Setting boundaries

Ugh.  I hate stupid neighbor dramas.

Happily, I haven't had problems with the kids.  I think the parents got them in an after-school program.  Smart, especially since they have a vicious pit bull on two sides, and their youngest boy likes to rip boards off the fence.

However, when I first moved in, any visitor to the guy's house felt like my entire property was community property.  One memorable time, I came home with Ron, to find an entire group of people hanging out in my driveway, on the front lawn, parked blocking the driveway, and parked on the street in front of the house.

Ron says I go "Mama bear".  Especially when, due to someone else, he has to struggle un-necessarily.  He had a heck of a time getting to the driveway, and up the driveway, when the vehicle should have been able to drop him at the foot.

I was not medicated.  I went out blazing.  I started yelling at them to get off my property and they just played "No Speaka English".  In fact, one guy started bringing MORE chairs onto my property.

I went nuts. I yelled I'M CALLING THE COPS.  Someone got the homeowner and he acted like "What's the problem?"  He got a good look at Ron struggling to get up the driveway and started yelling in Spanish.  He knows if that happens again, I'm going straight to calling the police.

Then I had a problem with the sister blocking my driveway.  She drops her son off for daycare every day.  There's a lot of parking on both sides of the street, but I guess they perceive it as "more convenient" to block my driveway, parking.  Then she'd get out and yak at her sister in law for half an hour or so.

I had to run her off several times, when Metrolift came and had nowhere to park.  They finally understood it was NOT OK to block my driveway, which a police officer had told me is a violation of the law.  If I want to block my own driveway, fine, but someone else can't do it.

Today, I had some guy blocking my driveway.  At first, I just looked out the window now and then.  Dark times, you know.

He could tell I was watching him.

Now, on the other side, the neighbors are not fantastic.  They have junk cars taking up 2 parking spots in their driveway, and occasionally park a "good" vehicle in front of my house.  I have no problem with that.  The street is public property.  In front of my driveway, is not.  I wouldn't have had a problem if he had parked in front of my house.

I still would have watched him, though.

Anyway, something stank in the garbage, and I remembered, "Garbage night".  I had to take out the trash.  I wanted that guy off my property.  Why not combine both?

So, I went out, taking the can.  What bugs me, at first he was all set to move, but then stopped.  I walked up and looked in his window.  He turned the other way.  I tapped on the window.  He rolled it down.  I pointed at all the parking across the street, and up just 10 feet, in front of the house he was waiting on... and he said "What?"

"Can you move, please?"  He said yes, but he didn't until the neighbor got home a minute later.

Rude.

Ron agreed with me.  Next time, I'll send HIM out.  His culture are very superstitious about disabled people.  They get really freaked out of a blind person touches them, or their car.   I mean, grown men panic.  Mothers of children get hysterical if their kid even bumps the wheelchair, or Ron if he's "walking".

If I don't set boundaries, in a week or two I'd come home and find 40 of them in my yard, again.   Agh.

I mean, who pays the mortgage?   Do they even know our name?

Oh, and I wouldn't be such a shrew about it if someone had come and ASKED PERMISSION.  "Hey, can we park in front of your driveway, in the evening, when we get our kid?"  Sure, go ahead.

But to just take it is very rude, and will get you run off.