Post by: El Tejon on November 25, 2005, 02:43:25 PM
They are from Virginia. They are all moved in now, but they continue to park their cars on their lawn (I could see it if moving furniture or something) overnight. I have never seen this and find it very strange. They have a nice big garage and a driveway that will accomodate several cars. Why park their cars there? Now I understand from watching CMT (that video "Hicktown") that Southerners sometimes drive their pick ups off roads and into mud, but why do it on your lawn?
I asked some people in the neighborhood and they frowned and said it was a Southern tradition. WTH? Some please explain?
Post by: Werewolf on November 25, 2005, 02:49:53 PM
Why not just go over there and ask why they're parking on the lawn. It's a pretty tacky thing to do after all and definitely makes a neighborhood look trashy.
Post by: Felonious Monk/Fignozzle on November 25, 2005, 02:59:29 PM
When I was in high school, I lived in what can best be described as Virginia Hunt Country. An hour plus outside D.C., huge farms surrounded by white or blackwash fences, many many folks owned horses and competed in dressage (English jumping/riding) competitions.
It was upscale, but rural nonetheless. Folks had lots of room, it wasn't cookie-stamped, neatly sidewalked subdivisions. Lots of pea-gravel drives, no real borders or curbs, and it just made sense to park off to the side of the driveway, so if folks arrived pulling a horse trailer, etc., you were out of the way for them to pull on around.
May or may not be the root of your neighbor's activity.
Or, OTOH, they may just be inbred, toothless NASCAR fanatics like MOST of us down here.
Just giggin' you, El T. No harm meant.
Happy Thanksgiving!Fig
Post by: Guest on November 25, 2005, 04:25:50 PM
Post by: Stand_watie on November 25, 2005, 05:08:09 PM
Quote from: Barbara
Nope, some of us damn Yankees do it, too. Like right this minute, my van is pulled up by my back porch because I'm a slacker and didn't want to lug a dozen bags of groceries up to the door.
Barbara, I've lived in Michigan, Maine, North Carolina, Mississippi, Indiana, Colorado and Texas, and seen as much of it in the north as the south. I don't know of it being "tradition" in either place - but I do it myself when neccessary.If it actually is a "tradition" I suspect it is more to do with a tradition of people who have more visitors than the carrying capacity of their driveway than with south or north.
Michigan and Indiana (where a lot of my family are from) actually have a lot of southern tradition due to displaced persons from the depression (my maternal family were displaced southerners). My elderly uncle told me that they and the other 20% or 30% of the townsfolk in their small village in Michigan who were poor southerners used to get called PWT's (poor white trash) by the natives when they were kids.
Post by: Guest on November 25, 2005, 05:54:43 PM
I mean you have to have a place to put stuff not yet set up, a place to drag stuff to that don't work, match, or fit.
I think it is written you are not supposed to use the garage in a new place for at least 4 months. Then again the whole time I lived in one house - I never parked my truck in the garage. That was for the pallets of firearm stuff...matter of priorites you understand.
Maybe they heard about the incident about a neighbor and the Cops yelling "about all them guns..."
Back into yard, fast get-a-way from neighbors...
Now, one thing I have to bring up and I hate to point fingers, folks do park in yards as Barbara and such mentioned. Legit and all.
Those not so legit often hide license tags ( we only have a rear plate, no front one) and back into yard, so vehicle is closest to door for whatever illegal stuff that may need to be transported to and fro house.
I used to live in a house with only a single car carport, we had two lots , on the corner. No place to park on narrow front street, accross the road , BIG ditch and then a field , and then Choo-Choo tracks.
Being the guy, the wife got the carport. I parked alongside carport onto grass , often backing in as to not draw attention taking guns to and fro,
Yes we had double a fence leading into back yard with a little barn type shed out back. My truck often was used in back yard for yard stuff and all them boxes of hulls that just appeared in my truck bed.
"Honey, why are driving around the back yard?"
"If I drive on this part - I won't have to mow it - If I drive over there, I can level out the dirt..."
"Why is the dog in the bed?"
"He is watching out for lawn logs and dirt sharks".
