I've given up on them for the smaller flashlights

Why? Was it price or performance? What does Coleman have going?

Most of the time I quickly need a flashlight, I end up using an app on my phone--statistically speaking finding shit in my purse is when I normally need extra light. But I should be prepared.

And seriously, the actual most annoying thing outside my parents' is birds, and what can you do about that? TWEET! TWEET!!!!!

Heh. I did knock on the window one night recently to get a pidgeon to shut up. It was late!

The only time I seriously wanted to complain was when it sounded like the kids were throwing bowling balls right over my head (their living room is right above my bedroom). It wasn't early or anything, I was sleeping late and THUNK! THUNK!THUNKTHUNK THUNK!

Why? Was it price or performance? What does Coleman have going?

At the time it was price. They were just starting to come out with LED then. I've been happy enough with the Coleman that I haven't bothered to compare more recently. I was also more than a little frustrated with the number of AA incandescent Maglights to fail me.

The Tuareg are also very handsome, seriously -- one of those ethnic groups that somehow got an extra dose of gorgeous genes, like the Kurds and Maori.

FWIW, it's really a good good idea to keep the smoke alarms in the highest part of the ceiling, since that's where the smoke rises first. You want the alarm to go off as soon as possible, either to be able to put the cause of the smoke out or to get out of the house.

It's a big topic for me, my roommate's mother died in a fire where a working smoke alarm might have saved her life.

Another reason I am glad I bought a house instead of a condo--little 7 pound Dita has discovered the joys of slippery hardwood floors, and she sounds like a herd of something.

Ugh, you guys. The Trader Joe's near us seems to have swapped out its lighting for some form of fluorescent/klieg mashup. By the time I got out of there, I felt awful and I had to wait out one of those eye migraines in the parking lot. I haven't felt that bad in a long time. Home now, with advil.

I get being annoyed by kids making a lot of noise (ask me about the multiple yappy dogs various neighbors own that bark at everything in their absence), but some of that you just suck up and deal with if it's during reasonable daylight hours and they're not wildly banging objects against the walls or floors.

I use the flashlight app on my phone far more often than any of my actual flashlights. But I should make sure they still have working batteries anyway.

Ugh, our downstairs neighbor wants to come up and talk to the kids about how noisy they are. Apparently they were making so much noise he was banging on the ceiling. By running from room to room, at noon on a Sunday. We try to curtail really wild stuff and really early mornings, but, you know, small children, old house with wood floors.

Yeah, neighbors don't get to talk to your kids. You get to talk to your kids, if you choose. Property management gets to talk to you if the neighbor has a valid noise complaint (which, in this case, I don't think he does). But the neighbor does NOT get to talk to your kids.

And I say this as someone who currently hates her downstairs neighbors. I feel like it's just fifteen year old kids down there - slamming doors, loud video games and blaring tv. But since I've never seen them, I haven't nicely asked them to turn shit down yet. And during daytime, I realize I just need to accept them practicing guitar and loudish electronics. It's the nighttime bits that annoy.

What I ought to do is mention it to the property manager and see what the noise regs are here. If they have to pipe down after 10, that'll be enough.

I'm sure that living under me gives a false sense of how noise travels. I shut my front door quietly, never really close inside doors, take my shoes off as I get inside and walk quietly.

I think I just fixed a wonky drawer that has bugged me for years!

It's the nighttime bits that annoy.

If they sound like they're training Godzilla to drive race cars again tonight, I am going to go downstairs and be the Scary Goth Chick. I'll be polite, but I will ask them if they know about how sound carries.