Somehow I know This Won't Be The Last Time

So, yesterday it was a nice letter in my mailbox, asking me to please move my floodlight so it didn't shine in the neighbor's bedroom. That seems like a reasonable request. The only thing is, this is the second complaint since they moved in a few months ago, and probably the 4th in 28 years. My guess is the lady has delicate sensibilities. I never thought about asking somebody to move a light because it bothered me, I just rolled over. I've never thought of telling someone to shut their dog up or anything at all. Not saying that people shouldn't do it, it just never occurred to me to do that. I'm sure this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship, one that will grow by tossing objects back and forth over the fence and saying mean things in the nicest possible fashion. If only I could find an upper class British citizen to give me some lessons....

The Neighborhood

What not to do when you first move into a new neighborhood: complain to your next-door neighbor about his dogs. I was out working on th VW when he approached, nicely complaining about how my dogs bothered him. The dogs were in the backyard with my wife, but they had been barking a bit before, at the movers, I thought. After he left I wondered if that was just a ruse to get me used to him complaining a lot...the thing is, they hadn't lived in the house for a day when he came over.
I thought about that a bit, trying to not make any noise when I was outside, except for deciding that a lot of stuff needed pressure cleaning, like my whole driveway. I was considerate about it, I waited until 8am on Sunday to do the work.
Then something strange happened last Saturday. The neighbor on the other side of his house drove by on a Harley, early in the morning while I was out working in the yard. I don't know why exactly, he must have had engine problems or something, because he stopped in front of my neighbor's house and revved the engine for at least 5 minutes......