What would you do about this neighbor?

Contact your landlord. I’m sure your neighbors are irritated, as well.

My first thought is that she is "packing" her cigarettes? When you open a fresh pack, smokers will sometimes "pack" them down by smacking the top end of the pack firmly against the palm of the hand so the tobacco is snug and tight to the filter. Total stab in the dark, I realize, and it's still rude and unnecessary to do in the hallway.

R2 It really does sound like that. My mom used to do that—but never constantly like this woman does. And there’s no smoking in the hallways and so I don’t know why she would be toting around cigarette packs.

PS I am one of these people who can be driven into madness/extreme anxiety by certain sounds, and it’s much worse now than it used to be because I have Meniere’s disease, which has caused hearing loss and nerve damage in my left ear. It’s really strange how hearing problems can contribute to both anxiety and anger.

My new neighbor next door to my apartment in Manhattan plays video games constantly. I mean nonstop. The sounds of Grand Theft Auto etc now are forever in my head. Ughhhh

I think when you choose to live in a densely populated residential building you must accept the noises that will happen. It’s on you.

I used to live by noisy U street, with incessant sirens from a police station a block away and a fire station a block away. I moved to quiet Kalorama, into a very quiet 1930s building with thick walls. The only noises I have noticed in four years have been trash pickup outside my window, occasional low-flying police helicopters or Air Force Two choppers, and once in a very long while a homeless guy comes into the alleyway and yells at a parked car for hours (really) outside my window. I live close to Connecticut Ave and despite regular secret service motorcades, I never hear them. Noises in the hallway of my building are the most annoying but until now they have always just been very transient—people laughing as they pass by my apartment. This clap clap clap lady has got to stop.

I would definitely file a complaint with the landlord. I can't believe someone tamping down their ciggies 2 doors down could be loud enough for you to be made uncomfortable inside your own apartment. Are you sure she's not slapping the wall or her door while she's talking on the phone? Some people get crazy when they're in heated phone conversations and do very weird things. But she needs to be told by the landlord to cut it out. If the landlord refuses to do anything about it threaten to report him/her to the appropriate department in your city that deals with landlord/tenant disputes. If it gets bad enough you can get a ruling that your lease has been constructively canceled through the landlord's inaction, and you can move out without penalty.

Maybe you could ask your neighbor to have her phone conversations inside her apartment. Why is she talking on the phone in the hallway?

My neighbor always cheers and screams for hours while watching football and other sports on TV. Some people have no idea how loud and annoying they are.

This is definitely a “you” problem, not a “They” problem. I’m assuming you live in NYC yet you want peace and quiet? Please get your sanity checked.

R8 No, I’m not sure she isn’t smacking the wall. As I said, I was too sheepish to peek around the corner at her to see how the hell she is making the noise. Even though I am effectively acting like Gladys Kravitz, I don’t want to demonstrably act like Gladys Kravitz. I don’t want to be an asshole. The good news is that since I (quietly) slammed my door and started this thread, the noise has stopped. Maybe she reads DataLounge. If so, lady, please tell me what you’re slapping out there and why!

OP, I had Meniere's for about 5 years, it was hell. It sounded like I had 2 seashells on my ears, I had terrible anxiety and violent vertigo attacks. I still have some hearing loss in my left ear but the other symptoms are gone. Retiring helped a lot.

I hope things get better for you.

OMG R4 , that drives me out of my mind ! Just a few days ago my mother and I were eating at a seafood restaurant ,not a Red Lobster either , and this impeccably dressed middle aged black lady was eating crab legs . The slurping and sucking sounds irritated me so much I had the waitress move us before our food arrived . We were several feet away and I could STILL her her .Slurp,slurp,suck,suck,lip smack !

Play back a recording of someone not of your gender screaming to shut the fuck up. Get a celebrity on Cameo to record it for you. Gilbert Gottfried told my boss she's a cunt.

Do you own a gun?

Why not hide a camera outside to see what it is?

I'd try a note by the elevator to ask people who are noisy in the hallways to please take it to the stairwell. If she's oblivious to her being heard that could be embarrassing for her to find out.

