Foo - Dealing with Smoking Neighbors

I don’t expect this thread to go anywhere or for there to be a solution, but it doesn’t hurt to try:

We have lived in our new house for about 4 months now. Our neighbors smoke, constantly. They are semi-retired with less-than part-time jobs, and they literally just hang-out on their front steps and smoke all day long. The only time they aren’t smoking is when they go inside to eat or presumably go to the bathroom (which is more than an assumption because the husband yells, “I am on the can! Hold on a minute!” to his wife quite often, who is outside smoking trying to talk to him through open windows).

The lots are only 50 feet wide in our ‘hood, so you get an idea for how close together the houses are. Well, for some reason, their smoke smell always goes into our dining room windows, so we have to keep opening and closing the windows. If they smoke in the back occasionally, we have to close the living room windows. In other words, we usually end up keeping 8 of our 12 windows closed at all times because of their smoking. If we aren’t home and we left the windows open, the inside of our house smells like an ashtray for two days. During the extremely rare occasions that they aren’t home to smoke, we can have the windows open, but it is very rare and we have to close the windows shortly after we open them anyway.

Also, because of the way the air moves through the area, our front yard always smells like an ashtray, even when they aren’t smoking.

We looked at the house three times when we were house shopping, and we didn’t see the neighbors or smell the smoke in the yard—go figure!!

My wife and I normally love to have windows open all summer long no matter how hot it is, but we found ourselves closing up and using the A/C this summer because of their smoking. During these past few weeks when the weather has been amazing in terms of weather, we have had to keep 8 of our 12 windows closed because of the neighbors.

Anyway, as much as I think smoking is totally ridiculous and I can’t understand why anyone would do it (different topic), it is a “free country” and they are on their own property doing their thing, so I can’t ask them to stop smoking. I wouldn’t even dare ask them to smoke somewhere else because 1) they can do what they want, and 2) even if they smoke on other parts of their small property, we just have to close other windows to compensate.

So far, I have been doing the passive-aggressive Minnesotan thing like saying to my son, loudly, “Oh, we have to go inside now because someone is smoking again!” if I am playing outside with my son, or I shout, “Man, who is smoking?!” while I slam the windows closed if I am in the house. I hate being a stereotypical Minnesotan, but I don’t know what else to do. Also, I don’t think they can hear me anyway, since they are pretty hard of hearing.

It also doesn’t help that these people are really creepy, just in general. Their adult daughter comes over and she begs us to let her babysit our son, but she is just so creepy that we wouldn’t let her anywhere near our son. Also, my wife is always bra-free at home and the neighbor has actually commented loudly on her bralessness while he stares at her in the front yard! The neighbor also ran into my wife at a local mall and he followed her without letting her know he was there—he told us all about it at home later that evening.

The only light of hope is that when we moved in, they said they were going to be moving to another suburb within a year to be closer to their granddaughter, but their house is in such shambles, we don’t know how they expect to sell it—it’s a 1945 house in original condition stuck in an upgraded/updated neighborhood.

Any thoughts or attitude adjustments from FOO?

P.S. I know the timing of this is sort of off as we have had our heat on now for a few days and we will probably have the heat on the rest of the season now, but we are already dreading next spring and summer, and we still smell their smoke when we are outside, regardless… :twitchy:

On a good note the cigarettes will kill them eventually. However, second hand smoke might get you and yours as well. My only possible solution would be to move/sell.

box fan...blowing out the window the smell usually wafts into. May help.

Fight fire with fire, or smoke with more smoke. Go to the nearest pharmacy and ask for their worst cigars. The factory rolled ones that come in a plastic bag are good...or bad. Sit right next to the fence by the neighbors and smoke your cigars. Moisten the outer wrapper before lighting up so it smokes real good.
A daily ritual for a whole week should put them in their place.

Talk to the police. I'm sure there's a law about second hand smoke in your state someplace.

I like the box fans in the windows that get the most exposure to smoke idea. Having the box fans blow out will push the smoke away from your house a small amount, but it will also draw airflow from the non-exposed windows, which should be nice.

