"TomR" wrote in message
...

stuff snipped

To me, it wouldn't matter if the neighbors were morons or complete
doofuses
or even arrogant. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Just "keep your
eyes
on the prize" and give them a chance to put the dirt back in the whole and
finish the job.

Exactly. Keep in mind this is actually a "good" sort of dispute where one
party is making improvements to his home. There are other, more unfortunate
disputes that require less tact and more "act".

To me, the "call the police" sort of dispute is when the renters next door
have a 2AM bonfire in the backyard that causes a large apple tree to catch
fire with 10 P&F vehicles responding. And if you keep the cameras rolling
while it happens and you might be lucky enough to get your drunken neighbors
saying, on video, what "wannabe assholes the volunteer FD workers" were.

The arsonist neighbors were gone in short order, as they should have been
and the owner next door was more carefully about tenant selection. Document
any bad neighbor situation with video or still photographs, but do it
discreetly if you want to hope to maintain good relations.

If you're filming them shoveling dog waste onto your property, you might
have to forego discretion, but most times the pictures serve to refresh
people's memory or prove to a claims adjuster that the facts were as you
described them in your claim. Stuff happens, workmen get it wrong, all
sorts of things can make an accident look like a deliberate offense when
it's not.

And, yes, I like the idea of asking them to just remove the whole fence
while they are at it rather than trying to put it back up. As others
mentioned, it is in a bad location and makes it harder for Leza to do work
on her own house -- including if she ends up having to dig out her side on
the outsider to waterproof her own basement.

And IIRC, she had some basement water issues. Now might be the time to
address them with a work crew already on site. Good relations with my
neighbor means we often share the cost of landscaping, minor repairs, etc.
We even get good prices on things like roofing because of how much easier it
is for a roofer to do a two-fer. Yes, having a good neighbor has some
substantial payoffs. This thread has exposed some interesting and rather
surprising differences on "how to live your life" theories.

Or, Leza could just get a gun, walk over to them, put it up to her own
head
and if you don't stop I'll shoot, and if they laugh tell them, Don't
laugh,
you're next. (okay, I'm not much of a comedian, but you get the idea --
let
it go and move on).

Part of owning a house and getting older is to learn the difference between
a tragedy and a burned potato. Lots of people never get there.

--
Bobby G.