OP what city do you live in? Definitively get landlord involved so you have a record in writing. Google your city housing as well to see if there are rules. Read your lease. I just had to have my landlord write a note / letter to new upstairs neighbor about noise. The lease requires area carpeting in 80% of unit to reduce noise. He’s not being compliant and I’m tired of the stomping well after midnight. Lease may restrict hallway noise.

OP you need to be bold and figure out the exact cause of the noise. Just pretend to be talking on your cell phone and walk out to see what the hell she's doing. Part of the issue here is that the mystery of the sound is what's causing you stress.

If it was me I would walk right out in the hallway and confront her. I'd say "do you realize I can hear everything you're doing and saying inside my apartment"? If that doesn't shame her into apologizing and stopping the racket just tell her you'll go to the landlord. Hurt feelings be damned. You have a right to a peaceful existence in your own home.

And if you do eventually have to go to the landlord you need to record the noise. Just crack your door and stick your smart phone out. Without proof a lot of landlords will look for any reason not to confront a paying tenant.

R13 just curious why on earth the person's race had anything to do with that story?

OP, don't be sheepish, just walk around the corner and check out what she's doing. You can pretend you're headed for the elevator if you wish, but you need to actually see what she's doing. It's a public hallway, don't be afraid.

Once you see what she's up to, I'd say what R19 suggested. Tell her the noise is annoying, you can hear it in your apartment along with her conversations and to please talk elsewhere and cease making the noise. If she doesn't stop, then complain to the landlord.

R20 I’m not R13, but I am OP and I just feel compelled to explain that *I* mentioned the woman is Indian just in case anyone may have some cultural explanation of the noise. For all I know it may have something to do with prayer practices or something? It’s nothing I’ve ever heard before and very odd to me she is doing it in the hallway right outside her apartment door. I actually debated whether to mention her ethnicity but thought perhaps I am ignorant of some specific ritual practice she may be doing.

What does her being middle-aged have to do with it either, R20? To draw us a picture. In my mental picture, I also made her cross-eyed, but you can add whatever.

R22 / OP in your case it made total sense

I guess it was the contradiction of her dress and appearance to the eating crab like a slob . I said she was a middle aged black lady because she was a middle aged black lady . Didnt think of any racial overtones . Had she been a middle aged white lady thats how I would have described her . Get over yourself ,race warriors !

OP why can’t you just walk out of your apartment and see what she’s doing? And you are certainly well within your rights to ask her “What’s that noise? My sick mother is trying to rest and she asked me to find out who’s clapping in the hallway.”

And how did you only hear the snapping and not the talking until you opened your door? Maybe the two things are unrelated?

I don’t know, but I don’t know why you’re being such a coward about confronting her. She’s sneaking around for a reason. Maybe her husband needs to know.

R26 It’s my personality. I have no other excuse or explanation. I am asocial and I have a huge, overpowering super ego. I don’t want to infringe on other people or make them uncomfortable. If I know someone, I am among the most direct and forthright people in the world. When it comes to strangers, I am avoidant and don’t want to ruffle feathers.

R27, I’m like that, too. But damn, my nosiness would get the better of me. I’M dying to know what the noise is.

You should definitely let her know you hear her. Next time you hear it, put on your coat and go out. Get on the elevator and come right back.

An anonymous note is a good idea. She’ll hate you forever if you ask nicely. If she figures out that it’s you, send a Harry & David fruit basket. That surprises and pleases people.

Your condo docs may prohibit disturbing noises. Read them.

OP, just a shot in the dark, but is your neighbor cooking when you hear that clapping? Could be she’s making roti or chapatti (flatbread) and the noise is her slapping the dough in her hands. The door might be open to dissipate the cooking smells out of her apartment. That’s my guess considering she’s Indian.

R30, No, the sounds were happening while she was standing outside her apartment door, talking on her phone in the hallway. It’s possible someone was inside her apartment making bread (maybe that’s why she goes into the hallway for the phone call?), but that seems unlikely because it really sounds like the sound is in the hallway because of the way it reverberates. It doesn’t sound like it’s coming from inside someone’s apartment.

Chancletas? Chappal? Flipflops? Wooden Dutch shoes (for tending windmills and planting potatoes or tulip bulbs)?