Only thing else I can think of involves passive-agressive actions like installing sensitive smoke detectors outside the house or putting several large "no smoking" signs up in eyeshot of your neighbors. Of course you could talk to them and try to get them to smoke at a section of their house that might impact you less - but what's the fun in that???

So far, I have been doing the passive-aggressive Minnesotan thing like saying to my son, loudly, “Oh, we have to go inside now because someone is smoking again!” if I am playing outside with my son, or I shout, “Man, who is smoking?!” while I slam the windows closed if I am in the house. I hate being a stereotypical Minnesotan, but I don’t know what else to do. Also, I don’t think they can hear me anyway, since they are pretty hard of hearing.

Say what? That is a poor excuse for not having a backbone. If you don't like what is going on, say something rather than complain and being afraid to stand your ground. Go to the neighbors and tell them that you are not into their smoking and are concerned about the affects on your life and your child. They may get angry and tell you to shove it but more than likely they will keep the chimney in the house longer than outside. As far as the bra talk goes, your wife should have told the neighbor that wasn't cool to say and that he should mind his own business. After that, the problem is on them, not you.
I have dealt with such problems with previous and current neighbors. Once with the smoke near my bedroom window. I simply went next door and told them to smoke inside or away from my window and they stopped. A few weeks ago the neighbor kid was sitting outside screaming his lungs out. I thought he had burned his hand, it was that loud. I yelled for the parents to get him. No one did. I knocked on the door and told them to get the baby. They acted as if nothing was wrong but they brought him in and the crying stopped. Three days later they brought over tamales to apologize since they knew they were in the wrong. For the most part, I get on well with my neighbors and many of them count on me to get things taken care of in the area so that we can all live in a sane environment.

Install the smoke alarms on the outside of your house, close to where the smoke comes in, but wire them to turn on a stereo instead of sounding an alarm. Have the stereo speakers pointed at their house and play this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qgmxPb-ego&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIN8MmMloZE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOBdQykKQY

Install the smoke alarms on the outside of your house, close to where the smoke comes in, but wire them to turn on a stereo instead of sounding an alarm. Have the stereo speakers pointed at their house and play this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qgmxPb-ego&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIN8MmMloZE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOBdQykKQY

This reminds me of David Koresh vs. Janet Reno in Waco, Texas.

Keep in mind that there is no cure for stupidity.

This reminds me of David Koresh vs. Janet Reno in Waco, Texas.

Us Texican cretins, we tend to think alike, so this should not surprise you. Hope the neighbors are not heavily armed.

Your artic season is soon approaching and you'll have 9 months of smoke free air.

Tape up old Doonesbury cartoons of "Mr.Butts"on the side of your house.
Call the fire dept.every time they light up(be prepare to pay a false alarm charge).
When they're not looking put those exploding loads in their cigarettes.
Smuggle in a trunk load of tax free,non filter butts from the south and let them O.D. from cigarette-poisoning.
Place signs(like the hospitals do)establishing your self ordained outside space as a smoke free zone.
Wheel yourself out in a 1950's vintage iron lung machine in front of their house and gasp,cough.

*Most people abstain from sticking their nose in neighbors legal bad habits:thumb:

Us Texican cretins, we tend to think alike, so this should not surprise you. Hope the neighbors are not heavily armed.

Can cowboys really roll a cigarette with just their mouth as seen on "Looneytunes" in the 60's?

Pick your battles.
We are in the same predicament right now.
New house, neighbors who have been there a while and do stuff we might not approve of.
In our case, saying something will exacerbate the issues we have, for sure.
As chronic movers/flippers we have lived in a lot of 'new' neighborhoods and I
have come to the conclusion to just let stuff go or move. It ALWAYS elevates to
a level that will lead to that anyway if you say something.
Any time you have dog owners, smokers or flag people in a neighborhood, you ARE
going to have issues. Unfortunately, theres a lot of all of them so it might be best to
just endure it until you can move. We already have our next 'new' neighborhood picked
out after our loan here is satisfied in 2013 :)

*Most people abstain from sticking their nose in neighbors legal bad habits:thumb:
This is why I am not sure why talking to them would be any good. It's their property and it's their only place of two to smoke if they want to smoke outside, which they can do. (The second location is in the backyard, which I already mentioned.)

