u/chairk3yre

My girlfriend and I have been living in a small apartment in Salt Lake City, Utah, for two years. It’s been mostly fine, until this summer when a new neighbor moved into the unit above ours.

Since then, we’ve been dealing with almost weekly marijuana smoke entering our apartment through the ventilation system. The smell has been strong enough to interfere with our ability to comfortably use our home, and we reported it to management six separate times in writing.

Management responded by posting notices on neighboring doors warning residents that smoking marijuana violated the community’s rules. Unfortunately, the notices didn’t stop the problem. After our sixth complaint, management told us, in writing if you can believe it, that unless we could “find proof” identifying exactly which apartment the smoke was coming from, there was nothing more they could do beyond posting notices.

Here’s where things get interesting.

Our lease specifically says residents must report confirmed or suspected smoking violations before management is “obligated to investigate and act.” We pointed this out and explained that we had already identified a suspected source multiple times, along with our reasons for suspecting it. But we obviously have no way to investigate other apartments or determine how the building’s ventilation system connects between units.

Management responded, again in writing, by quoting the same lease provision back to us, arguing that we were required to cooperate with its investigation. In that same email, management explicitly acknowledged that its notices had been unsuccessful and that it was aware the continuing odor was causing a nuisance and discomfort in our apartment.

We explained again that we had cooperated fully, provided all the information reasonably available to us, and had no practical or legal means to investigate this. We also stated that we believed that by knowingly allowing this issue to continue for nearly two months and refusing in writing to take any action unless we satisfied an impossible task, management had violated both the lease agreement and potentially Utah Code § 78B-6a-405, and that we intended to have an attorney review the documentation.

Eight minutes later, management informed us, once again in writing, that because we would have an attorney “assigned” to our “case,” we were no longer allowed to communicate directly with management and had to contact its law firm instead. Except we never said we had retained an attorney. We hadn’t even contacted one. We only wanted professional legal advice. So we immediately corrected that misunderstanding in writing and agreed to contact the firm as instructed.

And here’s where it gets baffling.

A couple of hours later, I called the law firm, explained the situation, and told the woman on the phone that management had prohibited us from communicating with them directly. The representative seemed confused, asked for my name, and searched for our information. They had absolutely nothing on file about us or the dispute.
She told me she would contact management to find out what was going on. From that, we can safely assume that both legal and corporate are investigating this.

Meanwhile, we’re also dealing with severe, prolonged pounding noises from the apartment above us, often lasting for hours at a time and frequently interrupting our evening activities, that are sometimes forceful enough to rattle ceiling fixtures and make us leave our own home to escape the noise. The neighbor declined to cooperate when we asked him to keep it down and management has done little to meaningfully address that problem either, saying that because he “has kids” and “it’s outside quiet hours,” there’s nothing they can do. Of course, given the severity, we don’t buy this.

At this point, what began as a straightforward request to stop marijuana smoke from entering our apartment has turned into a dispute over management’s conduct and contractual obligations, its handling of repeated complaints, and its decision to cut off direct communication after we mentioned seeking legal advice. We have retained the emails, dated complaints, management notices, and other documentation supporting this timeline and organized them into a single file with a detailed chronology for an attorney to review.

We weren’t asking for anything extraordinary. We just want to be able to live comfortably in the apartment we’re paying our hard-earned money for.

So here’s my question: Does this sound like grounds for a serious lawsuit under Utah law, or are we overestimating how much management's written admissions and conduct matter?

I’ve been wondering how other people internally experience music. I realized my own experience seems unique, or at least uncommon, so I’m curious whether anyone relates.

To be clear, I’m not talking about synesthesia. I don’t literally see shapes or colors or anything like that. This feels more like my brain instinctively translates music into physical spaces, movement, entities, and environments.

When I listen to a song, it often becomes a physical world. Songs don’t just sound energetic, calm, heavy, or emotional. They become places, entities, or environments with their own rules.

Sometimes a song feels like a living thing with its own personality, movement, and physical presence. Other times it’s the environment itself. A song might exist inside a certain kind of room, landscape, or structure, and the environment becomes inseparable from the music.

Movement is a huge part of it. I don’t just hear rhythm as the beat. Rhythm includes syncopation, how everything interacts through time, how the melody locks into the rhythm section, how instruments answer each other, how lyrical phrasing resolves, and how the entire song unfolds. My mind seems to translate those things into physical motion: how something moves, collides, vibrates, drifts, accelerates, or occupies space.

Sometimes these worlds are immediate and incredibly vivid, almost as if the song arrives with them already attached. Other times it’s more of a feeling or atmosphere that I have to mentally translate into a visual or physical landscape that best matches what I see the music doing.

