Before I moved to my current geographical location, I did the prerequisite apartment search... with my dad and stepmom. 

It was probably only a couple of weeks before the semester started, so pickings were slim. The first apartment I looked at was currently occupied by an environmental education major. The first thing I saw when I walked in were lots... and lots... of axes... For some reason, I had the illusion that one ax usually served most purposes, but apparently you never know when you might need a variety to choose from. Or he killed people. Either way, I didn't choose that apartment.

The second apartment was located in what looked like the Smurf Village.  The arrangement consisted of about a dozen octagonal shaped buildings. Each one had (if my math is correct) eight pie-shaped apartments. Needless to say, I believe these were designed in the early seventies... probably after the architect smoked a couple. Didn't pick those either.

I think the third one I saw was the one I'm currently living in.  When we pulled up to the house, I quietly urged my dad to keep driving. The house was sided with moss green shingles... like the kind that usually go on a roof. The yard was kind of overgrown and puncuated with the mangled remains of folding chairs.  When the landlord arrived, she escorted us around the back because "a previous tenant had changed the locks to the front door, and she never had it fixed." No problem, I thought, it will add a little excitement to my life knowing that a complete stranger still has the keys to my apartment. Especially since a guy with a closet full of axes lives in this town too!!"

Anyway, after pushing aside the Milwaukee's best boxes and ashtrays, we got into the house. It was actually pretty decent inside... definitely the best I had seen. So, I assessed the positive attributes of signing the lease:
       a. Nice, cozy apartment
       b. Low rent
       c. Decent neighbor
       d. Not octagonal
       e. Good neighborhood.

So, although I signed the lease and I'm happy (relatively) with my current living situation, the last point on the list has proven to be... well... wrong. To keep this short, I'll share a list of things that have happened since I've lived there:
      1. Day one: ambulance. stretcher. dead person. (granted, it could happen anywhere)
      2. House across the street seems to be home to 10+ individuals. Every morning at approximately 7 am, a car pulls up and lays on the horn for about five minutes for no apparent reason.
      3. Kids on acid playing tackle football in the street at 3am.
      4. Drunk guy passes out in my neighbors entryway. My boyfriend tells neighbor about said drunk guy. Neighbor goes back to sleep and wakes up to find the drunk guy sleeping on his couch. Neighbor says he doesn't mind because drunk guy "had the courtesy to take off his shoes."
      5. I wake up to pounding on neighbor's door at 1:30 am. Go back to sleep. Wake up ten minutes later when pounding starts on my door. I check the window and see a fellow wearing carhartts stumble across my lawn. Then I see a car back out of my driveway. The car gets stuck in a snow bank and spins tires for several minutes. Finally, the car gets unstuck, swerves out of the driveway and drives away (the wrong way down my one-way street). 
  
Sigh... between this and the cat and the ADHD boyfriend, I am NOT getting much sleep.