Attacks of Curmudgeonness, what can you do?

Guildedagain

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I've been having these attacks, of extreme antisocial behavior - I blame Covid - I don't even see the neighbors anymore but of them had a bad muffler for two years, cute gal, love her, but the muffler drove me nuts, and two years asking about replacing it - Toyota V6 w stick = loud - in the meantime other people's mufflers started going bad, getting woke up when take off for work at 5:15 am, got woke up one too many times, went on a mini rant, had to apologize to everyone, specially to wife who truly cares how the neighbors feel, me I'm not so sure.

So then I realized, I'm having attacks of early onset curmudgeonness, grumpy old man syndrome, whatever you call it that happens to men, quite possibly within a short time within of the manisfestation of menopause, "man-o-pause" I call it, so what can I do?

How can I start liking people again.

They say I got too many trucks - wife in lockstep says I got too many guitars - these nonsensical young whippersnappers, "a field of trucks" one new upstart calls it. These are farm rigs. It's like moving to the country and whining about the sound and smell of animals.

But the thing is, I love my trucks. Like old friends, like guitars, tools that get a job done.

I can see why people love their dogs, but the poop... Me, it's trucks and antiques of any kind, old Schwinns, music gear, I got a museum, and nobody under 50 gives a fig. My kid says I "have too much stuff", like it's scaring her, worried she might have to deal with it?

It just looks like "junk", as they drive by too fast dusting us out.

So, I hate people*, love my trucks, I turned into one of those old guys in the cartoons...

Today is the day I "start getting rid o stuff" promised... which is just Kaching, Kaching Kaching to me, a win win.

Nevemind I been slinging guitars on CL two years straight, the totals are frightening, if I only had that much moolah at one time... I probably wouldn't know what to do with it. Mason Jar?

:]


* Except for the people here that have really helped me distract myself from the realities of life ;]
 
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Teleguy61

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I totally feel your pain.
During the last 18 months of isolation, my social skills and social tolerance have atrophied very seriously.
Difficult to stop myself from yelling at people, and yelling at neighbors is not a good look.
Best of luck to you, and to me too!
 

adorshki

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Me I'm sick to death of people eating in their cars and leaving their fast-food waste in the street/sidewalk. And the neighbor with an off-road motorsickle (read: illegally loud exhaust) that sounds like a gunshot when he fires it up at all hours in a high-density residential working folks neighborhood. To go on a drug run most likely.

I wanna go pour Canola all over his seat some night. He does after all park on the street which is part of the problem.

How about hiding a couple of JBL Voice of the Theaters in one of the trucks and switching on a clip of Yello at Woodstock Macintosh levels the next time the Toyota drives by?


Farm equipment is to be expected in a rural community. Loud exhaust, not so much so close to the houses, at least.

Confession can be good for the soul but I find an hour later I'm just angry again.

When I drink beer I get conciliatory but I've discovered too many times now after I've tried to put myself in somebody else's shoes I was right all along, they really are a--holes.

Before bemoaning becoming curmudgeonly, consider the alternative:
 

Guildedagain

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AI needs a category for double awards, Love + HaHa, and there's like ten good ones in there, as always, bowing to the master ;]]]

Thx all for the seriously needed laughs, life advice and therapy.
 

adorshki

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AI needs a category for double awards, Love + HaHa, and there's like ten good ones in there, as always, bowing to the master ;]]]

Thx all for the seriously needed laughs, life advice and therapy.
Revenge fantasies can be gratifying but also dangerous if you're a chronic sleepwalker. Don't ask me how I know.
 

Westerly Wood

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I moved over a year ago from town but had almost an acre of land to a subdivision. It was not a brilliant idea. We miss the land and outside work. But not the traffic noise. But I don’t think we will be in subdivision for long. I need sone land to work physically. I like to earn my beer, so to speak. When I lived in TX, in town, had a couple noisy blaring neighbors. One fancied himself a mechanic. He had a flomaster I think. It was wall shaking. But not as bad as dude who had subwoofer in truck and would get drunk with truck stereo system cranked, for hours. It was brutal. I just don’t want to hear anyone’s music inside my house when doors and windows are closed. Still, I miss that house. It was a home, not just a place to live in. Big difference.
 

Guildedagain

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I wouldn't worry until you start yelling "Hey you kids! Get off my lawn!". :)


Lol, that was me 20 years ago, went fanatical over my lawn, 1st house, neighbors warned me "don't make it look too nice you'll get broke into" ;] but I went all out on the lawn, gorgeous. Before college, I worked as a temp for Parks and Rec six seasons, some extremely challenging work in the sun, maintaining my own parks, getting bigger better parks, moving on up, eventually to the most prestigious park in town, richie rich South Hill, gorgeous area, gorgeous houses.

