I estimate that Hubby and I make a neighborhood enemy a year. We've lived here nearly 3 years and have at least 3 households that aren't exactly our friends.

The first ones came about last year during the 4th of July weekend. We arrived home on the 5th with a sick and unhappy Peanut. Everything was A-OK until 2 am on the 6th when a family decided to have their own fireworks show. I guess they didn't want to compete with the city and our other neighbors, so they waited until well after all the other displays and until everyone who had to work the next day was asleep. Hubby walked down to their house and asked them to please stop, that we had a sick baby and needed to work that day, yadda yadda. The man of the house copped a nasty attitude and made sure to set off a few more really loud ones after Hubby left, just to let him know who had the last word in.*

I annoyed The Fast and the Furious neighbors when I asked them to quit laying on the train horn while Peanut was napping. Whatever. I figure that one was a freebie. A lawyer who couldn't contact them got our phone number and talked Hubby into leaving a note on their door. Hubby has also given the owner of the jacked-up train horn-sportin' truck advice about tickets.

The best one came a couple weeks ago. We already had a little history there. They have an aggressive and downright nasty dog. She came after Lily and me once a couple years ago but we managed to high-tail it down the street before she got too close. About 6 months ago, Hubby and I were out with Peanut in his stroller and Lily on the leash. Nasty dog's owner was standing in her open doorway having a conversation with another person. Nasty dog snuck out the door and came right for us, snarling and circling around us before going after Lily. The owner was useless, yelling at the dog, but doing nothing to get her away. Finally the dog broke loose, she grabbed its collar and gave a half-hearted "Sorry" over her shoulder. We debated reporting them, but let it go. Lily has snuck out the door several times, so we understand it happens. A couple weeks ago Hubby was on a call-out and Lily, Peanut and I were getting antsy, so we went for a short walk. As we turned the corner in front of nasty dog's house, I saw the owner sitting on a chair in her yard talking on the phone. A step later, I realized Nasty dog was lying in the grass next to her. The dog shot out after Lily, snarling and baring her teeth. I froze. I didn't want to walk away and risk the dog going after Peanut or me. I considered letting Lily's leash go, but was afraid she'd get in traffic. So I tried to nudge Lily away while nasty dog growled and put her mouth on Lily's back and side. As before, the owner yelled until the dog finally backed off. No apologies this time. I was shaking, Peanut was wailing in fear, and Lily was cowering. We hurried home and after a quick phone call to Hubby, I made a report with Animal Control.


* A couple months later, Hubby discovered from a friend that someone in our neighborhood had been arrested in a hit and run incident. The neighbor had been stopped by a flagger at a utility worksite. Neighbor was in a hurry and told the flagger to get out of his way. When the flagger refused, our neighbor hit not only the gas, but the flagger as well. Luckily the person up in the bucket truck witnessed the incident, got the tag number and called the cops. Yep, it was Mr. Neighbor himself. I'm glad his only retaliation at Hubby was firing off a couple of loud mortars.