Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Reflections

I am thinking at the moment: do I move or do I stay?

My neighbours have been seriously annoying me for the last two years. They moved in two years ago and they have started affecting me greatly. In the first year that they were here they were only outside late on a summers night. I was frustrated with their loud yelling, loud television etc but once the colder weather hit they moved inside.

I had 6 months of bliss when the cold weather hit and the fact that they were not that noisy.

October last year they appeared outside again - with an amazing crash! We started October with a party or two for someones birthday, the mother and daughter had an argument over the daughter's boyfriend and then there were just daily stupid things that they happily yelled to each other about.

You need to understand how close they are. I live in high density housing. It is all part of the push where large properties are being subdivided and units are going up on blocks that once had a large house and HUGE backyard. I am lucky in the fact that I have a larger backyard. The width of my back yard is the same as the depth of my lounge room. I share less than 2metres of fence line with these neighbours and they are the depth of my lounge room and double that distance away. In the scheme of units they are far away from me - but they behave as though they are living on a farm.

So back to their behaviour. November hit and I was marking papers for the final exams of Year 12. The daughter and her boyfriend spent many a night outside listening to the dulcet tones of some really boring music that is popular at a very loud volume. This is the only time that I have yelled. They reacted and it was better - for a while. The weekend of the federal election my nephew stayed here and told me of the all night party they had (I was away on a school camp) - it went to 4am complete with slamming doors etc. On the night I came home (Sunday night) mum and daughter had one of the best arguments I have EVER heard at 11pm. I was not so worried but I had been asleep for 2 hours and they woke me.

December there were many a party and often late night watching of movies on the patio - I think that they have surround sound set up. They also had another late night party with doof-doof music. I complained to the police at 2am when the man behind ran outside and yelled for them to stop (he is in his 70s). I discovered that they loved the 20/20 cricket and cheered along with that as they drank the summer evenings away. My favourite time has been listening to them having some very in depth discussions about life, the universe and everything. It dawned on me that they are like most main stream Australians - they are VERY heavy drinking, racist, sexist and completely consumed with their own self worth.

January was not much better, but by this time I had put in a complaint to the real estate agent and they had rung around the various places and found out that they were quite disgusting so a noise complaint was issued. This was received with a great deal of laughter and mirth over the fence.

One of the big issues that I had was the fact that I could see them - they were there all the time, but I had put fence toppers up and a creeper along one topper which had blocked them somewhat. I also put blinds up outside the main windows, one to stop the heat but two to stop me being able to see the neighbours.

January was awful - worse than the last January. The first January they were there I discovered that the man who was the mother's boyfriend, was an alcoholic. He was disgusting (swearing at the top of his voice - and I learnt new combinations!) but because he 'lived' outside the daughter and the mother didn't come outside that often. I think he moved out during the 6 months of bliss. But this January there were two new boyfriends (one for mother and daughter) and they spent the whole time outside. They had a new kitten and a bird in a cage.

February came and a new fence went up - except for the section I share with them?!!? They put up the fence toppers and then installed the spot light, the wood burner and started having later nights outside. This was the month I discovered their joys in football. They watched the pre season matches and sang the victory song of whatever team at the top of their voices at 11pm on a Friday night.

March. They were quiet over the long weekend and Easter but had three days of partying this last weekend. I decided that the worst part was starting up at 9am on the Sunday morning. There is nothing you can do as a neighbour. They are legally in the right time to make noise! The wood fire was going and my lounge room smelt of smoke for 2 days.

So having had a good whinge about them for the past 6 months, one of my sisters who reads my blog rang me and said I think it is time you moved.

This has been in the back of my mind for a good 6 months. The reason why I ha vent decided to move straight away is the fact that I want to purchase property. I want to get into my OWN place before I am 40. I decided that it would be better to stay and save then move and spend more in rent etc.

I threw this argument out there and I have had it knocked down a few times - look at the interest rates, look at the price of housing at the moment. Do you really want to get into this just now? Some excellent questions which has made me stop and think a great deal.

I decided yesterday afternoon that I would start looking at properties closer to work because in the scheme of swings and roundabouts I would spend more in rent but less in petrol and car wear. Suddenly I have had handymen turning up at the unit to 'fix' things that I have talked about for the last few months. I could be cynical and suggest that the estate agent have registered that I am very unhappy and now are doing all they can to make me happier so I will stay, but I wouldn't stoop that low.

So I know that I have answered my own question. I think I will move. But "Where to?" I now have the new task of finding somewhere that is nice, close to work and QUIET! As my sister also pointed out - if I move to an area near where most of my single friends live my lifestyle will also change somewhat.....

I will keep you posted.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are some interesting stink bombs or even cow droppings that could find their way next door anonymously. Might help.

widget said...

You offering? Might leave as a parting 'gift'!

Anonymous said...

Widget, if i may say there is nothing wrong with dreams and aspirations and the fact is we all need to have a goal to keep us on track. Problem i found is that when you put an expectation on when it is where you want to be, thats when it can fall in a heap. Its not that the expectation is unrealistic its that life and people inherently throw a spanner in the works. It is also the fact that flexability and a number of goals are required, this way depending on events you can adapt and some goals are achieved before others.
If i look back and what i changed about how i looked at things, it started when i left my ex. Firstly some of my dreams and aspirations were smashed, a number of goals had to be put on hold as there were more pressing matters and responsabilities that needed my time. The fundamental shift i made was that i painted the worst possible picture and situation for myself. The result was that i could deal with the worst and i released myself of failure because anything better than that picture i painted was an achievement and not an expectation. I look back on the situation from where i am today and i can reflect how many goals i wanted have come to reality and equally some things i never pictured happening too. sure sometimes its frustrating and very easy to reflect where i should be 'if only', however i have the most important thing and that is my sanity. If i am as happy as i can be now its a lot easier to move through a path that is the unwritten future where as if i am frustrated with issues now, it only adds to the frustration of not being where i want to be.

yours sincerely Foo