babyblog

Neighbourhood Watch

Yesterday, for reasons I won't go into just yet, was a really shitty day. Before it got shitty though, I took Dylan to school & had to zig zag my car to get out of the drive (reversing up a steep hill) because my neighbours had abandoned an old car on the street and for the last few weeks have perma-parked it in an inconvenient position meaning it's been tricky for me to get out of the drive, especially if anyone else is parked on the street at the time.

Said car was abandoned a year ago after they bought a new one. She told me at the time that they had to buy a new one because the husbands car was unsafe, so they were going to buy a new minivan and he would use the old minivan (the now dumped car) and they would get rid of his car. Anyway as soon as the new one arrived (which she neurotically cleans with a TOOTHBRUSH every week) they never used the old van again- the husband still uses his original car and the dumped the old van on the street outside another neighbours house.

I commented to G several times that if it was outside my drive like that I'd be really pissed off! Anyway - there it sat for the year..... until the big storm just before Christmas when the house it was parked outside ended up with a tree through their roof. The tree had to be removed by a large crane and when said crane arrived it couldn't get near enough because of the stupid neighbours car. Someone knocked on their door and they came out to move it and needless to say it wouldn't start having been sat there for a year, so they towed it and moved it to it's new location - outside their house / in the direct line of my drive.
These are not the kind of people you can say anything to either... .they're very weird.

Yesterday after a 5.30am start and not in the best of moods, I had enough so I rang the city to see what the law about parking is and was told that you're not allowed to park a car on the street for more than 24 hours without moving it. After I said 'but it's been there a year' they immediately said that they would send the police! A little later in the day I noticed the car had gone, and then later again it was in their drive.

I was pleased (until the husband arrived home and parked his stupid car in that spot !) but then last night the doorbell went and it was the husband with a furious look on his face. My heart sank and I figured he'd realised I'd grassed him up...... but then he started asking about a CD Gareth had borrowed the other day (I might add, a CD which is 5 yrs old that he'd never opened and clearly had no requirement for). G was out and I told him so and he got really aggressive, angry, almost shaking with fury, implied I was lying because G's truck was in the drive, and generally scared the shit out of me. I was convinced he knew I'd grassed him up and was furious with me (although if you are going to illegally dump a car on the street you should expect to have to move it).

When G got home I sent him round there with the CD and G asked him if he was upset because I had thought he seemed so. He vehemently denied it and said he was not at all angry or upset. Hah!