I live in a small apartment in a Brooklyn brownstone built in 1931. The walls and floors/ceilings are thin. Papery, in fact. I try not to vacuum at odd hours and to glide after 10. Yet I’m pretty sure I still sound like a bowling elephant to the people downstairs.

And now, I have new neighbors directly above me. Loud neighbors. Neighbors who have woken me up every night almost since they moved in with various noises. After I slipped a note under their door explaining the building’s paperness, they stopped moving furniture at 3 am. And so now, it’s just the sex.

But oh my gracious. Such loud, top-of-the-lungs sex. It’s rare to have a thriving sex life. I don’t want to discourage anything. But really? I’m a zombie today just in time for Halloween because of particularly zesty yowling from 1:43 to 2:15. And we all know that disturbed sleep can affect the immune system, not to mention harm focus, drive, and mood.

But what to do? Clearly another note is in order, right? And what should it say? Or do I have to actually knock and say to their faces, “Keep the lovin’ low!”? How is it too that I always end up feeling guilty about this sort of thing? Like, “Sorry I’m such a light sleeper, but…” And yet, this would wake the undead. Sigh. Blink. Snore.

How have you handled noisy neighbors? Especially with this kind of situation, which is a little more delicate than the furniture-dragging, stereo-booming variety….

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