We've lived in our house since '93 and it seems to be a 50/50 mix of people who own their homes and those who rent. I don't even bother going out of my way to meet anyone anymore in rent homes as they seem to move on in under one year from their move in time. The last one was in the middle of the night with U-Hauls being loaded up with all their belongings skipping out on the last month's rent I'm presuming.
One house on the corner a block from us had four different families live in it over the course of 12 months time. I'm guessing that the landlord is a moron and doesn't know how to screen applicants or is just desperate for renters and will let anyone move in. Renters also seem to not give a shit about the dwelling they are occupying as it is not theirs in the first place and tend to let the yard go as well as wreck the house.
Now, like I said I have people living around us that actually have owned their homes as long as we have ours. Directly behind us is a group of middle aged Asian men that speak little to no English. These guys are the weirdest of the weird. Every day of the week someone is out on the back porch with a large yellow mop bucket (the kind you find in the workplace) and wringing out a mop and disappearing back into the house. This goes on for about an hour every day. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes afternoon, evenings included. If my 10 year old daughter is outside playing in the yard they seem to use that as a queue to start doing yardwork outside. My wife has caught these guys watching them in the past. One time my wife and daughter were playing ball in the backyard and it went over the fence into their backyard. They go and knock on the door to ask if they can retrieve the ball, but they speak to them in broken English through the blinds through the window. Instead of getting the ball and tossing it back into the yard they have them go through their house (not through the front door, but through the garage) and then into the backyard. My wife was first off freaked out by the odor of the place, took note that the front door looked boarded shut, four little Asian guys were all sitting on the couch next to each other watching TV and staring at them as they walked across the room to the back door. Other interesting things of note 20+ year old carpet and linoleum floors and the walls probably had original paint too. She never figured out what the strange smell was...
I've had other weird encounters with those guys over the years like when they had a live deer (huge buck with full antlers) that had JUMPED over their 6 foot fence into their backyard. Now this is NOT a common thing where we live. Maybe a dead armadillo on the side of the road, but not a deer in a backyard in Fort Worth. I go knocking on the front door only to have the guy peaking through the blinds in the window questioning me in broken Engrish, "Wot you want? Go way!" I finally just left. I'm guessing that the deer was made into sweet and sour venison.
A few years ago I was doing yard work and I heard the sound of a goat bleating. I thought I was imagining things and then I climbed up and looked into a nearby backyard and sure enough there was livestock in it. This is a residential suburban neighborhood so anything other than a cat or dog is not permitted. The goat was perched up on a window sill outside bleating and making all sorts of awful noise for about a week. However, after July 4th it ended. My guess is it was Bar B.Q. for Independence Day.
Last odd story is the house next door to us. A couple lived there as long as we've lived in our house and things were always friendly. Until the day their dog finally dug under and broke though the fence into our backyard and then out of ours and ran away. I was at work when my wife called me saying that the lady next door came over banging on the door screaming and cursing her that it was our fault that their dog escaped from their backyard. My wife was really freaked out by this because then this nut was in her car driving back and forth through the street honking her horn and yelling obscenities at OUR HOUSE! Since this was around 7:00 on a Saturday morning you knew more trouble was going to start. I told my wife to call the police immediately and then let me know what happens since there was 30 miles away at work. Police come up and talk with her and then give her a citation for verbal assault! Never heard of that one did ya?
I come home from work late that afternoon and I see that the woman and her brother are out in their backyard putting up new fence panels on top of the already existing fence and posts. I looked between our fences and discovered that before they put up the panels they had spray painted in huge black letters on every panel "INCONSIDERATE JERKS." I was not amused. This actually went to court since the lady wanted to contest the citation and it was thrown out with her only paying for court costs. Luckily they moved out last year and the house is still empty. The property is owned by an investor that still hasn't done anything to sell it or rent it out.
Perhaps that is the best thing for us considering some of the people that have lived around here.
Anyone have any neighbor stories they want to unload?
Posted by bluetoelover (Member # 14736) on :
That is fucked man...if you have a cat or dog don't let them wander into the asian guy's yard!
As for me...I live in an apartment building so right beside us we have people that have just moved out on their own I'm assuming cuz they shake the shit outta our room with their subs at all hours of the day/night. Then across the hallway we got a white guy who thinks he is black and his g/f with their baby(not sure if its his?) fighting/screaming and slamming their door and running up the hallway at all hours of the night...needless to say I can't wait to get the fuck outta here!
Posted by LeDaemon (Member # 198) on :
I hated living in an apartment many moons ago. I remember the first one I moved into a year out of college it seemed to be perfect. All the neighbors around my unit had lived there for years and they were all 30 to 50+ years old. That quickly changed as the people above me moved out and then the argumentative Mexican woman with a white boyfriend with 5 kids moved in above us. I swear that the kids must've jumped rope on top of our ceiling until 2am every night and the couple would have knock down yelling matches every evening. I called the cops on one particularly violent sounding evening. By the time they got there things had simmered down and the guy was just sitting outside the apartment at the foot of the stairs. I remember the cop talking to them telling them to knock it off "or else." The cop then pretended to leave and just walked around the building and stood there out of sight waiting to see if something else would happen. Fortunately the evening ended peacefully and not too much later after that we moved away... but not until after having our place burglarized.
