[Susan in VA]

Here I am, sitting at my kitchen table, with laundry going and a cake in the oven, spending a few minutes on KB with my post-lunch cup of tea...  and it's beautiful outside, and I open the sliding door to the deck for some fresh air and bird song....

.... only to have to close it two minutes later because somebody one house over starts using a chain saw to do the spring pruning!  Grrr!  Why can't those things come with mufflers??

So I thought, in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, that I'd start a new thread about annoying/funny/quirky neighbors.  Preferably not the serious-lawsuit kind, just ones that might entertain... 

Anyone got any makes-you-want-to-pull-your-hair-out neighbor stories?

 

[KindleMom]

The neighbors behind us got chickens a year ago.  They're on a much larger piece of property so the coop is at the edge of their property right next to ours - and very close to our bedroom window.  The smell. The rooster.  The clucking.  It's unbearable.  We can no longer sleep with our windows open.  Ever. 

 

[bookfiend]

Mine is one of those LOUD OBNIXIOUS kinds, the world revolves around her, and woe to any who differ. She has no inside voice, and no discretion.  She sits in her back yard 24/7 gossiping at the top of her voice. And because she is so loud, her kids are too.  They must know that the phone is WAY more important than they are, but how she can ignore the mommy, mommy,mommy,mom,mom,mommy.....
I know more about this woman, and anyone she comes into contact with than I know about myself.  Ive heard conversations from, the new commercial on TV, to what drugs to take to make anal sex easier,  Really!  And its not just in the daytime, almost every night its until 1:00 AM or later,  and she is so loud that she keeps us awake inside the house, with the windows and doors closed.  When we first moved in, I tried to get her to tone it down a little, but to no avail, she just makes another phone call "Your not going to believe this, but my neighbor just asked be if I could be quieter, in my own back yard!!! Its not even 11:00 yet,  well 11:30 (P.M.)  Its my backyard."  etc...
I read (understatement) and I like to be outside, most times she is so obnoxious, that I cant even keep my attention on my book.  But with my Kindle... I can use headphones, or sometimes I just turn it up as loud as it goes, to drowned them out

 

[Kathy]

I live in a condo and we had a man in the unit below us taking his motorcycle into his condo every night. The problem was that he would always start it in there and ride out his front door all hours of the night. Thank goodness he was a renter (we have very few) and we were able to get rid of him. He was crazy and scaring all of the neighbors around him.

 

[intinst]

Years ago, our neigbor had trouble with his sewage line (we do live in town, with  no septic tanks) Apparently liquid waste would go through, but nothing else. He decided the simple solution was to put in an outhouse, about 15 feet from our property line. The wife was a little shocked when we came back from a long weekend to find that. (I wasn't, I had already learned not to be surprised by much this neighbor would do.) Took a couple of months with the city envolved and agreeing to put in a new line just for him to settle it.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

We  have wonderful neighbors.  We watch over each other's houses when somebody is traveling.  Their kids  love to pick the veggies which is great when the garden is exploding.  Last weekend there was a neighborhood yard sale and we have at least one neighborhood picnic each summer and also frequently a Christmas open house too.

Mind you, there was a lot of lawnmower 'music' today, but that was to be expected since it's the first nice day in more than a week and the grass was getting carried away.  DH was contributing so I can't complain.  Doesn't bother me in the least anyway as long as it's not 6 in the morning which it never is.  Actually, more often than not, if someone starts up with a chainsaw for a major job, the others come around to watch/help/chat.

Also, we are on a dead end which helps keep the noise down and it's pretty obvious whether the cars that come down the street belong here or not. 

So, good neighbors.  Ayup.

ann

 

[marianneg]

Mine's definitely not a horror story like some of yours, but last night, I swear someone on the street was mowing their lawn.  At 10pm.

 

[Anju]

Did you know roosters crow ALL NIGHT LONG ?  We have probably a dozen across the street from us, and in the morning when they decide to get out of the trees they roost in, the dog who is tied on a 6 ft. rope, starts barking.  But that is part of the living in Mexico lure.  I have learned to ignore them, sorta.

Then during festivals, religious ones particularly, they set off at all hours of the day and night "bottle rockets", not one or two, but dozens.  During the town festival, hundreds every 15-30 minutes for 18 hours, for 9 days.

