Been there, done that, drawn pistols on the property line. After several visits of the sheriff's deputies, moved to a better house. Several nuisance complaints against him filed in my name by complete strangers. A couple of years later and a new job in a more rural setting, over the river and thru the woods (literally). My nemesis ended up spending 10 years in prison for defrauding the gov on Katrina money; could not have happened to a nicer POS. One of the many factors that made me rethink my situation.
That did not make any sense to me. Who did what to whom? Sounds like a good story, but you're leaving out the things that make the story, you know, a story. Please elaborate! /RAF
Okay, /RAF, you asked. I will try to be brief, but complete.
Many years ago, I worked in the oil industry in H-town. We bought a very nice house in a gated, expensive neighborhood. Our cul-de-sac was quiet and peaceful. Our neighbors were wonderful. Our next door neighbor got his dream job and sold his house to - and I am not kidding - the then Light Heavyweight Boxing champion, whom we will call RJ.
RJ brought the ghetto right into our small slice of suburban paradise. Drug smoking miscreants on the esplanade in front of my teenage boys. Late night carousing; many times I could hear the participants laughing and bragging about waking up "that white asshole" next door. It got worse and worse and escalated until we were on the property line with drawn pistols. The sheriffs did little because they were not there and it was one's word against another.
So, I did the reasonable thing. I sold the house and bought another house deeper in the neighborhood. Over the month after the sale, the buyers of my house went from pleasant hellos, when they would meet us out walking, to dagger eyed stares and obvious anger. But, caveat emptor and all of that consumer shit.
A few months later, New Year's came. RJ's crew was drifting their hoopties around the esplanade to ring in the new year properly. The next day, the security folks called me to "follow up" on the nuisance reports I had made the night before. Au contraire, sir, it was not me. There was some confusion and I never found out who made the calls.
A few days later, as I was coming in from work, RJ was waiting in his car just inside the perimeter gates. He followed me to my house and sat outside glaring. I called the sheriff's deputies, put my pistol in my pocket, and sat on my porch glaring back. After 15 minutes or so, he left. The sheriff's deputy showed up, took the report, and gave me the report number.
Soon thereafter, I was offered a great job 250 miles away. I took the job and moved away into a rural community. The events described covered just over two years elapsed and I thought that was the end of it. I worked at the new job for 5 years and then the price of oil hit $150 a barrel and I got a great job offer back in H town. I rented an apartment and spent 5 and a half days each week traveling and working. Probably saved my marriage, but that is a different story.
So, I went back to H town about the time that the Katrina refugees were making their way into town. The rental folks were careful to describe the rental properties catering to that clientele. I got the message and ended up renting a garage apartment behind a house just a few blocks outside of downtown. It was an okay arrangement. I had shared the RJ story with a few folks at the office.
One day, a coworker asked me about RJ and mentioned he had been arrested. I researched it and found that he and his crew had embezzled about $150k or so from the Katrina relief fund and spent the money on hookers and drugs. He was caught, tried, and sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal charges, so no parole. Could not have happened to a nicer guy.
I hope this satisfied you. Over a beer or two, I would fill in all of the details that make this a really fun story. There is a lot more to tell, but it is only supporting info for a truly convoluted comedy of errors.
Standard "upscale" Florida development for Northern Complaints. "Water" access- note all the little canals. I've been in a few of these; they are nice enough, overpriced, and a good way to concentrate the idiocracy to the benefit of the rest of us.
Take a moment to contemplate how a place like that gets out of the way of a hurricane. It's a planned disaster. Great while it's nice, horrific if not.
Spent a couple of years in FL in the early 70's building shit like that. Couldn't pay me to move back. At the time I was understanding that the highest natural elevation in FLA was 25 feet above sea level. So.....
It's already happened when they got a direct hit by Cat 4 Hurricane Charley on 8/13/04 with 145 mph winds. Tore the hell out of the place, but they came back. I was living in Tampa at the time and we were supposed to be in the bullseye but the storm turned into the Ft. Myers/Cape Coral area instead and spared us. All my friends who fled to Orlando ended up far worse off than they would have if they had just stayed put in Tampa. I still wouldn't want to try to evacuate a place this crowded which is far larger than what is shown in the picture.
Got to take the good with the bad living in FL but at least we live in a state with a sane governor these days who has passed laws against "vaccine mandates," where you are no longer legally or criminally liable if you have to run over "protesters" blocking the roads, decent weather for the most part most of the time, no state income tax and no sales tax on most food items other than prepared foods. I'll still take our sometimes overcrowded conditions over living in some libnut run 3rd world shithole like S.F., L.A., NYC or the shooting gallery run by mayor Beetlejuice aka, Chicago any day.