As usual, the hateful, phony SJW types who attack anyone asking for conventional respect are here and deserving of having their uteri (or whatever they have up there) pulled out with a baling hook.

OP, first you must NEVER let anyone know this has been an issue with her. In fact, you have to smile and be very nice. Throw off the scent. Then, making certain there are no cameras, smear raw beef all over her door. Leave an anonymous note saying, "Keep your fucking noise out of the hallway and in your condo, you black-hearted cow, or a Yamaduta will come to collect you. (If by chance she's not Hindu but Moslem, use pork and threaten her with a djinn.)

And if the noise doesn't stop.....

R13 had to inform us of the race of the offending noisemaker? R13's noise in her post was more offensive and stomach-turning than anything else I've read here, outside the OP's problem.

Send her a gift basket consisting of all-pork products.

While you're at it, I'll take one of those r34.

OP, you owe it to us to find out what the fuck is making that noise. Please, you must.

I don't understand what the big deal is to just go outside and run an errand while the noise is occurring. Sneaking around in the hallway is much more suspicious than just putting on your coat and go down to get a coffee or check the mailbox. You'll know where the noise is coming from and make plans to accordingly (write an anonymous note or contact the landlord). Even if you're dealing with anxiety, leaving your apartment is not a big deal and you don't have to confront her right away.

Diversity is your strength.

[quote] I can’t imagine ever confronting her about it

Would it really be that difficult to ask her nicely to please be quieter? You don't need to be angry or an asshole about it. Just point out politely that the sounds she makes carry farther than she probably realizes and are disturbing you inside your apartment. If that doesn't solve the problem, THEN go to the landlord/building management.

Well when I opened the door I was really angry because it had been going on for so long. And when I opened my door, I heard her talking on the phone and so I just froze in my doorway reflecting on the facts that I knew who she was because I had seen her talking on her phone outside her door several times before, and I continued standing there to discern whether she had anything to do with the noise. And it did indeed sound like it was coming from her direction and her distance. And I wanted to at least peek or walk by her to see what the hell she was doing, but I knew my anger would show on my face. I’m a 6’ tall white man and she’s a tiny little person and I wouldn’t want her to see an angry big man glaring at her even if she was making the noise that made me mad. It’s her building too and I am sensitive especially to women feeling safe and secure and especially in a city like this. As of now, she has stopped making the noise. If she does again, I will probably walk by discreetly with my recycling or something just to solve the mystery. I expect it’s probably something uninteresting.

Could she be cleaning her shoes before she takes them inside her apartment? Maybe she’s shaking off dirt by clapping them together?

[quote]Chancletas? Chappal? Flipflops? Wooden Dutch shoes (for tending windmills and planting potatoes or tulip bulbs)?

I spit out my coffee

here's OP's neighbor after rehearsal

Oh good gravy! Just walk out there next time and act like you’re looking for your cat that just escaped. “Here Princess Li’l Piddles. Come to daddy!!” Keep saying that and pace back and forth past the woman. She’ll either make the sound again or get annoyed that you’re interrupting her very important phone call and go inside. Or she’ll snap at you, in which case you’re now obliged to say, “What’s with the racket, lady? Are you being cultural??!”

[quote] She’ll either make the sound again or get annoyed that you’re interrupting her very important phone call

We have a freak like this in my building, always pacing around in the lobby engaged in a seemingly intense phone call and then giving people the stink eye when they walk past. I ignore him since, duh, he could talk inside his apartment if he wants privacy.

R13: You lie! With "White" being the default, you would have written "a middle aged lady" to describe the White diner. You gave the Black lady's race because that is the first and only feature people like you see, race, before going into prejudge mode.

I would advise against posting an anonymous note in the common area. The odds are really small that someone will read the note, identify their behavior as being addressed in the note, and then say "Oh my gosh, I need to change my ways." People are really clueless about their public and semi-public behaviors.

I'd either talk with the landlord or learn to live with it. There are so many worse things a neighbor could be doing. Get some white noise, put on your headset / earplugs / earphones, etc.

I think the sound could be cigarette-packing. I used to smoke and packing cigarettes was a ritual. There's a plastic wrap around the pack that could be making that slapping sound.

If you're frightened of her get a friend to confront her...also talk to the other neighbors.

