Ornery neighbors

[Pam]

Of course she's cranky, she can't get any sleep with all that noise going on.

[SWMAP]

Just a thought about being kind to neighbors and addressed to the person above who thinks it may be alright to have music on outside until 3:00 AM on week-ends: I work on Saturday and Sunday. Must be up at 6:00 AM. How would neighbors like that work for me?

I think we have recently established that there is such a thing as "torture by noise." And senior citizens sleep so poorly. I know that isn't your problem, but someday you will understand. Just keep noise and personal music inside and let your neighbors enjoys peaceful, quiet nights. Barking dogs at 7:00 AM would be a pain - but do you live in Detroit where dogs bark all night long? If they just started at 7:00 AM I would count it a blessing.

[vetalalumni]

I had the same issue with a neighbor wanting to have his guests outside on a hot night, perfectly reasonable, really. But they had been drinking and they were all talking at once, and the noise level was really annoying. I was trying to sleep and it was after 11:00. I leaned out my window and called Yoohooo! Can you hear me? Cause I can sure hear you! They piped right down, bless them. I have the nicest neighbors in town. I would have gone over and said something, but I was in my pjs and didn't feel like getting dressed again.

Envisioning this scenario, it would have been funnier if you had traveled over there in some quirky looking PJs, shared a drink [[ice water) with them, and asked about how the family and kids are doing. And then after about 5 minutes of nice chatter like this, call out back to your house and say something cute to someone waiting to respond back to you. Key is that you would need to say something everyone outside there would find humorous.

[gazhekwe]

LOL, if I had gone over there in my pjs, that would have chased them away for sure. I wish I had done that, though, because it sounds a lot friendlier [[assuming I had chosen the right pjs, of course).

[Detroitnerd]

I used to just show up in my bathrobe on their balcony and tell them I couldn't sleep and please take it inside. I was living in the basement and the sound of them on the balcony just bounced off the vacant building next door and went right in my bedroom window. So I used to just show up in that ratty bathrobe and they'd get the idea. If they didn't, I'd go right back up there go into "full-on Ted Knight mode".

[wolverine]

Just a thought about being kind to neighbors and addressed to the person above who thinks it may be alright to have music on outside until 3:00 AM on week-ends: I work on Saturday and Sunday. Must be up at 6:00 AM. How would neighbors like that work for me?

If you are referring to what I said, our situation is different. Our building residents compromised with the neighbors next door. I live in a student neighborhood where it's typical for people to stay up late. No one was in dispute of that time on weekends.

So how would that work for neighbors like you? It wouldn't. The point was of my post, we were able to work out times with our neighbors that we all agreed on. Unless you live next door to me?

[Linda from Detroit]

When we were first married we had one of those nice, nosey, old lady neighbors that liked to bother everyone. Hubby was home alone one day while I was at work and thought he heard the dog barking and some noise while in the shower. You guessed it...he flew out of the shower just as this lady headed down the hall with a mad dog on her heels. Trust me, she NEVER pulled that one again.

[gnome]

wolverine, I believe you are unintentionally giving credance to the belief that students are irresponsible selfish jerks who truly believe the world revolves around their sainted status as temporary intellectuals - or socially retarded teenagers who left the confines of their parents womb to prowl the early hours spreading rythmatic havoc.

Either description isn't very flattering. Are you sure you want to saddle your brethern with such baggage?

[reddog289]

I always got the 10 pm and head indoors talk from my Grandpa. I myself try to live by that yet I break my own rules. Friday and Saturday to me are exceptions, Its the weekend. I myself could complain about my neighbors to east and their screaming toddlers, Or the ones to the west with their Harley. Yet I keep my mouth shut cause of the 2 loud females and the yappy rat dog that live with me.
I won't get into the deal with the "MOTHER HEN " LIVING NEXT TO ME. As for Detroit. When I was there after 10pm you still could hear all sorts of stuff.I got used to it. I hate dealing with ornery neighbors.

[wolverine]

wolverine, I believe you are unintentionally giving credance to the belief that students are irresponsible selfish jerks who truly believe the world revolves around their sainted status as temporary intellectuals - or socially retarded teenagers who left the confines of their parents womb to prowl the early hours spreading rythmatic havoc.

Either description isn't very flattering. Are you sure you want to saddle your brethern with such baggage?

Uhhh, I don't think so. Did you just entirely misread my post?

[erichp77]

Give me fifty bucks and the dogs are history!

