New neighbor
The nice little old lady who lived next to me finally got too old to live alone, so she gave her house to her grandkids and moved in with relatives. The idea was that the kids would fix the place up nice (it needed/needs a lot of work) and either live there themselves or sell it for a big profit. Instead, they poked at it with a hammer for a couple days, decided it was too much work, and sold it for quick cash to some guy I've never met (and who never bothered to introduce himself to any of the neighbors) who did a few quick repairs to the place and rented it out.
So now I have new neighbors. Whom I've also never met. The only one I've seen (the house is a two-unit, so I'm assuming there are more) is a scrawny young guy who always has his hoodie pulled up over his head when he pimp-rolls out of the house, carefully avoiding eye contact with any of us. So, far, no big; it's cold out, he's young, maybe this is just the way he likes to roll.
But then...
I have a really bad cold (with, bonus! laryngitis) right now, bad enough that I slept in late and am only going to be at work for a couple hours before going home to sit on the couch drinking tea. Bad enough that I didn't feel up to walking Henry, so I let him out in the backyard.
Neighbor, I learn, also has two pugs. Which he leaves out in his backyard during the day.
Now, Henry generally isn't aggressive toward small dogs; I'm not sure he really understands that they're dogs at all, and he views them with bemused tolerance. But these dogs started barking and snarling the minute he stepped outside, and they were on what he's always considered "his" turf, and within seconds he was snarling right back. The fence between our two houses is not that tall or secure, so I couldn't let them stay out there to work things out; if Henry got over that fence (and he could, he's just never bothered before because the only person out there was Miss Doris and he knew her), he would have been having pugs for breakfast.
So I took him to the grass across the street. But H. needs a 15-minute walk, minimum, to TCB, so I'm worried I'll be coming home to a major mess in the kitchen. But it was so freakin' cold, and I'm feeling so lousy, that I just crossed my fingers and am hoping for the best. I tried banging on the neighbor's door, but he wasn't home. Which I knew anyway, because his big honkin' pickup truck that takes up 2 regular car spaces was not parked directly in front of my house like it usually is when he's home.
I'll admit it, I'm pissed. I was here first, I own my fucking house, and I should be able to use my backyard. I'm also worried for Henry's health, because someone who would leave two small dogs out in below-freezing temperatures all day unsupervised is very likely to not keep up on said dogs' shots.
But I've never met this guy and if the first meeting is my saying, "Hey, asshole, try exercising an ounce of responsibility, why don't you?" then I'm stuck with a hostile neighbor for as long as he's here.
I just feel so betrayed. I want my little old lady back. I want to strangle this absentee landlord. I want to be able to let my dog out in my own fuckin' backyard.
Also, I would like to be able to talk.
So now I have new neighbors. Whom I've also never met. The only one I've seen (the house is a two-unit, so I'm assuming there are more) is a scrawny young guy who always has his hoodie pulled up over his head when he pimp-rolls out of the house, carefully avoiding eye contact with any of us. So, far, no big; it's cold out, he's young, maybe this is just the way he likes to roll.
But then...
I have a really bad cold (with, bonus! laryngitis) right now, bad enough that I slept in late and am only going to be at work for a couple hours before going home to sit on the couch drinking tea. Bad enough that I didn't feel up to walking Henry, so I let him out in the backyard.
Neighbor, I learn, also has two pugs. Which he leaves out in his backyard during the day.
Now, Henry generally isn't aggressive toward small dogs; I'm not sure he really understands that they're dogs at all, and he views them with bemused tolerance. But these dogs started barking and snarling the minute he stepped outside, and they were on what he's always considered "his" turf, and within seconds he was snarling right back. The fence between our two houses is not that tall or secure, so I couldn't let them stay out there to work things out; if Henry got over that fence (and he could, he's just never bothered before because the only person out there was Miss Doris and he knew her), he would have been having pugs for breakfast.
So I took him to the grass across the street. But H. needs a 15-minute walk, minimum, to TCB, so I'm worried I'll be coming home to a major mess in the kitchen. But it was so freakin' cold, and I'm feeling so lousy, that I just crossed my fingers and am hoping for the best. I tried banging on the neighbor's door, but he wasn't home. Which I knew anyway, because his big honkin' pickup truck that takes up 2 regular car spaces was not parked directly in front of my house like it usually is when he's home.
I'll admit it, I'm pissed. I was here first, I own my fucking house, and I should be able to use my backyard. I'm also worried for Henry's health, because someone who would leave two small dogs out in below-freezing temperatures all day unsupervised is very likely to not keep up on said dogs' shots.
But I've never met this guy and if the first meeting is my saying, "Hey, asshole, try exercising an ounce of responsibility, why don't you?" then I'm stuck with a hostile neighbor for as long as he's here.
I just feel so betrayed. I want my little old lady back. I want to strangle this absentee landlord. I want to be able to let my dog out in my own fuckin' backyard.
Also, I would like to be able to talk.