Thursday, July 20, 2006

Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?

Once in a while a dumb/annoying song gets stuck in your hear, like the Sesame Street ditty that entitles this post. It became stuck in my mind as I was walking the dogs this morning and turned down Hillcrest. A house that was for sale a few weeks ago has sold and the new owners have moved in. They have 4 cars that I can see...3 of the 4 leak oil very badly. When I mean badly, I mean a paper plate size spot every time the car is moved. They have a dually pick-up, a Ford Crown Vic Police Interceptor, a Pontiac Firebird and a BMW. The Beemer is the only one that does not appear to leak. Needless to say that our middle class neighborhood will begin to look shabby if this continues. Leaky vehicles is a pet peeve of mine.

I actually saw one of the occupants one night as he was bringing things in from his truck. He nodded, but did not speak, which is becoming common nowadays. Many of us do not take the time to get to know those people who live near us. It is not only neighborly, but it also is helpful in protecting your family. You may learn something important. I am not talking about being nosy. I am not saying that you should pry into their business, just be neighborly.

Other interesting tidbits about my neighbor involve other homes that have sold. We had a family 1/2 block away (who live next to some friends of ours) just up and leave. It appears the house was foreclosed upon. When they moved, they left all kinds of things in side. The blinds were removed, but they left a desk and a computer and some furniture. A sign on the windows states that they house is up for sale by a bank. The former owners were from South America and had a Satellite TV business. They had a couple of kids who were big into soccer and skateboarding and they also had a parrot or similar jungle bird that was very noisy that they left outside a large part of the time. The sounds it made sometimes sounded like a woman screaming.

Another house has sold recently and the people are from Florida. Like the previous owners, they are not overly friendly, BUT they smoke/bbq and it smells wonderful. The smell filled the neighborhood one night and it was not hard to tell where it was coming from. Maybe I should have invited myself over :-) . They did something shortly after moving in that looks like a funny. They put up some large deck blinds on the *outside* if the windows facing west. I guess the evening sun is too bright for the former Floridians.

The house across the street is rented out again, but I have not seen any adults yet, although my wife saw a "grandmotherly" person a couple of weeks ago. The only activity I have noticed is a couple of kids playing basketball, a couple of small kids climbing the light pole, and 3-4 teens scrambling out of the house one night running towards a car that had pulled up in front just as I was finishing my walk. No one for us to say hi to yet...not really.

Well, my wife's alarm just went off and my coffee is working its magic. Time to get a shower and get ready for work...

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