what would you do? - strange neighbor

[bigfruits]

i recently bought a house in northern va. i am working overseas and right now only my girlfriend lives there.

the neighbor right across the street had a big, old tv sitting in the front of his property where he puts his trash cans for about 2 weeks. the trash collectors would not take the tv.

last night my gf came home and found the tv on our side of the street, in our trash area.

is this guy mentally unstable? does he think she did not notice the huge tv sitting on his property for 2 weeks or does he just not care?

my gf does not want to the confront the guy and doesnt want to move it back to his side as she is alone and wants to avoid any problems. i told her to move the tv into the garage and i would dispose of it when i come home for vacation next month.

should i let it slide and wait to see if anything else happens or should i talk to the guy when i come home in a month? my gf and i think its really creepy that someone would do something like this. im thinking this dude must have some mental issues....

[daviscw]

I would calm down first. I honestly don't think its anything to get worked up over. Do you know for a fact the neighbor put it there?

[Siebert Outdoors]

I was wondering whos yard that was. ;D  J/K

I'd have a buddy gently slide it back across the street late one night.

[Uncle Leo]

Send it back home, I am sure it was just lost.

[bigfruits]

im not freaking out about it, im just trying to understand what this guy was thinking. is he just a a** hole that knows that this girl living by herself wont do anything about it? or is he so stupid he thinks she wouldnt notice it came from 20 feet across the street? it blows my mind. either way this dude has problems. i wish i was there to talk to him. i told my gf to not worry about it but im unsure if this is the right idea...

im not positive it was the neighbor but who else would move the tv across the street?

i told her to send it back across but she doesnt even want to deal with anything that may become of that. she's scared the guy might be a wierdo...

[flechero]

im not positive it was the neighbor but who else would move the tv across the street?

kids probably...  

[J Francho]

I think you're making way too many assumptions about what happened, and probably a little worked up by being so far away - which I don't blame you for at all.  I know I'd be feeling as you do as well, in similar circumstances.  It might have been kids that moved it, or someone that originally picked it up, but found it was broken and left it "about" where they found it.

Question: how much will cost to have it recycled?  It may be worth it to just pay for the recycling, and then when you are home, let that particular neighbor know that you took care of his garbage, in a friendly, polite manner.  Be sure he understands that you won't be as charitable the next time his garbage lands in his yard.

[grimlin]

Just move it back.... ;D

Honestly,truthfully,have your girl call "special pickups",and then give them your address and find out what time they do these special pickups.Many states have these as far as i know of.

If they don't have these special pickups around your area....find somebody who buys old TV...you might just make money off of it.  

[Stasher1]

Just post it on Craig's List as a free TV. First person to show up gets it. It'll be gone in less than 10 minutes.

[bigfruits]

it probably doesnt work, even if it did, its been sitting outside in the rain for a couple weeks.

its not going to be a big problem getting rid of it. what bothers me is living next to a guy that would do something so stupid.

[flechero]

what bothers me is living next to a guy that would do something so stupid.

you've already stated that you don't know that he did it...  

the safest assumption is that you don't have all the facts needed to make an assumption.  

[BigBassGuy]

Do you have a Best Buy near? If you don't want to start something with the neighbor while the GF's alone, have a couple of your buddies bring it to the nearest Best Buy. They take old electronics for no cost at ALL of their US stores.

[bigfruits]

BigBassGuy- ill give Best Buy a call. thanks.

im 99% sure it was him...

i f'ed around when i was a kid and moving a tv across the street is not very entertaining. if the screen was bashed in then maybe id consider a prank. plus my gf works during school hours. it was across the street when she left for work and it was at my house when she got home around 3pm...

anyways, just wanted to hear what you guys thought about it. i'll probably ignore it unless he does some other weird thing. then its on, brother. block wars!

[fish-fighting-illini]

I kind of think like you do on this. Granted you don't have concrete proof but lets face it the odds are pretty good that he or a relative / friend of his did it. Hopefully the Best Buy thing will work out but here's a couple of other options.

