weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jul 26, 2017 18:01:41 GMT -5
I don't think I've ever had terrible neighbours.
Well, there was that one lady who reported me to the SPCA for torturing a cat........
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Jul 26, 2017 18:05:41 GMT -5
Luckily, I don't mind being the problem. My other neighbor suggested that we buy as many playground type balls as we could and try to fill up the fence lady's lawn with balls. We were trying to calculate how many we would need to buy to fill it to the top of the fence. I hope she gets a camera and gets you for harassment. We can always hope. Hope and change
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2017 18:22:10 GMT -5
No real problems except some noisy condo neighbors downstairs when I was married to my first husband. A middle-aged woman with her mother and her teenage son- when the (apparently) ex-husband came over they'd argue loudly in a language I didn't understand so I didn't even get any juicy details. The kid played his music full-blast. It's made me wary of buying a condo ever since. Ah, but then there was the room I rented in a squalid off-campus house my junior year in college. The guy who lived on the bottom floor and collected rent had a real job. I had the attic. The people on the middle floor were a guy who may have dabbled in a few courses and his girl friend, who frequently skipped her high school classes so they could have sex on his waterbed all day. They had parties with their druggie friends and I have been witness to the HS girl shooting up something she cooked on the stove, a body-painting party and a guy who showed up in my room wearing only a shirt (I told him to go away because I was studying for a midterm). They dropped acid once- I stayed upstairs. There are some things you don't tell your parents. I was a pretty serious student so mostly an amused bystander to their antics.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jul 26, 2017 18:56:44 GMT -5
I guess I don't think it's that big of a deal if a kid comes into my backyard to get a ball? If the kid is destroying property, sure I would be upset. But just going back there isn't a big deal. Of course our neighbors know we don't have a big dog or a pool. Having either of those might change my mind. I'd rather the kid just go get it then bug me by ringing the doorbell. I guess that's just my introversion talking. It doesn't sound like just the occasional ball.
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chen35
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Post by chen35 on Jul 26, 2017 19:19:30 GMT -5
I guess I don't think it's that big of a deal if a kid comes into my backyard to get a ball? If the kid is destroying property, sure I would be upset. But just going back there isn't a big deal. Of course our neighbors know we don't have a big dog or a pool. Having either of those might change my mind. I'd rather the kid just go get it then bug me by ringing the doorbell. I guess that's just my introversion talking. You don't find kids climbing your fence a big deal? You would if said children were to get hurt on your property. Even if they weren't invited, it is still your responsibility as a homeowner and you can be sued. I have a big problem with other people's kids being in my yard. If your ball goes over the fence, wait for me to come outside and ask me. I'll toss it back over. I'm not going to have legal troubles because you can't be bothered to watch your own children. Especially with me having two large dogs. These are a very large and protective breed. Why should they be put in a position where they could possibly get hurt or your children be in the same position because you're not doing your job as a parent? Not my kid. Keep them off my property. ETA: Plus I find a person's lack of respect for the things that I work hard for to be incredibly rude. And I took care of my kids who are now grown. I don't want to deal with other people's kids too. I get your point, but to me the bigger issue there is that people are sue-happy and would bring me legal trouble for something like that. Not the kid that wants to get his ball. But I get I can't control the first as well as the second. Again, I don't have a pool or big dogs, and my neighbors know that. I'm not speaking to those issues.
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chen35
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Post by chen35 on Jul 26, 2017 19:22:01 GMT -5
I guess I don't live my life constantly worrying that someone may sue me for what I think is something irrational. Honestly, no snark, I probably should.
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quince
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Post by quince on Jul 26, 2017 19:24:39 GMT -5
Yeah, if someone was occasionally coming into my yard to get a ball, it had better be VERY occasionally. If I have a fence I would not be pleased with people jumping it on the regular.
If kids I don't know are running through my yard regularly I would be getting a fence. Not because they might trip and break something, but because fucking respect other people's property!
