[killerformula]

So a couple of months ago I moved out of the heart of this college town to a nice new area where I rent a room from a guy in a townhouse, which is actually a condo because his family owns the place (just the two of us live here, though). These places are pretty cool and newly built. Lotsa young professionals and whatnot.

Anyway, parking around here is pretty easy. Every townhouse has a garage, and a driveway. In addition, there are public spots all around the place; some in front of others houses (kind of like parallel spots) and others perpendicular to the street, and set away from the houses a bit. PLENTY of parking, no doubt.

So I got my jeep fixed about a week ago and have driven the bird maybe once since. I parked it in one of the parallel spots. Haven't used it in probably a week.

Well, tonight I'm on my way out for a food-run and I noticed a sheet of paper on my bird. I walk over and somebody had left this passive-aggressive note under the wiper. Basically stated the following: "This vehicle has not been moved in several days. If you are having difficulty with it, please have it towed. If you are not planning on using it often, please be courteous to your neighbors and move it to one of the spots that are not directly in front of others' houses. Please note the bylaws concerning parking. Thanks."

Well, the note was very obviously written by the person who's house it was in front of. Since I don't own the place and will eventually move out, I didn't raise a stink about it, just moved it, rolled my eyes and tried not to start anything with neighbors that the guy who owns this place may well have to deal with for a number of years to come. What has me P.O.ed about this, at least a little, is its obvious they weren't concerned about having the spot open, or the car not being functional. The fact of the matter is my firebird is almost 30 years old and doesn't look like any of the other cars in the subdivision (mostly newer cars, or if they're older they're small and foreign). I just get the feeling that this guy or gal didn't like to have "the old car" in the spot that is in front of their house and had to have their way about it. Are people really this petty?! Granted. I could see if the car had been sitting there for 3 weeks or a month or something, sure, maybe its time to ask if they ever plan on moving it. Seriously, though. If you're going to get that worked up about a parking spot that you don't own, maybe its time to buy a house with a driveway and a front yard and property OUTSIDE the walls (for those of you who know the condo-concept) that you do own, and not trouble others with your anal-pucker. Am I right?

K

[Arcuden]

Yes, people are this anal.

When I was living in my last house, the lady across the street insisted that she owned the curb-side parking in front of her house (on the street, public property). A friend of a roommate unknowingly parked there one night while the lady was gone. I was going out somewhere, and she caught me mid-driveway, screeching at me, asking me if it was my car. When I informed her that it was not, she made me promise that I would tell the person to move, and then went on lecturing me about how that was her parking spot and that nobody else was allowed to park there. She never lowered her voice.

Her driveway was empty, and the car had only been there overnight.

In a story more related to your issue, at the time we had a VW Bug along with my roommate's Biscayne, at one point neither of them had current tags. We always parked them in the driveway or in the garage, but if we needed to move them onto the street for only a couple of hours to get another car into the garage or whatever, these same neighbors never failed to call the police to write "move your vehicle or it will be towed" tickets. I guess they didn't like the look of the multiple older cars at our house and took every chance they could to pester us because of them.

When we moved out of that house, we left a huge pile of trash right on the driveway, just to piss them off. We got three or four calls from the city about neighbor complaints

[Weimer]

I would go out and start the 'bird at least once a week...at 3am.
Everytime that I had to go to the store late at night or VERY early in the morning that I would take the firebird. I would also make sure that I was NOT very quiet about it...
I have some really good ideas, if you want to get at them....
Later,
WEIMER

[loser1]

Hey I like that idea.....the beyotch across the street has a mercedes and NO cars in her driveway and always parks in the street so that I cannot swing wide enough to pull my car in the driveway. I have mentioned it to her many times.....she just doesnt care. I mentioned it to the one of the officers of the homeowners association and she says that she has special needs and she can park wherever she wants.....if she had special needs would it not be better to park in the driveway that is closer to the house?? Anyway Im gonna start going to the store later....and maybe riding the bike to work when I get up at 5am....I dont usually ride it cause I leave so early and its so loud.

