The Nerve of some people

[Biermann]

I totally need to vent about something.

Ok, I live in an affluent, agricultural zoned area and own 1.5 acres of land, most of which is timber. Two other people own land that join ours.

Well, tonight, I had a party, complete with good food, homebrew, and paintball in our timber.

Well, our neighbor, who's land joins ours, got pissed off that we were playing paintball, came and yelled at us (we were on our land), then called the damned cops. Mind you, we are in the frickin country here.

Well, the cops came, told us to stop (we had stopped 2 hours earlier), and then left. The cop actually acted embarrassed that he had to knock on our door. To make things worse, I am also an auxillary county Deputy.

So, after our company left, I drove my happy little emboldened-by-homebrew ass over to our neighbors house and knocked on his gay little door. I read him the riot act, told him how g#@ Damned embarrassing it was to have one of our county deputies knock on our door for something that wasn't illegal. I told him, that as his neighbor, I would appreciate it that if he had a problem, if he would come over and talk to me personally about it. I did apologize if we were indeed on his property. He then told me that "I don't believe in paintball guns, and I don't believe in guns, and you WERE on my property, and I'm not very happy that my trees have paint on them now." His wife actually seemed sorry for her husband.

The point is:
1. He is my neighbor, and he is not very neighborly.
2. We did nothing wrong, and I'm not sure if we were actually on his land. If we were, we weren't on his land more than 30 seconds.
3. Paintballs are water soluble
4. I am embarrassed as hell to have the cops come and investigate a complaint when I'm a sworn law enforcement officer while my party was going on.
5. He was being a prick.
6. If we were on his land we never harmed anything, and we weren't anywhere near his house, or his family.
7. It was paintball. Get over it.



I bet he doesn't drink either.

Freak.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, but I had to get that off my chest.

 

[puravida286]

DAMN THE MAN! or at least ur neighbor

 

[Biermann]

YEAH!!

That's what I thought. . .

Thanks for your support.

DAMMIT!!

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Your neighbor sounds like one of mine. I live in a brand new development on the edge of town. At the time, there were only about 8 of us living here, and the entire two blocks to the south were undeveloped dirt. Beyond that is public land. The 4th of July was approaching, and we (a couple of friends and I) had just bought some fireworks. Unable to contain the teenagers within, we set off a single firecracker in the middle of the undeveloped portion of the neighborhood, several hundred yards from anyone's house. Within 10 minutes, a cop came by.

Why can't people do the civil thing and talk to you before resorting to the local police? I'm firmly convinced that the same neighbor (I've yet to figure out which one) will call the cops on me again after assuming my beer brewing setup is a meth lab or something. People piss me off.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Did you let him know you were going to be doing it? Paintballs can fly a fair ways, and if my kids were out there and I didn't know about it, I'd be pretty pissed. That being said, I'd be man enough to confront you about it without involving the cops, which is what I think the real issue is here. I hate it when the cops show up because the neighbors called them without talking to me first. I'm reasonable, we can work this out. Call the cops after I agree to turn off the music and then turn it up after you leave.

 

[Sean]

Reasonable enough, but maybe you should have told him about the party beforehand? People get nervous, and dogs even nervouser, around guns, even paint. I'm not putting down your party,sounds like fun, just seeing things through their eyes.

 

[Biermann]

Did you let him know you were going to be doing it? Paintballs can fly a fair ways, and if my kids were out there and I didn't know about it, I'd be pretty pissed. That being said, I'd be man enough to confront you about it without involving the cops, which is what I think the real issue is here. I hate it when the cops show up because the neighbors called them without talking to me first. I'm reasonable, we can work this out. Call the cops after I agree to turn off the music and then turn it up after you leave.

Well, his house is a good 200 yards from mine, so I figured we weren't anywhere near enough to his to land a paintball on his property if we tried. Also, my timber is in a deep valley, and he sits on a hill, and there were probably 100 trees between our nearest player and his house.

I think the real issue is: 1. He doesn't like anything to do with guns, even paintball guns.
2. He is self righteous about #1
3. (the real issue) He should have walked or driven around the bend, knocked on our front door and asked us to back the fight up into the woods a little more. Had he done so, there would be no issue. Instead, he called the damned cops. I asked him why he did this, and said "I didn't know your name or your phone number." We are in an easy walking distance by road, and given the average cost of homes in our area, there's no reason to believe that I'm a serial killer or a crack-head.


