New Neighbor driving us all NUTS

Another day, another........................endless, pointless, bizarre racket coming from the half acre lot next to our house, a corner lot at that.

New guy moved in, new boyfriend to the youngish lady with two teenage kids that is. He's friendly, she's friendly, the kids are friendly, if not somewhat "dim". The oldest kid, for example, they gave him a bass guitar and an amp and he plunks along on it periodically and it doesn't really bother me all that much. I did finally get a bit tired of the repetition so I intervened and taught him a few Grand Funk Railroad riffs.

Anyway, but the new boyfriend. Damn near every day for weeks now, he gets on his tractor with loader extension, among others and drives around about the half acre lot. He's been cleaning it up "country boy style" which means he's been knocking down dilapidated out buildings, then digging deep trenches and burying the remains which leaves huge mounds of dirt after he does the back fill. Problem is, we live in the hill country and there isn't any real top soil...............you dig down 2 inches and its all rocks..........acres of nothing but limestone rocks.

So now...........he's trying to level out the mounds by driving endlessly over the area, spreading out the little bit of "dirt" with more rocks and trying to level it. With all the rocks, the more he levels, the louder the whole operation gets as he drags the metal across the rocks trying to get it level.

And it goes..................on and on and on and on and on. And as he does, the ground on the lot just gets...........whiter and whiter to the point now it reflects more light than it absorbs! Summer will be a living hell of blinding glare and reflected heat! If anyone falls down on the lot, they'll get rock road rash so bad they'll bleed to death as they roast from the summer heat! The buzzards and hawks will use the lot as a hot spot for soaring uplift!

Please............make it stop!
Rant over.

Just imagine the fun if grass actually grows and he starts mowing with all the rocks buried in the grass.

On the bright side, you get free new windows, doors and siding.
Maybe even a little free surgery.

a reply to: TonyS

Big difference if they own or rent. And I'm sure your city, township, county has some rules, permits maybe too...codes etc...to follow.

Talk to your officials, get a copy of rules, codes and rights...read it yourself 1st...see what's what...and mail them nextdoor a copy.

Report if and when necessary...good luck my friend!

a reply to: DAVID64

Literally LMAO. Thanks for that.

Yea, actually, there's really no such thing as "grass" out here. Its whatever green crap will grow up through the rocks. Clover and a god awful collection of whacky weeds and crap.

We have a "lawn mower" grave yard at the back of our lot.................lawn mowers ruined from hitting rocks and crap. Its a minefield! Its the only place I've ever lived where you have to wear a helmet, shin guards and safety glasses to mow the "lawn" o Rock.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Bwahahahah, the nearest city is 150 miles away! The nearest Town is 35 miles away. The nearest "village" (complete with the obligatory "village idiot" is 4 miles away.
Rules? We got no stinkin' rules out here.
Codes? Got no codes and no inspectors: we're what we call in Texas "In County".

Complain by mail? They'll laugh!

You got a problem with someone out here..........you settle it with them on your own self. They gotta saying at the local bar (where honest to God actual working Cowboys drink on Friday nights), "you gonna settle this like a man or call the cops?"

Cops...........two..............and only one of them has the bullet!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Oh great..................now the dim wit is on the bass guitar again.

Oh well..................time for a cold one and the headphones.

When did my brother-in-law move in next to you?

Your story just so reminds me of him. We were tearing down the old garage on my folks' property, and we had one load-bearing pillar left in it holding up the roof. We were going to attach a chain to it and use the tractor to pull it down and collapse the roof inside the three remaining walls to contain them for easier loading and removal.

At some point, my brother-in-law gets the bright idea to remove the pillar and he's in there with a chainsaw busy sawing through it and trying to kick the pillar in half ... under the roof ... last load-bearing pillar ...

We have it all on video.

I feel for you for sure. Been there years ago with a similar situation, but they ended up moving, so problem solved itself.

It could be worse.

Try broadcasting some good'old Polka music their way.

Maybe some of this www.youtube.com...

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: mysterioustranger

Bwahahahah, the nearest city is 150 miles away! The nearest Town is 35 miles away. The nearest "village" (complete with the obligatory "village idiot" is 4 miles away.
Rules? We got no stinkin' rules out here.
Codes? Got no codes and no inspectors: we're what we call in Texas "In County".

Complain by mail? They'll laugh!

You got a problem with someone out here..........you settle it with them on your own self. They gotta saying at the local bar (where honest to God actual working Cowboys drink on Friday nights), "you gonna settle this like a man or call the cops?"

Cops...........two..............and only one of them has the bullet!

In that case you do this:

Look over the fence and determine what kind of beer he likes to occasionally partake in... I would guess it's PBR, Bud Light or Keystone... then you go get 6+ of those and go knock on the door.

Once he is sufficiently disarmed with your present and invites you to sit down on the couch (might even dust it off with his hand since you brought such a thoughtful gift), you tell him what your issue is... ask him to limit it to whatever hours fit your schedule and even offer to help him out to close the deal.




Btw, great post, made me smile... sorry to be smiling at your misfortune. Is there a lesser term for Schadenfreude? Kleineschadenfreude?

a reply to: TonyS

Where abouts do you live?

Personally if the abundance of rocks is so plenty I'd fill up the cab of the tractor with rocks and hang a sign on the front window saying "Cover this BITCH!"

Anyway, as you can probably tell I don't get along with neighbors to well, so take it or leave it... just don't expect anymore BBQ's.

Rahl23.

Well, sounds like you only have one option..

You have to make that tractor disappear......

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

a reply to: TonyS

You befriend him with the beer and when he goes for leak trash that guitar

We've had nothing but bothersome neighbors for so many years, it's become the norm.