Maybe because of that, I'm somewhat anal about lawns but have learned to love dandelions. How we evolve ;]

Anyway, the house, no fence, next to a Grade School, and when the kids let out, they'd loiter, beat each other up on the sidewalk, empty the content of other kids packs, destroy any living plant. Neighbor kitty corner "had house built in 1951 for $6500" with fancy detached two car garage, said that when "they put in the school, they ripped out all his tulips, so he put in a fence, tulips inside the fence, they reached through and ripped those out too. Finally had to move tulips in artificial raised beds next to the house" ;]

These kids would walk on my trucks, break bottles.

I screamed a lot more than "get off my lawn"...

Kids would threaten to "come back with big brother", ouch, tough crowd.

One time, kid shattered a beer bottle behind my SAAB 900, in my gorgeous driveway for F's sake, so I says "I'm walkin' you home kid, see what mom and dad have to say about this".

We get close to the kids house, beer can strewed yard, Harley's choppers out front, from a safe distance I'm like "Kid, you're on your own, don't do it again, ok, pretty please?" then run the fk home... clean the glass.

Humans...
 
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Guildedagain

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I moved over a year ago from town but had almost an acre of land to a subdivision. It was not a brilliant idea. We miss the land and outside work. But not the traffic noise. But I don’t think we will be in subdivision for long. I need sone land to work physically. I like to earn my beer, so to speak. When I lived in TX, in town, had a couple noisy blaring neighbors. One fancied himself a mechanic. He had a flomaster I think. It was wall shaking. But not as bad as dude who had subwoofer in truck and would get drunk with truck stereo system cranked, for hours. It was brutal. I just don’t want to hear anyone’s music inside my house when doors and windows are closed. Still, I miss that house. It was a home, not just a place to live in. Big difference.

Had the house in town through the late 90's all through the Naughties and booming stereos, fart cans, car alarms, cops, helicopter cops at night, whoa...

House across the street, this seriously damaged - not physically - Vietnam vet I nicknamed "Lurch" would come home at 2 something am on his Harley, bars having just closed, and just sit there and let it lope in his driveway, who don't love the sound of a Harley? ;] Sometimes he'd start adjusting the carburator, the thing to do when you're drunk at 2am.

When he left at night on fall evenings, the hog was super cold blooded - explaining the carb adjustments- needed to idle forever before he could take off. Nuts. My GF at the time was working and would be super pissed about it. Me, I was house husbanding, better hours, you can sleep in ;]

Eventually, he was holed up in his house with cops trying to beat the door down because he wouldn't answer/open and I walked over and said "Please just leave. He's a Vietnam vet with guns, has a right not to answer the door, and you're just gonna kill him if yo go in" so they left.

He died from pills in the house not too long after.

His brother came over from somewhere with mail order bride, possibly even weirder cat than Lurch, they had a big sale, everything he had really just needed to go to the dump, they sold the house and they left. Goodbye Lurch.

Ghost riders in the Sky
 
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adorshki

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All i know is if I had to choose between re-runs of "Leave it To Beaver" or "Guilded's Lillies" I'd pick "Lillies" every time.

Except for the "Accidentally Ran Over a Kid" episode, maybe.

In fact I just remembered there was a kid, maybe 14 or 15, who used to wait on the sidewalk and step out from between parked cars right in front of oncoming traffic (subdivision streets) just to mess with 'em. Even stop and turn around when car had come to panic stop. Saw him doing it at multiple locations and even got me once. Wasn't speeding but resented the wasted gas and brakes nonetheless.

So one day I see him down the road and I started coasting, sure enough, he steps out, but this time I gunned it a little when he was almost in middle of street (so I could go around on either side if necessary), but aimed right at him, took him completely by surprise, he froze, and look of panic of his face was worth the risk. I do believe he might have gone home to change his underwear.

I'm only human after all.

But really it was pretty low speed, "gun it" was 25mph and I easily cut him a lot of space as I passed while actually off the gas again.

Never saw the guy again, wonder whatever happened to him?
 

adorshki

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I guess I've generally had good neighbors. None of these complaints seem like anything I have experienced.
No excitement, huh? :D

Nothing like a good police standoff situation from 8 to 2AM, coupla SUV's parked on lawn in front of triplex, spots focused on door of second story unit and officers in flak vests securing a perimeter, all visible from the comfort of my kitchen window. Periodic PA commands to exit the premises were kind of a bummer, though, it was a work night.

