Vinnie: In Memoriam

You should give them a button, mutter incantations in a foreign language, and groan the word "Lamia" at the end with an evil smile.

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Dimmerswitch wrote:

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Awww, who am I kidding. I *still* like him when he's angry.

It's a bigger challenge than expected, for the last couple of weeks I've been enjoying the freedom of opening the door and letting the dogs run out, just because I could. Today I was taking them out one at a time on the leash and Vinnie got past me and got out off leash. I quickly put the leashed dog back in the house and grabbed another leash, I keep several of the kennel type slip leashes by the door, and when I got to Vinnie he was peeing on what was the fence line then followed it to the bottom of our yard, staying in-bounds the whole way, and waited for me to put the leash on. He's the best dog ever.

Well, I have a pretty incredible update. We had a court date today, it was continued again, neighbor has to go back in two weeks after she has a chance to speak to her atty. The Co Atty is asking for a guilty plea and gave her a sticky note with the total amount of my vet bills to be paid as restitution. If they can settle that in two weeks, it will be settled, if her attorney advises her differently, it will go to trial. The CA told me I don't have to come back in two weeks, he has all the info he needs from me, if he needs me for trial he'll contact me. So, I left the courtroom, once again, speechless. He apparently changed his mind about restitution. So, I don't know if I will actually be able to collect from the neighbors, but at least it's now a possibility. If that happens, I'll use part of that money to make a hefty donation to an animal rescue group in the name of GWJ, since so many of you have already helped me recover some of the vet bills.

So, I come home, feeling very strong and really good about how things are progressing. I go about getting my Critterpalooza sign ready to put up in its regular spot downtown when I hear some strange noises coming from the backyard. I go out to take a look and my two (former) neighbors are TAKING DOWN THE FENCE! Yes. I stepped out the back door and said "what the HELL are you doing?" he says, "Taking down my fence". He was well on his way and had made significant process in his task. All I could think to say was "I'm calling the police right now". So I went in and called the police. I was absolutely trembling with fury. The police came, I explained that these people no longer live next door, they derive no benefit from taking down this fence, I have an agreement signed between them and the people I bought the house from allowing them to tie into the fence, I have three dogs and the fence is needed to keep them in the yard, we had been in court that very day on a related matter and they were doing this out of spite and vengeance. He said "I can't help you, this is a civil matter, you'll have to put up a fence and then sue them for damages". He had a talk with the male neighbor and said "why are you removing this fence?" "Several reasons, one is it doesn't sit flush on the ground and dogs can get under it so it has to be replaced."

I'll give you a moment here to let that sink in.

So, the cop left, I called the Co Atty - I even broke out the cell number he had given me over a year ago, this is the first time I've used it since - and he called me back very quickly to see what was up. As I told him what was happening, he was shocked and pretty well disgusted by their behavior, even called them a few names I had been thinking of. He said he wasn't surprised by what the policeman said, but glad I had called them anyway. He also said there was no way I could stop them from doing it, they were gonna do what they were gonna do - he laughed at the reason given to the cop - saying the guy could have just been honest and said "because I can" which is the only real answer to why he would do such a thing. The CA gave me the names of a few real estate attorneys I should call for advice and told me to "sue their asses off".

I was mad enough at the time to have started a real altercation with them, but I kept my cool and stayed in the house and just tried to absorb it, accept it and move on. I've calmed down quite a bit, I've accepted the situation. My thoughts now on this are that these people have hurt me over and over, sometimes unintentionally, but not this time. This was their last hurrah at putting the hurt on me. I hope it makes them feel much better.

So, now, I'm without the full enjoyment of my back yard again, for a while anyway. But things have certainly been worse. I'll have to get a fence put up as soon as possible. I've already called the company that put the other part of my fence in, the guy will quote me a price and might be able to do something as soon as early next week. In the meantime, it's back to dogs on leashes in their own back yard.

There is some good out of it, There was all this of intense vegetation, just trashy vines and stuff, not very attractive, that was pretty well incorporated in the fence and I had been wanting to remove it for a while. The guy had to chop all that out to get the fence out, so, he kind of did me a favor there. As of right now, the posts are standing but the fencing is completely down and all those vines are gone. I did lose some nice sweet autumn clematis that was in bloom, but luckily just last night I cut a bunch of it and brought it in the house.

I wasn't sure what to call this update, but I knew that those of you following this story would want to hear the latest juicy details.

wordsmythe wrote:

Is that a Charlie Brown bomb?

dadundadadundada da-daaaa dundadaadaaa *kerplosion*

I like the idea of them getting hit by a Charlie Brown bomb, they'll be fine, but man will they look wishy-washy.

