If there is a vacant unit, ask the landlords if you can move into that. That would be the simplest thing to do. Ask the landlord to come over for a meeting. Show them the rugs, explain everything you do to keep your daughter quiet. Tell them that the constant complaints and police harassment are not acceptable. Ask the landlords what they are going to do to make the downstairs neighbors quit bothering you. Start complaining about the downstairs neighbors. For a week or two, document everything they do that is in violation of the lease, and all their noise. Record the dog barking, take pictures of the cars blocking you in. I can't believe the landlords didn't know about the people downstairs. They have a choice--keep the unpleasant people down stairs and have people move out of the upstairs unit as quickly as possible, or deal with the downstairs people and have a quiet building. Also, check with the police to see if there is any consequence for the downstairs people if they continue to make false claims against you.

I give: What's "IOW"? I do like Hell's Kitchen, a lot. All reality competitions have an edited story line and a lot that goes on off camera, with whole other stories that actually happened but aren't as useful to the main story arc that aren't shown. They may have retakes on things that are important to the game when the shots get ruined, but those are basically, "Taste that again", and stuff like that. The reason these things work is that once the cast get to know the crew and they've been shooting a few days, or even hours, the cast gets used to the presence of the cameras, crew, cables, and all the rest, and just kind of ignore them. They actually forget they're there, even when they have appointments to sit with a producer asking them snarky questions one on one (you only see the responses, not the producer or questions) to provide commentary and to stir up trouble. Basically, though, they don't actually script off camera. They tell them, and may even rehearse them, on where to line up, maybe what the structure of the occasion is (made up example, "Contestant X will take your covered dish to the tasting table."), but the manipulation is mostly through editing. I don't think there's actually anything pre-ordained. If nothing else, that would be illegal because this is a contest with prizes. In the editing, they often telegraph where the story is going, but that's part of putting together a good story by choosing the clips and angles that pull the viewer into the particular episode. Because I'm doing computer work at home all day, I tend to run the TV for company and love these kinds of shows because they're undemanding of my attention except for the approximately five minutes when something actually happens. I totally agree that Gordon Ramsay is entertaining. He is a former soccer player and a very highly respected chef. He gained a reputation in England for being good TV by participating in shows where they needed a great chef, became a star and started doing a lot of shows both there and here. What you're seeing in Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen is the character he plays on TV. Foul mouthed, demanding, verbally abusive in a drill sergeant way, etc. Occasionally you'll get glimpses of him being a normal, caring, gentleman, which I'd guess is his at home self. I promise I won't give you rank spoilers, but I will tell you that, just as with drill sergeants and recruits, Ramsay gets the best out of the contestants. They learn a hell of a lot in Hell's Kitchen. But they don't get coddled. Reasons why I respect Gordon Ramsay? He believes that the point of what they're doing is to please the customers with the food, and he demands that they produce dishes that are cooked properly, including to the amount of doneness requested. I can't tell you how angry hoity-toity chefs make me when they go on TV and insist that they know better than diners how they'd like to eat their meat. Ramsay demands immaculate kitchens and correct food handling. He demands that things be done right. He respects a good hamburger as much as a good quail's egg. And he will give compliments freely where they're due.

I really lilke My Cat from Hell. I've always had a cat or two but I've still learned a few things from Jackson. The one I have now might be feral. I thought it was one of my neighbors cat's kittens but she said her sons found some kittens in the brush above our houses. He doesn't like to be cuddly. He's 11 now and is just finally sitting on my DD's lap for a few minutes. He loves to be be petted but it has to be on his terms. When he's sleepy he really likes it or he'll walk by your chair and have to reach down to pet him as he walks by. We bought him a smaller sized metal dog cage and he really enjoys going outside and will stay there for 2 or 3 hours just watching the birds or whatever or just curling up and sleeping in the sun. He lets you know when he wants to come in by meowing and when he sees you he will reach up and stretch. We tried to put a harness on him when he was small but he would just fall on his side and refuse to move.

I too noticed the number of smokers on the show. Seems disproportionately high to me. Plus given how so many shows can't even show smoking I have to wonder about the incentives, if any, that are there. Just seems strange. And they're never standing outside smoking, huddled in a circle by the back door... Seems to me one of them, ("LA" maybe?) actually made a comment on one of the shows this year to the effect that I smoke so that might affect it, but it tasted OK to me.