I never though of the illegalities of second hand smoke, though. I am not sure if Minnesota has those laws. I did a quick search and didn't find anything, but I can search deeper.

This is why I am not sure why talking to them would be any good. It's their property and it's their only place of two to smoke if they want to smoke outside, which they can do. (The second location is in the backyard, which I already mentioned.)

I never though of the illegalities of second hand smoke, though. I am not sure if Minnesota has those laws. I did a quick search and didn't find anything, but I can search deeper.

Put up a 12ft. stockade wall of old telephone poles similar to those used in the French-Indian wars of 1770,or buy a home with a normal lot size.

My neighbor complains when I bbq. I had neighbors that complained about minorities moving in, some complained about the kind of cars people drive (SUV haters). One of my neighbors thinks that anyone with a gun in the home should have a sign in the yard to alert everyone of how dangerous that house is. The ability of people to hate their neighbors is endless. Some folks just can't live next to others, a large compound is the only solution for them.

Pick your battles.
We are in the same predicament right now.
New house, neighbors who have been there a while and do stuff we might not approve of.
In our case, saying something will exacerbate the issues we have, for sure.
As chronic movers/flippers we have lived in a lot of 'new' neighborhoods and I
have come to the conclusion to just let stuff go or move. It ALWAYS elevates to
a level that will lead to that anyway if you say something.
Any time you have dog owners, smokers or flag people in a neighborhood, you ARE
going to have issues. Unfortunately, theres a lot of all of them so it might be best to
just endure it until you can move. We already have our next 'new' neighborhood picked
out after our loan here is satisfied in 2013 :)
This is how I have been explaining it to my wife all summer. You can't pick a battle with a neighbor and expect them to say, "Oh, okay, I will stop even though I don't feel that I am doing anything wrong" and they will change. Travelmama has an interesting reply in that it seems quite out of the ordinary--my experiences, even in my in-laws' up-scale, white-collar neighborhood, is that if you confront a neighbor they will make it worse if it's not doing anything illegal (in my in-laws' case, it has to do with landscaping, a fence, and retaliation against their dog, even though they aren't doing anything illegal in any case).

Anyway, we plan to be here for 20-some years, so relocating because of smoking neighbors isn't an option. I figure that maybe if they plan to actually move within the year, I can help them out to get the process going and make their house more sellable to make it a sure thing, sooner...heh.

Now, if it were dog owners, that would be easy because the law would be on our side (very strict dog laws that are actually enforced in most Minneapolis suburbs, yay--my in-laws have even gotten their share of dog-related tickets and I laugh uncontrollably every time).

What are "flag people"?

So, my intention of the thread isn't necessarily how to talk to the neighbors, but rather how can my wife and I adjust our attitudes about it?

Can cowboys really roll a cigarette with just their mouth as seen on "Looneytunes" in the 60's?

Only if they want the real "Texican Cretin" certificate, certified for framing and hanging next to your signed pics of LBJ, Reagan and Bush the elder. And we can also cock our Winchester rifles one handed and shoot coins out of the air on horseback, all while singing "Deep in the heart of Texas"

170139

My neighbor complains when I bbq. I had neighbors that complained about minorities moving in, some complained about the kind of cars people drive (SUV haters). One of my neighbors thinks that anyone with a gun in the home should have a sign in the yard to alert everyone of how dangerous that house is. The ability of people to hate their neighbors is endless. Some folks just can't live next to others, a large compound is the only solution for them.
These types of complaints I find unfounded and don't understand. Heck, my other neighbor was used to our house being vacant and I had the unfortunate experience of walking by her window while she was changing after her shower our second night living there when I was taking the garbage out--I didn't complain. I just threw up a little and made a ton of noise to remind her that she had neighbors now. She hasn't opened her blinds since. Funny thing, she is actually moving--just put her house up for sale. They have two dogs that are winners of the yip-yip contest. I don't complain about them either. I don't complain about the 11 year old daughter bugging me constantly when I do yard work, either. She is deaf and doesn't have any friends, so I try to be nice to her.

Anyway, I hope my smoking concern isn't too unfounded.

Is their daughter hot? Got any pics of your wife (preferably bra-less)?

Yes, that's all I got from your post.

