05.14.03
Every apartment I have ever paid to live in has always been within 1 block of a train.
Both apartments I lived in on S. Dodge were less than a block north from the train switching yard.
Both apartments I lived in on S. Dubuque were less than a block north from the train tracks.
After all of that time, I don't even notice train sounds now.
Which is apparently good training for urban living, since I currently live a block from the red line.
Amusingly, the only noises that I really notice now are car alarms, which go off with some frequency around here.
My window is above the parking area of this building, but just high enough and well-located so that I don't notice any sounds from the lot below. However, every single time I hear a car alarm going off, I somehow think it is mine.
The first time it happened, it really sounded like my car, and as I waited for it to turn off, which it didn't, I became more sure that it was mine. I put on my jacket and some shoes, grabbed my keys, and headed downstairs.
And just as I opened the door to the outside of the building, the alarm went off.
So, now I just ignore the damn things, and chalk them up to just another noise I hear where I live -- in the country it was crickets, which are actually more annoying.
The only things that bug me now are the upstairs neighbors, who are apparently deaf, clog-wearing elephants, that only sleep between 1 and 6am, and have a lot of furniture that they are forced to noisily move around when they clomp from one side of the apartment to the other.
Oh, and the Cricket here is fairly noisy too.
What's in your head?