I just need to kvetch.
I bought a house last year. It's been mine for 14 months one week and 6 days. I've lived in it now for 8 months one week and a day.
It may not be my dream house but it is a dream of a house. It is a split level 3/3 on 4 wooded acres on the side of a hill. There is a huge front deck, an above ground pool with a deck and another deck with a shed.
The house was abandoned in August 2015. There was squirrel damage and plumbing issues. I fixed all of that, mostly on my own. I built a whole wall of shelves for my books and hung slatboard to hang my instruments. There is still a lot to do but I enjoy doing it and love the house. I love the land.
I fucking hate my nextdoor neighbor.
He owned this house once. He sold it to his son-in-law in 2006. Yeah, he always refers to his SIL and not his daughter. They abandoned the house in 2015. A flipper bought it in 2017 but never got around to flipping it and I bought it for cash.
So, he seems to still think he has domain over my property. When I first met him, he said he was a supporter of the cheeto, unsolicited, so I'll admit my opinion of him was low from the get go.
There was a dumpster at the foot of my driveway and a bunch of used building material when I bought the house and for the first several months. I put my wee bit of trash in the dumpster when I spent weekends out here. Finally, I gathered all the crap and put it all in the dumpster.
The neighbor came up and said the material and the dumpster was theirs. They intended to use the material. I said it was great they recycled. He said I could use the dumpster if I chipped in the cost. I agreed.
A few days later, I had guests over helping me repair my deck when he drove up again. He said there was no way there would be room in the dumpster for 3 families as his other son-in-law was building a house behind theirs. I generate 4 bags of trash a month but whatever. I said that was fine but if I had no access to this dumpster, it would not be parked on my land.
He blew a fucking gasket. I'm only glad I had witnesses. Now when I talk about this idiot, they nod.
After that, I found my mailbox filled with sugar and ants. Then there were utility flags in my yard. I called 811 and found that no utility put them out. My septic tank is on this guy's land. The original owner of this house owned 4 tracts of land. The septic tank was put at the bottom of the hill on a different tract than the house sits. When the neighbor bought this house, he only bought 3 tracts. When he sold it, he sold it with 2 tracts and built his house on the third, right beside the septic tank. Which seems weird, but....
Anyway, he keeps throwing that at me. But I bought the house with no objections from a guy who bought it with no objections. The time to bitch about the septic tank was a few sales ago. There is nothing he can do, except sabotage my septic tank, which I would not put past him.
Anyway, I'm writing today because this guy teaches art classes from his house. When I bought my house I thought it would be great to take lessons walking distance even though I live in the middle of nowhere. That aint happenin'. But his students park on my land. That really isn't a big deal. When I lived in the city, folks often parked in front of my house to visit neighbors. But this is daily and the neighbor has never once asked if I mind. You know, a courtesy ask.
Last year, I noticed he had his lawn service mow that bit of land. That I don't like. If you let someone use your land with no objection, it can become theirs at some point. So this year I decided I was going to stop the mowing, not the parking. The mowers came today, I took my trash can down with a sign on it that said, "Do not mow this side of the road."
There really isn't much grass there since these folks have put gravel down at some point. But I can't have them maintain my land. This house is my retirement egg. I have to protect it. And frankly, I am a stubborn bitch and he never asked if I mind.
So, I ran an errand at 5 and came home to find him standing in his driveway waiting. He asked about the sign. I said it meant what it meant. I wanted to make sure his crew didn't mow my land. Why? Because it is my land.
He was leaning into my car. I have an adult daughter with disabilities who was already upset. She didn't like this.
He said the one thing he should not have said. "We've been parking here for years. Why should that stop?"
If he's said, "Do you mind that our students park here?" or "Can we come to an understanding?" all would have been good. But he just seems to think that the fact that I wrote a check for a house his kids walked away from is meaningless.
This. House. Is. Mine.
But he said what he said and my daughter started to cry and I said I had to tend to her, excuse me. He did not get out of the car window. I drove off anyway.
There is a tiny meadow to the west of my house. It is their land. They'll never use it. It is up a steep hill (I live up a steep hill) There is no good access to it. I would gladly trade them use of that parking area at the end of my driveway for use of this little meadow where the deer were grazing earlier today. I'd scatter wildflower seeds and mow a path through it and gaze happily upon it. I'd let them park and mow to their hearts' delight.
But this asshole neighbor has no idea how to even start a civil conversation. He sees this bit of land that is across the street from his house as his. And, frankly, I feel that he finds talking to a woman beneath him, even though I am literally a foot taller than him. I suppose I could invite my son over, who is a foot and a half taller than this guy, but my son has less patience than I do and would literally swear at him.
Anyway, I just wanted to vent all of this where it could actually be seen by someone. Please, offer advice. I know I should take a breath and open an adult dialogue but this guy chafes my ass by his very existence anymore so that will have to wait at least 24 hours.