Both families on each side of us has multiple cars. Driveways in our area are not the norm, so you either park in front of your house, or in the back alley if you have the space. Both neighbors have 3+ vehicles, both personal and work issued, so parking is at a premium. Many times I come home from work late at night and find they've taken up all the parking space in front of our house, leaving me to park way down the street to walk home. Add to that the fact that both of them have large extended families that are constantly visiting, plus frequent noisy weekend parties, and it's not unusual to find no parking on our street at all.

I'm seriously starting to get fed up. Last night I came home, exhausted and sore from work, to find that the space they left me to park wasn't big enough to squeeze in to. Even better, the jerk on the right of us has a huge work truck with a crane on it and he had parked in a way that left space between his truck and his wife's care. If the idiot had just pulled up a few feet, I could have parked. But heaven forbid he have any sort of respect for the people next to him.

I sure can sympathize with your noisy neighbor situation. I dunno how many times the cops have been called on the parties next door. Wasn't me that called, but our neighbor did come over and accuse us of having done it once. That ticked me off. The kids and I keep to ourselves. No noise, we don't bother anyone and we've never once complained about the shenanigans around here. We didn't even point out that their drunken party guests frequently throw beer cans and bottles in the street in front of our house, or in our yard. My tolerance for my fellow humans is really short at this point.

neighbors change and life changes. We went from a wonderful quiet neighborhood of peace to hell with a couple changes in neighbors as people sold their houses. Changed our way of life and the same for some others of our neighbors. I guess it is what it is, life!

The beer could work, but it needs expanded.
Go over there every morning about 9 am with a 30 pack.
Drink all 30 with him. Then in the evening do it again.
Every. Single. Day.

Eventually his woman will kick him out. Problem solved.

a reply to: TonyS

Sorry to hear about your tribulations with your neighbor, but I must admit the mental images your story conjures up are pretty damn funny!!

Had a crazy neighbor once too. Sometimes the strangest things can happen with crazy neighbors.

This neighbor was a house painter, and he lived in this really (really) old house on the road. He'd always have these WILD parties with 50-100 people. My (ex) wife was a party animal so she'd always want to attend after being invited. We did a few times, and it was nuts, but other times it could be pretty annoying, especially on week nights. It was like a non-stop party at this place...and LOUD (like hear it for miles kind of loud)! I got pretty tired of the whole thing pretty quickly, but one night changed everything.

This one night this guy was having an especially huge party, and the (ex) wife basically allowed some of the party to spill over to our place which I wasn't real pleased about. At one point this total burn-out stoner dude showed up. Turns out he's a friend of the neighbor. He wasn't causing any trouble or anything, but he looked like some vagrant dude off the street. As the party outgrew the kitchen and expanded into the living room people started taking over. After a bit this burn-out dude gets up and moves toward the living room. He gets to the doorway and stops like he just got hit by a lightning bolt, and is frozen there like a statue with his mouth agape. And he's pointing at something...

I'm looking at this guy trying to figure out what he's pointing at (and trying to figure out if he just had an aneurysm, or if he crapped his pants...or both)! I asked him if he was okay, and what was he pointing at. He says...

"Is...is...is...that a...piano?????"

I kind of gave a sideways glance to some other people who were equally freaked out by all this, and then answered..."Yes, as a matter of fact, it is"...kind of jokingly.

He says..."C...Can...I play it???? Ahem...I mean...would you mind if I...played your piano???"

I figured why not, so I told him sure.

What happened next was the most mind-blowing spectacle I've ever seen in my entire life!! This guy sits down and starts playing Chop Stix (and I'm kind of chuckling, but hey, it's entertainment, right?)...and then proceeds to launch into the most unbelievable blues piano virtuoso I've ever heard...EVER!! He played for like 20 minutes non-stop, people were piling into the house to see what was going on, everyone on their feet cheering and whistling. The whole house was rockin' to this guy. It was just UN-BELIEVABLE!! I've never heard anyone play the piano like that...NEVER...not before or since (and I've seen a lot of good pianists in my day)!

It gets even crazier too!...

All of a sudden this dude just stops. Everyone in the house just goes wild! My jaw was just on the floor in disbelief of what I'd just heard! So I asked this guy where he learned to play like that, and he says he didn't. Never had a formal piano lesson, couldn't read music, and rarely ever even had access to a piano (once every couple years or so). Then he says how he'd always wanted to play on a real piano with...get this...88 keys!! OMFG!!! I mean seriously,...Oh...My...F#ing...GAWD!!!

This guy had just laid down the most mind bending blues groove imaginable...and it was the first time he'd ever touched a full sized piano with all 88 keys!!!!

He could listen to a song, and play it flawlessly, the first time! He had an endless list of songs memorized...and the dude could even sing!! (though he said he didn't like to sing, and thought he sounded bad...wrong!!)

I told him he could come over to our house any time he wanted to play a piano (which he did a few times), told him I would help him in any way possible to be discovered, offered him money (he wouldn't take it), even offered to pay for an agent (which he wouldn't do). And one day he just didn't show up anymore. Moved on I guess.

I always expected I'd see this guy's name show up in lights somewhere, but I never did (not yet anyway).

Sometimes having crazy neighbors can have some pretty unexpected turns of events.

And that's a true story too!

This is the best Rant i have ever read!

Thanks for sharing your pain...

a reply to: MisterSpock

Oh, Mister Spock, you know not of what you speak. Round these parts, taking a man's tractor or pickup truck is a shooting/hanging offense! Same with horses of course. Women, not so much, but the tractor and truck are sacrosanct!