The Joys of Owning a House
I've now been living in my house for a month. Time flies! I love the house, I really do. And I'm slowly working to make it my own by hanging pictures, finishing my unpacking, and in the near future, re-painting several rooms and taking down some wallpaper. No buyer's remorse at all.
Not everything is perfect on White Street, however. Here are a few things I confess that I do not love about my new house:
Not everything is perfect on White Street, however. Here are a few things I confess that I do not love about my new house:
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Picking up trash in my front yard every day. I'm not kidding. EVERY. DAY. Plastic bags, wrappers, Capri Sun containers, popsicle sticks, scratched lottery tickets. I don't know where it all comes from but it's starting to drive me nuts.
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The people who let their dogs poop in my front yard and don't clean it up. Come on. That's just pure laziness. You chose to own a dog. Accept the responsibilities that come along with your furry friend. And respect other people's property.
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The decibel level of the music playing in some of the cars that drive past my house at night. I like to sleep with the windows open. The master bedroom is at the front of the house. Not a good combination when people have their music cranked to window-rattling levels.
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The cat that recently welcomed me to the neighborhood by leaving me a present in the form of a dead rabbit in my back yard. THAT was fun to clean up. There's still fur in my yard. (But yes, I am now feeding that stray cat, who visits me daily. And I have named him Smudge. I'm a sucker.)
- The chain link fence owned by my neighbor to the left that runs the length of my driveway, is falling into disrepair, and provides a lovely view of a very very messy backyard and a broken-down wooden fence at the rear of said neighbor's property.
- Neighbor Girl. I promised to tell you all about my nemesis. She's a young teenager who lives in a rental to the left and rear of my property and thinks it's acceptable to sit on my back fence and gossip across my yard to her friend who lives in a rental on the right side of my house. Neighbor Girl also thinks it's acceptable to hop my fence and saunter across my back yard and down my pathway to cut across my front yard and get to her friend's house. After asking her several times NOT to do this, she told me the guy who used to live there didn't care, and I should go back where I came from. She's really special. She also drinks Capri Sun. Guess who I think leaves those containers in my yard?
- The jack-hammering in front of my house that woke me up at 7:30am. Shouldn't it be illegal for cities to operate jackhammers in residential areas before 9am?? Oh, and they blocked my driveway with the massive equipment. Yay.
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As a result of my hatred for chain link fences on residential properties, the above-listed activities of Neighbor Girl and the unpleasant views of my neighbor to the left's backyard, it looks like my first major expenditure will be the installation of a privacy fence on the left side of my property. I feel a bit Grinch-like installing a 6-foot fence shortly after moving in, but Neighbor Girl mouthing off to me really sealed that decision.
None of these things are massively serious problems, of course. I really do love the house. And unfortunately, the trash and noise are just part of living in a city. For me, the benefits of being in the city outweigh these annoyances.
Neighbor Girl sounds awesome. Maybe I'll cut across your yard to go hang out with her and sip on some Capri Sun.
Personally, I'd make it a point to be out back with a hose, you know, to water a tree or something, and zap her by mistake next time she goes across the yard. Yeah, I'd be all passive aggressive like that.
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The fence isn't THAT bad -- we need more of a close up. But the Neighbor Girl bit is hysterical. As for the trash, ever since the Garden St. Garbage Walk, I feel like I notice it everywhere. In fact, I literally watched somebody clean out his car while waiting at a light at Kane and New Park. Thankfully there isn't too much on Beacon, but I notice I'm going to begin bringing a trash bag with me when walking or jogging takes me down Farmington, Sisson and Warrenton. Em, when are you having a housewarming? And will Neighbor Girl be there?!
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I'll put up a better shot of the fence towards the back when I get home tonight, Mat. Trust me, it's ugly.
I also carry a plastic bag with me now. Sad but necessary.
House warming in January. Need time to secure more seating, and people's schedules are crazy in December. And I'm betting Neighbor Girl will NOT be on the guest list.
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Congratulations on buying a house! The Neighbor Girl sounds like fun!
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Maybe this is a bit Pollyannnaish, but I think you should try to befriend neighbor girl. In the long run it'll benefit you to have neighbors who like and look out for you/your property than neighbors who hate you. Especially if those neighbors are teenagers.
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Sure, Linda, go ahead and be the voice of reason
I'm not sure I'd feel super inclined to befriend chickie-with-attitude, but I get your point. Probably putting up that fence and saying "hello" when seeing her is practical.
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Linda, I'd totally agree with you if it wasn't for the mouthing off. I'm friendly to all the kids who live around me. She's the only one who's rude, so I don't feel any desire to make a special effort, honestly.
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My neighbors on the south side of my house are a whole new level of awful. Noise, trash, drinking, harboring drug dealers, illegal construction, are the beginning of my rant list.
On the subject of fences, it's bad enough that their wooden fence has many holes and gaps in it but I have caught the patriarch of the family drunkenly urinating through one of the holes in the fence onto my driveway! When you go shopping for privacy fencing, my advice would be to inquire about its ammonia resistance. You never know.
I did try the befriending approach when I first moved in, but as Captain said in Cool Hand Luke, "Some people you just can't reach" Actually, I'd like to see the entire family incarcerated a la Cool Hand Luke or any other prison film (but NOT The Great Escape).
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Yikes, Chris. I feel bad complaining about Neighbor Girl now--she's nothing compared to your lovely neighbors.
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Twice I've started and canceled responses to this post. Trash and noise and rudeness are huge bugaboos of mine. One thing I can say Emily is that your attentiveness WILL make a difference in the long run. And then the dilemma with which Chris lives got me up on my snark-horse so here goes.
I couldn't bring myself to read the defense of our Mayor in Sunday's paper from beginning to end, however I did catch this bit: New and improved housing in various neighborhoods, the growth of the police force to appropriate levels . . . are some of the signs of substantial urban progress generated by the mayor's stable leadership and clear focus on success in municipal government.
If any of that were true in any rational use of the concept of truth, Chris would not have a chronic neighbor headache. Oh, but have you invited The Mayor over? Maybe that is the key to getting appropriate police (AND L&I) response as this quote from said article implies: His stamina and enthusiasm for resolving large city problems are matched by his compassion and sensitivity when he offers assistance and support to families or individuals. He is without any doubt the people's mayor.
Heck if he were truly attentive to all the people we'd have a whole other thread of conversation going here.
OK, that's enough banging up against the political morass - our individual endeavors are what we've got for real and thank goodness for all the good ones we get to read about here.
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Haha, love the pics of the place! Having had my share of fun neighbors, I love the privacy fence. Though, if you prefer the passive aggressive approach, I highly recommend a dog. A BIG ONE.
Like this one.
But don't worry, he grows up to look like this.
Then, neighbor girl may be tempted to find another path! Or, your dog will eat well one day and said garbage will no longer be a problem!
Incidentally, if you ever need any help, lemme know. I'm itching to get my carpentry bug on!
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A word about those kind of dogs-- as ferocious as they might seem to strangers, neighbors, and little kids, I did have a friend's one so tamed that she let me put barrettes in her hair. Of course, she was so old she needed help up the stairs by that point.
If you get one, you'll definitely need an ammonia-resistant fence.
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