I worked on I-75 in the experimental stages, we were a few miles south Of Punta Gorda. We had rock(coral)crushers set a few miles to the WEST. They were setting up to start Dredging out canals for future development. I guess I shoulda maybe bought some land there? WELL SHIT. shoulda coulda DIDNT DO IT!
Yeah, like you said, No Fuckin Way. Thats as bad as living in one of those vertical high rises in (name the city) in Asia/chinklandistan with 2000 apts. in it, living like rats. Only on a horizontal plane instead of vertical.
Anyone trying to develop something like that these days would have to fight the EPA and a host of fed.gov agencies who would just keep delaying the permits until the developer went bankrupt. I have three sibling that live near, there who keep asking why I don't ever visit. I could email them this pic, but they still wouldn't get it.
Ya know Central Florida looks a lot like the Shenandoah Valley sans the Blue Ridge Mts. Lot of farm land cows and horses. Old country roads winding with hills. It really is beautiful.
All you northerners stay away.....this is a terrible place to live...we are all crazy down here....go to Arizona....and take your politics with you....
Just so you know - there’s probably more Trump 2020/Trump 2024/Fuck Biden flags per capita there than any place else in America
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that, drawn pistols on the property line. After several visits of the sheriff's deputies, moved to a better house. Several nuisance complaints against him filed in my name by complete strangers. A couple of years later and a new job in a more rural setting, over the river and thru the woods (literally). My nemesis ended up spending 10 years in prison for defrauding the gov on Katrina money; could not have happened to a nicer POS. One of the many factors that made me rethink my situation.
ReplyDeleteThat did not make any sense to me. Who did what to whom? Sounds like a good story, but you're leaving out the things that make the story, you know, a story. Please elaborate!
Delete/RAF
Okay, /RAF, you asked. I will try to be brief, but complete.
DeleteMany years ago, I worked in the oil industry in H-town. We bought a very nice house in a gated, expensive neighborhood. Our cul-de-sac was quiet and peaceful. Our neighbors were wonderful. Our next door neighbor got his dream job and sold his house to - and I am not kidding - the then Light Heavyweight Boxing champion, whom we will call RJ.
RJ brought the ghetto right into our small slice of suburban paradise. Drug smoking miscreants on the esplanade in front of my teenage boys. Late night carousing; many times I could hear the participants laughing and bragging about waking up "that white asshole" next door. It got worse and worse and escalated until we were on the property line with drawn pistols. The sheriffs did little because they were not there and it was one's word against another.
So, I did the reasonable thing. I sold the house and bought another house deeper in the neighborhood. Over the month after the sale, the buyers of my house went from pleasant hellos, when they would meet us out walking, to dagger eyed stares and obvious anger. But, caveat emptor and all of that consumer shit.
A few months later, New Year's came. RJ's crew was drifting their hoopties around the esplanade to ring in the new year properly. The next day, the security folks called me to "follow up" on the nuisance reports I had made the night before. Au contraire, sir, it was not me. There was some confusion and I never found out who made the calls.
A few days later, as I was coming in from work, RJ was waiting in his car just inside the perimeter gates. He followed me to my house and sat outside glaring. I called the sheriff's deputies, put my pistol in my pocket, and sat on my porch glaring back. After 15 minutes or so, he left. The sheriff's deputy showed up, took the report, and gave me the report number.
Soon thereafter, I was offered a great job 250 miles away. I took the job and moved away into a rural community. The events described covered just over two years elapsed and I thought that was the end of it. I worked at the new job for 5 years and then the price of oil hit $150 a barrel and I got a great job offer back in H town. I rented an apartment and spent 5 and a half days each week traveling and working. Probably saved my marriage, but that is a different story.
So, I went back to H town about the time that the Katrina refugees were making their way into town. The rental folks were careful to describe the rental properties catering to that clientele. I got the message and ended up renting a garage apartment behind a house just a few blocks outside of downtown. It was an okay arrangement. I had shared the RJ story with a few folks at the office.
One day, a coworker asked me about RJ and mentioned he had been arrested. I researched it and found that he and his crew had embezzled about $150k or so from the Katrina relief fund and spent the money on hookers and drugs. He was caught, tried, and sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal charges, so no parole. Could not have happened to a nicer guy.
I hope this satisfied you. Over a beer or two, I would fill in all of the details that make this a really fun story. There is a lot more to tell, but it is only supporting info for a truly convoluted comedy of errors.
