The Good and the Bad

I've lived here now 3 weeks and settling in to the day-to-day life of being on my own and what accompanies it. I get a pretty nice view of the lake, my own free, on-site storage unit, a locker in the laundry room for detergent, awesome parking, and a quiet, rather peaceful location (as close as you could get living in an apartment) while being just blocks away from downtown. And the apartment is north facing, never any direct sunlight, though still heats up, it's never more then 3-5 degrees cooler then outside (until after dark when the heat just settles).
But there are a few drawbacks. For one, my window in the dining room faces the parking lot, which is great for keeping an eye on your car, but it also means if you want the blinds open, your neighbors can keep their eye on you. Not much of a problem during the day, but after 5 it gets pretty busy out there. One neighbor has introduced herself, though she seems rather snobby and I've gotten the feeling she is very possessive about the building.
But the most annoying thing about the building is my neighbor next door to me. Him and his girlfriend are always on their balcony! Why is this annoying? Because they are in my direct line-of-sight to the lake. So, for instance, tonight when I started sweating up a bit from the accumulated warmth that settles in the living room, I thought it would be nice to step out side. I had noticed them on their deck as I drove in from golfing at 8:30p, but it's now 10 and didn't think they'd be out there. But they were, by candlelight. Now, the guy and girl seem like very nice people, and I'm sure they are. And it's great they put so much time into using their deck. But why was this building designed in such a way that you feel like your disrupting some intimate conversation when you step out into your own deck!?! Why do I have to feel embarrassed and intrusive every time I want to sit outside enjoy the sunset over the lake and sip my Corona in the cool night air?!

And, I think that they might be able to hear my TV, which I always have on in the evening (gets lonly when it's silent). And being that I don't have cable ($60 a month to watch Jon Stewert and Senfield re-runs is insane!) I usually queue up the King of Queens, South Park, and mostly Friends epsiodes I've downloaded through my Xbox. So I'm sure they think I'm weird and crazy from hearing coutless episodes of Friends who's sound travels through the open windows. (Yes I like Friends, what can I say, it's a really good sitcom! And it's comferting to have on in the backround as I hang out around the apt.)

Having two tenants that actually enjoy using their decks living next to each other doesn't really work. And it's such a rare situation. Most people just see a deck as a place to store the crap from the living room when company comes over.

But all-in-all, this place rocks! :-)