[DAVES]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I guess it depends on what you mean by "miserable living in TV."

By that do you mean:

people who look at what was considered weeds where they came from, and miss the grass?

people who are confounded that they have to wash the outside of their house every few months to get the mold off the siding?

people who would love nothing more than to sit in the back yard watching the sunset but are viciously attacked by fire ants?

people whose only previous experience with cockroaches were the little ones in their studio apartment that they shared with 2 other people in a city walk-up during their senior year of college, and now are seeing the "big guys" raiding the fridge and making themselves at home on the couch?

people whose previous community involved a majority of drivers who used their turn signals consistently and correctly?

people whose previous community did NOT involve a bunch of political nuts plastering "This guy sucks" on their bumper stickers and golf cart windshields and raising "this guy sucks" flags on their flagpoles?

people who didn't need deed restrictions to know that it was important to maintain their yard, and that an entire block of white crosses was actually offensive to some of the neighbors so maybe put those things in the back yard instead?

people who are more concerned about their freedoms and rights than peaceful cohabitation with their neighbors?

My -neighborhood- where I live right now, is mostly peaceful, we get along, we help each other.

But there's one guy who has a big ugly metal trailer on his driveway - been there for a couple of months, with no sign of them preparing to move it. It's a storage trailer. OUR deed restrictions don't prohibit this. And yet - he's the only one in the entire section of the Villages where it's "allowed" that has one. Why is that? To me, it's because - he doesn't give a flying fart about the rest of the neighborhood. He's allowed, so dammit he'll do what he wants and to heck with everyone else.

We have another who has parties at their house every week, which would be okay except their pals block the driveways of the houses next to them, they're loud and obnoxious, none of them are over 50 (let alone 55), and they're slovenly. They don't -care- that their neighborhood, while modest in quality, makes some attempt at keeping the properties maintained and looking decent, and that they are the ONLY neighbors in the entire neighborhood that are like this.

They live in their own worlds, and don't care that the entire rest of the neighborhood has to deal with them. They don't care that their next door neighbor has to endure seeing the guy sitting in his lounge chair with no shirt, in his boxers with an open front fly, displaying his altogethers to whoever walks past or happens to be out in their OWN lanai next door, just trying to enjoy the weather with a cup of coffee.

I shouldn't have to move. I was here before those people. And if I moved every time I met a neighbor I didn't like in life, I'd be living in a tent somewhere by myself.

You can't pick your neighbors. Sometimes you're just stuck with them, like it or not. You can't choose who will drive in front of you on the road. Sometimes you're just stuck with morons who don't know their left from their right. You can't choose who will drive anywhere near you - there will be pieces of crap who will insist on paying attention to their cell phone instead of the road while they cut in front of you and come to a complete stop in the middle of the road, because they need to yell at their spouse who forgot to replace their hearing aid battery and can't hear what she's saying.

Does this make me miserable all the time? Of course not. I'm mostly a happy person. Does it make me feel miserable during the individual incidents? You bet. It harshes my mellow. Do I get over it? Yup, sure do. Usually a few minutes later.

Does it mean I should leave? Nope.

Does it mean you have to be able to relate to it? Nope.

I am, however, amazed by people who are incapable of comprehending why some folks have - human responses - to human experiences.

Truth, before moving to the villages I became aware of an island for sale in North Carolina. It had a nice home, several acres and a wild herd of horses. It could be bought for one million. Not sure if I was teasing or not but I suggested to my wife we could set up a Kingdom and she could be Queen. That idea died in a Revolution.

That is one SOLUTION. Happiness is a choice. Perfection, is a dream that does not, cannot, will not exist..