ALSO...why don't you record the sound and post it on here?

Just look outside when you hear the noise next time, sheesh. Look both ways down the hall, and if you can't figure out what it is, maybe even ask her, "Did you hear that? What was that?"

If you see her making the noise, just say "Shh, it's a little loud" or something noncommittal.

If it happens again, then go to the landlord and say you've asked her to stop but she won't.

Maybe she has a gastrointestinal problem and it's the sound of her farts. She goes into the hallway so she won't stink up her place.

Rhythmic farting though?

Could your neighbor be beating dust out a rug or a carpet, some other thick type of linen? This sounds more plausible.

At any rate I wouldn't worry too much about it, OP -- life goes on, sounds and noise happen in apartments. Get some noise canceling headphones.

I’d go out and see what the cause is instead of fuss-potting about it on here. Then go from there.

There are means to correct unbecoming behaviors.

What do your condo docs say? Mine prohibit appliances that disturb others. No overly loud music. There is a lot in the docs about noise. Also prohibit anything that makes your neighbors complain.

My neighbor once complained about my running the dishwasher at night. I don’t understand how he can hear it while I can’t, and the sound has another floor to go through after passing me. Some people want silence which is not possible when you are abutting neighbors. I ignored him at first, but no longer do it now.

If you tell them who you are, you will never be friendly again. You’re making an enemy. You can ask her nicely before complaining to management, but my feeling is it’s better to do one or the other, but not both. If you identify yourself, you’ll make an enemy.

Op, you will love this song

Lol you ain't right R57.

Have you considered grabbing your phone and running into the hallway whenever she’s out there? Talk louder than her, and walk to within 5 ft of her. Laugh loudly. After three times, this will work.

I like R14s idea. I bet hearing Gilbert Godfrey scream SHUT THE FUCK UP a few times would give her pause for thought.

She's probably masturbating.

Someone could be renovating and using a nail gun or such. I doubt cigarette packing could make a loud enough sound to carry through doors. Your "Indian" lady could be doing clacking sounds in her mouth like some tribes do. Or she could be practicing her tap dance routine while on the phone.

Could she be farting?

Maybe she’s rolling dice?

OP told us his neighbor is Indian so we won't think she's doing traditional Irish clog dancing.

She probably talks out in the hall because someone is working and making a lot of noise in her apartment. Invite yourself in and see what is going on.

[quote] My neighbor once complained about my running the dishwasher at night. I don’t understand how he can hear it while I can’t, and the sound has another floor to go through after passing me. Some people want silence which is not possible when you are abutting neighbors. I ignored him at first, but no longer do it now.

Sounds travel in unexpected ways. Just within my own apartment, I'm surprised at how loud something sounds from the next room. I can hear my downstairs neighbor much more clearly than I can hear my next door neighbor (shared wall). Nice that you stopped running the D/W at night. I pretty much just try to deal with stuff. For example, my landlord installed a decorative solar lamp outside my window where I sleep. Instead of asking him to turn it off, I just put blackout panels.

[quote] OP told us his neighbor is Indian so we won't think she's doing traditional Irish clog dancing.

No shit, Einstein.

I think maybe she’s not Indian. Maybe she’s from African.

[quote] As I said, I was too sheepish to peek around the corner at her to see how the hell she is making the noise. Even though I am effectively acting like Gladys Kravitz, I don’t want to demonstrably act like Gladys Kravitz.

But you slammed the door, so you've already demonstrated your irritation. At least get a look at what she's doing and give her a dirty look. You can't report her to the landlord if you don't know what is making the sound.

She hasn’t made the sound since I posted this! I’m praying she got the message.

Maybe she's a Datalounger.

You don't have to complain to make your point. The next time she is in the hall talking loudly, simply stroll down the hall, smile and nod... and make a pleasant comment related to the conversation that she is having. "That sounds fun," or "I hate that too".... whatever is appropriate... and just keep walking and smiling until you are outside. By interjecting yourself in her conversation, she'll realize that she may want to keep her door closed when she is having private conversations.

R73 She does keep her door closed. She stands outside her closed door in the hallway.

[Quote]PS I am one of these people who can be driven into madness/extreme anxiety by certain sounds

Then go live in some house in a rural or suburban area.