Agreed. I hate people so why would I want neighbors?
ReplyDeleteI’m 65 and will never move to God’s waiting room, even if I was about to be swallowed by a glacier.
My same sentiment for sure - you do not want to be in one of these places when the SHTF.
ReplyDeleteStandard "upscale" Florida development for Northern Complaints. "Water" access- note all the little canals. I've been in a few of these; they are nice enough, overpriced, and a good way to concentrate the idiocracy to the benefit of the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteTake a moment to contemplate how a place like that gets out of the way of a hurricane. It's a planned disaster. Great while it's nice, horrific if not.
That is what controls flooding in South Florida. And there is some great bass fishing in those waters, including peacock.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t believe the picture. Looked at satellite images. It’s actually far worse than the shown. Far worse. File under nope, no reason to ever visit.
ReplyDeletesorta reminds me of a bad scifi novel
ReplyDeleteOne of those dots was my mom's house.
ReplyDeleteLayouts such as the one pictured are big reason that it takes forever to evacuate everyone prior to a hurricane. One bottleneck after another.
ReplyDeleteAint no way, no hell. I wouldn't even visit there. Rather slide down a bannister of razor blades.
ReplyDeleteLike bugs in a hive. No thanks. Man was not meant to live like that.
ReplyDeleteSpent a couple of years in FL in the early 70's building shit like that. Couldn't pay me to move back. At the time I was understanding that the highest natural elevation in FLA was 25 feet above sea level. So.....
ReplyDeleteMaybe eugenics isn't such a bad thing after all. Looks like FEMA porn to me! Ha!
ReplyDeleteGave me a headache just lookin' at that fookin mess.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Storm Surge with a nice Category 4 ought to take care of that.
ReplyDeleteIt's already happened when they got a direct hit by Cat 4 Hurricane Charley on 8/13/04 with 145 mph winds. Tore the hell out of the place, but they came back. I was living in Tampa at the time and we were supposed to be in the bullseye but the storm turned into the Ft. Myers/Cape Coral area instead and spared us. All my friends who fled to Orlando ended up far worse off than they would have if they had just stayed put in Tampa. I still wouldn't want to try to evacuate a place this crowded which is far larger than what is shown in the picture.
DeleteGot to take the good with the bad living in FL but at least we live in a state with a sane governor these days who has passed laws against "vaccine mandates," where you are no longer legally or criminally liable if you have to run over "protesters" blocking the roads, decent weather for the most part most of the time, no state income tax and no sales tax on most food items other than prepared foods. I'll still take our sometimes overcrowded conditions over living in some libnut run 3rd world shithole like S.F., L.A., NYC or the shooting gallery run by mayor Beetlejuice aka, Chicago any day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Charley
I worked on I-75 in the experimental stages, we were a few miles south Of Punta Gorda. We had rock(coral)crushers set a few miles to the WEST. They were setting up to start Dredging out canals for future development. I guess I shoulda maybe bought some land there? WELL SHIT. shoulda coulda DIDNT DO IT!
ReplyDeleteNo friggin’ way. I can hear my neighbors...They’re too gahdam close now.
ReplyDeleteAll of it made from land fill.
ReplyDeleteDe Oppresso Liber
Feels like a precursor to Stand on Zanzibar :-) Joely
ReplyDeleteYeah, like you said, No Fuckin Way. Thats as bad as living in one of those vertical high rises in (name the city) in Asia/chinklandistan with 2000 apts. in it, living like rats. Only on a horizontal plane instead of vertical.
ReplyDeleteAnyone trying to develop something like that these days would have to fight the EPA and a host of fed.gov agencies who would just keep delaying the permits until the developer went bankrupt. I have three sibling that live near, there who keep asking why I don't ever visit. I could email them this pic, but they still wouldn't get it.
ReplyDeleteNemo
Ya know Central Florida looks a lot like the Shenandoah Valley sans the Blue Ridge Mts. Lot of farm land cows and horses. Old country roads winding with hills. It really is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYes it is. And has some decent weather, too.
DeleteYou can enter cape coral but getting out of there is a real trick
ReplyDeleteI lived in Florida for 5 years. Left when I was 19. Never want to go back. It's a fucking cultural wasteland.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I guy I worked with for years, retired to Cape Coral and loves it... Screw dat!
All you northerners stay away.....this is a terrible place to live...we are all crazy down here....go to Arizona....and take your politics with you....
ReplyDeleteAnyone know what that shitstain is in the water? Upper right, that canal has a nice brown color....
ReplyDeletechillhill
Looks like it would be an evac nightmare.
ReplyDelete