finished planting but not before the law was called on me

[Podunkadunk]

This guy's a real jerk! Wow! I can't believe he had the audacity to say what he did. I'll tell ya, I have been following this thread from the start and after reading your update, I got P.O'd ! Amazing...

I'm too hot right now to give sound advice...(kumbaya being sung in the background....). I can tell you what I would have told him, but I'd get banned from TBN for my language.

Ok, I'm better now...

You were the better man for approaching him in the first place. He undoubtedly mistakes your hospitality/friendliness as weakness and feels that he can make unreasonable (at least to everyone else) demands on you. You don't have to honor those wishes, or his idle threats.

Maybe a talk with the sheriff will go a long way. If you continue to feel threatened or he makes more remarks like that, slap a restraining order on him. It can't hurt anything.

Podunk

 

[CDsdad]

OK. I'll be the one since Podunk is acting nice this morning. Depending on my mood at the time I'd have done 1 of 2 things.

1. What everybody else said and log it with the cops. (The wise choice.)

2. Dependent upon his age (respect my elders and overlook the senile) and whether or not he was armed, I'd have invited him out of his yard and into to the public road and we would have gravel danced with me doing my best to kick his tail up over his shoulders. There would have been one of 2 outcomes and regardless of which, I would have included a tongue lashing that would etch itself forever into his memory.(The make me feel good choice.)

Any excuse I could find to plow, cultivate, mow, spread manure, or just in general be a pest around his place without actually getting on it, I would use. He wouldn't see daylight for the dust for a week.

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

 

[WayneB]

I feel for you and yes he is a jerk, but I am not sure what I would do so there is no way I would feel comfortable telling you what I think you should do.

When we bought our place there were no houses around us, actually we were the first house in from the main road which is about a mile away from the house. It was a very small country road, but as the area grew the road became more traveled and now it is a main road to the adjacent town. We now have about seven city families living around us and most understand that I have to work when the weather permits, but there are always one or two that complain about the smells, the tractor noise, and what have you.

My wife now won't let me run the tractors until after 7 AM, just keeping peace with the neighbors she calls it! I call it "No good deed goes unpunished" We have good neighbors and they never complain when I will bring the tractor down and blow out their driveway, or till their garden space so I find it hard to believe they would complain about the tractor noise.

The biggest complaint I have is all of them seem to think they need to have night lights on to protect their property! I wonder who they are protecting it from, and hope they don't think it is me! Heck I don't even know where the keys to our house are located and if we ever locked a door I would have to stay out until the wife came home!

I would think the next time you are having coffee with your sheriff friend you should mention the assumed threat with the neighbor. One never knows what people will do!

 

[cowboy357]

All I can say Is You handled it the right way & Kudo,s to You for that . I Cant say What I would have done, Except thats why I dont leave Our property anymore Because of My temper . I Surely hope I didn,t come off as anywheres close to the Jerk this Guy is .

But I do Beleive the comments on having a friendly sitdown with the law is Great Advice , in case it ever came to blows or worse . Bad thing is this kind of Guy is the type to expect You to clean His drive the next big snow & Pretend everythings Ok. So All Respect goes out to You for being the bigger Man Also. Best of luck in the future with This Person . CB

 

[NuBota]

I'm with Podunk - would like to come over there myself and work the guy over.

Hopefully this idiot will eventually take himself outta the picture. An attitude like that means he probably has a history of issues - at work, in the marriage, etc., maybe even the law. Not to mention a serious inferiority complex and maybe "small" in a certain area.

We had a similar issue with a Little League couple a few years ago (not threatening harm, but legal action). Did a little digging on the internet, found info on blog/rant sites (they were dumb enough to put their names out there) and even the local cops knew who they were 'cause of some of their insane complaints.

You could probably do a little research and find some stuff on this guy - not really worth it - but maybe just a little cursory digging.

