There have been developments at our block of flats since the last episode of the Neighbours. Flat 12 has now sold, and it’s not been sold to a Buy to Let investor. So the longest standing couple in the block are having to move away, which is a shame. Flat 8 is now on the market, so the young lady there will also be seeking new accommodation.
The new girl in Flat 2 stopped me to chat yesterday. She’d been worried that her music might have been disturbing us. It turns out that she’s not been having too much luck with her new flat. The lights didn’t work when she first arrived, the gas hob then tried to electrocute her, there’s black mold on an internal wall and now she has carpet moths laying eggs under her feet.
Her music hasn’t been disturbing us – modern blocks have pretty decent sound proofing. The revelation that she has an infestation is a little disturbing though. She seems a nice enough person, but we find that we now like her best from a distance. Let’s say two metres, minimum. Which is convenient, because we can all pretend this is to do with the virus, not her bugs.
Today’s featured photo is a ten minute walk from home. Bournemouth Gardens follows the deceptively named* River Bourne from the sea to about a mile inland, where it disappears into an underground pipe**. The river runs right through this shot, but it’s out of view. You can see a bridge that crosses over it. And behind the bridge is the plague of homeless drug addicts that fester in the park. I know this is unkind of me. But. Well. Sometimes, I am unkind. I’m afraid they do not make good neighbours.
* it’s a stream, at best.
** of course it doesn’t. It appears from, not disappears into the pipe. Water runs to the sea, not from it. But most people will walk inland from the coast.
The Mexile 
Looks like a very idyllic in spite of the homeless drug addicts out of view. I am quite used to framing my photos so that anything unattractive is not visible. 🙂
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They are not out of view. They are slap bang in the middle of the photo, gathered around a bench. You just need to zoom in a little.
They are also people, with stories, with problems and with shattered dreams. Most of them would probably rather have taken a different turn in life. And but for the little bits of good fortune on life’s journey that has shone on us at critical moments, so that’s its us casting judgment on them and not the other way round…
On the flip side, unsightly camps have sprung up across several parts of the town. They urinate and sometimes defecate in public. The language in front of kids is totally unnecessary. There’s the used needles left in and around the park toilet. There’s the crime. There’s the generally anti social behaviour.
So sometimes I am unkind. Other times I am empathetic. Most of all, I see a problem that could be helped, if not solved. But those with the means to do so decide not to.
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I don’t know why your comments keep going to moderation, by the way. I’ll try and fix that.
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Nice photo of the park.
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It’s a nice park, which helps make the photo.
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I will confess that I miss parks like this. Nothing similar here on the beach. But there is that big blob of blue just to the west of us. It is scenic.
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That big blob of blue is more ‘sunset friendly’ too.
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I have changes in my neighborhood as well. The ‘new’ neighbors across the road have split up and sold their home. It was expected, they yelled all the time at each other. Their house is set back about a hundred yards from the road in timber so it was not too much of a bother.
A big rental, about 4000 sq. feet, has been sold across the street as well. It was owned by a doctor who was really bad at being a landlord. The parade of clans that went through that place in the last ten years kept us all on our toes. Several years ago, I found a 19 year old man in my shrubbery, hijacking my WIFI at 12 at night. He was a gamming nut who’s parents turned off his signal at nine o’clock. I put a password on the router after that discovery. The police were there within a few days of my rousting the lad-they had started shooting at each other. We had a lady farming foster kids in that house once. She had over a dozen kids that she was collecting money on from the government for their care. The rascals burned the stairway banisters in the fireplace when the heat went out one weekend. It was a two month rehab after that group left in the night.
There is a five acre lot on the market that backs up to my back section, it was a small part of a hunting concession. It is very tempting to buy it and put up a more old person friendly house for Linda and I, something more apocopate for two people in retirement. I hate the idea of a mortgage again and there is the real question: Do I have one more build in me? Do I really want that much change?
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Thanks Norm, nice to know not all the wackjobs are in my neighborhood. Happy to share them. And thanks for the new word: apocopate. WTH does it mean?
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If we have a competition to find the craziest neighbours, you have me beat, Norm!
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apocopate=misspelling…
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