Human Nature (a neighbor thread).

seedspreader · #1 04/08/07, 09:48 PM

The past two houses that I have bought/lived in I have had an interesting interaction with the neighbors.

The first one was in a small town. A 50x150 lot. Meet the neighbor next door and the first thing he asks is... "I want to put a drive way in from the front street (almost all the drives where in the back alley which was much nicer that way) but I need to dig out and pour concrete on a couple feet of your lot, is that ok?

Of course that was a result of me noticing that he was digging up around my line one day and I went out and put posts up with a string down the property line... If I hadn't of went out I think he would of kept digging, and pouring, etc. He sold the house 4 months later... he was wanting to put the driveway in and dump it on the next people to deal with the problem.

Next is the house I am in now.

Upon meeting the only neighbor that directly borders my property near the house they asked... "Is it ok if we cut across your back field to get to the hunt club? (of which he is president).

I said no to both. (and am thankful I did).

After reading the other thread I figured it must be more common than I thought when a new person moves in to try to "get one over on them" by asking a difficult question when they are new.

Beeman · #2 04/08/07, 09:59 PM

It's funny how they feel you out and you have to judge quickly who's trying to get over on you.
When I first moved here I had a neighbor come by when I wasn't home wanting to borrow my 8N tractor, my wife said no. He came to where I work and then asked me and I also said no as my wife had called me. Turns out he was wanting to move a singlewide mobil home with it. I guess I made him mad, he's not spoken to me much since,13yrs., what a loss.

jerzeygurl · #3 04/08/07, 10:04 PM

when we lived in town, our nieghbors had spider monkeys.

spider monkeys can open sliding glass doors....

we had sliding glass doors....

the NICE one never got out, only the vicious one.

I will never live in town again

I will never have a spider monkey either.

copperkid3 · #4 04/08/07, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerzeygurl

when we lived in town, our nieghbors had spider monkeys.

spider monkeys can open sliding glass doors....

we had sliding glass doors....

the NICE one never got out, only the vicious one.

I will never live in town again

I will never have a spider monkey either.

********************************
There's a MAJOR story in their somewhere that is just dying to get out.......fill us in please on ALL the juicy details.......<grin>

jerzeygurl · #5 04/08/07, 10:20 PM

not to mention the heroic other neighbor(monkey people were NEVER HOME)

who i made go through house looking under beds to find evil warrior monkey

Tracy Rimmer · #6 04/08/07, 10:49 PM

I have *GOT* to hear the monkey story.

I have this vision of the monkeys from the Rugrats movie... swarming the house, eating the babyfood...

"Checking under beds for evil warrior monkey"? Tell me the monkey didn't hide and do nighttime raids?

We've had some of the best neighbors in the world -- one who comes to mind is the elderly gentleman who lived next door to DH and I in our first home in Toronto. His name was George, and he had BUILT the house he lived in when the street first went in -- so he was older than dirt

Another neighbor who comes to mind, who wasn't so nice, was the jerk who lived next door to us in our first house in Regina. The guy was an idiot, pure and simple. DH called him "Gimpy" because he broke his leg shortly after we moved in and had already created an impression of himself with us that did not bring out the neighborliness that I would have liked to have existed.

Don't even get me started on some of the yahoos who have lived next door here. One woman was, I swear, Peg Bundy in the flesh. She dressed like that, did her hair like that, and was completely oblivious to her kids and animals. Her three year old darned near hung himself off the swingset apparatus in their back yard with a skipping rope. My son heard him screaming from upstairs in our house (his window was open) and came running for me, and *I* ran over there -- got there before she got her fat behind out of the house. Her husband was actually a really, really nice guy. Poor guy

jen74145 · #7 04/08/07, 11:04 PM

I, too, want the spider monkey story! LOL

Our neighbors are all types, from the two sweet little old ladies to the almost weirdly reclusive people behind us (and I am the queen of hermitdom)... they never are outside, ever. I didn't know they even had children until we'd lived here four months!

Then we have the trashy people on one side... no other term for 'em, sad to say. Has led to some amusing moments, though.

RoseGarden · #8 04/08/07, 11:22 PM

The fencing around my property is my fencing on three sides. The fourth side is the neighbor's fence, but he insists it's mine. I don't have the money or inclination to repair the damage his sweet little goats make to *his* fence. But, he cannot (will not) be convinced that the fence is his. So, it gets shabbier and more ramshackle looking all the time. He was out a while back, putting in a couple of new posts. I smiled and waved, 'hi there, how are you'. He said 'I'm fixing the fence'. I replied something like 'that's nice', not trying to be rude or anything of the sort. He grumps back 'well someone's got to fix it'. I didn't reply. Let the nut go on thinking it's my fence, if he's too dense to check it out on his land plat for himself.

Cara · #9 04/08/07, 11:52 PM

You all need to read a book called "The Egg and I"...it's where Ma and Pa Kettle came from. You would probably thank your stars to have the neighbors you have...well, except for the spider monkeys, I don't know that it gets weirder than spider monkeys!

fin29 · #10 04/09/07, 06:40 AM

When we bought our place, the local snowmobile club president/neighbor showed up unannounced within the week, requesting we let them build a trail through our woods. We said no, and he kept bugging us on and off for a while, and he was pretty amazed that we didn't want snowmobiles crossing our property at all hours of the night. When we spun a lot off, we marked it out and created a deed restriction that didn't allow ITS trails. Next time he came over, we told him the lot was sold and he would have to talk to the new owner, knowing that that the snowmobiles couldn't get through the woods without crossing the new lot and our property without violating the deed restriction on the new lot or trespassing on our property.