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suesinfl
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Post by suesinfl on Jul 26, 2017 19:35:19 GMT -5
DH would like to move to a house where we own our own view. I am not sure if I would be comfortable living far enough away from the grocery store and restaurants to own a truly large plot of ground, but that is part of why we intermittently look at houses. I would like to compromise on something with around 5 acres and some trees or something to block the view, but still close to town. You don't have to be totally out there to be away from it all. I'm only 10-12 minutes from grocery stores and the hospital. But this is my front yard. (it's always storming now...apocalypse) It's actually taken out my bedroom window, so that's what I wake up to every day. Looks like heaven to me.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jul 26, 2017 19:39:45 GMT -5
I moved out of my townhouse because the family from hell moved in next door. They decided to turn their basement into a rental unit (not allowed) and had all the construction done in the middle of the night. The mom took the baby to daycare on the way to work and apparently took food for the child, too. She would often drop a glass jar of baby food on the sidewalk on the way to her car and just leave it there. They were also stair stompers. They were evil. I moved to a SFH on a half-acre lot and will think long and hard before ever sharing a wall in another residence.
I currently share a Y-shaped driveway with another house. When that house went up for sale last year, I was very concerned about the kind of neighbors I would get. The people who were moving were great neighbors and I was afraid the next batch might be undesirable. The house was on the market for a long time (mostly because their real estate agent was both inexperienced and incompetent), and the neighbor on the other side of that house and I kept a close eye on the people coming to look at it. There were a lot of really sketchy people, which was odd since the asking price was nearly $600k. They were using Redfin (a discount real estate agency), and an agent from one of the mainstream agencies who was handling the sale of a house up the street told my neighbor that other agents don't like to show Redfin houses because the commission is so low. So that was part of their problem. Anyway, it finally sold and we hit the neighbor jackpot! The new people are very nice, and they have a really nice dog. They also have 3 boys who are expected to pitch in and help, so snow shoveling is all taken care of. They are also nice boys who are so busy with school and sports and other activities that they don't have time to make nuisances of themselves.
The first people who lived in the house on the right side of the long part of the driveway were weird (she was nice, he was mean and surly, and their kid was a bully) and the first people in the house on the left side of the driveway had feral children. The people in both houses now are very nice. I have bonded with the dog who lives in the house on the right side of the driveway, and she stays with me when her people are going to be away. She's my best fuzzy buddy. Her family invites me to share their holiday celebrations and looks out for me. The dog in the house on the left side of the driveway is not interested in making any new friends, but his people are nice. They're Russian, and their parents don't speak any English, so they think it's cool that I can talk to them.
So, for the time being, I am really lucky to be surrounded by good neighbors. Having had a bad experience with awful neighbors, I am very grateful for my current crop of neighbors.
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jul 26, 2017 19:41:10 GMT -5
You don't find kids climbing your fence a big deal? You would if said children were to get hurt on your property. Even if they weren't invited, it is still your responsibility as a homeowner and you can be sued. I have a big problem with other people's kids being in my yard. If your ball goes over the fence, wait for me to come outside and ask me. I'll toss it back over. I'm not going to have legal troubles because you can't be bothered to watch your own children. Especially with me having two large dogs. These are a very large and protective breed. Why should they be put in a position where they could possibly get hurt or your children be in the same position because you're not doing your job as a parent? Not my kid. Keep them off my property. ETA: Plus I find a person's lack of respect for the things that I work hard for to be incredibly rude. And I took care of my kids who are now grown. I don't want to deal with other people's kids too. I get your point, but to me the bigger issue there is that people are sue-happy and would bring me legal trouble for something like that. Not the kid that wants to get his ball. But I get I can't control the first as well as the second. Again, I don't have a pool or big dogs, and my neighbors know that. I'm not speaking to those issues. Um. That's exactly what my post said. That and his lack or respect for other people's property is rude.
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jul 26, 2017 19:42:56 GMT -5
I guess I don't live my life constantly worrying that someone may sue me for what I think is something irrational. Honestly, no snark, I probably should. Well I've seen it far too often in my line of work. Something happens and then people are bringing me a summons asking what to do. In this day in age people are very quick to sue. It's much easier than working or taking responsibility for your own actions.
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chen35
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Post by chen35 on Jul 26, 2017 19:48:49 GMT -5
I get your point, but to me the bigger issue there is that people are sue-happy and would bring me legal trouble for something like that. Not the kid that wants to get his ball. But I get I can't control the first as well as the second. Again, I don't have a pool or big dogs, and my neighbors know that. I'm not speaking to those issues. Um. That's exactly what my post said. That and his lack or respect for other people's property is rude. What I meant was my bigger annoyance is we live in a world where I have to worry about something as trivial as a kid getting a ball out of my yard because people are sue happy.
