Another "idiot neighbor" thread...

   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #1  

Richard

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Joined
Apr 6, 2000
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Location
Knoxville, TN
Tractor
International 1066 Full sized JCB Loader/Backhoe and a John Deere 430 to mow with
I'm looking to see if anyone has any interesting ideas....

Scenario:

I live on dead end street. On my road, there are maybe 7 houses in a geographic area that is probably pushing 1,000 acres (my FIL owns 250 of it and most of the rest is TVA land)

1/4 mile down the road is another dead end road. There is as best I know, a single house (farm) on this road.

We're not neighbors in the sense of seeing each others kitchen lights on but part of the farm (ours) evidently does border his although it's on our backside of farm.

I've been told by others what a punk redneck this guy is and I've always thought they've overblown a bit.

1. Father in law: Let this guy "hay" the farm for several years as long as FIL was paid a certain amount. This went on for 5/7 (dunno) years and the guy was always telling FIL "Don't worry...I know I owe you, I just don't have it on me right now...I'm not forgetting about you"

Of course, over the years, he's never paid. I always thought this was a bit of an embellishment story from my FIL.

2. This guys kids (now grown and not living there) and their buddys were caught hunting on our side of the fence. "My daddy (idiot neighbor) said we could" When asked about it by my FIL, evidently he got real ugly saying he never said/did that with anyone.

Above true or not true? I wasn't there, I don't know so I always downplayed it.

3. This guy is ALWAYS just pulling out of his street (though he lives on a dead end road, it IS a paved public road that happens to have his name on it) He just whips on out and on more than one occasion, I personally COULD have hit him had I not hit the brakes. I now believe these stories that others tell me about his road hogging. He seems to drive with a "size makes right" attitude and everyone has to move over for him. Something I got particularly sensative to while I owned a tiny car too, but I dont' think he ever ran me off the road then.

4. This one is what has finally caused me to post this: Just the other day, I was driving down road and what happened again, but he just barrels out of his road as though he owns the world and cut me off. Again, I could have hit him had I wanted and been "in the right" howver, instead I nailed my brakes. As he was driving down the main public road, he rolls his window down and just tosses some trash out the window onto the road. :mad: Now that I've personally witnessed some of this, I've now lost ALL respect for him.

Fast forward to today and he's driving out "my" road so I stop & roll window down and he stops...then he cut his diesel engine off because you can't talk worth diddly do with that engine idling....

"Hi" I said
"hi"

"say, I just wanted to let you know that I saw you dump some trash out your window the other day and wanted you to know that dumping your trash out on the road isn't appreciated by some people"

"HUH???.... I OWN that land!!!!!"

"uh...no, I'm talking about the public road behind us" I said

"huh?.... what's your name" he demanded to know (wasn't a question, it was a demand)

"Richard"

"Where do you live"

"out here" as I pointed down "my" road that he was on

"how much land do you own" he demanded to know

Not really thinking about what an idiot I was facing, I didn't state what I was really thinking (it's no matter how much land I own) I wanted to be respectful and polite...

"mmmm..... maybe 4 acres" I said

"Well, I own 350 acres, so don't "screw" (not what he really said :eek:) with me"

then without another thought, he started his engine which disallowed any kind of statement to be made by anyone and still be heard and he drove off.


Some tidbits:

1. This guy has had several of his cows on MORE than one occasion, get through his fence and end up on "our" road (public dead end road). Every time I've seen them, I've called him (very politely I might add) to let them know their cows are out. I've always tried to be the nice neighbor but those days are now over.

A) Next time I see his cows out, instead of calling HIM, is there some agency that can be called that by doing so, will someone create some kind of "cost" to him?? Meaning, by them collecting the cows. Or, can "I" collect them and somehow charge him for me removing the hazzard? (I doubt it, besides, I'd rather 'authorities' deal with him) Is there a 'cow catcher' much like a dog catcher? (unfortunately, I don't think there is)

B) what if somehow, there is a minor fender bender with a said cow? (serious question), is he at risk/fault?

c) Can I simply have this 'lost cow' taken to the butcher? :rolleyes:


I told the wife tonight that what I'd REALLY like to do is gather up some trash & drive down his dead end road....dumping it all the way. Although he'll "know" it's me, I can simply say it wasn't & prove it...after all, we DO get a freaking TON of punks driving these dark roads, dumping their trash & animals & other activities.... Besides, it would be really interesting to ask him how it's so "bad" for someone to dump trash on HIS 'road' yet, it seems to be ok for HIM to dump HIS trash on the other public road....


personally, I'm now realizing he's a very small person (big in stature but small mentally) who's got to be a 'tough guy' and intimidate people. I really think the best thing that could happen to him is someone drag his hiney out & knock some sense into him (not that I'm proposing that, just that it would help adjust his attitude a bit)

Anyways...getting long here....

thoughts on trash, cows...?