SillyRabbit wrote:

It's a bigger challenge than expected, for the last couple of weeks I've been enjoying the freedom of opening the door and letting the dogs run out, just because I could. Today I was taking them out one at a time on the leash and Vinnie got past me and got out off leash. I quickly put the leashed dog back in the house and grabbed another leash, I keep several of the kennel type slip leashes by the door, and when I got to Vinnie he was peeing on what was the fence line then followed it to the bottom of our yard, staying in-bounds the whole way, and waited for me to put the leash on. He's the best dog ever.

Cheap fix for the mean time... get some orange snow fence. That will keep them in there and you won't have to leash them until you get the other fence up.

Truly this is an epic saga. Just when you think the last chapter is done, another begins. Keep fightin' the good fight SillyRabbit!

Heh, if I was Vinnie I would go off and pee on what's left of "their" fence too.

At the very very least.

Trophy Husband wrote:
Cayne wrote:

On a very very small upside, if they do pay the vet bills (like their supposed too) you can use the money from the GWJ'er drive to put up the fence and not be horribly out of pocket

Agreed, the inaugural GWJ dog fence will be epic! I'm hoping it includes a fully upgraded tower defense system.

And please sue the hell out of those sad excuses for human beings.

+1 on all counts. SR, stay strong, and kudos for keeping your cool in a crisis. That could have played out so many other ways, and not for the better.

Time to find some more cash to drop into the Vinnie catch all donation fund methinks!

SillyRabbit wrote:

It's a bigger challenge than expected, for the last couple of weeks I've been enjoying the freedom of opening the door and letting the dogs run out, just because I could. Today I was taking them out one at a time on the leash and Vinnie got past me and got out off leash. I quickly put the leashed dog back in the house and grabbed another leash, I keep several of the kennel type slip leashes by the door, and when I got to Vinnie he was peeing on what was the fence line then followed it to the bottom of our yard, staying in-bounds the whole way, and waited for me to put the leash on. He's the best dog ever.

Friends of mine extended their house and added another bedroom at the end of the upstairs landing. It freaked their miniature schnauzer out for a while when he realised there was a room beyond where a wall used to be.

Sounds like Vinnie is respecting the boundary even if there is no physical barrier. He is a good dog.

tundra wrote:

Cheap fix for the mean time... get some orange snow fence. That will keep them in there and you won't have to leash them until you get the other fence up.

Good plan.

That guy must have an interesting life if this was his highest priority. Especially after moving to a new house.

I've had my share of bad neighbors in the past, so I'm not too surprised about this maneuver. I learned the hard way that you can't show any mercy with this kind of 'people', but since they already moved away you could just let it slide. It really depends on what you find most important: getting your monies back and getting some justice, or just forgetting about the whole thing and finally getting some peace and quiet.

You are incredibly admirable SR, still keeping your cool after all this surely renders you some classification of zen master. Bravo to you and Vinnie, hopefully this is truly the last time you have to deal with these nutters.

It is no surprise to me that he has ripped out the fence.

"... to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."

BadMojo wrote:

It is no surprise to me that he has ripped out the fence.

"... to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."

"Kick a stone in anger and you only hurt your foot"
-- Korean proverb

BadMojo wrote:

It is no surprise to me that he has ripped out the fence.

"... to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."

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SillyRabbit wrote:

I wasn't sure what to call this update, but I knew that those of you following this story would want to hear the latest juicy details.

How about: "the best offense is a good de-fence" ?

Seriously, I can't believe the balls it would take to do this.

Ranger Rick wrote:
SillyRabbit wrote:

I wasn't sure what to call this update, but I knew that those of you following this story would want to hear the latest juicy details.

How about: "the best offense is a good de-fence" ?

Seriously, I can't believe the balls it would take to do this.

I know... Such punnery is punishable by hanging in some countries.

Paleocon wrote:
BadMojo wrote:

It is no surprise to me that he has ripped out the fence.

"... to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."

"Kick a stone in anger and you only hurt your foot"
-- Korean proverb

I would imagine there would be some disagreement to that proverb from the guy whose stones you just kicked...

Thank you all for the support and laughs and the donations, I promise to be a good steward of your generosity.

Falchion wrote:

Heh, if I was Vinnie I would go off and pee on what's left of "their" fence too.

The biggest danger with the fence gone is that they took down their gate on the same side, so, now their yard is open to the street, so, if my dogs get out of my backyard, there's no barrier to keep them from getting hit by a car or whatever other dangers lurk there. Not to mention the second half of this guy's threat "I'll take my fence down and if your dogs get in my yard I'll kill them". he followed through with the first part of the threat, for all I know this nut-job is holed up in the house with a shotgun waiting for a dog to get in the yard. I know that last part isn't likely, but I don't want my dogs crossing that boundary.

Tundra wrote:

Cheap fix for the mean time... get some orange snow fence. That will keep them in there and you won't have to leash them until you get the other fence up.