 

[dmccarty]

Deere755,

You took the high road and tried to do the right thing. You showed your character.

The guy that lives next to you showed his character. And now you know with whom you are dealing.

Many places I have lived over the years there has been a problem with the guy next door. I have had a couple of drug dealers and drunks. Until I was writing the last sentence I never realized that the problem were always from people selling and using drugs legal or otherwise. Surprise Surprise Surprise.

In our city house we had the non 911 number to the PD on the fridge. We should have just put it on the speed dialer since we called the PD to go deal with the people next door so often. Talking with these people is something to do just to say you tried. But it ain't going to solve the problem.

Here in country we had a person next to us who I thought might try to shoot me. He was playing all sorts of games like shooting on our land and leaving the shell and targets behind. I don't know if he knew I knew he was doing it or not or if that was his plan. This guy was supposedly a "friend". We bought land and then sold some of it to the "friend". We sold the land to him at cost. We both paid the same per acre. Most people would have sold the land to him at a higher cost. We did not. Then we timbered part of the land. I found the timber agent. Did the research. Figured out the tax issues. The "friend" had his timber included in the deal. He did nothing but show up to the closing and got a check that almost paid for the land he bought.

A few months later he is shooting up my place, letting the air out of the tractor tires, etc.

The guy was a nut and full of bovine scat. He was dangerous because he was a bully, a kook, and dumb. What made it worse was that he was so dumb he thought he was smart. My wife worried about him trying to do something but I don't think he had it in him. He was all noise.

But I was prepared for the worse from him. Eventually he and the wife split up, they sold the land and are no longer a problem for us. I'm sure he is a problem for someone else.

He made a threat to you that may or may not be provable in court. And even if it is provable a conviction ain't going to change him. I would take the threat seriously. But I also would do what I have always done and needs to get done. That makes the bully put up or shut up.

I have a bit of training and experience in dealing with these type of people. Whether YOU should do what I would do is a different question that only you should answer.

Good Luck,
Dan

 

[deereguy]

If the opportunity presents itself- talk to his wife alone, she may be his voice of reason. Start off with your husband and I talked and the conversation started to get a little unneighboorly and you wanted to clarify a few things. She will either be as irrate as him, calm and collected, or somewhere in the middle. I have dealt with irrate customers in my past and usually found that one partner is wound up tight and the other is calm, I'd MUCH rather deal with the calm, rational one.

Good Luck!!

 

[aczlan]

If the opportunity presents itself- talk to his wife alone, she may be his voice of reason.

or have your wife talk to her (when Mr. Kind Soul is not around), she might be more inclined to talk to your wife than to you...

Aaron Z

 

[NuBota]

Talking to the wife may work - unless she's already a victim of his intimidation. She may agree, but is terrified to do/say anything including leaving. Just talking to her may make it worse - for you and her. I really doubt this is an isolated situation for this jerk....

 

[Podunkadunk]

Talking to the wife may work - unless she's already a victim of his intimidation. She may agree, but is terrified to do/say anything including leaving. Just talking to her may make it worse - for you and her. I really doubt this is an isolated situation for this jerk....

True, true! Also, if he's a hothead already, he may get really P.O'd if he finds out you've been talking to his bride. Especially if he beats on her and feels that she may have spilled the beans to you or your wife about it

As Dan said, some people are trained, whether militarily, LEO or some other avenue, to deal with aggressive people. I don't know your situation, but I don't think talking to him or his wife will help, I know his type...but will more than likely cause even more problems...I could be wrong.

Just stay away from the equine's arse. I'd keep doing my jobs around his place as I always have. I wouldn't change a thing. You did your part already. He will be terribly in the wrong if he confronts you. If he does, stand your ground with due diligence. Do whatever it takes to protect family, self and property. HOWEVER, I think it's imperative that you get something in writing with LEO so you have a leg to stand on in court if anything physical ever happens. Always, always cover your 180!

Keep us posted...

Podunk