OK, so I know that someone will think that I'm mean or stupid for doing this, and my professional opinion is that they can suck it. Kids are kids, blah blah blah.
I'm writing this to report a WIN to all homeowners across the country who hate that sound of dribbling basketballs in the street. The 'dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk dnk ' noise is only SLIGHTLY repetitive and annoying and cannot be drowned out, no matter how loud your music or TV, or even by headphones or earplugs. I also HATE that noise cancelling options are even something to consider. Why can't things just be quiet sometimes?
So we bought this house after months of looking and looking at maybe 50-60 others.
I don't really like people and I love my quiet. I work from home half the time and so does my wife, so we need quiet for concentration. Bass music sucks for this and so do basketballs. Again, noise cancelling options REALLY don't work for this, and TV and radio is distracting.
We specifically scouted out neighborhoods with limited apartment complexes nearby (as stereotypically, people who live in apartments tend to be louder and rowdier, not to mention more felonious). We looked for a certain 'class' of people. We looked for neighbors who actually seemed to go to work during the day (as opposed to our rental house, where the streets were consistently packed with vehicles of the under or un-employe, and the noise was never ending).
We love the country but could not afford to buy acres out in the middle of nowhere, and of course, commuting is always an issue, so we looked for older established neighborhoods with thickly wooded, large lots. All the better to pretend the outside world does not exist once we close our doors.
We found this perfect house with great neighbors (the 5 closest are elderly couples, and old people never make any noise). We are at the end of a cul-de-sac that we share with only one other house and the lots behind us are protected greenbelts so they can never be torn down.
Behind the wooded lots are a neighborhood park and a creek, which means less houses to store loud people. Perfect Perfect Perfect.
As we were working on the haggling process, I drove by the house at least once a day to scout out the surrounding area while on my way to clients. All different times of the day. I drove by when we 'won' the house and all during the financing period. This was roughly 7 weeks total. All during this, the street was silent. There were kids on the street, but they were at the beginning of the cul-de-sac. I don't mind kids at all, even as next door neighbors, but **** basketballs.
We closed the house on Wednesday. The way our rental timing worked, we have about 3 weeks to move everything in. I've driven by twice a day since then to ensure that it's secure, as we aren't residing in it full time yet.
We closed on Wednesday. On Tuesday morning the next week, a brand spanking new portable basketball hoop goes up right at the cul-de-sac island. Mother f***er. I sign my life away after months of searching and less than a week later, this happens? Right in front of my house?
The hoop is the red dot in the picture.
The real kicker? There's a neighborhood park a block over with a full basketball court.
So I see the new B-Ball hoop Tuesday morning at 6:45am , after leaving for the night at 7:45ish on Monday. So some inconsiderate ******* put the hoop up in the relatively late and dark evening, and maybe even used it at that time. I don't know as I wasn't there. But I would not take this lying down.
I looked up the HOA rules.
I typed up a note and drove over at lunch and taped it to the hoop. I didn't know the owners so this was the only way to contact them. I figured that the kids would at least glance at the note before taking to to their parents.
when little 'Junior' sees that his Daddy broke the rules, Daddy's only real option is to comply.
The note read:
I taped up this note at around 1pm and went back to check at 6pm, fully expecting nothing to have happened. After all, the owner may not have come home yet. Totally fine; I was actually willing to give him a week with a few different notes, just to be a nice person. Maybe he put the hoop up, then went on a business trip. Who knows?
After a week, I'd anonymously complain to the HOA, and if that went nowhere, I'm not against a little vandalism. Removing the bolts holding the hoop and backboard to the stand should be a pretty good message. Only a couple bucks to replace, but an obvious message.
Well I come back at 6pm and the hoop is gone. Freshly gone too; he forgot a cup of tea that he must have been drinking as he was dismantling it. SCORE!!! I made sure the place is secure and drove away, going slowly to see if I could locate the B-Ball hoop in someone's driveway.
I located the hoop, and I kid you not, the house is over 10 houses away from the end of the cul-de-sac where I live, and the owner has a nice long 2 laned driveway with a detached garage. So he had plenty of space for his kids to play on his own property, (not to mention the park) but of course he decides to send them to play in the street way far down in front of the neighbors. Some people.