The snow fence is a great idea, I had something like that in mind, but didn't know what it was called. The leash thing isn't work out very well, Mei Mei, my youngest, is really freaked out in the backyard on the leash, she's reverted to how she acted after the attack where she wouldn't even relieve herself outside on the leash. When we're out there all she can do is stare over at that yard. She won't even sniff the ground or try to chew grass, two of her favorite pastimes. I took her on a walk out front of the house tonight until she finally did #1 but she held it forever. Based on past experience, she won't get back to normal until they can all run and romp freely in the backyard. That's what she's used to and she doesn't adapt readily to new situations. I've reverted a little too, about 4:00 today at work I had that familiar anxiety sting that I had everyday for months after the attack, knowing I would soon have to go home and take the dogs out and hope that nothing goes wrong.

As for his de-fence, the fence posts are still up with the caps removed, he hasn't come back and done any more work. The grass is also really tall on his side. I found a few scraps of metal in my yard and he left a rusty support stake that's in a dangerous spot of someone stripping and falling on it. I'm thinking about calling in a complaint to the city about the mess and maybe I can get some answers about who owns the house right now and who's responsible for the upkeep. I'm not real interested in keeping the fight going, but I would like to know if he actually has legal rights and responsibilities on that property. If he wants to exercise his rights, he needs to uphold his responsibilities.

Depending on how modern your county is, you should be able to pull up the tax record for that address and see who owns it\pays the property taxes on it. They're online down here in the South, so... I can't imagine anywhere else would be behind us.

Then you'll know if he's a dick-head renter who just completely blasted his deposit or a dick-head homeowner.

Either way, I hope he dies in a fire.

Is this a foreclosure? If it is, I'd call his bank (easy enough to find out through public records) and inform them that he is maliciously vandalizing their property.

Paleocon wrote:

Is this a foreclosure? If it is, I'd call his bank (easy enough to find out through public records) and inform them that he is maliciously vandalizing their property.

Actually more to the point if its not a foreclosure the bank would still own it. They just allow the inhabit the place as long as the dragon is paid... Of course it would be much worse if they were squatters.

Sku Boi wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

Is this a foreclosure? If it is, I'd call his bank (easy enough to find out through public records) and inform them that he is maliciously vandalizing their property.

Actually more to the point if its not a foreclosure the bank would still own it. They just allow the inhabit the place as long as the dragon is paid... Of course it would be much worse if they were squatters.

Precisely. I might even have a conversation with the bank manager and tell him that you have witnessed him deliberately vandalizing the property out of spite and seems to be trying to destroy the value of the property prior to being evicted. This will might actually accelerate the process of getting his ass tossed off the property. At the very least, it will raise concerns with powerful, moneyed interests that would like to protect their investment.

I would just consider the suit for violating the agreement. If you get into vengeance moves, you'll just be kicking a rock. Right?

I don't want to act out of vengeance, but knowing that a bully will only go as far as people let him, I'd like to help him find his boundaries. Nothing I've ever done to this point has been out of spite or vengeance and I'm not about to give in to that.

I don't think I have much of a civil suit. I'm not really sure he violated the agreement, which only says they can tie into the fence for the purpose of fencing this yard. I think the agreement was no good from the beginning. I agreed to it because everyone seemed happy with it, and it saved us all a little bit of money. In retrospect, I should have asked that it included an assignment of rights to the fence to me, or something that prevented the removal of the fence, which it did not. Otherwise I should have made them put up a separate fence along that side. No one should ever accept the kind of happy feel good "gentleman's agreement" that I accepted.

No, everyone should be able to accept such an agreement and expect that it is maintained in good faith. Don't lose faith in the goodness of people. Just in the goodness of those particular people.

I do not know what advice to give you, SR. On the one hand, you already have a starship that can take you anywhere in the galaxy you want. On the other, it would be nice to seek revenge and have more money to deck it out in soft, Corinthian leather.

Hypatian wrote:

No, everyone should be able to accept such an agreement and expect that it is maintained in good faith. Don't lose faith in the goodness of people. Just in the goodness of those particular people.

I'm really not jaded from this. But, this is my warning to people to learn from my experience. In this case, the agreement between the seller of this house and the owner of the fence likely has no actual affect on me. It doesn't address the maintenance or grant an easement to the fence. No one could foresee the conflict that arose between us or where it would lead. My very purchase of this house was contingent on the fence, and I accepted a half-assed, non notarized statement that probably has no force. I'm not jaded, I'm just saying, be careful and be thorough with an agreement of that kind of importance. It keeps everyone honest, right?

You want to be mean? Sounds like he is prone to be in violation of several local codes (those municipalities love their stupid little rules about the state you ened to keep your own property in). Any of those he violates call the local code board about. Even if he filed bankruptcy these are after it and harder to wiggle out of.