Stickin it to the neighbors

[clocker]

If it drove Noriega to surrender, surely it would work for the neighbors.

Fighting fire with fire has a long tradition and since you haven't personally signed the Geneva Convention you're legally in the clear.

[Biggles]

I would think that a nice loud marathon of bagpipe music, interspersed with some polka favorites and a few choice cuts from the Chipmonks, might make just the impression you are looking for.

If you could get other neighbors to join in- surely you are not the only person this boorish behaviour affects- all the better.

Tape a large picture of headphones to their front door to help the miscreants discover a solution acceptable to all.

Well not bagpipes obviously - nectar for the ears that is.

[Busyman]

1. No, smartass, you call when you hear the loud music. DUH!!

2. It's a buyer's market everywhere. A friend of mine in DC sold a simple DC rowhouse for $895,000....near the hood.

It was fucking ridiculous.

You're a bit off this week.

Or maybe the police up there give a shit about noise calls, but here they don't. Thus, calling the po's about a noisy neighbors radio might incite an investigation a day later. Who knows though, I might be surprised...

And no, it isn't a buyers market everywhere. It may be turning that way here in Austin as it has already done elsewhere, but the cost of homes here is higher than I can currently afford and still be quite comfortable. Period.

Granted. I was just saying that houses are down everywhere. Whether the down price was affordable was another thing entirely. The interests rates are low and the houses are low lower.

I imagine that will change in the sellers favor later.

Hell I couldn't afford some of the smaller houses in LA. That and you pay too much for very little house.

It doesn't hurt to try the po po as you say. All they can tell you is fuck off.

Bit off about what, btw?

[clocker]

Arbitration: A Better Way to Mend Fences
Not long ago, Michael Daly was working on a screenplay when his upstairs neighbor suddenly cranked up the Doobie Brothers. The stereo was so loud, says Daly, "I felt like I was inside a drum."

Daly thought about suing, since it wasn't the first time this guy had busted his concentration. But instead he tried something else: neighborhood mediation. At a free session sponsored by the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Daly's neighbor agreed to keep quiet. Total out-of-pocket expense: a $10 donation.

There are more than 500 neighborhood-mediation centers around the nation that specialize in resolving potentially bitter border wars. You may not be able to find an office in more rural areas, but they have popped up in nearly every metropolitan area in the U.S. in the last 15 years. "I can't think of a major city that doesn't have one," says Larry Ray, the executive director of the National Association for Community Mediation. Last year alone, these nonprofit centers, which are run by the courts in many states, handled about 600,000 neighbor feuds. Numerous other mediation centers are operated by church groups.

While most people are still unaware of neighborhood mediation, it's becoming increasingly popular for two reasons: First, these centers generally resolve neighbor feuds free. Second, according to the ABA, neighbors are able to settle their differences with the help of a mediator 90% of the time. The bar association says 85% of these mediated agreements are still in force six months later. "The mediator makes no decisions at all," says Cora Jordan, an attorney and author of Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise (Nolo, $16.95). "That's why these agreements last as long as they do."

Even if you doubt you could ever get your neighbors to agree to mediation, don't give up hope. Once you contact a center, the mediator assigned to your case will contact your neighbors and urge them to come in. Sixty percent of the time, both parties appear, the ABA says.

There's also been a proliferation of private mediators. More often than not, they are lawyers, psychologists or social workers who generally charge about $100 per dispute. Probably the only reason to pay these fees is simply that you'd feel more comfortable having a legal or counseling professional handle your case rather than a volunteer at a nonprofit center. "But even if you pay for mediation, it's going to be a heck of a lot cheaper than if you sue," Jordan says.

The place to find a mediator or a neighborhood center is the Yellow Pages, where they're generally listed under the heading "Mediators." You can also call the local bar association. Or the police. In recent years, some officers have begun carrying cards with the telephone number of the nearest center so they can have it ready when they respond to neighbor disputes.

An option to consider before bringing out the bagpipes.

[xxxxxx]

you don't happen to live at metropolis, do you?

[thebazzla]

^
original thought just for that you win my free stick of kryptonite

[Skiz]

you don't happen to live at metropolis, do you?

Fuck no. It would be my own damn fault if so.

I live in a small apartment complex in Hyde PArk with only 7 other units.

[Something Else]

Hyde Park.....rofl....copying shiznits.

[Skiz]

Hyde Park.....rofl....copying shiznits.

Pretty much.

"[The name] goes back to Hyde Park in London," said Peter Flagg Maxson, an architectural historian who lives in the neighborhood. "People took on the name because it was kind of classy, and they thought it would be a good marketing tool."

[Something Else]

Peter Flagg Maxson

You little shite.