What did you do today?

House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
A good distance is that you can't hit them with a shotgun but can with a rifle if need be.
 
Eddie, I can't say I ever thought about ideal distance between houses in terms of opening fire on my neighbors. :oops: I usually think in terms of visual privacy, how far everyday sounds (talking, music, babies crying, tool usage) might travel, and a general feeling of "is this enough space". My suburban neighborhood has about 50-100 feet minimum between houses which I think is a nice minimum distance. Newer developments adjacent to us have like 30 feet maximum which to me is "right on top" of your neighbors. (Those are following the "huge house on tiny lot" trend.) Being so far you can't see your neighbors is a nice goal for me as an empty nester but while I have kids being in a "neighborhood" is better.

Dogfight details:

Neighbor A was out front with her (largish) dog. Neighbor B was out front with her (smallish) dog. Both dogs were on leashes held by their owners. Dog A took off for dog B, Neighbor A was unable to restrain dog A and was actually pulled down face-first into the ditch (I suspect she was not holding the leash properly), dog A attacked dog B right on neighbor B's front porch/walkway. Both neighbors A and B tried to break up the fight and were knocked down (scary because neighbor B is quite elderly and frail and neighbor A is very unhealthy-looking). Other neighbors who were outside also tried to break up the fight. Neighbor A appeared to suffer injuries on her hands. There was lots of screaming and crying by both neighbors A and B. Within a few minutes dog B was dead and dog A released its neck and was then calm and happy ("I did a good job"). Other neighbors were outside too and made phone calls. (I saw it thru my window as I was on a work call. The kids were at school.) Shortly an ambulance arrived as well as animal control.

Just crazy.
 
Last edited:
Eddie, I can't say I ever thought about ideal distance between houses in terms of opening fire on my neighbors. :oops: I usually think in terms of visual privacy, how far everyday sounds (talking, music, babies crying, tool usage) might travel, and a general feeling of "is this enough space". My suburban neighborhood has about 50-100 feet minimum between houses which I think is a nice minimum distance. Newer developments adjacent to us have like 30 feet maximum which to me is "right on top" of your neighbors. (Those are following the "huge house on tiny lot" trend.) Being so far you can't see your neighbors is a nice goal for me as an empty nester but while I have kids being in a "neighborhood" is better.

Dogfight details:

Neighbor A was out front with her (largish) dog. Neighbor B was out front with her (smallish) dog. Both dogs were on leashes held by their owners. Dog A took off for dog B, Neighbor A was unable to restrain dog A and was actually pulled down face-first into the ditch (I suspect she was not holding the leash properly), dog A attacked dog B right on neighbor B's front porch/walkway. Both neighbors A and B tried to break up the fight and were knocked down (scary because neighbor B is quite elderly and frail and neighbor A is very unhealthy-looking). Other neighbors who were outside also tried to break up the fight. Neighbor A appeared to suffer injuries on her hands. There was lots of screaming and crying by both neighbors A and B. Within a few minutes dog B was dead and dog A released its neck and was then calm and happy ("I did a good job"). Other neighbors were outside too and made phone calls. (I saw it thru my window as I was on a work call. The kids were at school.) Shortly an ambulance arrived as well as animal control.

Just crazy.
Sounds like there could be possible legal problems for Neighbor A.

When We lived in California (before 2020), I was walking our dogs down the middle of our street towards a green belt at the end of the cul-de-sac. My dogs are largish (90 lbs) and a Neighbor B's little rat-dog came running out and started getting in my dog's faces. Needless to say, there was trouble and the little dog did survive but it was ugly. Neighbor B realized his dog was off-leash, off his property and that my dogs where on-leash so there was no legal action.

IMG_5537.JPG
 
Are the Humans okay?

Was there built up animosity between the Dogs before, like Dog B would just never shut up and constantly ran up and down the fence antagonizing Dog A?

Not saying there's an excuse, just saying what I think happened, lots of built up "history" between the Dogs...

Was Dog A euthanized?
 
Boy, here's a blast from the past! While I was looking for dog pictures, I ran across this kitchen remodel in our old kitchen in California.

I took off the cabinet doors and talked Ruby into sanding the cabinets. They were oak finished with shiny varnish. I also wanted to spin the island 90 degrees and remove the light box above the island since it wouldn't be centered above the island after the spin. New quartz counter tops too.

Kitchen_1948.JPG


After

IMG_0691.jpg
 
Speaking of largish dogs, this Great Pyrenees/Pit mix appeared on craigslist for free. Obviously the pit was a brindle. It has a nice head conformation and pretty face. IMO a bit too large for a house dog.

1679062760790.png
 
While waiting in the tire shop I saw a guy with naked ankles pretending he was sockless (it must be a fashion fad). I noticed that he was wearing those girlie socklets or whatever they are called but they were just peeking out a bit. I wanted to whisper in his ear, why not just man up, get some real socks, be comfortable and forget about what others may call fashion.
 