BTW - One of Mentors & Elders, born and raised in PA taught me the " lawn logs and dirt sharks", line. He taught me - a southern boy that line.
Post by: Guest on November 25, 2005, 06:10:50 PM
Post by: K Frame on November 25, 2005, 09:06:40 PM
Post by: roo_ster on November 26, 2005, 02:09:25 AM
Post by: Smoke on November 26, 2005, 04:34:54 AM
Quote
They have a nice big garage and a driveway that will accomodate several cars.
BUt if the car in the garage is blocked in by the cars behind, you have to play vehicle shuffle to get yours out.Parkin' in the grass allows any car to leave without having to move the others first.
Smoke
Post by: grampster on November 26, 2005, 06:00:18 AM
I live in a rural area that attracts a lot of trunkies from the city because of the two rivers, bunch of lakes and oak and piney woods. We are also a magnet for those folks that my builder friend likes to describe as..."Their family tree is a straight line."
Post by: El Tejon on November 26, 2005, 06:25:01 AM
We just got the crazy guy to stop putting sharks in his window, now this! I'll have to look at the city code and call the city attorney on Monday. I won't tolerate this, tradition or not.
Smoke, grampster, no, they aren't playing car shuffle. Just parked the %$$#@ pick-em-up truck on the lawn overnight! Geez.
Werewolf, that's probably a good idea and the best way to handle this. Maybe they just don't know that they are being tacky and bad neighbors? Maybe everyone does it where they are from?
Stand_watie, that's true, we had a lot of culture clash here when Southerners were immigrating north in search of work during the 30s, 40s and 50s. The opening of Thomas Sowell's book (Black Rednecks and White Liberals) is a rant by an Indianapolis resident concerning the behavior of the new immigrants. We passed a lot of laws against this sort of behavior, I'm hoping there's an ordinance against doing this as I do not want to spend time getting an injunction in civil court. However, Werewolf has the right idea.
Post by: Waitone on November 26, 2005, 12:52:17 PM
LT, just calm down and don't put your bowels in an uproar. Read a half dozen Lewis Grizzard books and you too will be assimilated.
To paraphrase a THR philosopher, "Indiana gets stronger everytime a southroner crosses the border."
Post by: jefnvk on November 26, 2005, 02:51:54 PM
Why? Garage holds things that we don't want left outside. There is room to park all the cars on the driveway, if you want to back out onto a busy road. Easier to just put a few cars on the lawn, that way everyone can pull straight out.
Also nice to keep the driveway clear for visitors, or if you need to do anythign on the driveway.
Post by: Guest on November 26, 2005, 03:04:05 PM
Dang.
Post by: bratch on November 26, 2005, 03:51:01 PM
As a person who grew up out a little ways from town and now moving into town its crap like this that really drives me nuts. My town has recently passed a new set of regulations to punish "nusiance houses" limiting what you can do with your house and what you can have in your bak yard. Too many violations and they can condemn your property.
As soon as I can get the chance I'm the &*$^ outta here. The ONLY advantage I have seen is convience with lots of stuff being fairly close.
RANT off
Post by: Felonious Monk/Fignozzle on November 26, 2005, 04:02:51 PM
He's a law-critter. It's what they "do".
Fig
Post by: El Tejon on November 27, 2005, 05:03:12 AM
This morning my neighbor was walking her dog and told me that she talked to the new guy and he moved his truck immediately and apologized. Apparently he is a lineman for one of the power companies here. Got called out, moved his truck so his work truck could get by and then left (forgot to move it back). The job lasted longer than he thought it would and he stayed in a motel overnight. Wife was gone with kids to see their relatives in KY for the holiday weekend.
Wait, that's sound advice. But you know how yuppie scum are with houses that they have worked to improve and kill mortgages on!:D The sharks in the window were enough to do me in and now this! Actually, isn't the flow from the North to the South now? All those damn Yankees down there doing Yankee-like things?
Barbara, yes, an injunction is the proper remedy, not suing them for money. Money damages are too speculative, better to sue for an injunction and not have an individual commit the harm again (especially if the harm is easy to correct). I would have to go injunction since there is nothing about it in the city code (*kicks rocks* I'm going to change that too). No one is allowed to harm their neighbor with their property, it's just not usufruct like Tommy Jefferson said.
