Thin Walls

The houses in the UK have very thin walls, floors and ceilings. I first noticed this when I came to the UK for a holiday many years ago. I guess it is just the way that the houses here are constructed. The reason that I am writing about this is because my upstairs neighbour was at it like rabbits last night. This always happens when the girlfriend comes over to visit, but never to the kind of marathon that it was last night. It all started at about 10pm.

At one point, after I had already fallen asleep, I heard some creaky noises in my dream. For some reason, my dreams tend to incorporate stuff that is happening around me. So, this caused me to wake up to hear creaky noises coming from a corner of my ceiling. The rhythmic creaky noises were quickly accompanied by a rhythmic staccato of a female voice sounding the first vowel. And this was happening at about 4am.

When I told a friend about this, my friend was fairly disappointed that this didn’t happen more often in undergraduate accommodations. I can only guess that undergrads do not get as much action or that they go for sprints, rather than marathon runs. Also, most undergrads are not in a stable relationship which may explain the irregularity of it happening. Possibly too, thrill seekers just do not do it in the rooms.

I can say for certain, that it happens very often in graduate housing, especially among stable couples. In my previous house, a couple used to rendezvous in the communal shower, every so often, for a tryst. Another previous neighbour of mine even apologised to me in advance, for making too much noise, claiming that his sub-woofer was placed right next to my wall (must be a creaky sub-woofer).

Now, I had recently purchased a set of in-ear SONY earphones, the kind that extends slightly into the ear canal. Aside from being excellent earphones, they work like an ear plug and can insulate outside noise. So, I guess that the next time that I wish to go to bed while the girlfriend comes for a visit, I should put on the earphones before going to sleep. I’m not getting enough of that as it is.