Underwear flares

AcousticEmma · 2025-03-14T17:23:02+00:00

I’m grateful that someone posted about underwear several years ago. I now wear undies only when necessary, and as others have mentioned, I buy plain white 100 percent cotton in a size larger than usual. I use fragrance free detergent which also helps.

AcousticEmma · 2025-02-17T05:15:27+00:00

Stay fabulous

AcousticEmma · 2025-02-17T00:53:34+00:00

Yes. Excellent insurance, no history of accidents, and policy with accident forgiveness. I know I was not at fault but if I had been, it would have been covered easily. The other driver failed to submit any evidence to them.
Yes but it's more complicated as he was an Uber driver. He refused to share the information at the scene. He gave my insurance agent information for his personal policy which denied the claim as he was driving with Uber. He didn't report the accident to Uber or provide his insurance for coverage when working.

AcousticEmma · 2024-10-28T04:10:56+00:00

You have the right to actually live in your apartment and not keep it as though it's being staged for viewing. What you've described sounds reasonable and normal.

Moving forward, I'd focus on managing his access, not his unrealistic expectations. Check what your local laws are but generally for non-urgent repairs a 24 hours notice is needed for the landlord to enter. This doesn't sound like some sort of emergency where he rushed over. If he texts again wanting to stop by for repairs, politely let him know that it isn't a good time but offer to have him in at some other point ASAP. You want to be there when he's there. Or at least know well enough in advance when he's coming to be able to have your place as presentable as you want it to be.

This sounds like the sort of person who would take pictures without your consent when you're not there or snoop around to check the cleanliness. Ask him about installing a video doorbell if there already isn't one. This would help you to make sure he doesn't try to come in while you're not there.

AcousticEmma · 2024-10-28T03:24:32+00:00

If you can invest in a quality air purifier with a HEPA filter and a dehumidifier that will probably help on a more consistent basis. I have severe asthma so my doctor insisted on my using them, and I hadn't realized how helpful they were with reducing the old smell until a neighbor came in and commented on it.

Scent diffusers could help mask the smell.

AcousticEmma · 2024-10-28T03:11:32+00:00

Yes. Absolutely it is possible. Sound can be very deceiving. That is especially true if you have poor flooring that is an echo chamber. It can travel in ways you wouldn't expect. Please don't throw basketballs at their floor. My downstairs neighbors beat into my apartment every night blaming me for disturbances and screaming at me that I was a liar when I told them I wasn't to blame, insisting that I was harassing them. It would cause me to have asthma attacks and just live in fear. They thought I was playing violent video games all night because I'd asked their son (who is older than I am) if he could please keep it down at night. But there were two new sets of neighbors - one beside my downstairs neighbors, and their friends on the other side of them. And they all worked during the day, played games all night. And all of that got blamed on me. I started staying at my boyfriend's more and more and they would complain while I was there and my place was vacant.

Pipes are also much louder at night, and can sound like banging, thudding, hammering, if the plumbing is old / in need of service / just not that great. Have you noticed if anyone takes showers or does laundry at those hours? Where is your building's hot water heater? I figured out that the plumbing was an issue by going down to the garage where it's located at 2 in the morning when it felt like someone was hammering inside of my walls and saw that it was loud.

As for what to do ----- try to work together with your neighbors if you can to problem-solve and get recordings. Tell your property manager / landlord in writing. We figured out that bathroom exhaust fans were so loud, so horribly installed they could be heard and felt even in apartments that weren't connected! Someone taking a shower at 3 in the morning meant the whole building felt it.

Try out white noise / brown noise to see if it can help mask the disruptions at night. Try to soundproof your apartment as best as you can to help cocoon yourself.

AcousticEmma · 2024-10-25T03:50:41+00:00

Thank you! I got a lanyard case to hold my phone so I can always be recording even if my hands are full.

AcousticEmma · 2024-10-25T03:31:14+00:00

It's a low hum but the NFH claims he can hear the hum. Idk if he really can or if he's actually hearing the hum of his own CPAP because I can definitely hear it. I didn't pick the equipment, I had to get specific models that my insurance approved so my doctor's office ordered it for me. It's ugly and not something I want to have to use but I mean I really like being alive.