Apartment living sucks.
Posted by Salvy_Mic (Member # 13384) on :
That's some interesting stuff. I'm living in an apartment right now, and thankfully, there isn't anything too bizarre around here. It's a quiet place to begin with. Anyway, my direct neighbor is a pretty colorful ex-mob bookie who served time in prison for illegal gambling and racketeering and has a huge penchant for horse racing. Cool guy though. And of course there's the single mother of 2 who lives across from me who's seemingly always yelling at her two (young) kids at all hours of the day. And a while before, there was a guy who lived across from me who was making meth in his apartment...he eventually got evicted. So yeah, good times.
Posted by FootLongSub Zero (Member # 19380) on :
Geeeez LaDae, Judging by all your observations, seems 40 has kicked in almost immediately Posted by FootLongSub Zero (Member # 19380) on :
Nothing interestiing here... might as well add while I'm here
I recall back when I was about 8 or 9 one of the neighbours (white dude around 45-50 ish) would stare out of his window with binoculars every weekday afternoon.... He used to ride his pedal bike in the mornings with the overuse of reflectors, stickers plus high circular rear view mirrors stemming from the handle bars also with 2 clowny honk horns.... Weird dude...
Last week, a neighbour female indian lady rammed down our fence and chunked a hole in the side of our rental.... Mind boggling of how it happened, she explained but even the CSI crew would probably have a hard time figuring this one out....
House on the corner mows their lawn once every 3 or 4 months so their grass grows quite long and is the odd out of our street... Just a creepy looking house coz they also have a weepy willow in thier front yard aswell...
5th house from my olds was a dope distribution house for 3 whole years before it got busted... Even though it was a small dead end street, weekends would be as busy as a highway....
[ March 23, 2008, 11:22 PM: Message edited by: FootLongSub Zero ]
Posted by LeDaemon (Member # 198) on :
quote:Originally posted by FootLongSub Zero: Geeeez LaDae, Judging by all your observations, seems 40 has kicked in almost immediately
I've been a grumpy bastard years before I hit 40 actually. Posted by PublicName (Member # 12270) on :
quote:Originally posted by LeDaemon:
quote:Originally posted by FootLongSub Zero: Geeeez LaDae, Judging by all your observations, seems 40 has kicked in almost immediately
I've been a grumpy bastard years before I hit 40 actually.
Hahah.
I think my favorite one, for now...about weird neighbors would be in middle school, I used to go to my friends house to skateboard like everyday afterschool. I swear to god. every single day...His neighbor is mowing his lawn, for like an hour, then he like waters it and shit. I mean I understand people who want to have a nice looking lawn as it is a pretty good representation of the house I think. But this was just ridiculous, it made me feel crappy about my own lawn and I'm not even the guy who does the yardwork!
Posted by xxmadisonxx (Member # 24593) on :
i remember wen i was a kis we lived a this house that was the end one in a row, along the side of the house was a car park, round the carpark was like everyones bak fences so we used to play in there, ride our bikes etc.
anyway there was one lady who had like 50 cats outside her door every mornin at 6 and she would feed em all spend ages doin it, another guy would watch us thro the fence it was really freaky actually, u would just c these eyes lookin thro the holes in the fence, thinkin about it now it was like a horror film or somethin, ud never know he was there then ud hear him breathin, or coughin and u could just c these eyes.............. thing is after u looked at him and blatently caught him he wouldnt even look away just stare at u , freaky!
Posted by LeDaemon (Member # 198) on :
At my parent's house they had a neighbor that used to walk his dog right by their yard everyday and let it take a dump right on the lawn. Luckily we're talking a little Scottie and not St. Bernard. Anyway my daughter, nieces, and nephew all play out front whenever we go visit so dog crap in the front yard is definitely not something you want them tracking through the parent's house. One evening I decided to give the neighbor back his property. I basically scooped up a fresh pile and deposited it on his front porch. The dog now poops away from my parent's house. They even got a card with an apology on it!
Posted by Hal (Member # 3484) on :
When I was still living with my parents we had an old German ex-Nazi as a neighbour...he kept boasting with stories of how he shot American soldiers in WW II. That was pretty disturbing.
-Hal-
Posted by xxmadisonxx (Member # 24593) on :
wat a knob head , id hate a neighbour like that
Posted by Cain (Member # 8492) on :
Yeah my neighbors are weird. The one is a doctor that had to retire because he fondled his sons fifteen year old friend and the other is a woman who has OCD and likes to parade around in her bathroom nude with her light and window open for me to see and then she acts all upset if i walk by and happen to see her. And of course i did not learn of these things till after making the purchase.