Sometimes when there is a quincinera (15th birthday party - coming of age for the girls) they will party until 2 am, with LOUD music - but I ignore those also, it is part of living here.  My DH likes to complain about all of this, but then he likes the cost of living here.

 

[KindleMom]

Did you know roosters crow ALL NIGHT LONG ?

Sadly, I'm aware of that. But it gets a lot louder and longer as dawn approaches.

 

[Gertie Kindle]

I lived in a condo for about a year, where we all had balconies.  The people on the ground floor, two floors below me, used to throw huge parties every Friday and Saturday night with loud, extremely loud, music.  The parties would last half the night.  Condo rules say they have to shut up by 11pm.  Took weeks and many calls to the police to get them to shut down at 11pm, but even so, the music and screaming people were killer until that time. 

They told the condo association that they had the parties so they could do drugs with their daughter and she wouldn't go somewhere else to do drugs. 

 

[bookfiend]

Ann I'm jealous

 

[Neversleepsawink;)]

My neighbors behind me like to have parties every weekend....lots of loud music and beer bottles breaking...will play music until 3am in the morning.  After having the police called on them about 10 times, they have decided to move.  To bad, they'll be missed....NOT!!!  LOL!

 

[bkworm8it]

When I lived in apartments I had some real doozey of some neighbors. One was playing his music so loud and the thud thud thud was killing me. I had the flue and somehow managed to get down stairs to ask them to turn it down. He told me to just get back up to my place Missy, grrrr. On the plus side he did turn it down but later he came up to the door - a few days later - and the jerk I was living with answered and the neighbor told him that 'I' was getting 'loud' with him the other day. I tried to explain and was told by the jerk bf to shut up and sit down. (Oh did I forget to say EX bf?  - may all his teeth and hair fall out  ) anyway after that any time the jerk and his brother moved around in their apartment the neighbor downstairs - loud music guy) would call the police. Even though he was the one causing all the trouble.

Moved out to my own apt, and the neighbor below smoked dope so had to keep my window closed. The worst is music all night when trying to sleep because you had to get up early and work then go to school.

anyhoo I now live in my own house and a neighbor about 3 doors down behind me likes to blear their music at top volume when ever it's nice out so I have to retreat back into my house and close the windows. It wouldn't be so bad but it sounds like the same song over and over and over and over.......
        alas, I'll take that over being kept up all night.

 

[MichelleR]

I've always liked nature.

Back when we lived in Michigan, I decided to feed the birds. I didn't have feeders and so I just strew the seeds on the ground, which meant it attracted bigger birds. The neighbor complained and, since I did understand, I moved the food to feeders and promised him I wouldn't spread it on the ground.

One day, my husband, only we weren't married yet, walked in the house and said, "Michelle, I thought we agreed not to spread the seed on the ground." I said that I didn't anymore.

Him: Michelle. There is seed on the ground.

Me: I didn't put it there. (Then I said, and I'm not sure how I knew this) Maybe someone else put the seed out. Maybe there's something wrong with it!

My husband rolled his eyes at me, believe it or not. He was back 5 minutes later though with a handful of seed  -- he asked me to smell it. It smelled like it had  been soaked in Lestoil, that distinctive smell.

So, I assumed and assume it was the guy who complained, maybe in conjunction with the guy on the other side, but how do you prove that? The part that got me most furious was that my dogs could have eaten that seed, and then he or they would have wished they were never born.

I understood his point, to begin with, but it fascinates me how many people fear wildlife in suburbia. When I worked at the shelter, people were forever trapping opposums and raccoons who were hurting no one.

Now that I've moved to an area surrounded by forest, even though I live in the town proper, I freely feed the birds with no complaints -- a lot of people do. I also have birdhouses and a bat house and bee houses and a pile of branches for cover. And a frog pond. Bird baths, of course. A butterfly and hummingbird garden. Looking to add some stuff to attract toads. For the longest time I wondered why a couple of my bird feeders were always empty in the morning, even if they were full the night before -- then we got a frost and I could see the tracks. Deer were apparently coming and nudging them.