[machine shop tom]

Not really on topic but my hot rod buddies and I used to go the the affluent neighborhoods in the wee hours and pull a few hole shots. Maybe I'll do it again tonite!

tom

[machine shop tom]

Deleted repeat post.

[OneMoreTime]

People are getting more and more rude..Some articles have come out about this..we have a neighbor here who has a walled compound and comes out and complains about anything and everything anyone wants to do that does not suit her..

This has caused alot of hard feelings around here..

OMT

[78novaman]

From personal experience I can tell you that condo owners HATE older cars. They think everyone should own a shiny car that blends in no older than 5 years old.

Even though you are leaving soon, I would be courteous to your roommate not annoy the neighbor so they don't have to put up with the aftermath of your actions.

I've been living in apartments for several years now. Whenever I've had multiple vehicles I've always parked the second car way out of the way of anyone, and moved it once a week so they can't ***** and moan about it. Never had any complaints having 2 cars by doing these simple things.

[Blazin72]

I cut down a 35 ft fir tree that was leaning toward my house. Several neighbors saw me cut it and about a week later I got a letter from the architectural committee saying that I didnt get their authorization to remove the tree from my property. Nevermind the fact that was a danger to my house, or the fact that if was the only tree of about a dozen in my yard that I removed, OR the fact that somebody two houses down the street from me cleared their lot almost two years ago and still havent even begin to put up any kind of a structure. It's just a bare, rocky lot now yet I couldnt remove a single tree. Never again will I buy a lot in a community development.

[killerformula]

78, i think you hit the nail on the head with the suburban homogeneous living, especially concerning cars. I think condo owners are even worse than if these were just rented townhouses, because people feel like they own a piece of this area, have invested in it and have a right to say what goes on outside their houses. The truth of the matter is, their ownership ends at the drywall inside their condos. THey don't own the driveway, they don't own the outside walls or roof, and for Christ's sake they certainly don't own the street!

The note fits perfectly into this middle-class non-confrontational way of living where people get angry at one another but still wave and smile, and laugh at each-other's jokes. The note didn't really bother me that much. I just prefer to be more direct. I think it would have been cooler if the person just left a phone number and said "please call me, ###-####." Maybe even started the conversation by asking me my name... I would have been more than happy to oblige, even if it is my right to park there for as long as I want. When you live close you do things just to keep the peace; you never know when you might have to ask them for something!

K

[crazy larry]

crap like that is why i live in the country now. people suck. I've even heard of people being turned in for driving cars that burn a little oil, good golly, what is this world coming to? I say drive the bird at anytime, be sure to let them know they f'd up...

[killerformula]

Originally Posted by crazy larry

crap like that is why i live in the country now. people suck. I've even heard of people being turned in for driving cars that burn a little oil, good golly, what is this world coming to? I say drive the bird at anytime, be sure to let them know they f'd up...

Thats a good point, larry. Not only this experience, but living here in general has taught me a good lesson. Namely, this is not the kind of place I want to spend my money to buy a home. Don't get me wrong, its nice out here, but the quarters are too tight, and these just aren't my kind of people.

Funny, I've heard of people getting flagged down too, but only when they burn enough oil that the OPEC satellite can see their car from space!

K

[38 special]

You can park it in front of my hous,KF. Of course it may disappear for short periods of time whilst I joy ride.

[345coupe]

I work with a guy that hated his neighbor. Well, everyone hated that particular neighbor. When it got to be too much, my buddy claimed he called the power company and said, "I just got transfer orders to ship out to Japan. Can you cut the power effective in 2 days?"

I don't know if he did it, but it would be funny! I suppose it would work with the cable and phone also.

****I DO NOT CONDONE SUCH ACTIONS*********
(But I still think it is funny!)

[RCastle]

I would have left a note saying,call the police. If you are not breaking any laws,there is not a thing they can do,except get pissy about it. If it is not this,it will be something else. They will find something else to be upset about and aim it to you now.