My Neighbors Suck

I must warn that an asinine rant follows.

Not all my neighbors suck, some are quite lovely. However, there is this older couple that lives behind me. When I say older, I really only mean early 60's so not THAT old, just older than I. Anyway, they have annoyed me from the day I moved in but let's face it, I wasn't in the best of moods so I thought it was just me. Their grandkids are over all the time & they're loud but I tell myself to get over it as they are kids & it's not like they're keeping me up at night, right? No - but one of them is still pretty little & they have this big stroller out in front of their house which also happens to be my walkway to the trash & to my garage. It wouldn't be such a big deal if they would put it close up to their house, but they don't. They leave it all cock-eyed out in the way. I move it all the time hoping they may get the idea but it hasn't happened yet.

The garage itself is a whole nother issue. The the door that leads out of my garage backs right up to their back door & they keep all kinds of shit out there that blocks it. I've moved a few things but then I just decided to use the regular garage door as it seemed easier. I thought about calling my landlord right after I moved in but then thought after awhile I would probably start talking to them (since they live only feet from me) & I'd just mention it casually when the time came. I've been here almost 2 months & neither one of them have said more than a passing "hi" to me - and that is only when right in front of me & I say it first. Once or twice the woman actually avoided eye contact with me so as not to have to acknowledge my presence. Twice now, her youngest grandson was sitting right in front of the screen door staring outside (he does this all the time, it's a little odd) but twice as I've come walking up, I hear her call him back & tell him to get away from the door. Really lady? WTF is wrong with you? What do you think is going to happen if I, God forbid, smiled or said "hi" to your grandson? I got the distinct feeling that for some reason known only to her, this woman just doesn't like me.

Today confirmed it. Got a call from my landlord saying he's been having some complaints about me. I was floored. Honestly, I am an awesome tenant. Not one complaint ever in my entire rental history. I think I just said "really?" He goes on to tell me that the complaints are about the fact that I leave my door open all day & I smoke (sidebar here: I quit smoking years ago but with the recent break-up I have been occasionally indulging in this nasty little habit.) and that I have the nerve to have my TV on late at night. Apparently it's too loud for their taste. Now here's the thing - I don't smoke that often & half the time, I do it outside so how is that bothering them? My neighbor on the other side smokes outside as well & quite a bit more often but I guess that doesn't bother them as she's been living here for years & still does it. The TV thing I can understand. It probably is a little loud sometimes since I have the fan on but for fuck's sake, why wouldn't they just ask me to keep it down? They have to walk by my door every day to get to their door. Why not just say "Hey, sometimes your TV is a little loud, could you try to be aware of it?" but nnnoooo, she has to go to the landlord & complain like the whiny bitch she is.

He didn't tell me who complained but I don't have any doubt. She has officially pissed me off. I wonder what else I can do that would annoy her without looking like I did it on purpose. Is that bad? Yeah, that's probably bad but I don't care right now.