How housebroken is the dog? Does she regularly have accidents? A dog who pees in the house more than once or twice a year is not a good fit with an apartment with wall to wall carpeting. If you think you will really need the rug shampoo unit, maybe you need to find a different apartment. About the dog noise--currently I live above a dog and below another dog. Their running around really doesn't bother me. They are dogs; they run around. The occasional bark doesn't bother me. Their owners, who slam doors and drop heavy objects on the floor, they bother me a lot, because they are humans and can control these actions, but they chose not to. I wouldn't pre-warn people, because that sounds like you are going to warn them that your dog makes noise, but you aren't going to do anything about it. Instead, as you meet your neighbors, tell them that you have a dog and to please let you know if the dog is ever too loud. I suspect that your building will have a fair number of dogs and people who have dogs should be more willing to accept the occasional noise of another dog. I know nothing about video games, but can you use headphones when you play them? If not, you should be prepared to keep the sound very, very low after 10 or 11 at night. Listen carefully to how much you can hear from the other units. If you can hear every sneeze and whisper, you will know that your neighbors can hear your video games. When you play them at hours that other may be sleeping, you will need to find a way to play them as quietly as possible. Tell your neighbors, "Hey, I play a lot of video games. Please let me know if the noise is ever a problem." And be prepared with a solution if they mention the noise. For your early morning/late evening comings and goings, I wouldn't say anything. Just be as quiet as you can--close doors softly, speak softly to your dog, have her on a leash, try to figure out how to keep her from barking as you leave the building. You have every right to enter and leave the building when you choose. Telling the neighbors about this might give them the idea that they have some say over your time schedule--and really, they can't. So just be as considerate as possible. If someone does complain, ask them what can be done to solve it. It might mean taking a different route to the front door of the building, for example, so that you don't pass their apartment. But someone walking down the common hallway at an odd hour is just a fact of apartment life.

I feel your pain. I literally just went through this with an apartment I moved into a few months ago. Call the management immediately and tell them there are fleas. It is their responsibility to ensure that your apartment is habitable. Some leases, although rare will offer a 30 day guarantee where you can break your lease. If this is an option, I would use it. If not, the management needs to have it sprayed. They will likely send out a pest control tech to spray your apartment. Make sure that they spray with the chemical that inhibits growth so the eggs don't hatch. You will need to vacuum every day for about a week to make sure you're picking up the eggs. Either empty the canister or replace the bag after each vacuuming so the fleas don't continue to hatch in the bag. As far as your furniture, you can get Borax and sprinkle it over it and just let it sit for awhile it will dehydrate any fleas or eggs in the furniture. Also wash any bedding and anything that has been on the floor in hot water. There are also electronic flea traps you can buy that attract fleas so you can check your progress. If you don't want to buy one you can also take a shallow dish and put water and a little bit of soap (not too much) to catch them. Put it under a desk lamp in a dark room and they will be drawn to it and fall in. If it gets to the point where you cannot stay there, make sure the landlord reimburses you for the time that you had to spend not living in the apartment. If you end up needing to leave and they do not fix the problem, you can break your lease but the procedure depends on what state you're in. At that point, I would recommend discussing with an attorney about getting a constructive eviction which would allow you to break your lease because the landlord is in breach by not making it a habitable environment. Good luck, I'm sorry you're having to go through this. It will get resolved most likely but this is just advice based on my experience with my slumlord of a landlord.

I agree with Shavedmonkey. You will have better light for those orchids. The biggest cause of bud drop/blast would be sudden changes in temps. Not so much the trip in the car as the heat/cold in the new apartment. I moved from NYC to Florida. I took about 40 orchids along for the ride. It was September so the weather was moderate. All the plants did fine and most winter bloomers continued spiking and flowering in Dec/Jan. Buds are different. Those buds are more sensitive than the plants. This is what I did. Put all my orchids (except plants which were too big) in Styrofoam coolers. Buy the big, cheap ones. I didn't put the tops on, just piled the plants in. Put them in the car as the last trip to the new place. If the weather is really cold, just cover them with a blanket when you put them in and take them out. Get them in the new digs fast. Don't put them close to the window. They don't need sun now. The buds are formed and the plants will do fine without strong light. Put them close together for some humidity and keep your fingers crossed. But, don't put them in direct light. Keep them back from the windows. Very important. The plants should continue along and bloom. Good luck in your new place. The lighting sounds wonderful for orchids! Jane

I'd ask for prorated rent with payment starting on Friday. That's assuming that you could have moved your stuff in on the weekend. I'd also check out your local landlord-tenant board/government to find out what the tenant rights are.