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suesinfl
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Post by suesinfl on Jul 26, 2017 19:59:52 GMT -5
No bad neighbors, but I live on a corner lot that is almost 1/3 of an acre and most of that is between the house to my right. Guy there grew up in the house and his wife and daughters took care of his parents until they passed.
House across the street to the right was bought by a city cop and his wife. They have some parties, but I don't here them in the house. I do like to sit on the carport and listen to their music and stupid, funny conversations when I sit outside for awhile.
Lady in the back is quite and I don't remember saying boo to me. The neighbor in front of me is renting and will be leaving in Oct. I'll be sad they are so nice. Now, the lady and her son's that owned that house before she died, were great neighbors, but should have been in the middle of 20 acres.
Every weekend they would have major redneck parties, with about 10-15 large trucks, bonfires, music, and they were loud. Sometimes I would open up my living room window just to listen to them, they were so funny. This only lasted about 5 years and then the mom died and the "boys" young men moved away. It's been 20 years now, but I still laugh at some of the stupid things they and their friends did. Don't think I could tolerate it now, though.
It never failed that Sunday afternoon they would be repairing my mailbox or replacing it. Since someone would have had too much to drink and run into it. But you know what, if I ever needed anything, all I had to do was ask and I'd have one or all of them helping me.
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plugginaway22
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Post by plugginaway22 on Jul 26, 2017 20:01:36 GMT -5
Our neighbors wait for grass and weeds to be about 2 feet tall before they mow it. That is our biggest complaint. DH and I take bets on when they will finally do it.
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suesinfl
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Post by suesinfl on Jul 26, 2017 20:06:29 GMT -5
Some of the stories are scaring me. I want to sell and down size in 3 years, but I'm worried about sharing walls. I would love to have a duplex like my older sister owns. She rents one side and snowbirds in the other. the only connecting walls are the kitchen and the sitting area. There is a carport between each unit.
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jul 26, 2017 20:06:57 GMT -5
Um. That's exactly what my post said. That and his lack or respect for other people's property is rude. What I meant was my bigger annoyance is we live in a world where I have to worry about something as trivial as a kid getting a ball out of my yard because people are sue happy. Ah. I see. Don't mind me, I've already got my first drink Of the evening going.
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suesinfl
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Post by suesinfl on Jul 26, 2017 20:08:21 GMT -5
Slacker
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jul 26, 2017 20:10:15 GMT -5
Some of the stories are scaring me. I want to sell and down size in 3 years, but I'm worried about sharing walls. I would love to have a duplex like my older sister owns. She rents one side and snowbirds in the other. the only connecting walls are the kitchen and the sitting area. There is a carport between each unit. So our cardboard box duplex is out? 😭
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jul 26, 2017 20:11:06 GMT -5
Slacker In my defense I just got back from the gym and the twins are being a handful this evening.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Jul 26, 2017 20:11:16 GMT -5
DH would like to move to a house where we own our own view. I am not sure if I would be comfortable living far enough away from the grocery store and restaurants to own a truly large plot of ground, but that is part of why we intermittently look at houses. I would like to compromise on something with around 5 acres and some trees or something to block the view, but still close to town. Right now we have neighbors across the street and a neighbor beside us. The neighbors across the street are retired and they work on their yard every single day. The grass is always mowed in a perfect checkerboard, there are beautiful flower beds, and everything is perfectly maintained. It is an immense amount of pressure for us and our scraggly grass... You don't have to be totally out there to be away from it all. I'm only 10-12 minutes from grocery stores and the hospital. But this is my front yard. (it's always storming now...apocalypse) It's actually taken out my bedroom window, so that's what I wake up to every day. We live on a suburb on a cul-de-sac, so we have front neighbors. Our back view is totally wooded after our fenced yard. If you go behind our property, the land drops down sharply and then there is a 2 lane road that is 100 feet below our yard. So we only own 1/2 acre but no one can build behind us and are yard is totally private. And within 1/2 mile drive Is a Publix, Aldi and Walmart. We love it!