Post by: Smith on November 27, 2005, 05:15:27 AM
Post by: Guest on November 27, 2005, 06:53:03 AM
Post by: El Tejon on November 27, 2005, 07:34:45 AM
I do ever so enjoy goose stepping around the back patio in khaki. I set five year growth goals for my Norwegian spruces in the back, practice weed control with an Italian pistol, and end my speeches to the grass with "one lawn, one leader."I can sleep though loud parties and pick up cigarettes butts, but the stuff that permanently affects me drives me nuts.
Barbara, fat lady cut outs? Uh oh, is this something I need to look out for? What exactly is this? FWIW, if he leaves his truck off his lawn, then no reason to do anything. Hopefully this was a one time incident and there is no need to correct his behavior--I hope, I hope, I hope.
Post by: K Frame on November 27, 2005, 07:45:17 AM
Give me the guy's address. I have some pink flamingos and a couple of big plastic barrel cacti that I want to send to him...
Post by: Guest on November 27, 2005, 07:52:49 AM
Post by: El Tejon on November 27, 2005, 07:59:52 AM
Barbar, good grief. You put that on your lawn?
Post by: Gewehr98 on November 27, 2005, 08:07:19 AM
Post by: Guest on November 27, 2005, 09:18:22 AM
Post by: grampster on November 27, 2005, 01:24:42 PM
I see your lady is quite respectable and properly conservative. Must be that college nearby.
El T,
Images such as Barbara has blessed you with, help keep the deer out of the flower beds and irritate the Trunkies.
Post by: Justin on November 27, 2005, 01:35:03 PM
Quote
They are all moved in now, but they continue to park their cars on their lawn (I could see it if moving furniture or something) overnight.
Just wait. In the spring they'll sprout cinder blocks!/yeah, I know, late with the punch line.
Post by: Guest on November 27, 2005, 03:55:57 PM
A township near here hired a firm out of Kalamazoo to draft their zoning regulations a few years ago. That was a good idea. They banned parking 3/4 ton pick up trucks in driveways. In a rural farming community. The entire township board was recalled and publicly shamed for that little stroke of genius.
After that, the township I lived in at the time hired the same firm, so I began regularly attending the planning meetings so I would know ahead of time if my shrubs were out of regulation. The guy from the consulting firm did a presentation to the committee one evening, and warned them that if they didn't fix the (mostly dirt) roads, they'd never get any industry there. To which one of committee member responded by grabbing the straps to his bibs with his thumbs and declaring if that was the case, he'd be out there at 6:00 am the next day digging bigger holes. I thought the planning guy was going to have a stroke.
Post by: grampster on November 27, 2005, 04:11:48 PM
I think we succeeded. Not everybody is happy, but we still have a lot of dirt roads, no road millage, a lot of woods, water, prairie and it still looks pretty much like the 50's around here, even tho we have 3 times as many people. We decided to let all the modern crap happen in the city of Newaygo and keep our township as rural as possible. Makes the city happy cause they get the business tax base and we get to keep the trees.
Post by: El Tejon on November 28, 2005, 01:32:38 AM
Keeping trucks out of driveways! I would prefer they park them there rather than in the street or on their lawns. Geez, why have a garage if you aren't going to use it for your vehicles?
Post by: ...has left the building. on November 28, 2005, 08:24:54 AM
Quote from: El Tejon
Barbara, that place is called The North!:D The North where the Yuppie Yard Nazis plot late into the night. Dreaming of manicured lawns, fresh paint, hidden garbage cans, closed doors, quiet households, and living uptight and out of sight!
Keeping trucks out of driveways! I would prefer they park them there rather than in the street or on their lawns. Geez, why have a garage if you aren't going to use it for your vehicles?
In my subdivision, quite a few of my neighbors basically have a living room in their garages. It must suck if you wife hates you so much that you sit in the garage to drink beer and watch TV.