Is their daughter hot? Got any pics of your wife (preferably bra-less)?

Yes, that's all I got from your post.

Daughter is 11, so, uh, yikes.....:twitchy:

Tons of photos of my wife braless as that is her natural state of being if she isn't at work. I will never post any photos of her because of her job, and never post photos of myself because I am married to her. Sorry. :D But at least your question was answered in a timely manner, eh?

+1 on pragmatism.
One of the houses next to me is a rental and has a fireplace. The prevailing wind blows my way so my yard often smells like smoke all winter. I live with it.
However, when it smelled like anything other than wood or paper, I'd be over there knocking on the door. I have had to only do this once; with each tenant.

My neighbor complains when I bbq. I had neighbors that complained about minorities moving in, some complained about the kind of cars people drive (SUV haters). One of my neighbors thinks that anyone with a gun in the home should have a sign in the yard to alert everyone of how dangerous that house is. The ability of people to hate their neighbors is endless. Some folks just can't live next to others, a large compound is the only solution for them.
We must live on the same street. The woman directly across the street does the same and it gets on my nerves but I dance around it. When things need to be done or taken care of, I make it happen and keep my mouth shut because I don't want to hear her complain to me about some other stupid crap that she will do nothing about.
As for the bbchew, you should invite the neighbor over for dinner or tell her the grill is still hot and that you would be more than happy to grill up some food if she wants you to. On the weekends my neighbors around the corner break out with the pig roasting. It looks and smells awful but it doesn't bother me because it only goes on for about two or so hours. Heck, I am sure they would give me a snout or foot if I asked for one.

box fan...blowing out the window the smell usually wafts into. May help.

^this plus this
http://images.cabelas.com/is/image/cabelas/s7_415446_imageset_01?$main-Medium$

It's not always easy to confront an annoying neighbor.

My next door neighbor will AlWAYS park their cars to block mine in. I park parallel against the curb, the normal way one should park according to the law. My neighbors will park their cars nose in to mine, with their bumper facing my drivers door. Try to imagine that I have two cars parked against the curb, they have four cars parked nose in, and one nose in, in front of one of mine.

That means I have to move one car to get the other one out. Keep in mind one of my cars is an SUV and I absolutely need it for basketball games.

I have asked them not to park like that because it's hard for me to get out. I was told that I can just take the other car. I had asked SEVERAL times after this and the result was two cars with dented in doors that match the shape of bumpers. No witnesses.

I have called the police when I absolutely could not get out. They went next door, asked them to move it, when the owner of one particular car wasn't home, the cops helped guide me over MY OWN LANDSCAPING to get out.

It happened again, I called again. The neighbors moved their car, said "sorry officer" and after he left, promptly put it right back. I called the cops again and they said they were on an emergency call and could not come back.

After that I found broken glass in my lawn, garbage thrown over my backyard fence and my dogs were mysteriously poisoned.

Sometimes it's just not worth going next door. I just have to jockey my cars around before I go to bed.

The world is full of smells and on some level you have to come to terms with that.

Exhaust, dirt/dust, mold, dog crap, pollen, gasoline, things used to keep people/things clean, unbathed people/animals, plants, rot, cooking, and a zillion other things can be detected coming from anyone's property. My guess is that most of these things can also be detected on your property as well. Then there are all the smells that come from industrial or municipal purposes, but I digress...

I don't think the passive aggressive thing will work and it might well have the opposite effect that you want. If you ask nicely and try to be reasonable (i.e. go for a noticeable reduction in the smoke smell rather than elimination), you may well find your neighbors quite accommodating, though they do sound a bit weird. Since they're moving, the issue is mostly moot.

My basic take is you're letting the fact that you hate smoking make you too sensitive on this issue.

It blows my mind what type of dipshtis people get for neighbors.

I've always been very lucky. The last place I lived, we'd mow each others' lawns (not on any schedule -- it just depended on who happened to be out). At the current place, one of my neighbors will stop to pull weeds out of my berm and the fence with another neighbor has a hole in it so the doggies have a bigger area and can socialize anytime they want.

