Hey Neighbor , Do Me A Favor.......

I hate those lights too - had neighbors move up from California and put in one of those super bright poorly aimed lights. Lit up the whole back half of our house like daylight in the middle of the night.

Took more than a year of several neighbors complaining before they finally went with a less intense light and aimed it so it was crossing multiple property lines.

At least the folks across the road from them (also from California) only put in a 6 foot chainlink fence with barbed wire on top all around their property. Never was a problem with their dogs running around the neighborhood.

Our current neighbor has a pole light - but at least it is properly aimed so while we can see it, it isn't directly lighting up our house.

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

Our island believes in our "right to night" and there are laws about lights at night. The roads don't even have very many lights, just one at intersections. There is unfortunately one fairly close to the front of our house, but the County folks put several strips of black electrical tape along the inside of the fixture so less light gets out. Most of this "right to night" is because of the observatories up on the top of Mauna Kea who need dark to see the stars better. Here, the Milky Way looks like someone spilled a bucket of milk across the sky.

Our basic complaint of new folks is they show up and try to tell us how to do things. If we wanted to do things like they do on the mainland we'd move to the mainland.

This is one of those threads where I have mixed feelings. I happen to be the new neighbor. There was an existing gun range when we purchased the property. The seller advised me in advance that some of the neighbors are anti-gun and have called the cops on him in the past. Because the seller's activities were legal the cops did not act to prevent his actions.

Sure enough, I had a shooting get together with some co-workers and the neighbors called the cops. Cops arrive. (Poor troopers looked a little nervous being so outgunned. They relaxed once they realized they knew us all from the local hospital.) We were legal. Cops asked us to give dispatch a courtesy call. Now I call and no cops waste their time responding.

I don't mind the neighbor's loud music, loud cars (he has 2 really nice Mustangs) and ATVs being ridden in the street and on the power line trail (not legal in CT) during the day. Heck, I work nights and can sleep through the noise anyway. Night time is another story. But, I don't call the cops.

So, who is right? Does they neighbor have the right to not listen to my gunfire because he was there 1st? Do I lose my 2A rights because he was there 1st? Should I call the cops because he is breaking the law? If someone can't put up a legal light because someone else was there 1st does that apply to everything else? Should I be able to tell the next person who buys property around me what they can or cannot do with their property? What if the next person is a future farmer/homesteader although the property wasn't being used in that manner before? Should I tell them not to farm because I don't like the smell and I was there 1st? What if, instead of a farm, it is a mosque with the 5 times daily call to prayer?

Somehow, we all need to find a way to co-exist.

By the way, I too despise light pollution. There were many high wattage spotlights in operation when we purchased the placed. I think they are rude and they only go on if something goes bump in the night. So far that's twice. Once when the rabbits made a jailbreak and a second time when the dog was reacting to something in a manner bordering on fear. I still don't know what caused that reaction in him; I had never seen that before.

CF your post shows a lot of insight and empathy . I think with those people of good heart can work things out.
For instance you might talk with the neighbor with the gun problem and let him or her know that you just found out about their dislike of the gun noise and in deference you will only be shooting in the daytime and that you never drink while shooting ,have had years of gun experience safely shooting, wont be shooting in her direction etc.Ya just might ask do they have any idea how you can continue your hobby without upsetting them so much.Sometimes just having some input seems important to people. And you just might point out that you would be glad to use a silencer but certain anti gun people have made that almost impossibly illegle..opps nope thats Wrong don't try to get their goat!

Hello new neighbor! Welcome to the 'hood. You'll like it here, I'm sure! We're a friendly kind of neighborhood and everyone pretty much helps everyone out even if they don't like each other much. I see you have a dog. I have 5 dogs myself and there are a few other dogs living on the block too. The only pet peeve we have around here is dogs running loose and barking at night. If I can control MY 5 big dogs, I'm sure you can control your one dog and keep him in your own yard and quiet too.
If you see one of us sitting at a fire in our backyard....come by and say hello! Bring the dog too! My yard is fenced and they can run for hours!

This type of post was just asking for people to disagree. I live on a farm, have done so all my life. Neighbors come and go, some of our BEST neighbors are people that live in Texas and only come on some weekends. The worst neighbors we have are ones that have lived here all their lives. This mentality about my rights and your rights is so exaggerated. Yes this is my land and I can and will do what I want just the same as the neighbor can and will do what he wants. But yea that night light is bright but my dog barking at coyotes at 2 am and me out there with a spotlight trying to kill the dang coyote at 2:15 am might just be a tad annoying to. Also I sure wouldn't want someone to shoot out my nitelight out at the barn, because it sure comes in handy when I am checking my soon to freshen heifer at midnight or 3 in the morning. We try to keep our animals and fences up but stuff happens, so just call and I will come get it if it gets out same goes for me i will call you when your poodle comes over. Neighbor on west side has 21 cats, don't know why but when it stormed and blew the shed apart we went and helped get it all back up ( just for the cats) seems to me that alot of us need to tend to our own stuff and not worry about the neighbors so much because none of us are perfect, just ask my rooster who crows about 4am every morning. Maybe each of us could be a little more tolerant of each other??? just a thought

This thread may as well be titled " Why won't everyone else do what I want them to?". People are annoying to other people because we all tend to be a bit self-important and we all feel like we do things better than most other folks. If lights, the odd loose dog, and a bit of noise is all the neighbors did to yank my chain, I'd count myself pretty lucky. I'd still gripe about it, but I'd know that things could easily be much worse.

hood, block and fenced in yard they allow fires there

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Don't complain, just do it

Sometimes neighbors are downright rude, unreasonable folks. Trying to be friendly with a nasty neighbor is like sowing weed seeds in your own garden.
Why bring ugliness into your life like that? It takes root and spreads fast.

