Tropical Depression # 9

The weather forecast for this area includes a tropical depression with lots of water, lightening and thunder later in the week, I'm going to be digging out rain gear, flashlights, batteries and a can opener, along with extra water in case the electricity becomes intermittent or goes down completely for a time. We'll see what nature brings us which is nearly always a crapshoot.

In the meantime, I have ice, heat and stretching to look forward to, along with an it's-the-end-of August-birthday-lunch tomorrow in my neighborhood with three friends.

What are you up to?

Smoker Smell and More...

My  upstairs neighbors have changed in the last few months and my oldest neighbor moved to an assisted living community in another state. I am now the only owner in my building  in a community that is now more than fifty percent rentals. The neighbor above me, though a bit nosey, is otherwise fine except for one filthy habit: she smokes in her apartment and my unit is now starting to smell. While I do not see plumes of smoke in the air, the odor alone is bothersome and I've noticed a cough where there was none before her arrival.

I've looked online and tried both baking soda and vinegar which are supposed to absorb odors and I do have an air purifier in my front room, but the odor lingers. Having grown up in a family of smokers, nearly all of whom died of either heart disease or cancers, I am very familiar with the fact that this smell leaches into walls, clothing, furniture and anything else in its path.

I'm beginning to think moving might be my only option...Any other suggestions?