My basic take is you're letting the fact that you hate smoking make you too sensitive on this issue.
To throw more wood on the fire, my son has asthma so severe that at 18 months old they diagnosed him--they usually never dianose a kid under three years old with asthma, and even then they don't like to do it...he hasn't been hospitalized because of the neighbor's smoke, but I don't want to find out (he has already been hospitalized three times until the doctors moved forward with ways to get it under control).

I, personally, don't care all that much--it is my wife who is freaking out about the neighbors--but I figure if I can help find a solution or attitude adjustment, I can protect my wife from herself, who is capable of doing things she definitely regrets later. I've already held her back a little bit, whew!

ETA: Also, too, the smoke smell is in the front yard 100% of the time; the smoke smell comes into the house guaranteed if the windows aren't shut.

My neighbor complains when I bbq. I had neighbors that complained about minorities moving in, some complained about the kind of cars people drive (SUV haters). One of my neighbors thinks that anyone with a gun in the home should have a sign in the yard to alert everyone of how dangerous that house is. The ability of people to hate their neighbors is endless. Some folks just can't live next to others, a large compound is the only solution for them.

When you BBQ are the angry neighbors missing pets?

This is how I have been explaining it to my wife all summer. You can't pick a battle with a neighbor and expect them to say, "Oh, okay, I will stop even though I don't feel that I am doing anything wrong" and they will change.
What are "flag people"?

So, my intention of the thread isn't necessarily how to talk to the neighbors, but rather how can my wife and I adjust our attitudes about it?

Again, I reiterate, its up to you to change whatever that change might be or be prepared to have a gamut of negativities put upon you from benign like mean glares to actual confrontations or having cops called on you for anything you do. Yes, its ridiculous but the reality of human nature dictates that most people are happier escalating small issues than letting them go. It takes a lot of patience to let this suff go but I think you will be happier in the long run. In summation, if you confront this 'neighbor'(?), be prepared to accept that it might elevate into 20 years of unpleasantries for you, especially if they are old and might feel their right to do whatever they want supersedes your quality-of-life cuz they've been there xxx years, or whatever....


'Flag People' or 'flaggots' are ppl who hang great big flags off their front porch usually relating to NASCAR or other sports team.
If you are house-hunting and see either of them it means there is a very high probability that you will be subject to a lot of noise and drunkeness on the hi-holy days of those sports.
Lots of COPS/Springer type action at Flag houses in my experience living in many areas on the east coast from Vermont to Florida :)

Had an idea!
Get a pet skunk, train it to go visit them everytime they light up. :innocent:

http://www.examiner.com/populist-in-national/cigarette-smoke-wafting-onto-neighbor-s-patio-brings-lawsuit

If you are not worse than them. Move. Seriously, being a crazy person makes people respect you a lot. Otherwise, Move.

It's not always easy to confront an annoying neighbor.

My next door neighbor will AlWAYS park their cars to block mine in. I park parallel against the curb, the normal way one should park according to the law. My neighbors will park their cars nose in to mine, with their bumper facing my drivers door. Try to imagine that I have two cars parked against the curb, they have four cars parked nose in, and one nose in, in front of one of mine.

That means I have to move one car to get the other one out. Keep in mind one of my cars is an SUV and I absolutely need it for basketball games.

I have asked them not to park like that because it's hard for me to get out. I was told that I can just take the other car. I had asked SEVERAL times after this and the result was two cars with dented in doors that match the shape of bumpers. No witnesses.

I have called the police when I absolutely could not get out. They went next door, asked them to move it, when the owner of one particular car wasn't home, the cops helped guide me over MY OWN LANDSCAPING to get out.

It happened again, I called again. The neighbors moved their car, said "sorry officer" and after he left, promptly put it right back. I called the cops again and they said they were on an emergency call and could not come back.

After that I found broken glass in my lawn, garbage thrown over my backyard fence and my dogs were mysteriously poisoned.

Sometimes it's just not worth going next door. I just have to jockey my cars around before I go to bed.

Damn your local cops suck. In my neighborhood if people parked like they do the police would find it on their own and be perfectly happy to ticket every single car and keep doing it until they had enough to tow. Heck if I were polite talking to them I'd bet they would find the reg that would let them tow the first time.

I'm not sure what I would do if someone poisoned my dogs. A few years ago when they were the main thing keeping me from being depressed it could have been ugly.