There are security lights that are effective at lower wattages, they can be aimed in a considerate way, they can be motion activated, and many other features that can make it less offensive to the neighbors. Some folks are too rude to care.

It's the attitude and the rudeness that are the problem, not the light, not the dog, not the music.

Putting on airs to pretend that all is harmonious is a lie.

Accept that there are nasty people in the world, accept that they might choose to move right next to you, accept that you can't change em, and learn not to count on them in an emergency.
They probably would've said they were too busy for you, anyway.

If your neighbors are stepping on your toes, mention it nicely.
If they don't care, my advice is not " smile while they continue to dance on your toes."
Confront it and deal with it. You're not on this earth to please them, give them warm fuzzies, or be their doormat.

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Hut on the Hill Farm
http://www.hutonthehill.org

We have a "farmers light' out by the barn, not very bright, like a dimmer street light really, it comes in from the road, we pay separately for it, I don't think it bothers anyone, and it makes it a bit more secure down there, I never thought I was being a jerk by keeping it lit. Maybe we are, it was there when we bought the place.... I wonder if we could get them to add a motion sensor to it?

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Ham and eggs...
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

Check out our Ebay stuff! http://myworld.ebay.com/writelite/

"I didn't mean this thread to be about any sort of demands, just a friendly enlightening of others as to some of the things we value."

Its funny how different people perceive things.When I Started this thread I thought it would be a some what humorous look at the little things that bug us that a friendly word between people of good heart would solve. Country folks giving their neighbor a heads up as to the little differences in outlooks in the country.

It never occurred To me how offensive "Hey Neighbor do me a Favor" is to some people.

Sorry Folks

I guarantee you, if it's playing in my shop, you'll probably be griping about it. LOL. It can be heard outside the shop really well. But yeah, all night every night would be bad. Even to me.

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates

No Hunting and No Trespassing includes you! Woods are not an invitation for hunters, mushroom diggers or ATv'ers

Maybe it is a regional thing, but the phrase, "Hey, do me a favor" has, at least in the Northeast, a strong subtext of, "Hey, do me a favor, you idiot". Very often, if someone says, "Do me a favor" they are not asking for a favor at all, they are telling you what to do.

Also, there are favors and then there are favors. "Do me, the person up the road who you really don't know at all yet, a favor. Disable what you (rightly or wrongly) believe to be an important part of your personal security system."

Ummm, no, I don't think so.

I don't think this thread turned into a shoving match. Rather, I think it allowed some of us to express our opinions concerning the way the original post was worded. To be sure, the original post speaks about neighbors keeping light and sounds on your their own side of the property. But, most of us here on Homesteading Today do not want ANYONE telling us what to do on our own property. Many many threads and discussions over the weeks and months have to do with farmers enjoying the right to farm and to allow all the smells sights and sounds associated with farming to be kept legal.

As such, to those of us who feel that way, what right then do we have to tell anyone else what to do on their own property? If they have a night-light and drive ATV's and play loud music, how is that any different than someone who has a firing range, many farm animals, and large tractors?

Does the OP really want people to discuss their opinions, or only agree?

Having had to associate with criminals for my job I can tell you that they LOVE those "security" lights. It shows them where there are things to steal and provides plenty of light to shop by. It is zero deterrent and is just a way for the electric company to keep the meter spinning.

Riding around at night looking for lit up places is how they did their stealing. But not before they stopped at the local store to buy cheap hamburger to feed the "guard" dogs to keep them occupied while they carried everything off.

And it is a shame that people can't use sound suppressors on their firearms for quieter shooting. Yet another asinine law. Ban something so that you damage your hearing and annoy your neighbors. Why they are illegal is quite perplexing.

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Respect The Cactus!

Hi new neighbors, even though I have known you for years I would like to thank you for a few things that you have been so considerate to do in the one month I have lived next to you.

Thank you for filling my bird feeders when I am away for a few days.
Thank you for offering, and then doing so, to take my garbage to the dump every Saturday when you take yours.
Thank you for checking on me several times a day when I had a concussion, that was really thoughtful and awesome!
Thank you for providing me with nice evening conversation while we are sitting out on our respective decks.
Thank you in advance for plowing my part of the driveway for the winter, for free no less!
Thank you for keeping an eye out on my house in the evenings when you know I am at work, I do the same for you during the daytime!
Thank you for allowing me to take your dog with me when I go down to walk along the river, you know I miss my old dog Teddy but don't have the room for a new dog.
Thank you for being my neighbors, I hope I am a good a neighbor to you as you are to me!

Margie

WOW NW a blessing you couldnt expect or ever repay!
We often forget our GOOD Neighbors,what a shame. It sounds like they too got a good neighbor.

FM,

I have been very fortunate with all the neighor I have had in the 4 years I have lived up here in the wilds of the Northwoods. But I do go out of my way to start off being kind and friendly, and learning how my respective neighbors choose to live.

When I built my chicken house at the old trailer in the woods I ask all the neigbors if they had any problems with me keeping chickens, if only one of them had said they didn't want me to do I wouldn't have. However they were all on board, and because of the success of that project we also ended up with a neighborhood garden next to the chicken house where everyone got a section to plant whatever they wished, it was AWESOME and I often miss that carpy little trailer in the woods, but I still see my old neighbors often and am thankful that my new neighbors and I are doing just as well.

Margie

If your dog attacks me or my kids... I will get my paint gun. Second time I will not be so kind.