Back in Michigan, the second suspect in the bird seed incident was forever getting drunk with his wife and daughter. He passed away and his wife kept on keepin' on with the drinking and loudness. One night in the winter, I let my Sheltie out and he headed for that fence, barking up a storm. The woman was passed out in the snow. He saved her life. She claimed she slipped and hit her head, but puhleese...

I like my neighbors and my community now -- people looking out for one another, the exchange of baked goods...  

***

I once rented a room from a crack whore -- she preferred to be called an escort -- but that's not a neighbor thing. There are stories to be told though! Maybe of the topic of rentals from hell ever comes up.

 

[vsch]

My neighbors have bungee cords hanging off their garbage cans which they keep on the side of their house. Why they can't use them to keep the animals out of their garbage is beyond my comprehension.  Several times a week their garbage is strewn from their yard into mine and they have never cleaned it up in my yard.

Several weeks ago, I was rounding the corner of my house to feed the birds and I almost tripped on a complete roasted turkey carcass.  i went back inside, got a bag, stuck it inside and hurled it back in their yard...yeah, it felt kind of good to toss it back into their yard.

The next morning, i find the chewed open bag and carcass next to my front porch....some animal had tried to pull it under the steps and it was too big.  Decided this time to put it in my garbage which we keep in the garage, I was not going to deal with it again, but my neighbors are lucky they didn't find it on the roof of their car.

 

[Susan in VA]

Ann, for the most part I have great neighbors too  --  very close to one of them in particular  --   and I also live at the end of a dead-end street, so traffic is minimal, which unfortunately makes other noise stand out all the more.

....but a couple of them are still frustrating.  It must be something about that particular house, though.  The previous owners blasted music (decent music, just way too loud) from a boom-box outdoors all summer.  The ones before that had a college-aged son living at home, he had outdoor parties regularly, and they heaved their beer bottles over the fence into MY yard.  

Love these stories.  Makes me glad I only have neighbors with noisy yardwork.  Of course sometimes in the summer they do start at 0600....

 

[RavenclawPrefect]

Our neighbors are very quiet and we generally have no problems...except one. We live on a corner of a cul de sac. Our driveway is in the cul de sac. I generally park my van in the driveway and husband parks his truck in the cul de sac, right at the end of the driveway. The neighbors have taken to parking along our fenceline, making it difficult for husband to do his customary turn around in the cul de sac and park easily in his spot. We can turn around but now we have to maneuver around two cars that have taken up residence along our fence line. I know, in the grand scheme of things, it is nothing but it is really annoying to not be able to park easily any longer. May our neighbor problems always be this silly!

 

[Susan in VA]

Reading the newer posts, the one about renting from an "escort" made me laugh....  I lived in an apartment building once, a small one with just seven units.  The other six were all occupied by couples in their thirties and forties, who had all lived there long enough to be friends.  Then I moved in, at age 19, by myself.  And I had a boyfriend who came over several times a week, parking right in front of the building, and he had his own car but also frequently drove one of the (many) cars that the company we both worked for needed to have delivered to a client.  Of course they all thought.... 

Needless to say , they never included me in their afternoon coffee chats.

 

[Susan in VA]

Well, my sliding door is open again... and now I realize I forgot one... the neighbor three houses up who smokes really nasty cigars in his front yard, and when the wind is right I can smell them INSIDE my house. For hours, if I don't get the door closed quickly enough. Yuk. Not his fault, I think he has every right to smoke in his own yard, but it really reeks.

 

[Mollyb52]

Well, I guess I am the bad neighbor where I live.  We live in an "active adult community".  Over 55 with golf course, pool, lots of other activities.  We thought it would be nice.  Well, it is like a tomb.  Our neighbors complain about everyone and everything.  We live in the desert near Palm Springs and they even complain because we run our AC.  It gets to be 112 in the summer around here!  Oh well, we aren't special, like I said they complain about everyone and everything.  The lesson here is if you consider an "active adult" community check it out very carefully especially the neighbors you will live next to.  We stay here because the location is good for us.  We are on the young side of the age group here and that can be a problem sometimes.  Now more people closer to 55 are moving in and things are starting  to liven up a bit.  In the mean time I just try to avoid my cranky neighbors.