To throw more wood on the fire, my son has asthma so severe that at 18 months old they diagnosed him--they usually never dianose a kid under three years old with asthma, and even then they don't like to do it...he hasn't been hospitalized because of the neighbor's smoke, but I don't want to find out (he has already been hospitalized three times until the doctors moved forward with ways to get it under control).
You could mention that gently to the neighbors -- seems like a reasonable entry point.

But in terms of things that are actually triggering your son's asthma, it's likely the smoke is probably extremely low on the list -- if in fact it is there at all. You can certainly smell the stuff, but in terms of what's actually in your air, there will be all kinds of crap in your carpets/walls regardless of how much you clean them. The dirt outside is full of mold and other allergens. There will be pollen from all kinds of sources as well as stuff coming off animals. Anyone who has a wood fireplace or does yard burning is going to pour far more smoke in the air. People drive crappy vehicles that pour all kinds of stuff, including smoke in the air. Heck, your own cooking in the house will generate more.

It's only fairly recently that people have become so sensitive to cigarette smoke -- well into the 80's, people smoked everywhere. Curiously, this sensitivity to smoke seems confined only to tobacco smoke. Out here during fire season, the air is thick with the stuff and it's hazy many miles from the fire. Plenty of people who insist that a whiff of cigarette smoke at 50 feet is poisoning them will steadfastly insist that farmers should be able to burn their fields.

You can talk to your neighbors, but even if they quit smoking entirely, the only practical benefit will be that you won't be subjected to something you regard as a nuisance smell.

You could mention that gently to the neighbors -- seems like a reasonable entry point.

But in terms of things that are actually triggering your son's asthma, it's likely the smoke is probably extremely low on the list -- if in fact it is there at all. You can certainly smell the stuff, but in terms of what's actually in your air, there will be all kinds of crap in your carpets/walls regardless of how much you clean them. The dirt outside is full of mold and other allergens. There will be pollen from all kinds of sources as well as stuff coming off animals. Anyone who has a wood fireplace or does yard burning is going to pour far more smoke in the air. People drive crappy vehicles that pour all kinds of stuff, including smoke in the air. Heck, your own cooking in the house will generate more.

It's only fairly recently that people have become so sensitive to cigarette smoke -- well into the 80's, people smoked everywhere. Curiously, this sensitivity to smoke seems confined only to tobacco smoke. Out here during fire season, the air is thick with the stuff and it's hazy many miles from the fire. Plenty of people who insist that a whiff of cigarette smoke at 50 feet is poisoning them will steadfastly insist that farmers should be able to burn their fields.

You can talk to your neighbors, but even if they quit smoking entirely, the only practical benefit will be that you won't be subjected to something you regard as a nuisance smell.

Once again you hit the nail on the hairless head:thumb:
"Its only recently people have become so sensitive to cigarette smoke"

Very whiney society here the last 2 decades.

It's only fairly recently that people have become so sensitive to cigarette smoke -- well into the 80's, people smoked everywhere. Curiously, this sensitivity to smoke seems confined only to tobacco smoke. Out here during fire season, the air is thick with the stuff and it's hazy many miles from the fire. Plenty of people who insist that a whiff of cigarette smoke at 50 feet is poisoning them will steadfastly insist that farmers should be able to burn their fields.

Woodsmoke ~12x as carcinogenic as cigarette smoke.

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/92046.pdf

Cigarette smoke is nasty though. Any chance you can landscape proactively, put up a hedge wall or something? That plus a fan blowing out might help some.

Sorry you have to withstand this... for 3 years I lived in an apartment next to smoking neighbors... every morning, 5:30 am, I would hear the hacking coughs and then smell the smoke that came into my apartment as they lit up their morning cigarettes. My house smelled like a bar (in the ole days). It was disgusting plus the smoke made me ill. I tied to complain but it just made my neighbors more likely (and ornery) to smoke... thankfully, they moved away. I have had a succession of neighbors since then. I live in fear of smokers moving in again. Not only is the smoke a concern but the fact they can start a fire scares me. But this is our society... people have rights. I used fans, candles and FeBreeze as much as possible. Your option is to move or deal with it. Sad but true...