Keeping trucks out of driveways! I would prefer they park them there rather than in the street or on their lawns. Geez, why have a garage if you aren't going to use it for your vehicles?
Post by: El Tejon on November 28, 2005, 09:26:22 AM
Post by: Smith on November 28, 2005, 10:34:25 AM
Post by: vernal45 on November 28, 2005, 12:07:17 PM
Quote
An injunction? Against a person putting their personally owned vehicle whereever on their personally owned property they want to?
Its his lawn. He owns the property, owns the vehicles. You dont. Its his Lawn, his vehicles, he can park them any damn place he wants. Jeez. Let people live their own way. I can see you getting upset if he parked on YOUR lawn. Man, sound like the gun grabbers. He has a gun, I want to file an injuction to keep him from owning a gun.
Post by: El Tejon on November 29, 2005, 03:16:20 AM
It's my stereo, I cannot play it as loud as loud as I wish. It's my trash, I cannot heap in my front yard. It's my vehicle, I cannot jack it up on blocks and put it in my yard to negatively impact the value of homes in the neighborhood.
Everyone forgets that freedoms involves duties. Re-committing ourselves to our duties, e.g. duty not to destroy property values, whether in our neighborhoods or in the RKBA movement would do us all very well.
I pray nothing is necessary as his truck continues to remain off his lawn. However, I will let no man attempt to destroy the blood, sweat and tears that I have poured into my house.
Post by: El Tejon on November 29, 2005, 03:31:25 AM
I CAN get upset at the general notion of people, at least in my neighborhood, parking in their lawns. Hopefully the city council will take up my motion next meeting.
Post by: Jamisjockey on November 29, 2005, 04:27:15 AM
Quote from: El Tejon
Have a new family in the neighborhood. They bought the place across the street from the crazy man who used to put stuffed sharks in his window.
They are from Virginia. They are all moved in now, but they continue to park their cars on their lawn (I could see it if moving furniture or something) overnight. I have never seen this and find it very strange. They have a nice big garage and a driveway that will accomodate several cars. Why park their cars there? Now I understand from watching CMT (that video "Hicktown") that Southerners sometimes drive their pick ups off roads and into mud, but why do it on your lawn?
I asked some people in the neighborhood and they frowned and said it was a Southern tradition. WTH? Some please explain?
Dude, my wife's familia is from Indiana, ya'll have just as many toothless redneck trash as the south.
They are from Virginia. They are all moved in now, but they continue to park their cars on their lawn (I could see it if moving furniture or something) overnight. I have never seen this and find it very strange. They have a nice big garage and a driveway that will accomodate several cars. Why park their cars there? Now I understand from watching CMT (that video "Hicktown") that Southerners sometimes drive their pick ups off roads and into mud, but why do it on your lawn?
I asked some people in the neighborhood and they frowned and said it was a Southern tradition. WTH? Some please explain?
Post by: mtnbkr on November 29, 2005, 04:34:38 AM
Quote
Dude, my wife's familia is from Indiana, ya'll have just as many toothless redneck trash as the south.
All transplants from the South I'm sure. Chris
Post by: El Tejon on November 29, 2005, 04:52:07 AM
I have no problem with the immigration up here, pro-immgrant guy. If they want to eat Moon Pies and watch NASCAR, so be it, does not hurt me in any way. Destruction of my property does.
Post by: Gewehr98 on November 29, 2005, 07:05:07 AM
Sometimes I think Shakespeare was right on the nose with Henry VI.
Post by: Werewolf on November 29, 2005, 09:29:57 AM
Quote
Sometimes I think Shakespeare was right on the nose with Henry VI.
The reference escapes me. Could you be a little more specific, please?
Post by: El Tejon on November 29, 2005, 10:21:09 AM
Pirates, parrots, neighbors with destructive habits no one attacks my property without return fire.
Post by: USP45usp on November 29, 2005, 01:31:53 PM
.Wayne
Post by: Gewehr98 on November 29, 2005, 03:24:18 PM
USP45usp, I agree. In my part of rural America, we call folks like that nosey or busybodies. They usually get what's coming to them in the end.