If you chose to live the apartment lifestyle, noises are part of it. Period.

R75 There is no quiet place. I have thought about going back to the suburbs because of noise but every weekend I visit my family in Virginia their neighborhoods are buzzing and roaring with lawnmowers, weed whackers, leaf blowers, barking dogs, screeching children. Where I am now is much quieter most of the time.

There’s nothing I can do about the nerve damage in my ear. I was surprised to learn from an ENT specialist that irritability and anxiety are standard effects of hearing damage.

“In Menière’s disease, there seem to exist a vicious circle of interaction between the somatic symptoms especially vertigo and resultant emotional disturbances, which in turn tend to provoke some other somatic symptoms. The quality of life of the sufferers is severely incapacitated by the illness, especially the psychological well-being, which manifest mainly with anxiety and depression, dominating the physical and environmental disturbances. Worse quality of life tends to occur in Meniere's patients with more severe vertigo symptom.”

Maybe she is perfecting her 19/8 rhythmic Tala claps?

I've lived in Manhattan and suburbs of Arizona, and experienced constant irritating noise in both environments. Of course one can move into a very isolated home but even there, the sounds of nature would emerge.

R77...honestly, it sounds like the clapping part of that. Reverberating through the hallways. It’s more of a smack than a clap, but basically a lot like that.

She’s taking her ten year old out of the room to slap him around. OP, you’re an accessory, now.

Is she doing this in the middle of the night? If not, what's the goddamned big deal? Is your life so empty? If it really bugs you, go find out what she's doing. Don't be shy! Maybe since you are GLUED TO YOUR APARTMENT 24/7, you could invite her for a coffee and make chit chat. That might lead to an opportunity to communicate about the noise. Sheesh, are you an imbecile? Autistic? Or just a cunt?

R81 is right, being too friendly scares the hell out of people. So be too friendly, but only when she’s in the hallway.

You: “Hi, I heard you clicking out here and wanted to introduce myself...” (Pretend not to see the phone. Always mention the clicker.)

She: “I’m on the phone”

You: “Well call them back later, I have so wanted to have a neighborly chat, and I heard you clicking, so I came out.” (I know this is rude, but feign ignorance.)

She: “My husband’s in the hospital, and the clicking is to alert the Gods to cure him.”

You:“I should get you my Bible. St. Mary has cured a lot of people. Would you like a cola? Let me get you a cola if we’re going to spend some time chatting.”

Go do so. When you come back, she’ll be gone. As I said above, you may need to do this three times but no more. Let us know, pls!

OP, my father keeps his Meniere's under control with medication. Isn't yours helping?

I've heard that people with tinnitus, which apparently accompanies Meniere's, can get help from playing a constant sound like white noise or nature sounds, especially sea, which helps disguise the inner sounds caused by the Meniere's disease.

Maybe she's looking for someone to play with.

[quote]If it was me I would walk right out in the hallway and confront her. I'd say "do you realize I can hear everything you're doing and saying inside my apartment"?

If it were me, I'd practice for weeks and then say it in perfect Hindi.

“OP, my father keeps his Meniere's under control with medication. Isn't yours helping?”

No, I have no medication for it. I was diagnosed in 2015 after a series of terrifying vertigo events dropped me to the floor spewing vomit, the last time in a restaurant during breakfast. I also had lost most of the hearing in my left ear, but that had fluctuated since I was 20 or so without explanation. An ENT specialist and an audiologist diagnosed Meniere’s. The doctor prescribed a salt-free diet and a diuretic. Neither made any difference after three months and he basically said, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it was worth a shot. He told me the hearing loss will get progressively worse over time until I will likely lose my hearing altogether and possibly could lose my balance permanently.

A couple months later, I was diagnosed with late-stage neurological Lyme disease, which I’d been treated for when I was 19. The only reason that’s relevant is that after treatment with three antibiotics, my hearing improved significantly and the vertigo stopped altogether. I have had two relatively mild vertigo episodes, both in the middle of the night, over the past couple of years. They made me nauseated but I could at least walk unlike the earlier ones that made me so disoriented I had to crawl around on my hands and knees to get to the bathroom to vomit. As I type this I have moderate tinnitus—a high-pitched fluctuating chime/buzz—in both ears. White noise doesn’t help the tinnitus for me; it comes from inside your head and external noise does not drown it out. When it gets loud, it’s absolutely maddening, like having a siren inside your head that you can’t escape.

