Crackling Sound, page 1

Just a quick update on this situation because some strange things have happened since. That night, all was quiet, as it was for another day or two. On Thursday, I was doing some work in my living room during he late morning and heard another strange sound, definitely from somewhere within the the apartment. This type, I can only compare to someone ripping a large peice of paper. I was immersed in my work and didn't get up to investigage. It happened again a little later in the afternoon but to a lesser degree and by that point, I was growing used to these strange sounds and assumed that there had to be a logical explanation for it. For the last several nights, I've been sleeping on my couch in the living room due to a bad back I've always likened my apartment building to an old hotel or a BB in which an old house was converted to various separate apartments, each unique. Anyway, when I first moved into the apartment, I witnessed a centerpede coming in under a rather large gap in my door and freaked out. I called the landlord and had him install some wooden stripping to block the underside. I tell you this so you understand that it's become second nature for me to look at the door to make sure nothing is slithering through the bottom (yuk!). As I'm lying on the couch last night, I'm facing the apartment door directly. For liability purposes, the landlord keeps strong lights on in all the hallways 24/7. On Monday, I checked the door to make sure I had locked it and didn't notice anything unusual. I can't remember if I checked it on Tuesday but I do remember having to pull hard to have it close and then wiggle the key to get the door to lock when I went out during the day. On Wednesday night, I was drifting off to sleep and noticed that the light coming through the surrounding of the door looked different. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that left side of the door esd butt tight against the jam, the upper right section now had a sizable gap not there before and the top and bottom seen to be crocked. I've also noticed other things in the apartment that were askew. I had some pictures on the walls that needed to be straighted and two large bookcased weighed down with heavy books are were definitely tilted to the left. I was wondering if anyone thought it's possible that there was some type of ground shift that might have caused the house to lean to one side. I've tried to check with other neighbors but not too many people have been around. My immedate neigbors on my floor (top floor which used to be the attic before being converted into an two apartments, said that they haven't noticed any door misaligments but have been having problems over the last few days with some of their appliances and when maintenance came to check, they found that certain connections had become dislodged. Lastly, there are three dogs in the building and each time their owners go out, they each start to bark and flair endlessly on the inside door as if their lives depending on getting out. At first I thought it was knocking but soon realized it was the poor dogs scratching at the front door. This never happened before. I'm not sure of any of these things are related but Im really wondering if there has been some type of ground shift. I realize that old houses are prone to shifting but this seems have have happened suddently and quite drastically. Has anyone else noticed anything unusual over the last few days? Thanks for your responses.

Timigdal.

Timidgadl