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Jul 26, 2017 20:20:08 GMT -5
DH would like to move to a house where we own our own view. I am not sure if I would be comfortable living far enough away from the grocery store and restaurants to own a truly large plot of ground, but that is part of why we intermittently look at houses. I would like to compromise on something with around 5 acres and some trees or something to block the view, but still close to town. Right now we have neighbors across the street and a neighbor beside us. The neighbors across the street are retired and they work on their yard every single day. The grass is always mowed in a perfect checkerboard, there are beautiful flower beds, and everything is perfectly maintained. It is an immense amount of pressure for us and our scraggly grass... You don't have to be totally out there to be away from it all. I'm only 10-12 minutes from grocery stores and the hospital. But this is my front yard. (it's always storming now...apocalypse) It's actually taken out my bedroom window, so that's what I wake up to every day. To compare and contrast, here is my back yard looking from my back deck. The tree in the top left corner is in my neighbor's yard, the fence lady's yard is behind her fence and our back neighbor's yard is on the other side of the mulch . You can't see the neighbor on the right side from this shot.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jul 26, 2017 20:22:16 GMT -5
I just remembered a weird neighbor story that belonged to a former colleague. She lived in a neighborhood of SFHs on half-acre lots, too, and bought the house when it was newly built. Her next-door neighbor became annoyed because the neighborhood kids would cut through his yard to get to the street behind. He was too cheap to pay for a fence, though, so he went out into the woods that bordered their neighborhood and dug up a bunch of poison ivy and planted it around the perimeter of his yard. The poison ivy plants all died, but he spent the next several weeks/months covered in poison ivy rash. He eventually put up a fence.
The same neighbor (single middle-aged man living by himself) also managed to give himself mercury poisoning through his extreme cheapness frugality. He apparently found a really, really good deal on canned tuna and bought several cases. He then proceeded to eat tuna for every meal. Every. Single. Meal. For weeks. Mercury poisoning ensued. I don't know what happened to him after that. I moved to another job and lost touch with the colleague who was his neighbor.
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taz157
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Post by taz157 on Jul 26, 2017 20:29:57 GMT -5
Some of the stories are scaring me. I want to sell and down size in 3 years, but I'm worried about sharing walls. I would love to have a duplex like my older sister owns. She rents one side and snowbirds in the other. the only connecting walls are the kitchen and the sitting area. There is a carport between each unit. My mom lives in a duplex and loves it. The other side have a 9 year old boy and you'd never know it inside the house. She does hear the kid and his friends playing outside. That doesn't bother her at all. She does have a fence in the backyard, and the kid has knocked to ask to get his ball. She said yes and he doesn't have to keep asking each time. Keep in mind, my mom has no pool or dog. Also, she's considering taking down the fence (was there when she bought it last year).
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Jul 26, 2017 20:36:11 GMT -5
Our neighbors wait for grass and weeds to be about 2 feet tall before they mow it. That is our biggest complaint. DH and I take bets on when they will finally do it. Which house are you in here? I don't do it on purpose but I know the neighbors might get a little pissy if I start mowing at 5:30 in the morning. Hell, I get pissy when they do it at 9 in the morning. I got REALLY pissy when guy across the street was using his chainsaw at 10 in the morning. It just sounded like it was right in my house. I promise I'm mowing this week. We have company coming on Sunday so the yard needs to look somewhat presentable.
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msventoux
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Post by msventoux on Jul 26, 2017 20:40:21 GMT -5
I've been pretty lucky overall. My biggest annoyance is the house behind me. Not sure how many kids they have, but they're annoying. They spend hours in the back yard bouncing on the trampoline and shrieking at the top of their lungs. They have toys and junk spread all over the public bike path. They don't keep good track of their dogs.
The neighbors don't have any trees in their backyard, it's all lawn. We each have about an unfenced acre lot, but the majority of my backyard is trees. The kids keep trying to come over and build forts on my property, cut down saplings and leave trash strewn about. I have to chase them out a couple of times a year. The last time I had to chase them out twice in an hour and lost it on them. They ran home screaming and crying. The dad came over and tried to get pissy with me, but I lit into him to and he ended up picking up the trash his little shits had left on my property. As far as I know they haven't been back on my land.