Anyway, still no more of that sound so far. It’s not the volume of it so much as the repetition of it over weeks of time in the hallway outside my apartment. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK. And then several minutes go by before it happens again. Fine, if it’s construction or something.

But anytime of day, over weeks and weeks with no end in sight?

That’s not OK, city or not.

If you live in the suburbs, you accept barking dogs and lawnmowers. But if someone’s dog bark bark bark bark bark barks every day at all times of day, and you have no reason to believe it’s going to change in the near future, eventually you’re going to get annoyed. Or if your next door neighbor runs his lawnmower every single day, it’s going to drive you bonkers and you’re going to wonder why the hell he is doing it. You’re not just going to wear noise-canceling headphones in your own house at all times because you have an obsessive-compulsive neighbor.

OP, have you figured out that the "clap / drip" noise is her typing on her phone with the volume cranked yet?

Is she speaking English? I bet she’s cheating on her husband.

Op is a fraud. Why can't you just walk by her to see what she's doing? If you legitimately had to leave your place and she was out there would you cower inside until she was done? Of course not! I call bullshit.

Once several neighbor kids were camping in the space between our houses. They were talking and giggling, discussing putting bags of dog shit on neighbor's porches, and I could hear every word through my window in the still of the night. I walked out there to the fence line and said in polite tones, "You might want to quiet down, I can hear every word you're saying."

There were loud gasps and they couldn't drag that tent and their asses away from there fast enough and relocated to the other side of their house. I was amused.

Post signs in the hallway.

Next time she's out there have a little fun with it. Get a nice outfit and prance down the hallway.

Learn this move, she'll be impressed. Invite her in for chai.

OP, are you absolutely sure your tinnitus is not behind the sounds? Apparently it can make some people even hear music inside their head.

BTW, I'm glad you managed to get the Meniere's disease symptoms at least partly under control. My father once spoke about his disease with another Meniere's sufferer while I was listening. The guy said he'd heard of people killing themselves because they couldn't handle it. I understood him to mean that was a long time ago when they couldn't get a diagnosis. When my dad started having the attacks in his 60s he was constantly vomiting and had to stay lying down.

Since the disease is known to possibly be hereditary I'm afraid I might get it as well. I've always been easy to get seasick on boats which I get to mean there's something wrong with my ears. Well, remains to be seen.

Perhaps her clap-on lamp is stuck, Op?

OP, fellow DC resident here. Since you’re in Kalorama, I’m guessing you live in a pretty nice building. Is there a condo board and do they take quality of life issues seriously? If so, they may be able to help. You can go to them, even if you’re a renter. And if you and sister Slap-Slap have different landlords, the board is the one that should speak to her landlord and tell him to get his renter under control.

R94 Ha, no, the clapping/snapping is definitely not part of the Meniere’s disease symptoms. Those are just hearing loss, tinnitus (which cannot be confused with slapping sounds! That would be like confusing a violin with a barking dog.), vertigo and imbalance.

I have had some major health problems, most caused by or related to Lyme. I’ve had cluster headaches, which are also called suicide headaches and some neurologists say cause the worst pain known to science. I’ve had other severe nerve pains of different types—electrical shock types, pins and needles types. I’ve had a toothache that had me considering bashing my head into a wall.

The Meniere’s-related vertigo is the only non-painful symptom I’ve ever had that has made me think I might be actively dying (when I had no idea what it was) and made me contemplate killing myself to stop them if they were going to be a regular, lifelong thing. When I didn’t know what it was, and I felt hot and then dizzy and then within a minute the room actually looked like it was spinning and I felt like I was falling and could not stand up, I thought that might be the end of my life by stroke or seizure. And there is zero way to zone out or try to diminish the effect while it’s happening. Even when I knew what it was, it is still the only non-pain-related feeling I can imagine not being able to live with. It’s so uncomfortable and so terrifying not to know what direction is up, mortifying to have to crawl while spewing vomit. It’s like being a monster from a monster movie. And I had to stop driving because the vertigo episodes come on within 60-90 seconds, and if you’re driving in traffic and have no way to pull over in time before you literally can’t tell up from down, then it’s all over and you’re going to take other people out with you.