Can I report him to cops? (hahahaha)


I'm looking for honest things I can pursue that might (legally) cost him time, effort or perchance, money. I really think someone needs to knock him down a notch or two and if I'm part of that process, it has to be legal (I'm not into breaking kneecaps even when that is the right answer)

:rolleyes: :D ;)
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #2  
Never mud wrestle with a pig. You'll lose and the pig likes it.
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #3  
Never mud wrestle with a pig. You'll lose and the pig likes it.

Well said:)

Richard, don't worry too much about it. What you can do is mount a camera on your dash like the police do and just record your daily driving. If he cuts you off again or tosses trash out the window you can show the video to the police and then it is up to them if they want to do anything about it. But if you try to start a war with the guy all you will do is drive yourself crazy worrying about what he is going to do next and so on so forth. Just ignore the idiot and when he does something that endangers you or your family you report his reckless behavior to the police. Who knows, maybe they will start patroling your road to see what is going on and who knows, maybe They will find his cows.
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #4  
I agree with Tom. But, it varies by state. But here if you see trash throwing you can report it to the sheriff with license number. They will probably not issue citation but will call and say he was seen throwing trash and remind him of the fine $500. Also if a animal does damage to your property, fence ect. You can confiscate the animal and sell it at auction to recover your damages. Sort of a mechanic lien. Now what happens if you do any of that is another story. He may just do worse. You gotta be prepared for that. My closest neighbor owns 7000 ac and the next closest owns 25000 plus wounder how he would deal with that.
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #5  
It's a tough one and I think I agree with Robert, let the authorities handle it. We had a break in two years ago and I knew it was the neighbors grandson (s), so I decided not to call the police, just let the neighbor handle it. Well, his wife got all up in the air about the situation (not to us but everyone else in the area) saying what an SOB I was and her grandson would never do such a thing.

Turns out nothing was ever done about it, and I am the one that has to worry now everytime we go someplace. If only I would have called the police and let them deal with the situation.

Call the police!
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #6  
Good Evenin Richard,
Personally I wouldnt have pointed out his trash throwing activities to him ! ;) At this point if the authorities are notified the little light in this dimwits head will turn on and he will remember the "idiot" neighbor that scolded him about this previously ! JMO !

I would have driven by the dimwits house and tried to figure out what brand beer cans were in the majority at that location ! ;) Drive down to the local package store and get a six pack of that brand and pay him a visit ! Id start the conversation something like, what a beautiful piece of property he has, and isnt it a shame what all these punk kids are doing by littering up the roadway ! :rolleyes: He might get the idea ! :)

Second, I would go out and buy a Mack truck, a large one, and if he pulls out in front of you just hit the accelerator instead of the brakes ! :) Just kidding of course. Bring yourself down to his level temporarily, maybe you can get through to this dimwit ! :)
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #7  
Never mud wrestle with a pig. You'll lose and the pig likes it.

What a great quote.

Take the high road, life is too short to worry about every idiot. I've seen sheriff's deputies throw litter out their car window.
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #8  
Richard
I think just writing about this situation helped relieve some of the tension that you have about this idiot. There are idiots everywhere (we all have one in our neighborhood) and getting yourself all worked up over them will do nothing except raise your blood pressure. Don't lower yourself to his standards by copying his actions. When these kind of people discover that they are annoying you, they feel victorious.

Ignore him as much as possible and concentrate on the important things. Don't let him win by getting under your skin. It's hard but try to just laugh at the ahole who lives around the corner and realize how much a better person you are in comparison.:)
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #9  
have a spead bump put in at the end of "His" road just after dusk. wait for the trainsmission to disapear ;)

actually if he has a set time that he loves whiping out of his drive and nearly running over people tell the cops that a couple teans have been drag racing out of his drive.

the others are right though never confront ones like that let the law deal with it.

as for the cows if he has a history of ignoring maintance on his fences the law is likely to be on your side. if he has smart cows its an act of god...

as for the hay send a bill sevral times then you will have the ability to recover the money. if you choose the video cam thing it would be wise to get him on camera saying ya ya ill pay you later.
 
   / Another "idiot neighbor" thread... #10  
I'm looking to see if anyone has any interesting ideas....


B) what if somehow, there is a minor fender bender with a said cow? (serious question), is he at risk/fault?


when i was getting insurance for my property the question of what is considered a farm, and what does that mean in the insurance world. basically it boils down to liability. The quote as best I can remember
should you get any livestock be shure to let us know as youll need to have some additional liability insurance to cover you in case it gets out and hurts someone. Now we dont insure for the loss of the animal, just the liability that comes with it

call up your own agent and pose the question to him. Do you have cows? If not pose a question of what would i need if i wanted to keep some, or a horse etc. My guess is he will tell you that you are responsible and youll need additional coverage to cover it.

as for the rest of it... it mostly boils down to the pig in the mud thing. Although it might be of some intrest to a local county officer how he drives on the road. Find a friend of a friend thats on the force and tell him about your situation, at worst, nothing happens, at best there is a significant change to his driving.
 
 
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