Problem solved...forever.

PinkBat · #11 04/09/07, 06:47 AM

The weirdest neighbor request we ever had was from the guy who had just purchased a brand new, very expensive tractor. He asked to borrow our tractor ( a couple of years old and not as fancy as his) because he was afraid that the task he needed a tractor for might damage his new one. LOL

I hate the response "Huh?", but I used it that day. I just couldn't believe the guy's request.

MtnGranny · #12 04/09/07, 07:46 AM

When I was a single mom and bought my first house, my drivway and the neighbors were right beside each other. Looked like a double drive but was a single drive for each house going behind the houses to double garages. The week I moved in he comes over and asks if he can put his wifes car in my garage because it was suppose to snow that night. I told him I had boxes stacked all over the extra side of the garage that hadn't been unpacked yet. That's ok, I'll move them he said!! What was wrong with HIS double garage???? The whole time I lived there they acted like my driveway was theirs. If they had a car parked in their drive, they would come up or down my drive to get around it. That's when I decided not to live in the city anymore.

Cornhusker · #13 04/09/07, 08:07 AM

We are lucky in the fact that our neighbors are anywhere from 2 miles away to 30 miles away. LOL
We are also lucky our neighbors are all really good people who would do anything for any of their neighbors, even me.

beorning · #14 04/09/07, 08:12 AM

My dogs would have a field day if a spider monkey got in the house. One fo their favorite toys has been a stuffed monkey with long dangly arms. A real monkey would probably be messier when they ripped it apart.

I'm going to go lock my sliding door now.

anniew · #15 04/09/07, 08:20 AM

Fences make good neighbors (That's a line from the Fantastiks)...in most cases.
I don't have a friendly relationship with my neighbors, but a civil one. One guy has temper tantrums every so often, and when I plowed up a 1/4 acre garden he put up the stakes and rope line. It's still there (13-14 years later) and I make sure that I never go on his property without permission (my property is only 300 feet wide) unless it is to retrieve a bird (duck, guinea) that has wandered. But I know that if I had an emergency, I could go to them for help...I mean a real emergency...not, can you fix this whatever.
The other side is a newish neighbor who also is not very communicative, which is okay with me. Further away are a bunch of people that I could go to in an emergency also, but none are friends. All have different/quirky lives and none are into self-sufficiency except one kinda.
I'd love to have a neighbor who could be a friend, but it is difficult, so I feel lucky that at least they are not antagonistic (the first one used to be and had an owner before me sell out because of his antics--but I just ignore it when he gets cranky and try not to have anything to do with them unless it is really important).
My property, although not wide is long (about 1300 feet...a bowling alley). At the back is an old railroad bed about which there has been a lot of trouble, because the local clubs (I identify with the earlier poster about the snowmobiles) think it is public area. Myself and two neighbors had an injunction against the riding club that came in on a Sunday afternoon with a bulldozer to widen/smooth the trail and cut down 12 inch trees. The state troopers talked them into stopping on that Sunday and the injunction was in place the next day...but the lawyer screwed us and to this day (about 10 years later) has never returned our escrow money--over and above his retainer--yet never did anything and let the case drop due to inactivity--and never even told us it was being dropped!!) So the railroad bed has been the worst part of "neighbors."
But back to the topic. I fenced in the first four acres up by the road including the house. That leaves no doubt in neighbors' minds about where the property lines are nor gives their animals nor mine a chance to trespass. Luckily the current neighbors keep their animals under control, unlike one earlier one that had a large dog that would come on my property and put myself and my dogs in danger.
Fences rule! And are good for the garden.
Ann

fantasymaker · #16 04/09/07, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoseGarden

The fencing around my property is my fencing on three sides. The fourth side is the neighbor's fence, but he insists it's mine. ........... But, he cannot (will not) be convinced that the fence is his.
............... I didn't reply. Let the nut go on thinking it's my fence, if he's too dense to check it out on his land plat for himself.

Ever ask him why he thinks its yours? what type of a plat do you have that shows fences?

I dont think its so mauch of a case of the old neighbors trying to put something over on the new so much as its a case of them hopeingthe new ones see things thier way and wanting to solve an old thron in thier flesh

fantasymaker · #17 04/09/07, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MtnGranny

The whole time I lived there they acted like my driveway was theirs. If they had a car parked in their drive, they would come up or down my drive to get around it. That's when I decided not to live in the city anymore.

Whats wrong with that? It seems reasonable its a drive way it was ment to drive on and it wasnt harming you.In fact Id bet a buck that sorta thing is the reason your driveways were built that way.

seedspreader · #18 04/09/07, 09:07 AM

What's wrong with it is that they don't own the land. Period. What if I wanted to cut through your land to get to mine any time I wanted to?

fantasymaker · #19 04/09/07, 09:17 AM

While you are right in fact there is just what I said it was proably built that way on purpose to allow for neighborly COOPERATION it sounds like tiny lots where neighbors are cheek by jowel and a little cooperation could help every one.
I hate city living as much or more than most but in my geezer hood Ivemellowed enough to realize when ya live with your elbow in someone elses face ya have to give and take to let things flow

ZEAL as for your question it would be ok just stay on the road with the others

edcopp · #20 04/09/07, 09:27 AM

The question "is that O.K.?" is always a loaded question. It always indicates that they did something that was not acceptable or they didn't do something that they were supposed to do.

Now in the southern part of Ohio that question is not used too much, the statement that is used more often is "we're 'a gonna', as in were a gonna drag a trailer across your land and we have a dozer with us too if we get stuck.

It is all part of the entitlement mentality that has done so much for our country. Mister Rosevelt dun fixed it all.