Saturday, June 09, 2007

Stop the Smoke!

 Living in cities challenges anyone to learn how to deal with difficult people and situations. I have been dealing with a cigarette and pot smoke situation that hasn't been resolved for over four years. I am learning how ineffective our city's 311 system for Citizen Complaints has been dealing with this addictive and rageaholic superintendent and an ineffective landlord. Smoke filtering from the basement of my building into my apartment forces me to run an industrial air filter continuously. It's proven that second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer in non-smokers and as an asthma sufferer it's doubly dangerous. Not only do I live with the constant annoyance of cigarette smoke from my super, his teenage son and their cronies also smoke pot at least twice daily. Incidentally, they also think they're in a band and practice their instruments, which is an entirely other annoyance. So, it was a great coincidence to get this link -- http://www.banish.com/ -- from my Austin, TX connection Michael Foster as I was also investigating Ash.org. While my goal is to get the smoking to stop in the basement (which is another building code violation), this product might help him smell better when I have to pass him in the hallway! If anyone else has any other suggestions, please let me know! Thanks!