Towards A Virtual Williamsburg!

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally Posted by Flinty_McFlint

where is your god now?

"Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established."
— Proverbs 15:22

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

and only 1 suggested option still stands

"A man that has friends must show himself to be friendly."
— Proverbs 18:24

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

"A man that has friends must show himself to be friendly."
— Proverbs 18:24

and what the fuck does "The priest looks to me on land use issues" even mean? How often do land use issues come up with an established church? Sounds like you guys are the manifest destiny, or even the third reich of churches. I'm starting to think we are turning our considerable legal skills to solving the dark side's roadblocks.

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

Dear Brain Trust:

The church we attend is in a densely developed residential neighborhood -- 5,000 sq. ft. lots and overbuilt so not much for backyards. All of the adjacent neighbors are single family residences. The back fence runs about 400 feet and is the shared property line fence with six neighbors. Under California law, a property line fence is jointly maintained by both affected owners. In the past, when stretches of the fence were on the verge of collapse, the church would repair the fence with an agreement the neighbors would reimburse 50% of the repair cost, consistent with the law, but because the labor was always volunteer and the materials were typically less than $200 for each repair, we always ate the full cost, as a gesture of goodwill to the neighbors. One neighbor has been a bit of a dick by anonymously calling Code Compliance about visible recycling bins and such, but mostly we all get along with minimal contact.

Recently one of the houses changed hands and the new neighbors, as part of some landscaping work in their (tiny) back yard, installed a gate (?!?) in the fence. The church has been there since 1950 and there's never been a gate -- that part of the property is steeply sloped and overgrown -- kinda treacherous. The place they installed it is in the understory of a massive pine tree and was so heavily screened that we didn't even know about it until several days after it was installed. We'd planned on politely contacting our new neighbors to introduce ourselves and gently say WTAF but before that could even happen, a charity concert at the church was interrupted by 20 kids playing baseball (loudly) on our front lawn -- the overflow from a First Communion party the family was holding at the same time (they are not parishioners). Fortunately our priest was at the concert and walked over to address the noise/trespass issue. The dad was very apologetic but the mom was defensive -- "It's our fence, too; we can put a gate in it" etc. And then she says (and this is the part I'm curious about) "We didn't realize it was private property."

Okay, so, I'm thinking that's a flat-out lie -- that it's impossible to be a grown adult who can afford a $900K house and somehow think that churches are public facilities. Am I too deep into it to really know what's plausibly believed about the relationship between churches and the public? From contextual clues I think they're Catholic but I'm not sure most Catholics know how rigorously use of their church's property must be reviewed. I want to be fair rather than jump to the conclusion she's a chiseler.

Anyway, they broke up the baseball game at our request, and our priest e-mailed them days later inviting them to coffee -- no response yet.

All thoughts appreciated, including how you see this playing out. The priest looks to me on land use issues but I would advise him to be conciliatory if anyone thought the issue was at all close. I've got to reconcile the folks who want to bolt the gate shut on our side with others who think that will make things worse.

Kill them.

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

go to an animal shelter, you'll probably need to go to a neighborhood a bit poorer than yours, and get two rabid pit bulls. Tie them up just beyond the gate.

Next question?

[J. Fred Muggs]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

Dear Brain Trust:

The church we attend is in a densely developed residential neighborhood -- 5,000 sq. ft. lots and overbuilt so not much for backyards. All of the adjacent neighbors are single family residences. The back fence runs about 400 feet and is the shared property line fence with six neighbors. Under California law, a property line fence is jointly maintained by both affected owners. In the past, when stretches of the fence were on the verge of collapse, the church would repair the fence with an agreement the neighbors would reimburse 50% of the repair cost, consistent with the law, but because the labor was always volunteer and the materials were typically less than $200 for each repair, we always ate the full cost, as a gesture of goodwill to the neighbors. One neighbor has been a bit of a dick by anonymously calling Code Compliance about visible recycling bins and such, but mostly we all get along with minimal contact.

Recently one of the houses changed hands and the new neighbors, as part of some landscaping work in their (tiny) back yard, installed a gate (?!?) in the fence. The church has been there since 1950 and there's never been a gate -- that part of the property is steeply sloped and overgrown -- kinda treacherous. The place they installed it is in the understory of a massive pine tree and was so heavily screened that we didn't even know about it until several days after it was installed. We'd planned on politely contacting our new neighbors to introduce ourselves and gently say WTAF but before that could even happen, a charity concert at the church was interrupted by 20 kids playing baseball (loudly) on our front lawn -- the overflow from a First Communion party the family was holding at the same time (they are not parishioners). Fortunately our priest was at the concert and walked over to address the noise/trespass issue. The dad was very apologetic but the mom was defensive -- "It's our fence, too; we can put a gate in it" etc. And then she says (and this is the part I'm curious about) "We didn't realize it was private property."