One curious thing...the last time I had vertigo, last year (which was the first time in several years), it woke me up in the middle of the night and kept me up all night. It turns out there was a huge low-pressure weather system just to the south that made tornadoes. I told my sister about it, and I joked, “Hey, do you think maybe I am a witch whose vertigo caused tornadoes last night??!” She said, “No, I think your ears are fucked up and they’re overly sensitive to barometric pressure.” Which made some sense, really.

R97, my father used to get terrible headaches right before lightning storms. It'd be sunny and he'd suddenly say a thunder is coming. And so it would, normally within an hour or two. No idea if there's any connection to his Meniere's. I've personally gotten a migraine only once during a storm. I was doing a tai chi routine outside right when the storm was getting near and the lightnings were already flashing. That incident made me believe you really are in contact with some energy while performing tai chi.

Still, I'm sorry to hear the usual Meniere's medication is not working for you. Thankfully my father hasn't had a true vomiting and vertigo episode since starting taking it over 10 years ago. He can drive but hates to be a passenger since he feels all the curves in the road and keeps telling me to slow down although I'm not speeding at all.

I've had troubles with my sinuses since my teens and hate hate hate pain and discomfort. I await with dread the future where the Meniere's might be lurking.

R98 By the way, I get motion sick almost every time I ride in the back seat of a car, and so does my sister, who doesn’t have vertigo. And I have never had motion sickness on a boat—doesn’t bother me all. I don’t think there’s any connection. Meniere’s is caused by fluid retention/poor fluid regulation in the inner ear that causes imbalance, which is why diuretics are used to treat it and why low sodium diets are encouraged, to prevent water retention.

R99, I'm glad to hear there might not be a connection to the seasickness. It was scary and horrifying to witness my father when the disease hit him like a hammer. He was so relieved when betahistine immediately took away most of the symptoms. I haven't actually even been aware some people don't get help from the meds but quick googling tells that betahistine isn't scientifically even proven to work for the Meniere's. Wow. I truly feel for all of those it doesn't help.

You cannot go to the condo board when you don’t even know for surethat the poor woman is making annoying noises. Until you’ve seen her do it, it’s all just conjecture. It’s not like loud music that you’ve clearly pinpointed as coming from a specific apartment. You will sound like a loon!

I have a school nearby my home. The students often congregate at the end of my street to smoke pot. Once to fuck. It was amusing to see a Black guy blush as I walked by, as the path is narrow. I didn’t mind them for twenty years, but then my car was broken into multiple times.

I’ve walked right up to them and said:

[italic] “Kids, I’ve never minded that kids hang out here, because I know kids need a place to do that, But I’ve had my car broken into three times and those people ruined it for all of us. So, please, move along. [/italic]

I’ve never had a problem. Only once I got a dirty look, but that’s unusual. I've stopped doing it as I’m too old to fight, if that ever happened.

Haven't read the thread but I have a lot of experience with Indians. Could she be slapping her flip-flops on the floor?

The random answers are hilarious.

Clearly she’s beating sticks together making saag paneer from scratch from her madhur jaffrey cookbook

My money is still on flip-flops something or other.

Maybe she used to clap them together to "get the dirt off" and then that turned into a compulsive habit, as she is trying to cope with what she perceives to be uncomfortable quietness.

[quote] R101: You cannot go to the condo board when you don’t even know for surethat the poor woman is making annoying noises.

OP, first, look at your condo docs. Mine prohibit ANY noise that disturbs others. You need that first. Please post your regulations here. I’m curious. I’m sure they say something similar.

That said, it mostly depends on who the condo board likes, and if you’re a chronic pain. If you’re unknown and not a pain, you have a chance. Complain to the management company first. Ask them to send out a letter citing that condo doc section and tell them to be specific about noise like that in the hallway.

The noisy person will ignore it, I’ll bet. Then get back to us.

Your condo isn’t a glass house, I hope?!

That flip-flop answer is actually pretty strong. Good job DL brother.

OP, get out there and help fast! She's beating her husband with her flip flops!

