As I sit here, I can hear Dumb and Dumber next door. It would seem that when Oddbod goes to work at the local supermarket, her husband, Pig, throws them out into the garden. He wants to play his war games on the computer and probably doesn't fancy being disturbed by his vile offspring, so he leaves them to their own devices. As with yesterday, they are rolling around on top of each other, grabbing at each other's clothes, and wrestling. That is pretty much all that they do and have ever done; most probably copied from what they witness on their father's X-Box. I have all of the windows closed but can hear their yelps, screams, and hollers as they fight. The takeaway pizza man made his fifth visit to their door this week an hour or so ago. They are probably buzzing from all of the fizzy drinks that came with their 'dinner'. The noise they are making is going right through me.
Ironically, I decided to pull another card to see how things were going with our move. Once again, everything has ground to a halt. Can you believe that it has been over two years that we have been trying to escape from these cretins next door? A viewer came last week with his parents, but it seemed that the parents liked the house more than he did.
But what is this? Preparedness? A warrior of some kind sits upon a bull and appears to be ready for action. My first thought was that we need to be prepared for an offer. The guy is facing ahead and looks ready to go. I am not sure if we could be any more prepared, since we have decorated and dressed the house to it's best, and with the racket that those idiots are making next door, we emotionally moved out of our home a long time ago. But this card could regard more viewings and the potential of a sale. I understand that the dates at the bottom are astrological references, but I can't help wondering if that second week in November will have any relevance.
I think that this card runs deeper than just an offer. We have only received one offer in the two years that our house has been on the market and that fell through, since the buyer could not get a mortgage. We lost the lovely house we were meant to be buying and a few thousand pounds went with it. With that in mind, being prepared might revolve around checking things out before spending any cash or getting our hopes up. My parents loved the spacious bungalow they had settled an offer on. I still think about it sometimes, so I am sure that they probably do as well.
This card feels good to me, despite the caution it suggests we maintain. It makes me feel as though things will soon begin to start happening and moving forward. I am mostly interested by the date at the bottom. It feels important. Whether we are in the process of a sale or not in a couple of month's time, I will pay close attention to that second week of Novemeber.
Illustration from The Runic Tarot by Caroline Smith and John Astrop
How awful. Sounds like some of my neighbors! That's exactly why I don't let Pele carry on like that outside and I make her keep her voice down as much as possible where there are people around.
ReplyDeleteI really hope it does mean an offer. I like that idea! We had new neighbors move in in March--which was a rough month for me anyway--and their dogs howled and barked at all hours of the day and night until I finally wrote them, and even now after a couple notices from me and promises from them the dogs still howl and bark. We wish we could move, too, but the timing isn't right for us.
Ah, neighbors. Oye. They do sound like true white trash if you'll pardon my terrible cattiness. I guess I'm sick of that because that is the sort of neighborhood we live in, too. I mean, with the people you describe. Hopefully you have some nice neighbors, too!
Hugs,
MM
p.s. Get this...the new neighbor (the woman) who is nice enough in some ways, but not that great in other ways, came by and knocked on my door the other day to apologize in advance if her dogs bark because they were leaving town to go fishing. She said, 'we're not ignoring them, we're just not here.' I was thinking, 'Well, why bother telling me, if you're leaving your noisy dogs out when you leave town and not doing anything about it?'
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, if I made too much noise in the garden, my mum would tell me to quieten down or I had to come in, as not to disturb other neighbours who wanted to sit our in the sun and appreciate their gardens. Our neighbours couldn't give a damn about us.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with our neighbours is that they would see themselves as anything but trash. In fact, the nausiating husband thinks he is a cut above the rest. They are the real 2.4 family deal. This is a nice neighbourhood really, but people have become more selfish in time. There are more families here now than there was and these animals think that just because they have kids, everyone else should put up with the noise, even if we dont choose to have children ourselves or bring them up differently. They are the sort of people who listen to that kind of racket and literally say 'they're just boys'. I would add to that and say 'they're just thick boys'.
Hahaha. I love that - "We're not ignoring them, we're just not here". That's great. As irritating as it is, the fact that she came to tell you does make it that bit less annoying. Better than nothing. Our neighbours just do what they like without warning and expect you to put up and shut up.
To add, why do people have dogs if they just lock them out in the garden or leave them at home?? I suppose the same could be said for kids as well.
ReplyDeleteVery true. I think in general people tend to be selfish. I try to be sympathetic, especially when it comes to babies--because having a crying baby is one of the hardest things to deal with, because you can't stop the baby from crying and the baby is too young to know any better and everyone glares at you. But if the child is old enough to understand or you're smart enough to remove the child from the situation (if you're not trapped there) I think that in most situations parents should make an effort to do that. It's not always easy but it's definitely do-able and I definitely do it as much as I can.
ReplyDeleteHah, yes. That's my entire point. For instance, the neighbor people are fine. I don't think we have anything in common with them. But I don't necessarily think that they're awful people but they are to an extent (how can I say this politely--I guess I can't) rednecks. They are just sort of loud and boorish by nature. They aren't cruel or evil, just not very aware of their impact on others.
I completely agree about having pets or kids then just ignoring them and letting them run completely rampant. I think there has to be a balance between attention and benign neglect. What bothers me is if, for instance, a parent doesn't pay any attention to their kids and they run rampant and harass other people because they're so bored or lack any guidance at all.
I see kids riding in the middle of the road where cars are all time--sometimes tiny kids. I often wonder how parents feel comfortable with this. I guess I am a 'helicopter parent' and I do tend to watch Pele like a hawk, mostly because even more so than typical kids she lacks a certain understanding of danger. She does well in some ways but she isn't to the level where she understands it all, even with explanation, considering her neurological symptoms, though in other ways she's entirely typical.
Anyway, it's very confusing and sometimes I WISH I could be like some of those parents who have kids then feel comfortable letting them do whatever they want, but I know that I'll never be like that. It adds a layer of exhaustion to my life but I've gotta do what I've gotta do!
And with regards to the neighbor dogs--I think that's the source of why they bark. The neighbors leave them in the backyard while they go out somewhere or on a trip, and then they bark a lot, trying to entice the dogs behind them to play or just want attention, so I think they're attention starved and that's a big part of the problem.
Sorry--excuse the long, strange comment. Hehe. I hope you find some respite away from the neighbors. Keeping fingers crossed on that offer.
Hugs,
Hannah