Well the new neighbors in the rental house moved in. On a Monday night around 10:30 pm. A lovely taste of what is to come in the next year I am sure. After being in this house close to 6 years now I have seen a turn on the residents about every 13 months. Enough for a years lease and then they are out of here, which in almost all cases was a welcome occasion each and every time. I'm sensing already this will be a long year before I see what the next roll of the dice brings.
I've had a single Mom with a teenage son who smoked on the font porch, and threw parties when Mom would go away for the weekend. I've had a military gal and her boyfriend who when they first moved in I would have sworn she was a lesbian bartender and he was a gay college student. Give me long enough and I'll make a great story out of anybodies lives I have no about. I'm good at snap judgments like that.
The neighbors that just left had 3 dogs themselves so in the summer we walked around with squirt bottles to threaten the dogs with when they would start talking too loud. Now the new neighbors have arrived and in only 8 days they have made quite an impression. None so far has been the least bit charming.
I live on a Cul de sac so the houses at the top of the curve of the circle end up being close on the corners, but we win with bigger back yards. The master bedroom of my house is maybe 30 feet from the rental houses front door and deck. Thus the dogs and I can hear the door slam at each entry and exit if we happen to be sleeping (which at 6:30 in the morning this pack certainly still is)! The diesel engine starting up and idling for a couple minutes this last week has been a treat of so much reward I want to just wrap up little bits of it and share it for the holidays.
As the household gets used to the new sounds, voices and timetables of the new neighbors it becomes a battle to talk the dogs out of a full scale emergency bark 911 vocalization. More a screaming match with me telling them to shut the hell up and them trying to get one last word in. I wonder if the neighbors find us as annoying as we find them? Who cares - it's my bog and I've lived here longer so I win!
Tuesday is garbage day for the neighborhood. No matter how many times I promise myself that I will take it all out to the street Monday night. It is always Tuesday morning running late for work I am dragging those things out to the curb. The last 2 nights it has been stormy with hard rain and gusts of wind. The wind blows my direction so I get most of the leaves and everyones spill over garbage. A HUGE rant and pet peeve I have about my slovenly neighbors (except the nice lady across the street). This morning in the pouring down rain I drag the garbage can out and see 3 Budweiser cans in my gutter from the Sunday football game gathering. My initial instinct is to toss them as far back into their yard as I can, but notice there are 4 more cans in their driveway and the way they are headed is my way. Inevitably they'd just end up back in my yard with me picking them up yet again. With a mental fist shake to the offenders and a good strong verbal curse I tossed the cans into my recycler and vowed not to let it ruin my day.
After all if anything should be able to ruin my day it would be the weather and rain I will have to endure on the trek to work.