SLAP HER!

OP, what's the word?

Surely you've had time to better surveil what's happening and report back.

Op was slapped to death by the neighbor

Send her various beef cuts for a week.

OP says that the elevator is near where the woman stands with her phone. So why doesn't OP just walk to the elevator while the woman is out there, and see for himself what she's doing that makes noise? No confrontation necessary, just reconnaissance.

Maybe OP is stuck in the elevator shaft!

OP, is your neighbor a gargoyle, by any chance?

R113 Others have suggested the same thing in this thread. OP always ignores the suggestion because he made the whole thing up. Never happened.

A successful EST troll thread

Ugh. I did not make it up. I do have a wild imagination. It would never come up with something so mundane, however.

I’ve heard the clapping only twice since I started this, and both times it was only one set of CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP, not followed again in a series as had been happening for weeks. Maybe she got the message. Both times I’ve heard it, I opened my audio recording app and was ready to record the sound as some people here suggested, but it didn’t happen again. The idea of someone slapping dough inside seems at this point like the most likely imaginable scenario, since kitchens in these condos all are adjacent to the hallway and they have their own doors (originally for the iceman to come and go without disturbing people, I’m told—1930s apartments had ice boxes that were cooled by blocks of ice that were delivered regularly).

If I ever find out, I’ll update.

I’ll be honest, though...I kind of dig the conspiracy theory that I invented this event as a mystery to fool the people of Data Lounge. I mean...the low stakes of it would make it pretty damned creative.

[quote] The idea of someone slapping dough inside seems at this point like the most likely imaginable scenario

JFC, OP. All this drama over slapping dough? I know you're a delicate little blossom with a thousand rare disorders, but the world does not revolve around you, and your neighbors can't be expected to tiptoe around the building making it their top priority not to trigger your issues. Asking that people not conduct entire phone conversations in the hallway, if it's happening all the time, is fair enough. But if somebody, in the privacy of her own apartment, wants to cook a type of bread/pastry that involves slapping the dough, she's allowed to do so, at least as long as it's not 4 AM or whatever. Creating a few moments' worth of loud-ish noise a few times a day is just not that big a deal, no matter how much it disturbs you. You can't insist that your neighbors give up normal activities of daily living because you've got some unusual problem with your ears.

In any case, OP, if you confused your neighbor making roti for the noise of construction work and it annoyed you to the point of posting a relatively long story about it here, well, you may not be an EST but you're certainly a drama queen and likely an insufferable nightmare for your other neighbors.

[quote] there has been a frequent, very loud series of eight or nine clapping/snapping sounds coming from the hallway

She has the clap OP.

Clap ON!

Clap OFF!

If he keeps to himself and doesn't complain about them or confronts them in person, as he stated here repeatedly, how could he be an insufferable nightmare for his neighbors, r120? Posting on an anonymous gossip will hardly bother them in any way.

OP seems to live like a recluse with his many health related issues. Talking about stuff on this board might help him if he doesn't have any friends, family or anyone else to talk to.

He could make friends with the dough clapping lady. She might be nice.

Maybe she'd even share some bread with the OP, r124.

Or clap with him, you KNOW he wants to!

She's not wearing flip flop s but she is wearing some kind of slipper and the slapping noise is it hitting her heel when she paces.

She’s marching in rhythm to the beat

OP, are you also r127? Is that the answer to what causes the slapping? If so, you forgot to sign it.

Tell her you can hear every word she says. Assuming she speaks in English. That would encourage her to move inside.

I’m not OP but I’m taking notes and need more ideas. My neighbors are litigious, so it has to be on the downlow. I can’t just slap them.

Can you clap them?

"Peeps try to be kinder. There is the issue of rehabilitation which should make you feel generous."

Rehabilitation should start with admitting your guilt. He thinks he is a victim of "the wealthy corrupt" and not that he did anything wrong.

R131, no, that would prompt a restraining order. They’re nuts. But it’s effective in squashing opposition.

All out war!

Next time you hear it, just walk around the corner, with a "concerned" look on your face. Walk up to the woman and say, "Did you hear that loud slapping noise? I wonder where it is coming from? I hope no one has been hurt!"

chapati bread for EVERYONE