Post by: w turner on December 03, 2005, 03:07:23 PM
Bwahahahahahahahahahah! You have got to be kidding me.
If I were that guy and knew you had complained about my truck on my lawn and it resulted in any kind of inconvenience for me ............well, let's just say that there would likely be a feud not unlike the Hatfields and McCoys in intensity, even if not in actual deed.
I would probably break up the concrete comprising my driveway, cart it out and plant it with seed so that it was all lawn. Of course, I could go the other way and pave the entire yard citing "allergies" as an excuse. Maybe paint it an unappetizing shade of green so I could claim I was making every effort to make it look like a lawn.
Go have a beer and chill out.
W
Post by: Werewolf on December 03, 2005, 04:34:00 PM
Quote from: w turner
I would probably break up the concrete comprising my driveway, cart it out and plant it with seed so that it was all lawn. Of course, I could go the other way and pave the entire yard citing "allergies" as an excuse. Maybe paint it an unappetizing shade of green so I could claim I was making every effort to make it look like a lawn.
Go have a beer and chill out.
Go have a beer and chill out.
You must think you live in the mythical land that used to be know as America. Wake up man it's all a dream; you don't. Zoning rules in most cities and towns be they in the south or the north would keep you from doing what you say you'd do above.
Hell - here in OKC there's a town called Nichols Hills inside OKC (it's where the rich folk live) where you can't even park a pickup truck on the driveway let alone on the lawn. Gotta be garaged or otherwise outta sight. First offense - ticketed. 2nd offense - ticketed higher fine. 3rd offense - towed. This isn't a covenant or any thing like that - it's freaking city ordinances.
Neat huh? This is Ameika after all where we can do as we please on and with our own property. Yeah - riiiiiight!
Post by: Guest on December 04, 2005, 12:20:48 PM
Post by: Gewehr98 on December 04, 2005, 05:32:50 PM
A national "Take back Amerika, park your car/truck on the lawn day", in honor of El Tejon and all the homeowners' associations out there.
Post by: Smith on December 05, 2005, 01:42:17 AM
Saturday we had two Christmas parties to attend. When we arrived at the first (held in a prominent neighborhood) we saw that to conserve space there were two cars in the yard (and we added to the five that were lining the street). I immediately thought of this thread.
Later, we went to my sister-in-law's (who lives in a very rural area and was having a party with ~100 guests) and immediately found a good spot in the yard to park. EVERYONE parked in the yard, as there were many cars there that night. Again, I thought of this thread and wished El Tejon would chill out.
Post by: uvakat on December 05, 2005, 03:01:36 AM
Okay this may be the southerner in me talking (actually I grew up outside DC so I guess you can call me neither a southerner or a northerner). I've seen cars parked in lawns as far north as NJ and NY so honestly give the southerners a break. It's more of a rural thing then a southern thing. Also you say destruction of property values? If your house doesn't have a housing association then pretty much your neighbor can do what he wants as long as it isn't against city ordinance. I'm sorry but you freaking out about a truck on a lawn is pretty rediculous. It is his yard and he can pretty much do what he wants. Turn it around. What if somebody told you that they get offended by your holiday decorations so take it down already cause it is tacky. You know Yard Nazis are about the worst people they are. There were no trucks on lawns in the neighborhood I grew up in cept for the few days people didn't want to do driveway shuffle or when people had parties and their own cars were still on the lawns in the morning (and before you say it's a southern hick thing, most houses in that area now go for 400K minumum not exactly hick prices).
Then again tell me where you live... I got some dixie things to send him. See if a nice stars and bars display will be better then a pickup truck :-P
Post by: cfabe on December 05, 2005, 04:16:25 AM
FWIW I live in a stupid yuppie suburb (working on getting out) and I'd *love* to be able to park in the yard. 5 people with 5 cars makes my driveway seem really slim, but I dutifully re-arrange the cars every night so that they won't ticket me for parking on grass or parking in the street overnight. It's so nice that the yuppies with the 4500 sqft houses with 4 car garages get to make the ordinances for my small, older neighborhood.
Post by: Smith on December 05, 2005, 04:30:29 AM