Paul L

I have a shared double driveway with my neighbour. When he first moved in some 12 years ago he was just married and a little short on cash. So when the snow came in winter I blew his side of the driveway with a snowblower. He did not seem motivated physically as well. When the plows went by that was like handling a 330-pound shovel given the limitations of 8hp in wet and deep snow. But I did it. And tidied up the edges by hand shovel. He watched TV; or at times watched me work through the livingroom window. He is 20 years younger.

After an arm injury some six years ago - and when the Briggs&Stratton went south - I contracted to a firm for snow plowing. My side only. And they have done a fine job but as you can imagine there are times when the snow plow goes by and time passes before the contractor arrives.

In the meantime, my neighbour has come up in the world and purchased a very nice 12hp blower. He very carefully does his side but not mine. That is OK for the most part but it would be nice to take off the plow ridge at the end of the driveway. No. He apparently has had the driveway surveyed as he is within an inch of blowing snow on his side only.

Last night and today we have seen a lot of snow with sleet and freezing rain. The snow plow went by about two hours ago and there is about 12" piled up at the end of the driveway. He just did his side; I am heading out with a shovel to do mine. My contract with the snow removal firm expired April 1.

Do you co-exist with similar a**h***les?


[Modified by paul79, 5:59 PM 4/5/2003]

dudeskie

My friend, I feel your pain. These people should be punched in the face. However according to laws of the government, we are prevented from doing so (well not so much prevented but punished if the action is taken). Being as to how I do not own a house I cannot say that I have had this experience yet. However, I can relate this to group projects in my classes. There is always some one who doesn't contribute to the effort and therefore rides the free way to good grades. I personally cannot handle people like this. I think my free rider turns into your free rider after he graduates with his unearned grades.

What we have here is the evolution of free riders. :skep:


[Modified by dudeskie, 10:53 PM 4/5/2003]

phxraptor

;) I truly believe in,what goes around comes around. He will need your help some day and you can say---------------Remember when-------------------- :) :flag

Corz

you wouldnt believe the azz clown across the street from me. I'm in Connecticut and he looks to be from Arkansas (no offence). He has 6 cars in his yard 3 in his driveway (registered) 1 behind his house, and two in a car tent. he also has a one car garage that is filled to the roof with crap! you cant even see to the other end. not to mention all of his cars have rotted exhausts (he also lives on a hill) so you can imagine the hell i go through when he tries to leave his house. most mornings his big van is parked in the grass and when it comes time to leave he just sits in the yard spinning his tire digging up his yard. the longer he spins the farther down the pedal goes.

one of these days I'll grab a picture. or I'll just browse the pictures i have now and you can see the dump :U

Schmucker

Why not just ask him to do it? That or just put all your snow onto his side...

Corz

this pic is all i can find for now, but this was back in the summer when his son in law from the air force was staying there (corolla)

VegasJen

hell, paul, i have a couple neighbors i trade you! man, i do feel your pain though. in an attempt to paraphrase Admiral Chester Nimitz (hopefully, without degrading the original quote), "common courtesy is an uncommon virtue".
earlier today, i was in wal*mart. i had a 2 liter of dr. pepper, a can of oil and cash. i got in this line behind this lady with like two dozen things in her cart. she looked at me and my stuff then went marrily on her way through the check-out. i'm not saying she owed me anything but if it were me (and i do this pretty regularly), i would have asker her if she wanted to go ahead.
like i said, she didn't owe me or anything. i just feel like i'm the only person around who's not totally self-absorbed.

Corvettes White

Paul:

I could go on and on about the jerk that has lived next door to us since 1988.

But most recently, like yesterday, he ranted and raved to my wife Kathy that the new block wall I had built was way to far onto his property.

This is after I paid the $7000 necessary to build the wall (asking him for nothing) replacing a 40 year old rotted grape stake fence (that he would pull nails out of in the night so that it would fall quicker.) Kathy had the lot line surveyed and staked on BOTH sides of the line so he could clearly see where the line was. The neighbor spoke with the surveyors, spoke with the mason and ran around for the week with a tape measure in hand checking everything but the length of his own fowl. Then waited for the work to be done to cry about it. On top of it all the wall is right where it is should be, ****-on the PL.

This man hates his life, my home and the fact that I occasionally park a Vette across the street from his house. He is 75 years old and drives a 15-year mini-van.

Just burn some rubber going out your driveway to remind him to get a life.

Brett K

I feel for you guys, but I can't relate. My neighbors are great. A few years ago my grandmother who lived next door passed away. We were really worried about who would be moving in. We got really lucky with the husband, wife, and daughter who moved in. My neighbor is a great mechanic and used to do bodywork for a hotrod shop. He is a really skilled mechanic and helped my father and I build a new plow truck from the ground up last year. In return, we will keep his driveway plowed for free so it all works out nicely. I couldn't help but laugh recently when he called to fnd out when we wouldn't mind having a little extra noise coming from his garage. He said he was breaking a cam in the big block going in his Chevelle SS. I told him it was ok as long as I could bring a six pack and join in on the fun :cheers:

Paul L

The Wife and I love gardening. We have a 60' x 80' backyard that is rather large in suburbia these days. We truly love having butterflies and birds visit our gardens in the summer. In winter we feed those birds that do not go south. This fellow has a backyard of junk: a 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix whose windshield posts collapsed owing to rust and snow load, a wooden patio with a TH-400 that is beyond the expiry date, lead acid batteries that are a hazard to local kiddies, a steel/tin shed that collapsed under snow load. Just a visual sight misery. Not to mention a Honda Civic with a terminal case of ferric oxide cancer.