 1)  Even if the Best Buy works out I'd follow it up though with a couple of your biggest army buddies in tow and the more weapons on display the better. Take a beer over to his house and say "hi my names so and so" and offer him a beer. Then tell him "I'm not sure what happened but somehow your TV ended up in my yard. Do you have any idea how that happened?" You don't even have to get a response ( probably better not to get one) as he will have gotten the point by that time

 2) maybe better yet to nip it in the butt early. Get a couple of your biggest baddest looking buddies to do this in you abscence. I would think their is a way to get it done via your base. Maybe the local police would pay a house call as a service to those of you serving over seas.

 3) just shoot him and save the rest of the world the trouble, one less idiot won't be missed j/K oc course

Good luck,

FFI AKA - Matt Crum

[daviscw]

Put a "FREE TV" sign on it. It'll be gone quick.

[GLADES]

What if the neighbor never put the TV at the curb, someone else dumped it there. What if he thought you dumped it there.

He might think you are the culprit. Nobody knows.

Dont over-react until know what the facts are. Chances are that you will have a big laugh about it and the guy is OK.

For now, just think about the safety of your girlfriend.

Pull the TV inside for now or have a friend dump it.

[drmnbig]

Tell her to put a "For Sale" sign in his yard one night and try to find his number to put on it.  Maybe he'll get the point then.  

I'd be the same as you though.  Add to that the fact that I'm borderline OCD and having trash in his front yard that long would have probably put me over the edge.  

[bigfruits]

yeah someone might have dropped it off by his trash recepticles and he thought about it for two wks and he decided to move it to my house. or maybe the wind blew it across the street. ive also heard of rifts in time/space and it could have teleported.

im going to ignore it, take care of the tv (that is sitting in my garage) when i get home. if nothing else odd happens i will probably never even talk to the guy. his house sits about 50 yards back from the road so unless were getting the mail at the same time i prob wont have to see his face. thanks for the input, all.

cheers

-z

[J Francho]

Fences make great neighbors. Fences with huge spears with shrunken heads skewered on them. I'm only kidding. It does sound sketchy to me. Like I said before, more so when you're away from home. Sounds like you'll handle the right way.

Neighbors can get really weird. I somehow got caught in the crossfire between two neighbors (like four houses down from me) down the street about feeding the squirrels. I basically said, yeah whatever, and sympathized with both parties, but told them I didn't care - pulling the "Switzerland" stance.

Next thing you know one neighbor is in my yard screaming at me, calling me a backstabber, and insulting me in front of my kids, and telling me that I had been voted "out."  Out of what, LOL? It didn't end well. He crosses the street in front of my house. Whenever I see a squirrel, I laugh out loud.

I think perfectly normal people go freaking goofy about little things when they see it day in and day out, and some just do weird things. I had another neighbor that would throw stale bread out in the yard to feed the birds. Problem was, she was feeding the rats, recently displaced by clearing of a field for a new firehouse, LOL. I told her stop, but she didn't. I covered the bread with rat poison. Problem solved.

[Dan:]

I think special pickup is like $30 around NoVA. At least I believe that is the rate for fairfax. If you end up taking care of it, just take it to the dump. If you are in Fairfax, the dump is out on West Ox Road near Rt. 50. It would be way cheaper than getting a special pickup.

Honestly, I would just ask the guy about it when you get back.

[deadeye32.]

give the neighbor guy a break, it was probobly his wife's idea. ;D

[Brute]

If you put a free sign on it, people will know it does not work and leave it there.

Put a "For Sale" sign on it and someone will steal it tonight.

Don't ask me how I know.

Brute

[Btech]

Id move it across the street and down one house keep her in motion!

[Uncle Leo]

I'm telling you the poor thing is just lost, send it home.

[Fisher of Men]

If you put a free sign on it, people will know it does not work and leave it there.

Put a "For Sale" sign on it and someone will steal it tonight.

Don't ask me how I know.

Brute

Ditto.

If that doesn't work, have her put it in the garage. You take care of it later. Don't assume anything. If the guy's ever out in his yard in the future, you might just casually ask if he knows anything about the TV. Remain courteous about it, but he'll know that you were aware of the situation.