Living situation

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Hi guys! I hope is is ok to post this here. It is not a nursing question per se, but it is job related. My roomie and I are going to be moving soon. The place we live now is nice but noisy, and I don't work days (eves and some nites), and I am worried about the place we are going to move. When we applied, we knew there was only one empty unit. We got approved, and now we just found out it's the one right on the end, next to the busy intersection. Problem is, I am afraid it's going to be too noisy for me during morning rush - I do NOT want to get woken up every am by stupid traffic 4 hours or so after going to bed. But I don't know what to do. We can stay month to month where we are, but it's noisy here too. Roomie thinks we should give the new place a shot, but I want to see if we can be on a waitlist or something. She works 7-3, though, so the she would already be up, so traffic is not really a big deal for her. Trouble is, if we let them give away the one empty that they have, who knows how long we will have to wait for another one to open up! And the situation is the same everywhere we looked. We don't have tons of money to spend on rent, but we still want a safe, relatively nice place. All the safe places we could afford have very little choice as to which unit we take. Pretty much any other unit in this particular place would work. What would you guys do? I'm stressing trying to decide! I hope this makes sense! Thanks!:trout:

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earplugs?

leslie

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Haha leslie, that's what I do now. I'd like to stop that...sometimes they fall out or sometimes my ears get itchy, so if I can avoid having to do that, I'd like that very much.

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White noise.

My personal favorite is a box fan (you can grab one for $10 at walmart). It drowns out the noise, and lulls me to sleep--- to the point I use it on days/nights that I don't work.

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Ugh, I can relate. I'm a super light sleeper. As much as I hate moving, it would stink to move and then have to move again. But since you don't like where you are, you could always move to the new place and immediately put your name on the waiting list so that if a quieter unit opens up in the same complex, you can move to it. Then you won't have to hire another moving truck since you'd only be moving within the same complex. And if the corner unit turns out to be ok, then you can always take your name off the wait list.

Who knows, maybe the corner unit is the quietest! Sometimes they double pane windows and use extra insulation in the walls of outer units because it's noisier...so inside the unit tends to be quieter because of all the extra precautions. This happened with one place I lived!

Good luck!

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Specializes in OB.

Is there any way you and roommate could arrange to go over to the apt. during rush hour (a.m. or p.m. would probably be about the same noise level)? That way you could get an idea of the actual noise and if it's too much your roommate would have a better understanding of the problem.

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I fall asleep with the tv playing a movie I know very VERY well (on a timer). You, know, the movie where you can recite every line by heart? (It has been "The Princess Bride and the "Harry Potter" movies for me lately. They cover the noise of neighbors slamming out their doors on the same hallway, etc. By the time the movie shuts off, the rush is over, and I sleep like a babe.

Sometimes having a fan on can help muffle the street noise, as well.

Good luck!

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I used to work nights and living at my parents was a bit noisy. I could hear footsteps above me, traffic on the road, birds in the trees (OH, how I HATED those birds!), etc. My sister bought me a noise machine for Christmas that first year (this was 14 years ago) and I never heard any of it again! The box fan is an excellent idea, and it's very affordable. I've been working days now for 7 years and live in a house on a very quiet, dead end road and STILL use the same noise machine! Good luck! :o)

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I was once a picky sleeper but I trained myself out of it. I developed selective attention. If one of the kids makes the slightest sound or if I hear any noise at the doors or windows, I'm instantly awake. Otherwise I sleep soundly. The mind is never really asleep. Trust yourself that you can reprogram your attention to filter stimuli according to your own priorities. Don't let your environment program your attention for you. (Personally, I would try anything to avoid moving, I hate it that much.)

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

hi,

I doubt the traffic will keep you up since that is more like white noise. The only problem would be if there is frequent emergency traffic going through the intersection (ie sirens) or lots of angry commuters beeping their horns. If ou feel it is really going to keep you awake I would keep looking, but if this is also a month to month lease I would take it and wait and see.

Sweetooth

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hi,

I doubt the traffic will keep you up since that is more like white noise. The only problem would be if there is frequent emergency traffic going through the intersection (ie sirens) or lots of angry commuters beeping their horns. If ou feel it is really going to keep you awake I would keep looking, but if this is also a month to month lease I would take it and wait and see.

Sweetooth

That's a big part of the problem, actually. It's not a month-to-month lease. The apartment is a ranch style and literally on the corner of a very busy, congesterd intersection (in fact, someone did drive through it once a few years ago - literally the unit that is open now. I'm not worried about that happening again, huge fluke of course, but still, it's very very close to the road). And there are a lot of accidents there. Not bad ones usually, but still, lots of fender benders and lots of sirens and honking horns. Normal noises don't usually get to me, but I'm really afraid that this one will. I need to just talk to the leasing agent I guess and see what's what. Thanks for all the input.

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I remember the evils of leaf-blowers and riding lawn mowers endlessly interrupting my sleep. Very neatly landscaped apartments are something to look out for. I'm afraid I don't have any easy solutions except for white noise.

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