I suspect there was a drug house a couple of houses down a few years ago. Tons of young men, beater cars and traffic in and out of the house constantly. It was foreclosed on and a nice couple bought it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2017 21:05:02 GMT -5
I am sure the neighbors across the road consider us bad neighbors. My husband said some stuff he shouldn't have to a kid when their unleashed dog almost knocked him down jumping on our leashed dog as he tried to walk our dog in our own front yard. The father of the kid said some stuff to me he shouldn't have. Fortunately, the real owner of the house is my former realtor even though she doesn't live there. When I called to explain the unfortunate situation and apologize for our part, she said she would take care of it. Within a week, there was a fenced section of yard for the dog.
Unfortunately, ANOTHER neighbor reported them to the city later because their backyard was a junkyard. You know . . . Toilets propped up against the house, broken swing sets, and non-running cars. There are only five of us on this road, and our front yard is across from their backyard so they think it was us. They had to get a dumpster, but it did get cleaned up.
The father of the kid and his family moved to Florida, and the parents (realtor's son and his wife) and we have a truce of sorts. I always liked them well enough. They actually came over and witnessed DH's health proxy, but this was before. They brought me tomatoes when I complimented them on their garden, but again this was before. (They gave up the garden several years ago.). She started working in the cafeteria at my school so I make a point of speaking to her on the rare occasions I go in there. I wave at them whenever I see them out.
But we know they don't like us. And I'll admit to being a little passive aggressive. Their overflowing garbage blows in our yard constantly. I pick it up without complaint, but I drop it over the fence so they have to pick it up instead of putting it in my own garbage.
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suesinfl
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Post by suesinfl on Jul 26, 2017 21:29:16 GMT -5
Some of the stories are scaring me. I want to sell and down size in 3 years, but I'm worried about sharing walls. I would love to have a duplex like my older sister owns. She rents one side and snowbirds in the other. the only connecting walls are the kitchen and the sitting area. There is a carport between each unit. So our cardboard box duplex is out? 😭 Oh, heck no. Someone has to help supply the cat food.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Jul 26, 2017 22:23:20 GMT -5
We probably are that neighbor. Our kids run through all of the backyards in the neighborhood, but one lady has a fence. So if they are playing ball the damn always goes over the fence. The kids used to go through her gate to get it, but she got mad, so now the kids go over the fence to get. She doesn't like that either. She threatens to call the cops on the kids and had called the cops a couple of times for kids and/or noise related issues. and now we have a puppy that is always barking outside. Also our backyard looks like a with all of the kids toys out there. If you can't control your kids, why in the world did you get a puppy just to leave it outside barking? No wonder the neighbors don't like you.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Jul 26, 2017 23:29:30 GMT -5
If your kids are running around with the other neighbor kids in your respective backyards, there's no issue. If you're letting your children run around in other peoples backyards who don't have kids your kids are playing with, yes, you have a problem. Luckily, I don't mind being the problem. My other neighbor suggested that we buy as many playground type balls as we could and try to fill up the fence lady's lawn with balls. We were trying to calculate how many we would need to buy to fill it to the top of the fence. Years ago DS2 was at a String Festival, and his room adjoined their orchestra teacher's room via a small bathroom. He and his buddies hatched a plan to fill the teacher's room with balloons - they'd lie on the floor and put the balloon under the door, blow it up and tie it and release it into the other room. Luckily Mr M took it in stride and thought it was a funny, harmless prank. Our neighbors from hell were the people across the street with the pit bulls they let run loose - they would charge. One bit our golden retriever mix dog, and more than once the kids were paranoid the dogs would attack them while waiting for the school bus (kids were in ES then). They are long gone, and the current neighbors are the complete opposite - they walk their German Shepherd on a leash, even way back in their 30 acres. The land on 3 sides of us is now owned by a farmer who lives a quarter mile south of us. The only nuisance from him is maybe when he's still out on his tractor at 3am, or if he's plowing up a dust storm when I just hung out laundry, both pretty infrequent.
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Jul 26, 2017 23:44:01 GMT -5
You don't have to be totally out there to be away from it all. I'm only 10-12 minutes from grocery stores and the hospital. But this is my front yard. (it's always storming now...apocalypse) It's actually taken out my bedroom window, so that's what I wake up to every day.
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