And this is a nice neighborhood compared to some parts of this town. :LOL:
 

Cougar

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Our neighbors weren't really so bad, but we just got tired of being packed in so close, so unprivate, all the houses packed in like sardines. So now we're in blissful seclusion... in the middle of a forest! Problem solved! Our only neighbors are four-footed, and they're pretty quiet....
trp438.jpg

hop799.jpg
 

fronobulax

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No excitement, huh? :D

Nothing like a good police standoff situation from 8 to 2AM, coupla SUV's parked on lawn in front of triplex, spots focused on door of second story unit and officers in flak vests securing a perimeter, all visible from the comfort of my kitchen window. Periodic PA commands to exit the premises were kind of a bummer, though, it was a work night.

And this is a nice neighborhood compared to some parts of this town. :LOL:

Only twice in about four years has police activity escalated beyond one patrol car in the vicinity. Once was a low speed pursuit where the perp turned on to our dead end street. It was kind of entertaining because there was a moment when an officer wondered whether moth balls - in our garden to deter deer - were contraband ejected by someone in the perp's vehicle. The other was something I still haven't figured out. A patrol car arrived in the neighborhood and the officer appeared to go to a house. Then another car with another officer did the same thing. Then an officer arrived and parked their car in a way that impeded traffic on a side street. The officer could have been too lazy to look for parking or it could have been a deliberate roadblock. Then a taxi arrived. A woman, with crutches and possibly wearing a hospital wrist band, got out and stood by the taxi yelling into her phone and smoking. Eventually someone from the house that had been visited by the officers, came out with a wheel chair and she was taken to the house. The taxi left, the officers left and the last ones to leave told other neighbors that everything was OK. Never figured out who to ask to find out what was going on and the best guess is that the woman had been injured in a domestic violence incident and the police were making sure it was safe to return "home". (I didn't recall ever seeing her before). Using five officers to do that suggests someone involved was previously "known to the police" and they were preparing for something that didn't happen.

Small town in a rural county :)
 

crank

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We like our urban hood. Have just enough lawn and garden to satisfy my inner farmer. Great immediate neighbors - one plays guitar and the others love it when I hold an occasional outdoor jam or band practice. I really like being close to stores and being able to walk to the best Italian deli ever where we have become regulars. Heck, even the school kids walking buy are well behaved and polite.
 

Guildedagain

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"coupla SUV's parked on lawn in front of triplex,"

Speaking of being parked on the lawn...

At another house in town during my college days, going back further, whole house and garage for $275 a month... A car comes crashing into my yard one night, he's not even that far from the Juniper shrubs under my bedroom window.

It's a 70's BMW 320i, and he's cranking the engine, trying to start it.

Where he landed on the lawn front bumper first, there's a new swale in the lawn with a human sized piece of turf off to the side. The car has three flat tires from jumping the curb, so I'm not sure why he's to start it. Maybe we could tie stories like this into the beer thread? ;]

So, he's drunk but he's not stupid, he's goes next door to ask for a jump from the crazy methheads next door. I can hear him over there asking for a jump, he's smart enough not to knock on my door.

Then the cops show up. A cop like Hulk Hogan is kneeling on his back, and this is a tiny BMW 320 sized guy, and he's yelling at him over and over "Spread you legs" as if this guy's resisting, the drunk 150lb guy face down on the sidewalk with a 300lb guy on top.

I think that marked me worse than his missing the corner and flying into the yard.

The car got towed, I put the lawn back together, and years later in Columbia Falls MT just outside of Glacier Natl. Park, I bought a somewhat ailing white '77 320i and drove it home, sweet little car, exact same as the one that landed in my yard that time, kept mine on the road though.

The car had a lot of "personality".

I was selling it years later, this retired Border Patrol dude comes over to buy it, the car won't start.

He left. Car started right up ;]
 

Cougar

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I really like being close to stores....
Well, there's that. Our little town (reportedly of 200) has a pizza joint. The little market in town just closed down after the owner raised the rent. There's a convenience store a mile down the hill to the marina, otherwise it's 10 miles in one direction to a crappy market and decent bar & grill, and 20 miles in the other direction to a more civilized town, supermarket, various restaurants, and a hospital and other healthcare facilities.

Oh -- the other marina two miles down the hill has a pretty nice "floating restaurant" with a full bar. We usually stop in there after boating.

So yeah, you win some, you lose some.
 

MLBob

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Everyone over a certain age is entitled to a segue into curmudgeoness!
As I tell my kids ( all who are grown & gone):

Puton the hat.jpg
 
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