If it were the other way around, and his teenagers were out running around on my land paintballing, I doubt I would have said anything unless a paintball hit our house. Even then, I would probably put my mask on , go down and ask them to back it up a little. . . .and then I'd probably join them.

But, he "doesn't believe in paintball guns" (what kind of statement is that---I didn't know paintball was a philosophical ideal)


I guess what I'm trying to convey is that his house, propery, and family were never in any kind of jeopardy whatsoever, and I doubt we could have hit his house from where we were if we tried. I think he called the cops purely out of spite for the fact we were playing with paintball guns.

 

[Biermann]

That being said, I'd be man enough to confront you about it without involving the cops, which is what I think the real issue is here. I hate it when the cops show up because the neighbors called them without talking to me first. I'm reasonable, we can work this out. Call the cops after I agree to turn off the music and then turn it up after you leave.

I couldn't have said it better.

All in all, I did apologize for any incursions on his land, and I invited him to stop and talk again sometime. I shook his hand, shook his wife's hand, thanked them for their time, and wished them a good evening. Although I did voice my frustrations at his lack of testicular fortitude in not coming to talk with me first, I sort of killed him with kindness, and I think he was having some regrets for calling the cops to begin with.

I'm sure he'll probably call the cops after he witnesses me brewing and accuse me of distilling whiskey or making Meth.

 

[EvilTOJ]

Sounds like someone wants paintballs shot at his house while he's at work.

But seriously, while he may be a jerk about complaining, it would have been the neighborly thing to actually walk over there and talk to you about it if he really didn't have your number. Calling the cops should be second or third on the list of things to do for conflict resolution.

 

[fiddup_is_a_middup]

If Im planning a large gathering at my place I ALWAYS talk to the neighbors or leave a note (with name and phone #) and let them know that I'm having people over. I also Invite the neighbor over for a beer. Its a nice thing to do. Most neighbors haven't come over for the beer (but a few have) And more importantly the neigbors will generally call me before calling cops. Its something I always do out of respect and precaution. I understand how you feel Biermann just an Idea that works well for me.

By the Way Goooooooooooooooooo Cards World Champs Baby!!!!!!!! :rockin:

 

[Klainmeister]

If he said he doesn't believe in paintball guns, then you should have pulled one out and told him you were going to make him believe. I ran into the same problem before where someone got there balls in a bunch over a couple of my friends playing paintball out in a field. Cops got called and then they realized we were playing with Naughty Dogs and hung out for a bit watching us scrimmage.

"I don't believe in paintball guns" HA!

 

[sonvolt]

You know what?! I am pi$$ed off at you, too!

I live in the Peoria area (Washington), and I did not get invited to your homebrew/paintball party!!

























Sounds pretty fun, and I think your neighbor needs to chill out.

 

[Cheesefood]

I don't get it.

I'm not a gun owner. I will probably never own a handgun. I believe that a strong lock and living in a good neighborhood makes a great replacement for the need to be armed.

Yet I don't mind guns. I like shooting them, and I love paintball. Guns are like country music: I don't like it, but I understand why other people do.

Your neighbor sounds like a troublemaker. Yes, you should have cleared it with him first, but he doesn't need to be a prick. He should have manned up and told you to stay off his property.

When I was a kid - about 10 years old - we had a neighbor who called the cops on me and a friend for lighting off firecrackers ON JULY 3RD. Why? Because he didn't like my parents and he didn't like me because I sometimes needed to climb the fence into his back yard to retrieve a ball.

Why are some people so damned territorial? Yes, you own the land but that doesn't mean you need to be a prick about it.

 

[Todd]

I don't get it.

I'm not a gun owner. I will probably never own a handgun. I believe that a strong lock and living in a good neighborhood makes a great replacement for the need to be armed.

Yet I don't mind guns. I like shooting them, and I love paintball. Guns are like country music: I don't like it, but I understand why other people do.

Your neighbor sounds like a troublemaker. Yes, you should have cleared it with him first, but he doesn't need to be a prick. He should have manned up and told you to stay off his property.

When I was a kid - about 10 years old - we had a neighbor who called the cops on me and a friend for lighting off firecrackers ON JULY 3RD. Why? Because he didn't like my parents and he didn't like me because I sometimes needed to climb the fence into his back yard to retrieve a ball.

