there for a while, but then it didn’t. Right now temps are 5°C and sunrise was at 07.44 and sunset at 18.47. September was one of the warmest Septembers ever, they say, with temps a full 3°C above average. Ah, lovely greenhouse effect. [What would Al Gore say?]