Genre doesn’t seem to matter much to me. I gravitate toward certain styles, but songs from completely different genres can inhabit similar worlds if they move through time in a similar way.

I’m curious: Does anyone else experience music this way? Do songs create places, environments, or physical worlds in your mind? Do you experience music as movement, textures, or spaces rather than just emotions? If not, what is your internal experience of listening to music like?

I find it fascinating that we all hear the same sounds, but our minds may be constructing very different internal experiences. I’d love to hear how other people experience music.

I’ve been wondering how other people internally experience music. I realized my own experience seems a little unusual, so I’m curious whether anyone relates.

To be clear, I’m not talking about synesthesia. I don’t literally see colors or anything like that. This feels more like my brain instinctively translates music into physical spaces, movement, entities, and environments.

When I listen to a song, it often becomes a physical world. Songs don’t just sound energetic, calm, heavy, or emotional—they become places, entities, or environments with their own rules.

Sometimes a song feels like a living thing with its own personality, movement, and physical presence. Other times it’s the environment itself. A song might exist inside a certain kind of room, landscape, or structure, and the environment becomes inseparable from the music.

Movement is a huge part of it. I don’t just hear rhythm as the beat. Rhythm is how everything interacts through time: syncopation, how the melody locks into the rhythm section, how instruments answer each other, how lyrical phrasing resolves, and how the entire song unfolds. My mind seems to translate those temporal relationships into physical motion—how something moves, collides, vibrates, drifts, accelerates, or occupies space.

Sometimes these worlds are immediate and incredibly vivid, almost as if the song arrives with them already attached. Other times it’s more of a feeling or atmosphere that I have to mentally translate into a visual or physical landscape that best matches what I see the music doing.

Genre doesn’t seem to matter much to me. I gravitate toward certain styles, but songs from completely different genres can inhabit similar worlds if they move through time in a similar way.

I’m curious: Does anyone else experience music this way? Do songs create places, environments, or physical worlds in your mind? Do you experience music as movement, textures, or spaces rather than just emotions? If not, what is your internal experience of listening to music like?

I find it fascinating that we all hear the same sounds, but our minds may be constructing very different internal experiences. I’d love to hear how other people experience music.

I’m working on a hard science fiction novel and I’m struggling with this. This ring-shaped spaceport is supposed to encircle Earth about 10,000 miles above the equator, but of course since it’s a rigid structure it cannot be in orbit. I also know this is inherently unstable due to Earth’s gravity pulling on it from the inside and the gravity of the Sun and the Moon pulling from the opposite direction. Then there’s pressure from solar wind, micrometeorite impacts, etc.

So how can this be done? It needs to be a solid structure for story purposes, as its instability will be its downfall during the climax, but the best I got is a continuous stream of hyper-velocity particles circulating through a hollow core, combined with a computerized, fusion-powered propulsion system making tiny adjustments where needed.

This is a highly advanced and mature interplanetary civilization, so the constraints of modern technology need not apply. Preferably no anchoring cables or space elevators, however, unless that’s my only option.

I don’t need a long, complex explanation, since the engineering behind it isn’t important to the story. Just a single explanatory sentence that won’t make physicists throw the book across the room.

Utah. Looking for opinions on whether I can walk away from this car deal.

About a week and a half ago, I agreed to start the process to buy a used vehicle. The vehicle was not available for a test drive because it was in the shop for repairs. I was repeatedly told before and during signing that I would have the opportunity to test drive the vehicle once it was repaired and that I could decide whether I wanted to move forward after driving it.

Based on that understanding, I put down a payment and signed paperwork.

A few important facts:
• I have never seen or test-driven the vehicle.
• I have never taken delivery of the vehicle.
• The vehicle is still in the shop.
• I still do not have copies of all the paperwork I signed.

The salesperson originally told me that if I did not end up doing that particular vehicle, I would get my money back. I have that statement in writing via text message.

At the time of signing, I was told financing would not be submitted until after I had the opportunity to test drive the vehicle.

A few days later, the salesperson accidentally let it slip that financing had already been submitted. I objected and told the dealership I no longer wanted the vehicle.

After that, the general manager called me and said I had already signed everything and that the documents were legally binding. He wanted to meet with me and said he would personally “drive the conversation” so we could sort things out.

I attended the meeting. The general manager never showed up.

Instead, I met with the finance manager. During that meeting, the finance manager told me that the financing application had been withdrawn. I later contacted the lender directly and the lender independently confirmed that the application had been submitted and then withdrawn.

The finance manager also gave me a signed “We Owe” document, already signed by me four days earlier, and hand wrote “contingent on test drive.”

However, there are some oddities:
• The vehicle was still unavailable.
• The finance manager discussed additional paperwork that would be completed after the future test drive.
• I still have not received copies of the complete paperwork package.
• The dealership has continued discussing future paperwork despite claiming I already signed everything.
• The vehicle remains listed on the dealership’s website.

