Time for that old house wring to give up the ghost maybe?
I was living with prehistrionic wiring for the last ten years where I live, then suddenly, without much warning, the whole circuit breaker box toasted. Cost 1200.00 for a new breaker box.
I could overload some circuits before that happened without the breakers tripping, but now the new breakers will trip pretty easily when Overloaded now .
One good thing is a I got a new main electric cable from the utility pole to the house scott free courtesy of our local electric company.
This should provide cleaner power.
I still have a lot of 60 cycle hum if i run stiff on the same circuit as my amps.
I don't know. The wiring inside the house is still prehistoric, but I have a new breaker box.veidently the wiring is pretty solidmstuff inside unless the rats have chewed on it alot or something, which some of my wiring does not work anymore, so thjat may be the case/
The ticking is something that finally went haywire on your circuit and just a coincidence about your new neighbor- just a guess.
I think your due for a new breaker box, and I hope the box is outside and NOT in your wall..that can be a real hazard.