Sign ... Neighbours ... and Here We Moved!

About 8 weeks ago, we had new neighbours moving into the apt below us. Pretty soon after that, I heard tapping sound on our floors whenever Ry ran around the apt to remind us that we were being loud. I had been tolerating it for quite sometime as the loud tapping sometimes frightened little Br when he was lying on the floor. But always, we tried to stop Ry from running if possible.

However things took a turn when we came back from Maine on 20 July and discovered a note pasted on our door from our new neighbours requesting us to lower the noise level. In fact, the note requested us to stop the noise level and accusing us of making noises in the middle of the night at 2 -3 am. Immediately, K went to clarify with them and told them that we had a young toddler boy and a small baby and it is unavoidable for my boy to be running around the apt. Also, I had to wake up in the middle of the night to feed Br but I swear I would never use heavy footsteps and it is only a 10 steps walk from 1 bed room to the other. We were trying to tell them that we'll try to minimize the noise but this Caucasian lady was unreasonable and demanded us to stop. Since there were no resolutions, K ignored her and told her that the noise will continue, which I think infuriated her. So, she called the management and the police the next day and told them that K threaten her and we're increasing the noise level to intimidate her which we obviously didn't. The police came to investigate and did not find us at fault. In fact, I think the police were rather pissed off with the lady for making a mountain out of a molehill.

Since the police did not take any further action, our neighbour proceeded to "pester" the management and even get a lawyer to sue them. To cut the story short, the management in the end offered us two months free rent to move to a new apt on the first floor and even offered to pay for the movers to avoid long litigation and also to avoid us suing them for discrimination against family according to the housing laws here. After a short discussion with K, we decided to move last Tuesday and saved ourselves USD $4k in the event even though we were advised by my lawyer friend and Cambridge social workers that we need not move.

However, a windfall can never be too good! Just when we were thinking that now we have extra cash to pamper ourselves, K received an email from ASTAR saying that he is shortlisted for a very important interview that may boost his career on Sept 28 in Singapore. We have no choice but to reschedule our flights, shorten our Disney and Florida vacation and got to fly back on Sept 25 and reach SG on the 27th. In the process, we lost approximately $1k. Really heartache! Can't understand why the company could not be flexible with their interview dates! So now, we have to say goodbye to Boston earlier and could not get to enjoy the beautiful Florida beaches!