While waiting in the tire shop I saw a guy with naked ankles pretending he was sockless (it must be a fashion fad). I noticed that he was wearing those girlie socklets or whatever they are called but they were just peeking out a bit. I wanted to whisper in his ear, why not just man up, get some real socks, be comfortable and forget about what others may call fashion.
You shouldn't approach those kind of people.
 
I somehow hurt my thumb. I don't recall hitting it but do remember trying to turn a quarter turn valve at a hard to reach strange angle. Whatever the cause my thumb was swollen on one side and throbbing so bad that I could count my pulse. I made several attempts with needles to lance it. It was taking far too much force and I was afraid of overshoot. Finally I got the bright idea to use a travel lancet left over from my wife's INR checking days. I placed it on the best spot, gritted my teeth and popped the trigger. It did the job with only minor pain. Now I am glad I didn't toss those lancets.
 
I love anything Mexican and it's probably the only thing about California that I miss. There's one decent Mexican in Alabama but nothing like Super Taco in Elk Grove, Ca. They had a Chili Verde plate that was to die for! With corn tortillas of course!

Can you look for some of the food trucks? I'm not sure if that part of AL has them, but North AL (Huntsville area) have many of the food trucks these days. I hear good things about them.
 
Are the Humans okay?

Was there built up animosity between the Dogs before, like Dog B would just never shut up and constantly ran up and down the fence antagonizing Dog A?

Not saying there's an excuse, just saying what I think happened, lots of built up "history" between the Dogs...

Was Dog A euthanized?
No lasting physical harm to either human that I could discern, though Neighbor A appeared to have bloody hands.

I don't know if the two dogs had doggy beef. Who knows what vile things they barked to each other yesterday, but I never noticed any history of them yapping at each other or anything like that in the past, I don't know if they even had much contact. (They might have but only when I wasn't around? I dunno.) This is the first inter-pooch incident of any kind between I've seen in my neighborhood.

My wife said she saw Dog A today, so I guess it wasn't euthanized, at least not yet.
 
The cherry logs I cut up last weekend are still full circular cross-sections so now if I'm out in the yard with nothing to do I have an activity to pass the time: I'll grab my axe and turn one or two of the logs into triangular cross-sections while also getting a little mini-workout. This way they'll dry out a little faster, I figure.
 
Eddie, I can't say I ever thought about ideal distance between houses in terms of opening fire on my neighbors. :oops: I usually think in terms of visual privacy, how far everyday sounds (talking, music, babies crying, tool usage) might travel, and a general feeling of "is this enough space". My suburban neighborhood has about 50-100 feet minimum between houses which I think is a nice minimum distance. Newer developments adjacent to us have like 30 feet maximum which to me is "right on top" of your neighbors. (Those are following the "huge house on tiny lot" trend.) Being so far you can't see your neighbors is a nice goal for me as an empty nester but while I have kids being in a "neighborhood" is better.
That is a country boy statement w/o any intent. Much like the army using "clicks" (an artillery term) for distance measurement.

When living in Florida and Maryland living close was good for social reasons especially with the kids. In MD we had some wonderful backyard meals shared by several families. With my present five acre privacy there are neighbors that I know by name only so I am a bit of a hermit. My wife was more the socializer, me not so much.

My injured thumb that I used the travel lancet on is well into healing. I've been soaking it in a warm water solution of Epsom salts and FishMox (in a pill bottle) once or twice daily.
 
Last edited:
Can you look for some of the food trucks? I'm not sure if that part of AL has them, but North AL (Huntsville area) have many of the food trucks these days. I hear good things about them.
Yes, I live in North AL, at Lake Guntersville. It’s 45 minutes from Huntsville and we go there fairly often since it’s the closest big city.

When we moved here in 2020, one of the first things we did was go to the Space Museum. What an awesome place! Who would have thought NASA started here with Wernher Von Braun?

I got my first hint back in 2018 when I was living in California but working in the South Pacific. My radar operator was an awesome young man who was extremely bright. One day at breakfast, I asked him where he was from and he said, “Huntsville, Alabama!” I was a little dumbfounded because he didn’t fit the mold of what I thought a Southern gentleman looked or even sounded like. He had no detectable accent.

Anyway, to make a long story endless, two years later, Ruby decided we should get out of California and move to somewhere on the Tennessee River. She had fallen in love with the river. We found a place on Lake Guntersville (which is on the Tennessee River) but it’s not in Tennessee it’s in Alabama. We love it!
 
I think if I lived on a Lake, I wouldn't do anything but Fish while the Dogs ran around and caused havoc. Every time I have gone to a Lake / Ocean, all stress disappears. I don't think I would even get on a soapbox about idiot politicians.
 
Back
Top