Ding dong

Doorbells are evil and must be destroyed. I've decided that I prefer the low-tech alternative of knocking, especially after recent experiences.

One day this summer, my doorbell started going off randomly. I stuck my head out to see what was going on and noticed my handyman next door, looking confused. Turns out he was installing a new doorbell at number 8 (I'm number 7) and was trying to figure out why he couldn't hear it when he was testing it. Apparently, my doorbell and my neighbor's doorbell were operating on the same frequency and were setting each other off. The handy-guy figured out how to change the settings on our respective ding-dong machines and all was hunky-dory. Or so I thought.

Last week, while I was napping on the couch, the cats and I were rudely awakened by the doorbell. I jumped up and ran to the door (I was expecting a package). But no one was there. I looked around and saw a pizza-delivery guy at my neighbor's door (number 8). Ringing their doorbell. Aha! They must've messed with their doorbell's frequency, causing the problem to start all over again.

I called my landlord and reported that I was yet again having ding-dong troubles. Again, they sent out a handyman, but not the usual, nice one that helped me install my programmable thermostat. After convincing him that no, the doorbell did not plug in anywhere and that it was indeed a wireless, battery-operated one (we argued for a few minutes before he finally took the housing apart and saw that I was right) and that this had happened before and I wasn't making things up, he called in to get permission to buy a new and different model than my neighbors were using.

Okay, stay with me here.

After the first handyman fixed the doorbell frequency and the second handyman completely replaced the doorbell mechanism with a different model, I thought everything was fine. Until yesterday afternoon, when the doorbell went off.

Misha scrambled for the bedroom (the cats hate the doorbell) and I went to answer the door. Surprise, surprise, no one was there. I looked to my right, at the usual culprit, number 8. Nope, no pizza guy this time. Oooookaaay. I looked around the circle. And saw that across from me, at number 2, a water utility worker was ringing their doorbell. Aaarrgghhh!!!!

Yes, I called in yet another request to my landlord. By now they are probably convinced that I sneak into my neighbors' places and fiddle maliciously with their doorbells, just for the attention.