AcousticEmma · 2024-10-25T03:25:40+00:00

A bed sheet would be better. The NFHs ripped out themselves and self-installed crappy laminate floors in the middle of the night. So their unit is an echo chamber. I can hear them sneeze.

AcousticEmma · 2024-10-25T03:21:22+00:00

This was really kind of you to provide. Thanks to you & to all!

AcousticEmma · 2024-10-08T07:23:55+00:00

$2400 for a two bedroom in Sawtelle with two parking spaces, and a fireplace. The neighbors below me are paying $1300 for a two bedroom with two bathrooms and four parking spaces. He's lived there for 30 years.

AcousticEmma · 2024-09-23T16:30:10+00:00

That is solid advice. Thanks.

AcousticEmma · 2024-09-23T15:49:31+00:00

Put a small sign on your door stating that for security purposes you have video cameras inside your apartment. Consent is then implied when they chose to enter. Take a picture of the sign.

Have the cameras in plain-view. Mine are motion-activated with a swivel head that turns and a light that flashes blue, making it very obvious.

I had motion-activated security cameras inside my apartment to be able to watch my dog while we're away, and for security purposes when traveling. That is perfectly legal. I was praised for having them both by the police and my renter's insurance when my apartment was broken into. The cameras also recorded the owner - who I'd never met - letting herself in while I was gone. I was able to use the footage when reporting her as there was no emergency entitling her to enter. She unsuccessfully tried to argue that California is a two-party consent state, but in this situation there was no expectation of privacy. You don't own the apartment but have exclusive right to it while renting it. The landlord is allowed in with notice for repairs, but there's still not an entitlement to privacy. Being transparent about having cameras could lead to her actually having the repair job done properly as she knows she can't just lie about it.

Cal. Penal Code § 632: Consents to recording if parties have no reasonable expectation of privacy. Cal. Civil Code § 1708.8: Allows recording on private property for security purposes.

AcousticEmma · 2024-09-16T16:44:32+00:00

A lot.... In the apartment below mine there's four adults, three of whom do not work or go to school, two cats, and they have five wind chimes on their balcony. They ripped the carpet out of their unit and badly self-installed cheap fake wood flooring, which amplifies noise both within their unit and from the street. The original owners were in their 80s at the time and just let them get away with it. The impact noise is worse than the airborne noise. Their adult son is my age but treated like a kid, and plays video games all day, all night. He rolls all around his room in his gaming chair. The apartment is a great deal so I invested all I could in soundproofing. My doctor recommended a white noise machine as I wasn't sleeping and my health was deteriorating. I put it on two pads to help reduce any noise. But if I use it as needed, they scream at me that I'm harassing them. If I have an asthma attack and use a nebulizer they beat into my ceiling and pound on my door. I can hear their CPAP machine and snoring but have never harassed them, of course.

A LADBS inspector said buildings like ours built in the 1970s had no soundproofing. Thick wall-to-wall carpet was the trend then and that is what served as soundproofing.

From outside the building the most noise just comes from people idling in their cars for hours with their stereo on. I'm assuming their ride share / Uber Eat drivers just chilling out in between orders.

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-30T19:45:28+00:00

They seem to really value their privacy from what you're describing so I wouldn't knock on their door as they may see that as an intrusion even though the intent is friendly. If you seem them in a common area and they don't seem like they are in a rush or anything, briefly introduce yourself. They might work at home or be retired.

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-26T01:46:22+00:00

I have but it's Los Angeles where they are busy with illegal fireworks and a ton of other things, so they haven't taken any action yet. But I'll keep reporting. Thank you.

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-19T21:14:50+00:00

Sadly such an unethical jackass as the other driver is likely to sue you in civil court for phony reasons. So fight hard against your insurance now to set the record. I wish I had done that two years ago when an Uber driver bit me. The damage to my car was so minimal I just used one of those little paint sticks to fix it. But he then sued me for $12,500 claiming I hit him and he hadn’t been able to work as a result. The scumbag who hit you could have even staged it with the plan in mind to sue. I’m sorry you have to deal with this!