Posted by Toetapper (Member # 6473) on :
I am blessed, in this regard. For the most part, I am the one who is regarded as eccentric (I might debate this point insofar as I don't have the money to be worthy of that label; probably, I'm just weird), yet nobody - except one - misses an opportunity to engage me in conversation on the street, in my driveway, my yard, on my beach (okay, weird and lucky), filling my tank, and on & on. Still, there's ample strangeness that takes place here; if I was to begin to describe it, it would take volumes to give all the history that would explain the way certain folks interact with others the way they do.
Having just reviewed what I wrote and the other entries above, I fear that I might be living a "Twin Peaks" existence..................."Tell me where is sanity?" - Alvin Lee.
Posted by footgirl0226 (Member # 29201) on :
Ummm.. thank god my house I just moved into this last week -- the lots on both side of me are still for sale to build! lol
Posted by Toetapper (Member # 6473) on :
Treasure these moments, footgirl0226.
Posted by RPM (Member # 2895) on :
i rent.. folks below me.. so cool it's awesome. folks above me.. no home training!! just total mess. no respect!!! folks in the basement. super cool too. the only people who aren't friendly are the ones above me. never sign for any packages (not that it's expected.. but we all do that as a courtesy for the other).. always noisy.. just a mess!!!!
can't wait to move out to my own place!!!
RPM
p.s. i don't pay my neighbors too much mind. it's a good street. that is all i care about.. and i am polite and courteous. folks seem nice.. just the upstairs noisy bunch!!! i can't stand them!
Posted by LeDaemon (Member # 198) on :
Thought I'd bring this old thread back up to the top. I was in my sis-in-law's neighborhood the other day and I shot this picture while my wife was driving by a house on the way over there.
They have one of those ancient satellite dishes from say late 1970s to early 1980s set up in their overgrown backyard. Whether or not it is actually operational is unknown. The yard was also full of other "collectibles" from a previous century... Note the fence is about a 4' tall chain link. I wonder if they are trying to contact E.T. with that thing.
Posted by Tiny Dave (Member # 30771) on :
Man somebody should put a chain around that thing and snatch it out of the ground and drag it off somewhere.
Posted by footgirl0226 (Member # 29201) on :
OMG LD- that yard is so against my subdivision rules! lol
OK - I am going to totally insult myself as a neighbor right now.
SOD... its an OCD persons worst enemy. I water. I weed and feed. I rake to get it going in the same direction... I am rediculous... OK... with all that said... In the front of my manicured lawn... there is now a 5ft by 1 foot section that is dead. I mean dead. Brown. Baren... right in the middle of the front of the yard...
Basically, after TruChem came out yesterday... I over-fertilized... Seriously. I wanted bushy green plush grass- and I fucked up that whole row... Its going to take at least a month to come back some...
I am sick to my stomach about it...and all our friends can do is laugh because they know how rediculous I am about certain things and this... cant control it... Except to go buy some sod, rip out that dead row, and replant... Which... I am thinking of making my husband do when he is off Monday... lol... So, compared to my other neighbors now, my yard basically is crap! lol
...oh and my husband did point out there is a war going on, and world hunger and all that crap- and i shouldnt freak over grass... but... sorry... i am....
Posted by footjoyboy (Member # 26478) on :
Even IF that satellite dish worked, every channel tried would have been scrambled years ago.
_fjb_
Posted by Second Timer (Member # 21660) on :
-i own. -3 neighbors across the street are awesome. next door, on both sides, even better. -lady across (diagonally) will not mow her lawn (the councilman sends a crew to do it), she also lost her daughter (cuz of a filthy home) and has had the animal protective league remove cats at least a half a dozen times. I guess it keeps the mice population down huh? -25 yr old kid three doors down ruined everybodys summer last year by peeling his tires DAILY, racing up and down the street, reving his engine up to the point where everybodys house shook like there was an earthquake, warmed up his "work" truck (which is a dumptruck) for an hour in the morning so the whole street smelled like burning fuel or oil. luckily though, he moved out.
Posted by LeDaemon (Member # 198) on :
quote:Originally posted by Second Timer: - -25 yr old kid three doors down ruined everybodys summer last year by peeling his tires DAILY, racing up and down the street, reving his engine up to the point where everybodys house shook like there was an earthquake, warmed up his "work" truck (which is a dumptruck) for an hour in the morning so the whole street smelled like burning fuel or oil. luckily though, he moved out.
Next time you have a neighbor like that I've got the perfect formula for you.
Start about 3:00am. Have a pan, and ratchet in hand. Slide under their car if its parked in the driveway, remove bolt from oil pan, drain the oil, replace bolt, take pan of used oil with you and discard at your local recycling center. Wait for the fun the next morning when he has to leave for work.
Posted by Second Timer (Member # 21660) on :
lol ledaemon!!! i've thought of doing all sorts of stuff (i never really would though) but the fact that he has/had a camera above both his front and back door stopped me from dreaming of destruction! lol!!!
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