Why are some people so damned territorial? Yes, you own the land but that doesn't mean you need to be a prick about it.

This is what happens when city folk move to the country. In PA we are under constant assult to restrict what you can do with your own land. The newest is not being allowed to operate ATV's. My brother has 5 acres and they tried to tell him he couldn't ride..

I don't think what you did was out of line and as long as you were carefull you could not hit them with paint balls I don't think you needed to warn them.

 

[the_bird]

When I was a kid - about 10 years old - we had a neighbor who called the cops on me and a friend for lighting off firecrackers ON JULY 3RD. Why? Because he didn't like my parents and he didn't like me because I sometimes needed to climb the fence into his back yard to retrieve a ball.

I'm convinced that it's not techically childhood if you don't have a scary ******* neighbor. We had somebody like that at our first house. There's always somebody who is just a miserable human being, they probably had a rotten childhood and get all their through making sure that other people are as miserable as them. F*ck 'em.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

I'm convinced that it's not techically childhood if you don't have a scary ******* neighbor.

That's very true. Getting chased by a screaming senior citizen brandishing a broom prepares you for adult life.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I empathize with you completely...paintballing his house is definitely out of the question...but my one word to you is: FENCE!

He can't report you're on his property if you are on your side of the fence...you can even party right up to the fence too!!!

Now, should something happen to him he'll be the first one running to buy a gun...I've seen it...

 

[the_bird]

That's very true. Getting chased by a screaming senior citizen brandishing a broom prepares you for adult life.

We got chased down the street by one of my neighbor's mother. We were picking on the kid, she took exception, she got in their beater Trans-Am (total white trash) and came after us down the road, screaming "CHICKEN****S! C'MON, CHICKEN****S!" I don't remember exactly what she had for weaponry besides the car, I know there was something but I don't remember...

Didn't stop us from picking on his, though (I feel bad, though, 'cause we became friends after graduation... he was just, let's say, he was "The Smelly Kid").

 

[Hippie]

A bunch of years ago I lived in an apartment building with 4 places. I was having a pre X-Mas party (all the friends before we did family). In 3 of the apartments we were all great friends w/ open door policies, then there was my cross hall neighbors. I told them about the party before hand, invited them (they declined) and told them we might get rowdy, but just knock on the door if it became a problem. Instead, around 10:30 PM (Weekend), my roommate opens the door for the police as we're in the living room enjoying some of Mother Nature's other hops... Nothing came of it, but what the bleep? It took them longer to dial and give the info than walk the 7 feet from door to door!!!

 

[uglygoat]

we had this miserable old bat who lived across the street. she hated when we played football in the street and would come out screaming at us. being good little kids, we'd tell her to go f*ck herself then throw the ball into the side of her house or into the power lines that were attached to her house.... luckily the cops in cleveland had more pressing things to attend to than punk kids cursing at old ladies.

as for your neighbor, he needs to learn a lesson, i've not formulated what would be a cunnign and suitable payback, but it involves flaming feces at the very least....:rockin:

 

[uglygoat]

oops... n00b double post...

 

[Cheesefood]

I lived in an apartment with a buddy for a while, and we had an ahole neighbor. OK, one night we were loud, but instead of talking to us he called the cops. They just told us to turn down the music.

A couple months later, I took the day off to just hang out and get some stuff taken care of. It was a Tuesday, around 3:00pm. I was cleaning the place and had on some music. Since I was vacuuming, it was pretty loud. There was a knock on the door and guess who? Boys in blue.

They said that he had asked me several times to turn down the music and I refused. So I said "Tell him to describe me." You see, I'm tall (6'2") and my room mate is short (5'5"). I had on an obnoxious blue shirt and plaid flanel pants and the cops could easily tell I'd been wearing them all day. I disputed that he'd told me to turn down the music, but since the cops weren't going to cite me, I didn't fight them.

Turns out that the neighbor worked the night shift and wanted it quiet so he could sleep. That's all well and good, but if you live in a condo complex, you have to expect that it is going to be loud and you can't expect your neighbors to be quiet just because you want quiet.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Turns out that the neighbor worked the night shift and wanted it quiet so he could sleep. That's all well and good, but if you live in a condo complex, you have to expect that it is going to be loud and you can't expect your neighbors to be quiet just because you want quiet.