So one year ago, I contracted to a local fence company. Relaxing in the evening with a beer and a t-bone/BBQ was a real chore with the junkyard next door. The personal enjoyment of my home/backyard was being taken away from me. I left a letter in his mail box telling him of my intention to put up a fence. The lot was surveyed and the fence (cedar, 6' plus 2' of lattice) was installed last May. The 4" x 4" posts were set 2" inside my property line according to survey. We are getting **** here but I did not want a legal mess. I truly enjoyed last summer without seeing that mess from my backyard. His reaction: "You did not consult me on the fence." My reaction: "They are inside my property line, no need to." His son decided to use the fence as a back-up for a soccer game at one point. I told the Father to get his own damned backstop. No games on the fence since.

'Nuff said. BTW my snow plow contractor just did my driveway :) . Goodwill I guess. I can take it....


[Modified by paul79, 7:14 PM 4/5/2003]

bence13_33

Paul:
I think I am the butt neighbor :confused: :jester . There have been 4 complaints of my car (all complaints noise related).

In all seriousness though it sounds like your neighbor is both lazy and selfish. I'm not sure what can be done. For the most part people like this get what they deserve (as mean as that sounds it's true). My neighbor is about my parents age and heavier set and when it snows I usually try to shovel her walk for her.

Good luck, I wish I could help you :(

Corey:
I'm not even going to ask about your avatar buddy :lol: .

Paul L

Bence.
I have no complaint about noise. Besides my new SpinTechs are going on in several weeks. My turn to be a pest I suppose. I do have a habit of taking the Vette out at 7:00am on Sunday mornings before traffic gets started. Looks like a fun summer ahead ;) .

A C

I have to say my neighbors aren't too bad. On the right, I have a 400 lb fat guy who likes to mow the yard with his shirt off :U , but other than that he is ok. He is a little wierd in that he is in his 30's and lives in his sister's house. He is nice enough though. On my left I have a divorced woman (who mows the lawn in a tank top and lycra shorts :hurray: ) in her 30's with two well behaved kids. Across the street is a family that I would say is in their 40's with two older kids. The dad has a newer Z28, which he only takes out on nice days. I have no complaints. I am glad I don't have to share a driveway with a butthead like your neighbor. We have city ordinances here which prohibit you from parking vehicles in non-designated parking places (such as the garage, driveway, or street). I think that really makes the neighborhood look a whole lot better. In San Antonio, I felt like I lived in a junkyard. I would have put up a fence too, if I was you. :yesnod:

AC


[Modified by A C, 6:37 PM 4/5/2003]

norvalwilhelm

Guys I think most of this posting supports the laws they are trying to pass in Texas. In Canada at least the province where I live you can not have a dump in your back yard. No old cars allowed.
As for the snow plowing that is not being a good neighbour but unfortunately there is nothing you can do. Just keep on smiling and don't let him know it is bugging you or he will get enjoyment from it. Keep say HI, keep smiling but in your head you know what a jerk he really is.

Paul L

Norval,
I have not said a word....Just put up an 8' fence. All 80 feet of it in length: $4,000. A GM GoodWrench engine with bells and whistles equivalent just to make this thread C3 relevant ;) . On the serious side, I have considered a complaint under local by-laws re abandoned vehicles.

norvalwilhelm

You need the complaint in writting and then a bylaws officer will come around and force him to clean up the yard.
You should not have to look at his junk. I am for laws that protect a neighbour hood from people who want to store old cars on their property claiming that they are going to later restore them.
Sure they will :) :)

Jvette73

My neighbors are pretty decent. Im the bad guy. I piled up junk cars in my yard then they went and put up privacy fences. Each neighbor put up fence in rear and on both sides. I have alomst an acre. After the fences went up. I cleaned up the mess. Now i got privacy with no expense. I can walk out back and **** on a tree and nobody can see. Its nice to have some privacy :cool:

SBR

I feel your pain, I had to move recently because my neighbors were complete A holes.

Paul L

The key word is privacy....You do not know how much pleasure that cedar fence has given me!

gdh

My neighbour is in the Cdn military, part-time NATO. Everything to him is a military exercise. So when the neighbourhood kids used to play hide and seek, he hid in full battle fatigues in the back conservation area and then chased them with a baseball bat for playing on the walkway between his house and another neighbours. Lived here for 11 years and nothing like this until he moved in 3 years ago. Police were called and we all decided not to charge him hoping that he would smarten up, boy did we make a mistake. Since he was not charged he feels that the police are afraid of him and he is worse now.