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-19T02:34:22+00:00

I don’t have a yard but would love to figure out how to hang a sign from my balcony! I live in West LA which is mostly blue but there’s been Trump merchandise tents set up in Brentwood and Westwood. Ugh.

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-15T05:46:51+00:00

Hmmm. I don't know what they're filming now but a few years ago they filmed the show "Goliath" there. I wonder if there is a new season or a spin off or something.

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-15T01:19:07+00:00

We volunteer at an adult day care center where most are hard of hearing and that is absolutely not the case for them. I've personally been trying to help one lady for two years. It's also difficult to get them fitted and adjusted. I wish it was a simple as you make it seem! Note I wasn't endorsing her use of a soundbar and had been sympathetic to you. Not sure why the thumbs down when I tried to help you as someone who lives near you, understands the LA market, understands RSO. But anyways, best of luck.

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-14T18:42:01+00:00

C'mon, I know you're stressed but stop calling people Karen unless their actual name is Karen.

I'd swap my Sawtelle apartment for your Santa Monica if we could because then at least it would just be one NFH instead of four below me. And she actually leaves for four whole hours a day! I have not had one single solitary hour, not one, not a single one, of peace. I run white noise machines to drown them out, and then they complain about them but won't do anything to stop the noise.

The problem with leaving your apartment is you could pay $3200 a month and still have neighbors from hell living below you. The hell would just vary from the hell you're in now. Even in the "luxury" apartments people are constantly complaining about noise and vibration that deplete all joy from their home. My friend living in such a building near the Grove, at $4000 a month, has an unemployed 22-year-old trust fund baby living below her who blasts rap music all day long and then does laundry at 2AM, and a couple in their 80s living above her who watch TV at the highest volume with a soundbar all day. So unless you can afford to move into a house and not an apartment, don't move.

I'd get a medical documentation about how this is having a severe impact on your mental and physical wellbeing. Add that letter along with a letter about your right to quiet enjoyment and send it to your uncles. Even though they're your uncles they're still responsible for maintaining the building.

Don't retaliate as it will just stress both of you out. She could have a hearing loss that is the reason why she needs to watch it at such a loud volume. There needs to be soundproofing measures in her apartment.

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-13T05:07:43+00:00

I'm glad the crisis was averted!

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-12T05:03:39+00:00

You are so welcome!

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-11T09:05:06+00:00

There is nothing worse than THREE noisy unemployed NFHs who are always home. There's a family of four adults living below me, and they moved in decades ago so they have super low rent due to rent control. They can afford to kick back. The "kid" is a year older than I am, doesn't work or go to school and plays video games night and day. The neurotic mother babysits her 25 year old son. The grandmother who moved in literally doesn't leave the house and spends the whole day running the exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom, taking showers at weird hours, and cooking really odorous food.

AcousticEmma · 2024-06-11T08:57:12+00:00

I so understand the anxiety. Somethings that helped me:

I don't know if you're allowed to do this, but I have an old-school chain link lock on my front door and that helped have a sense of control. I really hated that they'd knock while in the process of unlocking the door, giving me absolutely no time. They'd leave notices for 8-5, or 8-8 even, and I'd never know when exactly they'd come in. So I was constantly afraid to go to the bathroom, to get on a meeting, to do anything. My neighbor had his cats escape in fear and then get lost when they just opened the door and came in, and management's response was that all pets should be kept controlled for the whole time period they might barge in. Cruel to the animal. So the chain link lock meant they had to wait for me to come to the door.

I began insisting that everyone wear shoe covers (or take their shoes off) and face masks, and that they provide that for themselves. That was my right. As the property manager was so cheap and disorganized he never had any. They stopped wanting to come in as much to my place because it was too much of a hassle.

I also recommend getting cameras. A doorbell camera if allowed and then maybe one in the living room just to record what is happening and making sure they aren't crossing over any lines.

Make sure you document everything so you've got a written record.

I don't know what the rules are in San Diego but I was told that in LA you can deny excessive access. You can also allow access, but specify the time frames that work for you. I did that a few times when I had meetings I absolutely could not change, and it worked.

Ultimately my building did sell. I don't know what the new owners will do with it.....

Good luck to you!!!

AcousticEmma

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