I have read so many similar stories on this forum, and it at least makes me feel like I"m not alone, but oh boy, I've about had it with my issue!

Our upstairs neighbor lives alone. Thankfully she works a 3 to 10 shift and so she's usually gone most evenings. This saga started last summer.

Like most people, I don't like being startled first thing in the morning, and one morning as I was getting ready for work, the upstairs neighbor frantically rings the bell not long after I've stepped out of the shower. She asks if I'm playing really loud Johnny Cash music over and over again. I'm thinking huh? I'm certainly not playing music and I don't hear any music at all. Then again, our air conditioning is loud and my hearing isn't the best.

Well, that blows over, and then...in the middle of the night, I'm awakened by the doorbell ringing and pounding on the door. I like this far less than when I'm already awake and it's a decent hour. I'm completely disoriented and fumbling to see what time it is.

1 a.m. What?

I try to ignore it, thinking that it's some drunk people at the wrong house or something. So I'm drifting in and out of sleep and it then it starts again, more insistent. I jump out of bed and ask, "Who is it?"

"The police!"

It was in fact the police officer who lives on site.

He asks, "Are you playing a radio with Johnny Cash music?"

I say, "Do you hear any music? I was fast asleep in there. I have to be at work in a few hours." I was too tired and stressed to be very polite.

He looked a little embarrassed and said, "All right, go on back to bed, sorry for disturbing you."

I went back to bed, but it was a LONG LONG time before I fell back asleep. But anyway, was wired and angry for a long time. Still couldn't hear any Johnny Cash music no matter how much I strained my ears.

Fast forward to just a few weeks ago. My husband was home and he had gone out to take the trash out one evening and when he came back, this upstairs woman was outside waiting for him. She belligerently told him to stop slamming doors all the time and that she was only going to tell us once. My husband who has English as a second language, brushed her off, not wanting to deal with someone so unstable. A few days later, we started hearing loud hammering coming from upstairs at odd hours of the day. It was very loud, as if the ceiling was going to crash down. I thought (in my weirdly naive way) that she was putting furniture together or something.

But then it happened at 1 a.m. again. I was really freaked out. It happened on and off for about an hour. I left a note for her the next day requesting in a polite manner that she please not do hammering projects at 1 in the morning, explaining that I worked days. Then nothing for about 1 week and a half.

Then today: My husband left for a walk and right afterwards, this lady came down and rang our bell. She reamed me out for slamming doors. I tried to be as nice and reasonable as can be and showed her how I close the door when I leave and explained that I really don't think we make unusual noise when we leave. She got very belligerent and insisted that we were slamming the door and it was shattering her nerves and that every time she heard a door slam, she looked out and saw one of us so she knew it was US and not any of the other neighbors. She told me to never leave another note for her and to contact the office if she had a problem with it. And in general, despite my polite demeanor, she was determined to be surly. Our across the hall neighbors have a dog that barks, a loud motorcycle and plays music all the time. She didn't seem to have a problem with that.

Thank you all for letting me vent. I guess I'm wondering what I should do. I wonder if I should file a formal complaint at the office. Is it reasonable to call the police if she pounds on our ceiling at 1 am.?