I also have a recording of the finance manager. In the recording, I asked:
“So just to be clear, if I decide I don’t like the car after driving it, this whole thing can be scrapped?”

The finance manager responded:
“Yeah.”

My girlfriend was present throughout the transaction and heard the same representations that I did regarding the future test drive and my ability to decide after driving the vehicle.

Since then:
• The vehicle has remained in the shop for roughly a week and a half.
• The repair facility told me they were waiting on parts.
• I have often had to get updates directly from the repair facility because the dealership was not providing updates.
• Different dealership employees have given me conflicting information about financing, trade-ins, warranties, and what happens after the test drive.

At this point, I no longer want the vehicle.

My question is: given these facts, does it sound like I can walk away and get my down payment back, or am I likely stuck with the deal because I signed paperwork before the vehicle was available for a test drive?

I signed everything for a car that was in the shop under the condition of a future test drive. The dealership told me they would not submit the loan until a test drive could occur. The salesperson accidentally let it slip that the finance manager submitted it anyway. I called the general manager asking him to explain himself, and he asked me to come meet with him and the finance manager to “sort this out.”

The GM no-showed. However, the finance manager told me during the meeting that they withdrew the application and then gave me a signed “we owe” document specifically listing “contingent on test drive.” He tried to frame the test drive entirely around mechanical issues, expressed confidence that the car will be in great shape, and shifted uncomfortably when I pointed out that a test drive is not a mechanical inspection. He then changed the subject to warranties, which I declined.

I called the lender today and they confirmed to me that the dealership submitted and then withdrew the application.

The car is still in the shop over a week later and I am getting the silent treatment when I ask for updates. I’m done. Can I walk away from the deal after test driving despite everything I signed previously?

I am in Utah if that matters.

Meaning if I signed everything for a car that was in the shop under the condition of a future test drive and then got a signed document specifically listing “contingent on test drive,” I can walk away from the deal after test driving despite everything I signed previously?

I am in Utah if that matters.

I’ve been looking for a new car for a few weeks and across a 2018 Hyundai Elantra. Nice car, 43k miles, around $14k. Decided to message the dealership about it.

When they called, the salesperson told me the car was in the shop being fixed, but I was welcome to put down a refundable down payment to reserve the car until I could give it a test drive. Sounded fine to me, so my girlfriend and I went down to make the payment.

The finance manager brought us into his office to help us take care of the down payment and everything seemed fine until he started running numbers. He did the thing they always do: talked fast, threw out numbers, and used car/finance jargon I did not understand. He reiterated what the salesperson told me earlier that if I don’t like the car upon inspecting it, they’ll scrap the deal, but he ended up adding nearly $13,000 worth of warranties that he said were necessary.

He also told me during the conversation that he suggests putting my current car on the market to make more money off of it despite the salesperson telling me earlier they would pay top dollar for it.

I left the dealership feeling confused and taken advantage of. So a few days later, I called him and asked him to remove the warranties and said I want to do a trade-in after all. He told me that was not possible, despite me being very clear that this was all contingent on me seeing and test driving the car. I mentioned this and he said he’s “sure” the test drive will “go fine” and had already sent the loan to the bank. The car is “basically” mine, he told me.

Basically, he’s acting like the deal is final. But of course, I have not driven the car. I haven’t even seen it. It is not in my physical possession, nor is it even currently drivable. I don’t even have any paperwork. Legally, the car is still theirs and I can back out at any time, correct?

I’m going down to meet with the general manager today, but I’d like to make sure WVED regulations are on my side here, because I’m not happy about this. Especially since I was told the loan would not be sent to the bank until I was happy with the test drive, and he sent it anyway.

Edit:

Also, I have a text from the salesperson informing me that I can cancel the sale and will get my money back if I decide I don’t want the car, so thankfully that is in writing.

I think of planaria as simply unfit for my tanks’ ecosystems rather than pests, which got me wondering. Has anyone ever made a small tank or large jar specifically for planaria? Maybe add some copepods for them to eat? The more I think about it the more I like the idea.

I’m always curious to know things like this. I have a very broad taste in music and appreciate many genres and styles, but I tend to gravitate toward music that’s energetic, rhythmic, and passionate, like metalcore. One non-metalcore album that comes to mind immediately is Bad by Michael Jackson. It’s cinematic, lively, masterfully crafted, incredibly rhythmic, and in its own way as intense as the best metalcore song. Plus it’s performed to perfection. The vocal tics, hiccups, gasps, the famous hee-hees—his vocal style here is just insanely cool to me. Absolute peak Michael Jackson and one of the best albums ever.

What are yours and how does your love of metalcore inform the way you listen to them?