It's kind of extreme, but what about one of those big smoke zappers these use in bars and bingo halls? That might make them realize they're bothering other people, or it may become a challenge to see how much noise they can make with it.

Pick your battles.
We are in the same predicament right now.
New house, neighbors who have been there a while and do stuff we might not approve of.
In our case, saying something will exacerbate the issues we have, for sure.
As chronic movers/flippers we have lived in a lot of 'new' neighborhoods and I
have come to the conclusion to just let stuff go or move. It ALWAYS elevates to
a level that will lead to that anyway if you say something.
Any time you have dog owners, smokers or flag people in a neighborhood, you ARE
going to have issues. Unfortunately, theres a lot of all of them so it might be best to
just endure it until you can move. We already have our next 'new' neighborhood picked
out after our loan here is satisfied in 2013 :)

Didja ever consider it might not be them, it might be you?

Woodsmoke ~12x as carcinogenic as cigarette smoke.

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/92046.pdf



Shush you....if they start banning bbq's, I'm gonna have to go postal.

Shush you....if they start banning bbq's, I'm gonna have to go postal.

I swear I thought I was going to die when I got a headfull of the exhaust from my last fish-smoking. But it sure is good eating afterwards!

Didja ever consider it might not be them, it might be you?

I didnt word it correctly. I NEVER bring issues up with neighbors personally. That is what
I meant by my posts. But, I am very aware of neighborhood drama in the paces Ive lived
through no choice of my own. Whether its a working class row-home area of PA or a millionaire
area in Palm Beach FL, there is going to be some drama.
No, it isnt me. Im quiet and keep to myself and give my houses back better than I got
them thereby making the neighborhood a better place. Too bad a lot of people dont share
this philosophy :)

Say what? That is a poor excuse for not having a backbone.

You never listen to A Prairie Home Companion, do you?

It blows my mind what type of dipshtis people get for neighbors.

I've always been very lucky. The last place I lived, we'd mow each others' lawns (not on any schedule -- it just depended on who happened to be out). At the current place, one of my neighbors will stop to pull weeds out of my berm and the fence with another neighbor has a hole in it so the doggies have a bigger area and can socialize anytime they want.

I've been fairly lucky over the years. Only 2 really nasty situations in 45 years. The first goes back to when I was about 16, living at my folks place. They had a acre in the suburbs, the layout meant one next door neighbor, but a full dozen of the back fense kind. My sister had a horse, a spirited and costly animal. One forth of July one of those dozen thought it was the height of fun to trowh firecrackers into the horese corral. At first teh police would. I'm not sure exactly what my father told them over the phone, but comments holding them personally responsible if my sister was injured and that if they refused to take care of things then he would allow me to seemded to do the trick.

Fast forward almost 40 years. I had a neighbor who would call the police whenever my son and his frioends were on the front patio at night. They also called in a false report that someone was living in the camper we parked out front after a vacation while we worked on getting it unloaded. Police were very nice, declined my offer to let them check inside the camper and ended by them adivising me that if the neighbor had been smart he would have called parking enforcement (and to watch for chalkmarks on the tires). In a bit of irony these jerks eventualy moved out and tried to sell their house,. They had unreasonable expectations and kept thsoe as the market fell. They eventually leased it to people who trashed it. Finally a police officer baught it at a vastly reduced price and put close to 100,000 into fixing it up.

This thread has just made me realize that I know a number of people who can't tolerate cigarette smoke, but like to burn incense

Anyway, as much as I think smoking is totally ridiculous and I can’t understand why anyone would do it (different topic), it is a “free country” and they are on their own property doing their thing, so I can’t ask them to stop smoking. I wouldn’t even dare ask them to smoke somewhere else because 1) they can do what they want, and 2) even if they smoke on other parts of their small property, we just have to close other windows to compensate.

There ya go, y'know (spoken with a MN accent)

Seriously, go lay some Minnesota Nice on 'em and talk about it. Take some home made gooseberry wine or fresh eggs from your chickens when you go.

solution: tightly woven fence with evergreen vines - ivy? AND hardy seasonal vines - trumpet, clemantis, honeysuckle? They will keep the smoke from coming through, afford privacy, and smell nice.