KIDDING! Sounds like your neighbor is pretty old.and just wants everyone to know that she is there. Most of the time, I have found that kindness and understanding are the best weapons when dealing with an ornery older neighbor. Try giving her a casual, "Hello!" or "How do you do?" from time to time if you see her outside. Eventually, she may just leave you guys alone. Also, I agree with other posters that mediation is key.

By the way, I am completely, utterly, sympathetic towards you about the yapping rats. My neighbors next door just got a new puppy a month ago which has anxiety issues[[AND IT"S GROWN) cause it won't shut the hell up! Imagine being woken up daily at any given hour of the night/morning to a bunch of senseless barking and yelping. Did I mention that I think it's part beagle??!! Hence why I am up so early today. I'm thinking of getting a pet rooster.

Anyhow, try talking to your neighbor kindly for a while. If all mediation fails, call the city on those mangy little hell hounds, LOL. Good Luck!

[gnome]

No, didn't misread anything. From what I decern, in A2 some people think it is ok to make noise till 3 AM. And according to you, no one cares.

Apparantly in A2 sound stops at windowsills and no small children live in the city. And everyone agrees.

[DocTerry]

Just a bit of trivia - the ordinance states 4 dogs and 4 cats per household. And yes, 10 pm is about as late as can be handled by those of us who get up early. These old houses are too close together to allow a lot of privacy. I've been fortunate - my neighbors and I are about 6 feet apart. Generally, we are both pretty careful about our dogs, kids and guests. When they aren't once in awhile, I remind myself of the times they go out of their way to be courteous and the fact that they ignore times when the noise here may be annoying. I assume they do the same. Balance is what has held it together for nearly 5 years. And, I suspect, knowing we are both homeowners and likely to be here awhile. Sounds like you both have legit complaints and now need to decide whether to make each other miserable or work toward tolerance.

[LodgeDodger]

What is the DYes consensus on dealing with ornery neighbors? Let me tell you about a little problem we have in our neighborhood -- hopefully you guys will have some ideas on how to take care of this.

My house is between the block, built on the alleyway, and we have a balcony that faces our side yard and a few other houses. 10:30 PM last night, two friends and I are hanging out on my balcony. All of sudden, out comes our ornery neighbor -- who we've had "noise complaints" from in the past, nothing official, but a lot of complaining about us talking on the porch past dark. She says the "acoustics" are such that she can "hear every word" and that "we're welcome to come out on the porch if we keep our voices down." Well, now! I tell her to mind her own BS, that we're out here for maybe ten minutes at the most and then heading back inside, and anyway it's a Saturday night and it's MY porch, so you can't exactly tell me how to act out here. Then she accuses us of being "raucous students" -- unlike those responsible, "real people" with "real jobs"... Well I was sorry to break the news that both my roomate & I are graduated and working legitimate jobs in the city & actually CONTRIBUTING something, unlike those "oh-so-raucous" students that seem to be moving in lately.... Puh-lease. She "thanked" us with the most sarcasm she possibly could muster, and then let her dogs run around the yard for a bit, yapping, until she hobbled back inside to work on her witches brew & fume about who-knows-what.

Oh, brother. First off -- we were talking at normal tones. 10:30PM on Saturday is hardly the quietest hour of the day in Detroit. Also we're on our own property, and there's nothing I can personally do about her "acoustics".

The real kicker is that she has about seven little rat-dogs that come out in her yard at 7AM-8AM every morning, yapping up a storm, and we haven't complained about that at all.

So now that I've vented a little -- what to do, DYes? Is there some clever, not malicious, MacGyver type way to get back at her and keep her at bay?

What is your experience with ornery neighbors in the D?

Two words: hunting accident

[erichp77]

*Okay, God forgive me for sharing this idea*

If you want to be sneaky and give her a taste of her own medicine, go out and buy one of those dog whistles and use it to your heart's content at any hour. That "should" drive the dogs in her apartment completely NUTS. Witch Hazel will have no clue as to why her little angels are barking through her favorite soap opera. This is all in theory of course and I highly doubt it would harm the animals. Though, what I posted early this morning was the more "mature" option!

[wolverine]

No, didn't misread anything. From what I decern, in A2 some people think it is ok to make noise till 3 AM. And according to you, no one cares.

Apparantly in A2 sound stops at windowsills and no small children live in the city. And everyone agrees.

If you would have read my posts, you would find that these times were agreed on between my building and the neighbors that no one would talk on their balconies after 3:00 a.m on weekends. There is no building next to them, so it's just between us [residents of two [2] buildings]. The point of all my posting was that the matter was compromised between residents in a civil manner. Apparently you want to twist things for the sake of an irrelevant debate. Why on earth would I bother to make sweeping assumptions about student behavior when I don't live next door to everybody?