The Vent and Rant Thread

[nekokami]

I have a simpler suggestion, one that is evil, but probably legal.

Install a TV set in the yard, and play cartoons on it non-stop.

[RWood]

I had a problem a few years back when the next door neighbor's kids seemed to think that outside my office window was a great place to play and generally make noise. I simply opened the window and played music that I liked. Since this was not the preteen-scream-of-the-week music they soon left for quieter pastures. Years before that I had an audio system that referred to as my "lease breaker" because any time I wanted out of an apartment lease I just played them with the volume set at 5 or above. The higher the setting, the quicker the lease was broken.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by RWood

I had a problem a few years back when the next door neighbor's kids seemed to think that outside my office window was a great place to play and generally make noise. I simply opened the window and played music that I liked. Since this was not the preteen-scream-of-the-week music they soon left for quieter pastures. Years before that I had an audio system that referred to as my "lease breaker" because any time I wanted out of an apartment lease I just played them with the volume set at 5 or above. The higher the setting, the quicker the lease was broken.

There were several malls that took to playing classical music (and big band) in order to drive out loitering teenagers. If it can make them run for cover, it should work on the younger children as well. Although ... one or two might develop a taste for the stuff.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Patricia

Zelda, there is a way to deter children and teenagers from congregating in the vicinity of your apartment.
A Welsh firm developed a device called the Mosquito. It emits a high-pitched sound only audible to the young. (Our ears just wouldn't hear it at all.) You place the device where gangs of youths gather, and they get irritated and move on.
http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/de...t_news_26.html

I've got a similar invention. Mine's called "Turning Barry Manilow up to '11'".

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

well my current headphones are even more gigantic (i look just like the napster cat when i'm wearing them) but i really don't care about that (i think they give me that stylie dj look). but. 300$ for a pair of headphones ???? ...

The Loved One snagged a pair on eBay for AUS$100. They're in perfect condition, and when he wrote to Bose asking where he could get a replacement Bose case for them, they just sent him one out gratis. I have to admit, they're pretty good for music. I've never had need for the noise-cancelling though.

Oh, and by the way:

http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/2000-03-28/index.html

Cheers,
Marc

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Not personally, but Sennheiser RS 140 got a good review at:
http://www.headphone.com/products/he...ser-rs-140.php

"although the RS140 would not be a headphone for demanding audiophile types, it could be a good candidate for folks looking for external/ ambient noise suppression and quite acceptable wireless sound"

(I've used wired Sennheisers and liked them a lot.)

ZP:

I have these and can honestly say they are a great buy. The rechargeable feature is a MUST. Great reception and the volume can be turned way up; in essense, a noise-cancelling feature!

I don't think you can go wrong with these!

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I've got a similar invention. Mine's called "Turning Barry Manilow up to '11'".



The Loved One snagged a pair on eBay for AUS$100. They're in perfect condition, and when he wrote to Bose asking where he could get a replacement Bose case for them, they just sent him one out gratis. I have to admit, they're pretty good for music. I've never had need for the noise-cancelling though.

Oh, and by the way:

http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/2000-03-28/index.html

Cheers,
Marc

That is, in fact, outlawed by at least three and a half articles of the Geneva Conventions.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

That is, in fact, outlawed by at least three and a half articles of the Geneva Conventions.

[Hides Jim Nabors albums behind couch and points UN towards pshrynk's collection of the work of Captain and Tennille]

Cheers,
Marc (Shazam!)

[pshrynk]

You can have my C & T albums when you pull them from my cold, dead hands!

[zelda_pinwheel]

marc : i will definitely keep in mind that technique (not sure it will be quite as effective when the person in the bath turban is a girl, but the bomb might still work).
(pshrynk : i really think that we have moved beyond the boundaries of what is covered by the Geneva Convention, and that in this particular case almost anything is defendable on grounds of "self-defense / they started it / temporary insanity caused by aural persecution".)

thanks nick for the recommendation ; i think i will definitely give those ones a closer look. the high volume isn't what will sell me though ; i don't want to go deaf (or get tinnitis...) because of those damned children, or because i'm trying to drown out those damned children... my ears are suffering enough as it is.

update on the shums situation here : this morning a baby was screeching away as usual. since this is a regular occurence i was wearing my headphones trying to block it out and swearing to myself in a pretty foul temper. but one of the neighbors in the building on the other side of the courtyard could see into the appartment and called the firemen, because that baby was all alone.

the firemen came and went in through the window with a ladder. they waited for an adult to come back. finally a 16-year old girl came back from grocery shopping or something (with a second baby...). she did not speak french so i'm not sure what the situation was exactly but neither one of those babies was hers, apparently ; i heard a rumor from another neighbor that they usually have around 4 babies in there.

the girl lives with an older woman, which i know because one day i went and tried to talk to them about the noise. i decided to ask them if they needed a doctor for the baby (there were 2 that day as well, that i know of), as a polite way of saying "do something to shut that baby up for christs sake". it was very frustrating trying to communicate : for a while she thought *i* needed help and wanted them to call a doctor for me. i don't know where that other woman is today.

it's pretty bad when crying babies is such a normal occurence that you can't even tell the difference between crying baby + indifferent / ineffectual adult(s) and crying baby + zero adult.

the firemen took both babies and the 16 year-old girl away with them when they left ; i think they wanted to get a translator and try to contact the real mothers of these babies. i sincerely hope no-one ever gives another kid to them ever, they clearly aren't fit to take care of any baby much less 4 of them. now i wish i had called the police myself, a long time ago ; i was tempted before but i was afraid they were illegal immigrants and i would put them in a bad situation if i did. if i had realized that they were "babysitting" other people's kids and leaving them alone for hours at a time i think i would have felt differently.

i'm pretty sure all the other noisy children really do live here though (alas).

[Patricia]

Well, if the illegal crèche stops then it will be a little bit quieter.
So it's a small mercy for you, and a good thing for the babies.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

That is, in fact, outlawed by at least three and a half articles of the Geneva Conventions.

Only applies to POWs, not to KIDs.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Patricia

Well, if the illegal crèche stops then it will be a little bit quieter.
So it's a small mercy for you, and a good thing for the babies.

yes exactly ; everybody wins. i think if they try to start it up again i will call the police myself, that's just an inacceptable situation.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

marc : i will definitely keep in mind that technique (not sure it will be quite as effective when the person in the bath turban is a girl, but the bomb might still work).

It'll work. Trust me. Naked girl in bath turban = sexy. Angry naked girl in bath turban holding bomb = RUN LIKE HELL FROM THE CRAZY!

if i had realized that they were "babysitting" other people's kids and leaving them alone for hours at a time i think i would have felt differently.

Ugh. Ugly situation. I hope it's resolved for you and the babies.

i'm pretty sure all the other noisy children really do live here though (alas).

"Exterminate all the brutes!".

Cheers,
Marc

[nekokami]

Good heavens, I'm glad a neighbor called someone!

I'm pretty sure opera would work to drive off the kids, too.

Or, if you want to combine two ideas, a TV playing "What's Opera, Doc?" or the "Rabbit of Seville." Or both.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Naked girl in bath turban = sexy. A

Hey, if girl is in bath turban then not = naked.