Intolerable Neighbor Rant

[Tadao]

Can you replace your mailbox with a locking one? Whatever shape mailbox you have, they make one that needs a key to get into it. I do this everywhere I live and I always put my out going mail into one of those big blue street mailboxes. At least you'll be able to enjoy Netflix again and it will send a message to the neighbors.

[Sacks]

Locking your mailbox and ignoring them when they bang on the wall are definitely the first steps you want to take.

[Dr. Octogonopus]

Get one of your buddies to come over, and when they start making a din in the garage, bang on the wall and complain they're being loud when all you want to do is catch up to an old buddy. Eventually, they'll get the message. Bang on the wall every chance you get.

[Tadao]

No, it will go on forever. Just go about your business and let them wear themselves out banging on the wall. Just ignore them. If you retaliate, be prepared for a long battle. Plus you will lose the upper hand if it comes down to the land lord since you behaved improperly as well.

[liquidstatik]

arsons the only answer :o

[executioneer]

Originally Posted by liquidstatik

arsons the only answer :o

not a good idea on a duplex unless you can figure out a way to keep it contained to the one side

[Pub Lover]

Remove all the oxygen from your side.

[executioneer]

break into their half while they're sleeping and set off twenty or so bug bombs

[Pub Lover]

Dismantle twenty microwaves, mount the magnetrons on a frame pointed at your neighbour.

Maybe have a timer to switch it on so you're not there while it's active.

[Dr. Octogonopus]

Ooh, put a potato deeeep in their exhaust pipe. Or sugar their gas tank. Also, open a jar of mayonnaise and/or cans of tuna, and put it in the air duct. If it were possible for you to get into their house, put shrimp in the curtain rods; it'll smell terrible, and who thinks to look in curtain rods?

[Pub Lover]

Those would be really stupid things to do, Dr. O. She doesn't to get into a prank war.

[Dr. Octogonopus]

Originally Posted by Pub Lover

Those would be really stupid things to do, Dr. O. She doesn't to get into a prank war.

Pranks warfare is the best warfare!

And Chojin has a point; you can milk your disablement for all it's worth against them, that gives you TONS of leverage.

[Sacks]

Do you guys remember when Jack Lemmon hid that fish in Walter Mathau's car in Grumpy Old Men? What a hoot!

[thebiggameover]

move..

and when you get your stuff out, set the place on fire....

[Chojin]

Also, I'd recommend finding and talking to a lawyer about your problem in general. Since you're disabled, you will probably find that it's easier to get the law to work with you here.

Not with the intent to start a lawsuit, mind you - he'll be able to tell you what your legal options are, so you know how to act accordingly.

[Sacks]

I'm coming down to Austin to give you the Least Helpful Poster award. Expect me in 3 hours.

[Dr. Octogonopus]

FINALLY, some recognition!

[Kitsa]

An update, of sorts:

I had to call the landlord because our dryer-vent was completely plugged with lint and our clothes weren't drying. When he came (removing both the log of lint and some ancient pre-us beercans and shuttlecocks from the gutters), I mentioned delicately that we were having a personal-space problem with the neighbors. I showed him some portable accordion-fencing from a catalog and asked if I could put up at least a couple, just as a territory-marker. He approved it.

It's a start. If they don't respect a fence, well, the situation is probably beyond hope.

[Pandajuice]

Originally Posted by Kitsa

It's a start. If they don't respect a fence, well, the situation is probably beyond hope.

It's a good start Kitsa. And if they don't respect the fence, then it becomes an issue of trespassing and gives you leverage against them. As others have said, you already have leverage based on everything else they do to you, now you just need to document it, and inform the right people, and justice will be swift.

I'm having issues at the moment with neighborhood kids here thinking they are funny by kicking the wing mirrors of our car, pounding on our front window (our house is right up on the street, common in England), and generally being loud as they walk past the house. I've yelled at them, chased them, snuck up on them and watched them run as I scared the shit out of them, etc, and all that does is make it more of a game and more fun. It just escalates things when you confront bad people, and I'm sure confronting your neighbors won't help either.

It's much better to document it (my neighbor has installed a CCTV system to watch over the street), and go to the right authorities. We'll just keep calling the police and giving descriptions every time our property is messed with until they do something about it; at least to just shut us up. I suggest you do the same to your landlord.

[Colonel Flagg]

Originally Posted by Kitsa

[...] I mentioned delicately that we were having a personal-space problem with the neighbors. I showed him some portable accordion-fencing from a catalog and asked if I could put up at least a couple, just as a territory-marker. He approved it.

Congratulations. Not only did you score a small victory in getting him to approve fencing, but you also got a tacit endorsement of a potential "your side" vs "their side" scenario. The fact that you were polite about it, and that he concurred (I'm assuming that he didn't even flinch) gives you leverage.

Not that you need to use it, mind you, but this kind of support is a good thing to have in your hip pocket.

[Kitsa]

Thanks...I hope it works.

Speaking of the devil, I was just wandering past the front window when I saw a GIGANTIC rottweiler bound past. I was so startled I shouted some badwords in alarm, and I think they heard me. The next thing I knew, the mother and son from next door were running through the neighborhood trying to get hold of this thing.

That's just what I want to think about with babies on the way...rottweilers on the loose.

[Colonel Flagg]

To paraphrase Indiana Jones, "Rottweilers. Why did it have to be Rottweilers."

Check your lease, on the off chance it has a clause concerning pets. I'm guessing that this is a new development, and that maybe Mr. Landlord doesn't know .... yet.

[Sacks]

I have a rottweiller and he's a big goof. Don't be a dog racist. Although considering who owns it I'd be cautious, BUT DON'T BE DOG RACIST.

[J. Tithonus Pednaud]

Specist? Wouldn't a dog racist be a racist dog? I'm picturing a rottweiller with a shaved head and a Hitler mustache.

[Kitsa]

Sacks: I'd be just as worried with any dog running wild. Chihuahuas have been some of the most vicious dogs I know. However, with my physical limitations, I'd have a harder time getting between a rottweiler and my kids than a chihuahua and my kids.

It's 100% who owns it, and the fact that they don't seem to give a rat's ass either way.

But if it makes you feel better, talk some shit about my cats