Okay, so, I'm thinking that's a flat-out lie -- that it's impossible to be a grown adult who can afford a $900K house and somehow think that churches are public facilities. Am I too deep into it to really know what's plausibly believed about the relationship between churches and the public? From contextual clues I think they're Catholic but I'm not sure most Catholics know how rigorously use of their church's property must be reviewed. I want to be fair rather than jump to the conclusion she's a chiseler.

Anyway, they broke up the baseball game at our request, and our priest e-mailed them days later inviting them to coffee -- no response yet.

All thoughts appreciated, including how you see this playing out. The priest looks to me on land use issues but I would advise him to be conciliatory if anyone thought the issue was at all close. I've got to reconcile the folks who want to bolt the gate shut on our side with others who think that will make things worse.

What's wrong with approaching the neighbors and saying "hey, you're being kind of a douche. We get along really well with the church and you're making this difficult"

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

"Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established."
— Proverbs 15:22

Solomon must have billed by the hour, not the project.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Cleveland interview. Watch to the end.

Bonus: the 911 call.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

I want to know what "contextual clues" make Atticus think the neighbors are Catholic. Did they have tortillas at their cookout? Irish whiskey?

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

Dear Brain Trust:

The church we attend is in a densely developed residential neighborhood -- 5,000 sq. ft. lots and overbuilt so not much for backyards. All of the adjacent neighbors are single family residences. The back fence runs about 400 feet and is the shared property line fence with six neighbors. Under California law, a property line fence is jointly maintained by both affected owners. In the past, when stretches of the fence were on the verge of collapse, the church would repair the fence with an agreement the neighbors would reimburse 50% of the repair cost, consistent with the law, but because the labor was always volunteer and the materials were typically less than $200 for each repair, we always ate the full cost, as a gesture of goodwill to the neighbors. One neighbor has been a bit of a dick by anonymously calling Code Compliance about visible recycling bins and such, but mostly we all get along with minimal contact.

Recently one of the houses changed hands and the new neighbors, as part of some landscaping work in their (tiny) back yard, installed a gate (?!?) in the fence. The church has been there since 1950 and there's never been a gate -- that part of the property is steeply sloped and overgrown -- kinda treacherous. The place they installed it is in the understory of a massive pine tree and was so heavily screened that we didn't even know about it until several days after it was installed. We'd planned on politely contacting our new neighbors to introduce ourselves and gently say WTAF but before that could even happen, a charity concert at the church was interrupted by 20 kids playing baseball (loudly) on our front lawn -- the overflow from a First Communion party the family was holding at the same time (they are not parishioners). Fortunately our priest was at the concert and walked over to address the noise/trespass issue. The dad was very apologetic but the mom was defensive -- "It's our fence, too; we can put a gate in it" etc. And then she says (and this is the part I'm curious about) "We didn't realize it was private property."

Okay, so, I'm thinking that's a flat-out lie -- that it's impossible to be a grown adult who can afford a $900K house and somehow think that churches are public facilities. Am I too deep into it to really know what's plausibly believed about the relationship between churches and the public? From contextual clues I think they're Catholic but I'm not sure most Catholics know how rigorously use of their church's property must be reviewed. I want to be fair rather than jump to the conclusion she's a chiseler.

Anyway, they broke up the baseball game at our request, and our priest e-mailed them days later inviting them to coffee -- no response yet.

All thoughts appreciated, including how you see this playing out. The priest looks to me on land use issues but I would advise him to be conciliatory if anyone thought the issue was at all close. I've got to reconcile the folks who want to bolt the gate shut on our side with others who think that will make things worse.

You really want to be the church the tells the kids to stay off you lawn?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Let's invite this judge to post here.

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

Let's invite this judge to post here.

Anyone have a list of movies to which these guys supposedly claim copyright?

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by Icky Thump

Anyone have a list of movies to which these guys supposedly claim copyright?

Oh, bittorrent only. I was just curious, really.

[Hank Chinaski]

you know the radio commercial for name your price.com, where there is a white guy doing a fake black guy voice, now there is a new commercial where they give him a name; it's Leroy.

I listen to it thinking, is there some subtext, or is it just flat out racist?

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I want to know what "contextual clues" make Atticus think the neighbors are Catholic. Did they have tortillas at their cookout? Irish whiskey?

More than 3 kids, plus this photo he snapped from his church's side of the fence: