BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary

Subject: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Penny S.
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 05:47 PM

My neighbour has written me a letter, claiming that in his attempts to get me to carry out unnecessary work, he has always intended to be amicable. Some of his activities don't seem like it to me. As in the following tale which has come to me. The time scale has been compressed.

One morning, Mr Amicable woke up, and thought to himself, "I know, I'll be really amicable to my neighbour this morning." He went outside, and noticed her windows were open, so he moved his car and left the engine running under the windows to fill her house with exhaust. Mr Amicable smiled at himself as he eventually drove off. "That was very amicable of me," he thought. When he got home, his friend, Little Miss Amicable asked him what he had done, and he told her. "That was very amicable," she said, and kissed him.
Next morning he woke up and thought, "I'll be even more amicable this morning," and he waited in his car until his neighbour started to move her car towards the drive, and then drove at her. As he drove off, he felt really pleased at how amicable he had been. When he got home, his friend, Little Miss Amicable asked him what he had done, and he told her. "That was very amicable," she said, and kissed him.
The next day, he couldn't think of anything to do. When he got home, his friend, Little Miss Amicable asked him what he had done, and he told her. "That wasn't very amicable," she said, and hit him. Then the two of them started to bang on the ceiling and the cupboards and the stairs to disturb their neighbour. "That's better," they said. "That's amicable enough."
The next day, he woke up and thought, "I know how I can be even more amicable to my neighbour today." He waited in his car again until his neighbour walked to shut her garage door, and drove his car at her until the bumper nearly touched her. He drove off, feeling really pleased with himself. "How amicable was that?" he smiled. When he got home, his friend, Little Miss Amicable asked him what he had done, and he told her. "That was very amicable," she said, and kissed him.
The next day, he had an even more amicable idea. He went to the place in his flat where there was a tap to control his neighbour's water, and turned it right down. "She won't be able to say I haven't been amicable," he congratulated himself, and later, his friend, Little Miss Amicable asked him what he had done, and he told her. "That was very amicable," she said, and kissed him.

I don't have an ending yet.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 06:13 PM

There's the making of a song in there. Or an Edward Lear type saga.

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Penny S.
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 06:21 PM

Good thought. Can you suggest a tune? - Incidentally, apart from the hitting bit, for which I have no evidence, it is based on facts.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Amos
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 06:33 PM

The tune should be Tom Lehrer's "About a Maid I'll Sing a Song". It begs to lend itself.

Or that Flanders and Swann thing about Irving on the BMT subway race.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 06:34 PM

The Laughing Policeman occurs. You could keep the laughing chorus...

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 07:08 PM

That's the way to go Penny, just keep thinking alongthse lines and you'll stay sane.

It won't SEEM TO YOU like you're still sane, but trust me, Been There, Done That...

It's all a matter of Perspective - the further away you get, the better it looks...

My Source of 'Entertainment' has been quiet for some time now, must be on the meds again...



To fight him in The Real World, you need to DOCUMENT, in a reply to him, WHY YOU FEEL that his actions - as SEEN BY YOU - have been anything BUT amicable.

Actually the Song may help - you could always eventually sing it in court - as it was inspired by your Life Experience... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 07:09 PM

Too bad you're not Chongo's friend. He is specially skilled in dealing with those "amicable" types like your neighbour.

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Gurney
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 12:39 AM

AS Foolestroupe said, DOCUMENTATION. If you reply to the kind letter, explaining politely why you don't find the actions amicable, keep a copy, by carbon paper if necessary.

Courts rely on documentation.

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 12:25 PM

If you keep kissing him, it's anyone's guess what amicable thing he will do next. ;>)

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Penny S.
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 12:51 PM

That's his girlfriend kissing, not me. I've gone up to bed early with my specially purchased digital portable TV and my telephone extension. I'm not Little Miss Amicable. I'm Little Miss Harassed, with a detailed log of dates and times, witnesses of certain acts, evidence of deliberate parking to obstruct, and a statement made when I arrived into work, and witnessed by my line manager, about the driving at me when I wasn't in my car.

