Fortunately for me, I have never had that problem, short of when I landed on the John F. Kennedy Aircraft carrier, and they berthed me directly below the flight deck . . . . fucking jet aircraft taking off and landing less than ten feet above me, rattling the rack I slept in, goddamn cable dragging across the flight deck, it was all far louder than some idiots shouting . . . . . when you are really tired, you can sleep through nearly anything . . . . now I could sleep through a fucking tornado, and wake up well rested. My neighbors like me.

I understand your every word here loud and clear. I have a similar situation at my place since they built the apartment complex next door. My mobile home is only 50 feet from them and they are always outside and making noise. This can be anytime but is mostly in nice weather. Drinking and loud music seem to be a part of this. I like my music loud too, so if I turn on mine inside my place they usually have to go back inside to avoid my music. At night I lay in bed and can hear them talking in summertime. Dammit, go back inside! Mostly these are BillyBob Hud types that wouldn't even have a place to live otherwise. They get Federal or state money so why have a job?

You have my deep sympathy.

Neighbor from Hell

For five years, I had the neighbor from Hell living below me. With huge speakers beneath my living room, Angel blasted repetitive Mexican ranch music, yelled at his wife and children, and howled as he got drunker.

"Angel misses Tijuana," his wife Juana explained.

I called the manager and police repeatedly. Angel retaliated by blasting louder.

Incriminating Information

For four months, I taught Juana English until Angel pulled the plug. I learned:

Angel is an illegal immigrant. Juana and the two kids are American citizens. Juana was exhausted from working three jobs. At 32, Angel had diabetes. He refused to work or take diabetes medicine.

Arrested

Christmas Day 2017: Pounding on my door at 9 p.m. It was Juana and their 8 year-old son. Juana said Angel tried to strangle their son and pounded his head against the floor. I gave them shelter. She called the police.

In bitter cold, Angel was running around in the dark, dragging their 13-year-old daughter to evade the police. Neither of them had coats.

Police were in and out of my place. At midnight, police hid the police cars and asked for Juana's key. Police hid in the apartment downstairs in the dark. They had Juana call Angel, telling him to come home, that the police were gone.

Angel was arrested and jailed. The next day, Juana dropped the charges. "I want to keep the family together," she said.

Reported

So, I reported Angel to U.S. Immigration Service. Felt guilty for doing it.

Good Riddance

In October 2018, Angel and his family hastily packed and moved in three hours, without telling the manager where they were going. They wrecked the apartment.

In my last home I lived in a gated neighborhood. It was lovely until my new neighbors moved in. They had six large SUV’s, had parties every weekend. The sheriffs wouldn’t do anything unless it was after midnight. It was a less than ideal situation so I moved.

A long time ago when my kids were little we lived in a basement apartment. The upstairs neighbor would come home drunk and turn the stereo on full blast. Well, my kids were messing with the main electric switches out by the back door one day and I figured out which was mine. He came home one night and after about an hour or so, I went out and turned his off. I had my husband flip it back on as he went out the door at 6am. Yeah, the stereo came back on. It was only on about 10 minutes though. He never did it again.

I have been 'that neighbor' who takes a broom stick and bangs it on the ceiling above my bed. I can understand your frustration. It drives me nuts when people are loud after 10:00. I am in the downstairs apartment and I've had a few different sets of tenants over the years in the apartment above me and they have ranged from loud and swearing, to quiet and considerate. The time I took the broom stick was the time a 20-something guy kept deciding to practice his guitar at 1:00 in the morning. And singing. I work at 6:00 a.m. so, like you, I find a good night's sleep is essential. My alarm goes off at 4:30. So far, I haven't had to report anything to the police...except one time somebody parked in front of my garage, blocking my way out....at 5:50 a.m. I have voiced concerns to my landlord a few times...and I am fortunate to have a responsive landlord. Hopefully your landlord will see your side of things. Sure doesn't sound like you are asking too much from your neighbors to me! I hope you get some peace and quiet.

This assumes a building super who will intervene. My daughter has an upstairs neighbor who seems to regularly pace the living room and then do ... something, we know not what...that creates a whirring sound for about a minute. Maybe a rowing machine? It is what it is. I bring ear plugs when I visit.