What time's quiet hour?

 

[Cheesefood]

What time's quiet hour?

Nothing officially posted, but isn't it generally recognized as 7:00pm unless your direct neighbor has children? In any case, if I want someone to be quiet, I'm generally more diplomatic about how I request it. Especially if the person I'm asking has a 250 watt Velodyne 10" subwoofer and a penchant for gangsta rap.

 

[Flyin' Lion]

See I can understand the whole man up thing, but I see the point of quiet time as well. When I was in the Air Force I had to live in the dorms and I also had to work Nights (graveyard). My neighbor would come home from lunch for 15 mins. and blare his stereo, I reminded him that I slept during the day but it didn't matter. Every day the stereo came on just long enough to piss me off and prevent me from going back to sleep.

We also had to share a bathroom (which he locked me out of repeatedly). The day I left the dorms, after getting approved to live off base, I locked his arse out of the bathroom. We moved out on a Friday and he couldn't get the door unlocked till Monday.

I really tend to be one of those people who like the quiet, and it seems like I'm always moving away from someone who, after being asked, doesn't get the hint.

 

[Biermann]

You know what?! I am pi$$ed off at you, too!

I live in the Peoria area (Washington), and I did not get invited to your homebrew/paintball party!!

dude, my apologies. . . . I forgot you were in Washington. In fact, I had a couple of other Washington residents over yesterday.

Next time I'll keep you on the list. ... I'm envisioning a brew day, then paintball.


Maybe we can have a few homebrews, make a spud gun and launch a few in one specific direction. . . .




























Sounds pretty fun, and I think your neighbor needs to chill out.[/QUOTE]

 

[Biermann]

If Im planning a large gathering at my place I ALWAYS talk to the neighbors or leave a note (with name and phone #) and let them know that I'm having people over. I also Invite the neighbor over for a beer. Its a nice thing to do. Most neighbors haven't come over for the beer (but a few have) And more importantly the neigbors will generally call me before calling cops. Its something I always do out of respect and precaution. I understand how you feel Biermann just an Idea that works well for me.

By the Way Goooooooooooooooooo Cards World Champs Baby!!!!!!!! :rockin:

Well, we did invite the neighbors across the street. . . since we live in a semi-developed area in the country, we actually have 7 neighbors whose land joins ours.

This guy is the most remote of those neighbors, too.

And what's worse, he's not terribly older than I am (maybe 10 years at most).

If we had a traditional neighborhood where we had two adjoining neighbors, and maybe someone across the street, I would have invited everyone. In fact, at our old neighborhood, we routinely invited our neighbors to our events.

In this case, I'm thinking a good fence will make a good neighbor. Time to get a surveyor.

 

[chillHayze]

Turns out that the neighbor worked the night shift and wanted it quiet so he could sleep. That's all well and good, but if you live in a condo complex, you have to expect that it is going to be loud and you can't expect your neighbors to be quiet just because you want quiet.

Perfect example! I sometimes work night shift 7pm-7am and I understand that sleeping during the day means 90% of the world is out and about, running vacuums, putting away dishes, God forbid listening to music. It's just something you have to accept with that sleep schedule. That's why it pays more!!!

Neighborly code:

1. Ask your neighbor
2. Ask him again, threaten the cops.
3. THEN...Call the boys in blue.
They already have much to do, lets not waste their time on this junk.

Or if your like us HBers:
1. Stop over and have a beer
2. Repeat (1).

 

[Flyin' Lion]

That's why it pays more!!!

Not when you are in the military, stripes=pay reguardless of when or where you work.

I still work shifts now as a civilian and don't have problems with my neighbors. When we first moved into this house our neighbors 16yo grandson liked to sit in his car in the driveway and listen to music and that bass goes through everything. Even after repeatedly asking him to turn it down, he just turned it up again--though I never considered calling the cops.

I probably just need to live on an island....or a sailboat.

 

[Top Shelf Bob]

I just celebrated my 50th birthday with an all out bash. We had a live band and about 60 people. I live in a subdivision and didn't know my neighbors very well. I was afraid they may call the cops as the night wore on so I invited them figuring they'd feel guilty calling the cops on a party they were invited to. Worked like a charm. We partied into the wee hours of the morning with no interventions. A few actually came and seemed to have a good time.