Update: 1. It was VERY quiet next door for the past two days. Hooray! I think the yahoos got the message. 2. The guy upstairs (not Chris, another guy) was in the backyard. I was going to my car and waved to him. He acknowledged me with a "How ya doin'?" That's better than nothing. I would have gone and talked to him, but I was on my way to a school concert. I'll keep you posted as developments warrant.

Go ahead. Call the cops! Say that you are concerned that there is abuse going on - verbal, at least. Ask them what measures they (the cops) will take to insure that your privacy is kept intact. Social Services may need to get involved. I feel bad for you. It bothers the hell out of me when people are mean to their kids and yell. Another update about the yahoo neighbors. 3:40 Thursday - I get home from work. Lots of cars outside that I have never seen before. I changed clothes and went to mow the lawn. Lo and behold, the ATVers were at their tricks again. I had had enough. I called the police. The officer with whom I spoke was VERY interested in stopping this problem. He told me to stay inside and that an officer would be paying a visit to our neighbors. Sure enough, a cop pulls up next door. He was there about 10 minutes and said that the railroad company had filed a complaint. If they persisted in riding their ATVs, their vehicles would be impounded and charges would be filed. Boy was it quiet next door after that. We pretty much laid low inside. I went outside after supper with my son. Chris (downstairs), his "honey", and his father and stepmother were out fixing an old car in the driveway. They were actually pretty quiet about it. It got on 7:30 and they were packing things up for the night. I heard stepmother mutter something about "I don't know why we have to stop. It's YOUR house...mutter..mutter...mutter." Sorry, honey. Your son is only renting. At least he had the sense to pack things up when he did. Needless to say, but no one waved at us when we came outside! I think I am on their S***list. Too bad. My wife was reading on the deck and she heard Chris talking to someone (the sound waves bounce off our house and you can hear most conversations even though you don't want to eavesdrop) who said, "I don't know why people have problems with us riding ATVs...grumble...grumble." 8:15 Zachary in bed (my son). I went outside to start installing the air conditioner. What to my wondering eyes should appear but Chris' SUV next door driving off and pulling one of the ATVs on his trailer! Yahoo! 9:00 Went across the street to visit

I don't think you're being the Neighbor from Hell. You are trying to set bounds that all neighbors should respect. I have the worst neighbors! I live in a townhouse and have never had problems with any neighbor here EVER in the last 7 years we've lived here. We moved into the building next to us because I fell in love with the backyard (lots of trees and rose bushes whereas the backyard we had before was just grass) and the neighbor we now have is horrifying! It is a husband and wife and their three kids. They are constantly screaming!! I hear these people screaming even at 2 or 3 in the morning! I've been debating calling the cops about it because I am worried about the kids being in that kind of environment. The kids never smile! When they are outside playing with their friends, they swear at each other and are very physical with eachother. Obviously something wrong! My husband keeps telling me to stay out of it but I am a mom and I keep thinking about those poor kids and it just eats me up. I'm thinking the next time they are screaming at each other in the middle of the night I will call the cops. They don't just yell at each other in the house, they take it outside, which is my front door right under my bedroom window. I am so sick of them I could seriously freak! Deep breath...... Anyways.... I am so proud of you for meeting your neighbors and trying to be socialable! I know you were really having a hard time with it - kudos to you!! Don't feel bad about asking the one to keep it down though. He's not the only person in the neighborhood and seriously needs to respect that. I don't think you're being unreasonable at all.

