A Little Neighborhood Knowledge

While Diana and I were unloading the lawn mower from her car, one of the neighbors decided to stop by and say hello.  Seems nice enough, right.  Well, he seemed like a nice guy but his timing wasn't great and his info was ... well, let's say unfortunate but good to know.  First for his timing.  He came and introduced himself and told me I might like to know some "stuff" about the house.  All well and good, but I was waiting for my insurance guy to come and look at the house to determine if they would insure it and for how much.  I really didn't need the insurance guy hearing all the crazy horrors about the house, like the fact that the electrical is terrible and a possible fire hazard.  The insurance guy came about 5 minutes later, and then came the awkward introductions, where I felt compelled to introduce the neighbor to insurance guy, but really didn't want either of them to speak to each other.  I set insurance on his way while Diana kept neighbor company. 

When I returned, I learned all sorts of interesting stuff.  Let's see... First, I had been told that the previous owner of the house (the guy that lost it in foreclosure) still lived in the neighborhood.  Turns out, he lives across the street and one house over, in neighbor's downstairs.  Great.  He had been living in the house for about 15 years.  Double great.  He was a contractor and when the economy went bad, he couldn't get work.  This just terrified me, since I'm in the process of finding a contractor and the work around the house is just terrible.  I will concede that the woodwork in the house, while not exactly my taste, does appear to be well done, but any plus is overshadowed by the fact that the electrical in the house is so poorly done that it might set all that great woodwork on fire under the wrong conditions.

Neighbor also told me about all the stuff he had in his backyard.  Apparently, previous owner (PO) had taken the garbage cans.  No big deal, I had the trash company coming to deliver cans in a week.  Neighbor also had my side gate in his yard.  Seriously, he took the side gate?  And kept it?  Neighbor was nice enough to suggest, hey, maybe I could make a deal and even have PO install it for me.  Pass!  I'll build one myself before I let that guy touch my house.  Of course, I tried to hide my revulsion at the thought, I am trying to make friends with the neighbors after all.  I tried to soften my reaction to the thought of "making a deal" to get back something the guy stole from my house.  I was able to give the non-committal nod/smile/"maybe" to try to end the topic.

But neighbor wasn't done.  Remember my front door?  PO had the hardware across the street.  Neighbor told me what I had already learned, that it was a special type of lock that cost a lot of money.  But it's ok, because guess what?!  Neighbor was pretty sure I could... MAKE A DEAL!! to get the lock back.  PO had gotten it for free, after all.  My mother would be proud.  I was able to withhold my laugh at the thought that I would ever buy back the freaking front door lock that PO had stolen.  More like POS!  I pretty much decided right then that I would be replacing the front door just out of principle.

Diana had to leave around this time, and neighbor left a few minutes after she did.  Last to leave was insurance guy, who was able to get what he needed and head out.  It was the longest 20min I've had in a while.  Diana sent me a text after a few minutes to check that I was still alive and well.  She agreed with me about the lock and new front door.

That isn't even the end of the story.  The next day I was in the yard waiting for a contractor when who strolled back but PO.  He of course was able to get to the back through the opening where the gate should have been, but I let that slide.  He had brought the front door lock.  He apologized, said he had taken it in anger and had even thought about taking the front door since he had built it, but didn't want to leave the house wide open (because, you know, leaving it without any way of even keeping the front door closed makes it tight like Fort Knox).  He told me briefly how to install it and that no one had the key.  Yeah, sure, I'll just throw it on right now then (eye roll).  Pretty sure there is another key somewhere, since you are only giving me one and they come with two, but I'll just let that go.  I took the lock, but did offer to let him have the front door because I would probably be replacing it.  He told me he didn't need it.  His exact words:  "What would I do with it?"  Hmmm, I don't know, what are you doing with my side gate?!  Making a fort?

I am now currently weighing the satisfaction I would get verses the negative neighborhood reaction that would likely result from my removing the front door and setting it on fire in the front yard as a means of claiming my territory.  Unfortunately I think the "nays" have it.