What gets me about this is that I'm an anarchist, or possibly an anarcho-syndicalist, I'm a believer in civil liberty, and now I'm forced to run flats meetings like a New Labour conference, and resort to methods of collecting evidence I would scorn in a government. He's the authoritarian control freak.

I have spent over four hours today preparing for the meeting, not counting the time on previous days, used up almost a whole pack of paper preparing documents of EHO reports, surveyor's reports, solicitor's documents, If I were our solicitor I could charge £700, whereas I have paid out about £300 to deal with the man and his mate.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: M.Ted
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 12:59 PM

Tell us the whole story, from the beginning--since you have painted a most intriguing picture, and, suckers for stories that we are, you have us hooked.

From what you've said, your flat adjoins another. Worse, you seem to have a common driveway. I gather that your neighbor has asked you to do something, that could be anything from removing a tree limb to filling a gaping crevice with crushed stone. You do not think it needs to be done.

Words have been spoken. They have escalated to hostile and threatening gestures. You have complained about the threatening and hostile gestures, and your neighbor has written you for the double purpose of reinforcing his demands, and denying the malicious intent of his vehicular activities.

It may well be that others have taken sides in this issue--some regard you as stubbornly intransigent, others regard him as a raving sociopath. Rest assured that your fellow Mudcatters are solidly behind you!

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: GUEST,Wolfgang
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 01:19 PM

Older thread about the neighbour

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: M.Ted
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 01:59 PM

Thanks for the link, Wolfgang. I missed it first time around. In reality, though it doesn't seem so, Penny, you have prevailed. Your neighbor has moved out, and is covering the retreat with smoke and noise. Hold your ground. In time, things will settle down.

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 04:28 PM

I take it that it's the same neighbour?

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Penny S.
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 04:37 PM

Oh yes. And he claims to have moved out (letting his property so he is still a director of the flats) because he could not sleep. He claimed to have no knowledge of what I was describing as harassment at our meeting tonight. Got that blank look, which I knew he would.

But, it looks as though we may have a resolution. Some of what has been wrong has been him wanting to know what has been going on, which fits a certain sort of mind. He has claimed he wanted discussion. He is a bit inept in getting it. He has not agreed to stop. But we left in a sort of friendly way, with one of his suggestions about the garden a good one.

So, hopefully, we've got somewhere.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Little Hawk
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 05:03 PM

Yes, communication can often help defuse problems. It's just that it's really hard to know how to communicate with certain people.

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 07:13 PM

Good luck, Penny. Keep at it and it will resolve.

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Helen
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 08:16 PM

Just remember that threatening physical violence, especially using a vehicle as a weapon, can be reported to the police. Your safety is what matters most, and letting him get away with potentially physically dangerous actions is not going to help anyone, especially you.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: M.Ted
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 10:00 PM

It sounds as if he's gotten out of a situation that he couldn't deal with, and is trying to mend fences the best way he knows how (which may not be saying much).

The charitable view is that he was in a living situation that he couldn't handle, and he was venting his anger at the situation, and you just happened to be in the way. "Charity" being a sort of generosity that one can extend from a safe distance. I hope that things are going to be better for you from now on.

Subject: RE: BS: Amicable? Not in his dictionary
From: Penny S.
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 12:25 PM

I hope he was all right when he got home. Little Miss is the type described in a book I've just been scanning at Smiths called "Queen Bees and Wannabes", and has gone in for serious rows in the past. (I've always been hopelessly inept at spotting the "alpha" female in my peer group (mind you, she's half my age) and exposing my jugular to them.) They are very difficult to deal with at school, though easier to spot.

It's clear he needs to know details and not have things uncontrollable around him - not quite the same as a control freak - so I'll be sending him updates on things even if there's nothing to update him on.

Penny