Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful...

But if we had a fire, it would be ever-so-delightful.

Snow has finally started to hit Toronto. I am not snow's biggest fan. I like it when it involves fun outdoorsy activities, but generally despise the winter. Personally, I find Toronto much colder than Halifax, and I'm not a fan of this at all. Making it all the worse is the Neighbour Situation. Let's discuss.

We live in a semi-detached rental -- the downstairs of a gorgeous old home. As such, our flat is darling, but we have no control of our heat.

At the time that we first moved in, we had the house to ourselves -- nobody seemed interested in renting out the upstairs. Dave played his drums a lot, we could listen to music as loudly as we wanted, etc. It was quite lovely. However, within a few months an older couple moved in upstairs. We naturally quit it with the noise, would chat with them often, and would go pick up coffee for them in the morning on a daily basis, as they were older and we generally love the oldies.

All was well 'til one day, we're peacefully sitting in our flat, watching some bad TV, and suddenly there's mad stomping and screaming and running about happening over our heads. After this goes on for a couple of hours, Dave politely knocks on the door and lets them know that it's quite loud, the walls and floors must be thin, we understand, but would they mind just trying to be a little quieter, etc. They go instantly from friendly neighbours to defensive jackasses.

From that point forward, things only got worse. Turns out it's their grandchildren and "children just make noise and you're going to have to get used to it!" However, now they've moved forward to getting into screaming matches themselves at 9AM on Saturdays, complete with plenty of door-slamming. Even if they are just going outside, they will ensure they slam the main door, which they well know is directly beside our bedroom, at 6:45AM on weekdays.

The whole thing is a fiasco. And what's their power card? They control our heat. And they get a big kick out of withholding it.

I can't effing wait 'til we get a place of our own. Only a few more months...