Hi again. I tried to post a very long message. It got lost in never-never land. Here is that message in summary form. -Met upstairs neighbor last Sat. (5/28). Nice, young, divorced (I think). Has daughter, 3, and girlfriend. Seems nice. Grew up in the house where we now live. - Have waved to upstairs neighbors. They waved back. Very quiet. Seem nice enough. Yahoo. I have met all the new neighbors. Goal accomplished. Fast forward. Tuesday - (5/31). Downstairs neighbor (Chris) is on his ATV. I think there were some of his friends - maybe guy upstairs too. The railroad abuts our back yard. Chris and others riding ATV's along railbed (highly illegal). Also one motorbike (unrelated). I walked into our backyard. Lots of smoke and gassy smell. Also tons of dust. I was not happy. I was deciding what to do when the landlord stopped over briefly next door. All of a sudden the ATVs stopped. Someone must have complained to him. Peace and quiet again. I have been in touch with the railway manager so he is aware of the situation. Further trespassing will be prosecuted. During this whole ATV noise thing, the girlfriend comes over (Leah) and introduces herself to us. Seems OK, but very young-acting (I'm 34, she maybe in her mid-twenties). I felt as though I was talking to a teenager. I was nice and polite, even though I was fuming about the ATV noise thing. Fast forward. Wednesday night. (6/1). Chris decides at 8:45 PM that he is going to run his snowmobile engine. VERY LOUD!!!!!! I was outside. Debated ignoring it or talking to him. My son was in bed. Window open. Didn't want him to wake up. Went to Chris. Conversation: (me) I really would appreciate you not doing that right now. My son is in bed and I don't want to wake him up. (Chris) I guess I will work on it tomorrow. I have a daughter too. What time does your son go to bed? (me) Around 7:45 (Chris) (a bit surprise in eyebrows - his daughter goes to bed after 9 - she is 3) I can respect a curfew. (Leah) (about 50 feet away) (Loudly) WHAT? (apparently upset about the curfew thing) (me) Thanks. I walk away. I feel like the neighbor from hell. Chris and

Hey Neighbor! I'm so glad you went and talked to the guy! That is fabulous! Isn't it funny how we get ourselves worked up over things that really are nothing in the end? I do that all the time - I am the queen of this particular personality trait. ;p I always have to remind myself that the event is never as bad as the anticipation of it. I am very proud of you for facing your fear head on! You should be proud of yourself, too!!

:eg: P.S. The new landlord took the scraggly shrubs that were in front of the house next door down. We are counting down the days until our old landlady (kitty-corner across the street) takes down her shrubs in front of the house. Have to "keep up with the Jones," you know!!! ;)

Hi. I have done it. I went up to the landlord and talked to him over the weekend. What a nice man! he is friendly and very pleasant. He seems like the kind of man who will take good care of his property and will not have goofy tenants either. I have not met the tenants yet. One is a single man who will move in June 1st. I think the other tenant spent the night in the upstairs apartment last night. I will make a point to go and talk to her this week. All of my worry about the landlord was DUMB. This situation was a paper tiger! :) Yes, I still have to meet the tenants, but I am not afraid. I guess there are actually some nice people left in our podunk town! I'll let you know how my meetings with the new tenants go!

Neighbor, you should take some other things into consideration too, such as the fact that you may be judgemental. For example, you said your previous neighbors had tattoos, so what? It's the year 2005, millions of people have tattoos, that does not make someone trashy. And who knows? Maybe you looked wierd to them. Spying on your neighbors and obsessing on them is kind of strange. The reason I say this is because I also have a problem with my neighbors, but it's with neighbors who are like you, constantly peeking out thier curtains, it makes me feel uneasy and it makes it hard for me to get out of my apartment because i am constantly worried about whether they will be spying on me whnever I go out. Just trying to give you some advice to lay off the spying, it may make someones anxiety's flare.

You are right. We can only control so much. I am glad I don't live in a townhouse. I am starting to feel less anxious. The other day I came home and the lawn next door was neatly mowed. All the grass clippings were cleaned up from our driveway. This is unlike our old neighbors (the Bozos!) that used to leave their clippings in the driveway. That used to drive me nuts. I haven't seen any sign of the new landlord since last Friday so that has given me the time to get used to the idea of having new neighbors. I'll keep you posted. One thing for sure, I will make a point to go up to the landlord and meet him the next time I see him outside (gulp!) Write again!

Hey Neighbor! I've always had a hard time with neighbors also. I live in a townhouse and everyone in my building shares the same backyard. It's hard to go outside and have quiet time or family time or something because you always have to deal with the neighbor's and their kids and most of the time they aren't as respectful to my space as I make sure we are to theirs. But, what can you do? I figure, as long as my kids, myself and my husband are respectful to our neighbors then that's all I can control so that's all I worry about. It's hard dealing with people while we're trying to deal with our own anxieties and problems - Oiy! I'm glad my advice helped the other day. :) Hope things are going well for you!