They can't even leave us alone at home!

[SuperB]

We have the day off and I'm home sick with a cold and my husband was trying to get the gate to close. On his way back from picking up some salt for the drive, a car pulls in behind him.

What do they want?

"We're looking for a place to sled"

Husband tells them there is no place to sled and they're on private property and certainly aren't sledding in the drive.

"Then where is ___" (area where the business is a ways up the road - also no place to sled) Husband tells them.
Rather than going on their way they follow him down the narrow drive (private and only leading to 3 homes) and into our driveway and the idiots HONK THEIR HORN AT MY DOGS wanting them out of his way!

Pissed, my husband stands in their way and yells at them to "BACK IT UP!"

Then he got the gate to shut but you know what, it wont stop these idiots who think anything covered with snow is public property. They'll still pull down there and get their idiot arses stuck in the snow. It's bad enough when the neighbor sends people up to his place and they park, no kidding, directly in front of my gate completely blocking us.

I hate winter and I hate winter people. I'll take summer, climbers, hikers and campers any day over winter people.

[derangedperson]

You probably could've had them arrested for trespassing.

[crazylegs]

It may be worth checking the legislation re the parking issue as in the UK it is offence to block a driveway as long as there is a legal right to access the land by a vehicle.

[rerant]

I hate winter and I hate winter people. I'll take summer, climbers, hikers and campers any day over winter people.

Oh jeebus YES! Winter people just get on my nerves.
I could go on a whole rant about it but I think for the sake of my little typing fingers and everyone's patience I'll pass on that.
However I will never in my life understand how anyone can love winter?
Oh you want to go snowboarding? Go find a mountain, I'm friggen cold!

[TruthHurts]

I hate winter and I hate winter people. I'll take summer, climbers, hikers and campers any day over winter people.

Summer people are no picnic either. Back when I was a teen my house had a barbecue, huge picnic table, and a swing set in our yard. We also had a huge blackberry patch as well.

At least half a dozen times over the summer we'd have bikers or hikers just wander into our yard and use our tables, swings, picking blackberries etc etc. My mom encountered someone who had actually started using our barbecue (it was one of those iron grills you'd find in a park). She confronted him only to be told that "if it was a problem then build a fence."

They hightailed it when she threatened to call the cops.

[ArcticChicken]

It may be worth checking the legislation re the parking issue as in the UK it is offence to block a driveway as long as there is a legal right to access the land by a vehicle.

It's illegal in the US, too. One of the SUV people got three tickets when it parked in front of our driveway once. In about two hours.

[PepperElf]

that's when you do what one of my old co-workers did....
he had a neighbor's kid who was walkign around looking creepy like he was scoping places out for theft...

Keep in mind he made no threats or threatening moves of any sort...and what he did was perfectly legal, and is proper maintenance anyway

he simply cleaned his gun collection very carefully on the front porch.
(and yes the kid stopped snooping around the area)

[Seshat]

She confronted him only to be told that "if it was a problem then build a fence."

If it's a clear spot along a hiking or bushwalking trail, then it's probably frequently mistaken for a public park. Especially since the barbeque was similar to a public park's barbeque. In such a setting, I'd be more likely to assume 'park' than 'back yard'.

In that setting, then 'build a fence' is not an unreasonable suggestion. Probably the tone of voice was unreasonable! But providing some sort of 'this is private property' indicator is actually a good solution - at least for people like me.

Even just a bunch of low posts with a rope between them would have me assuming 'oh, this probably isn't a public park', and honouring that. Or a sign saying 'private property'. Anything that makes it clear to the ordinary person that no, this isn't a public park.

[marasbaras]

She confronted him only to be told that "if it was a problem then build a fence."

I had a property like that. One guy gave me a similar answer. I asked for his address.

"Why?" he replied.

"So I can go hang out in YOUR backyard."

Even just a bunch of low posts with a rope between them would have me assuming

Don't assume anything. We had barbed wire.

[PepperElf]

not sure about other states but... one of my co-workers had someone just walk into her house while she was out of the state for a while... (VA). when she went to the police to file a complaint she was told that she couldn't... before doing that she had to do the following:

1) put up "Private property/Trespassing" signs
2) send the b***h neighbor a letter stating that she wasn't allowed on the property (this also included not being allowed to talk to her or her children, but that may have been a separate issue, cos the neighbor was taunting/insulting the younger daughter over a recent court case (LONG STORY))

I can understand the signs but the letter?.... does that mean you have to mail a letter to every criminal who might break in too?)


Only other suggestion i have (besides cleaning guns on the porch) is to talk to their parents instead of them. i mentioned this before but mom had to talk to one of our neighbors once about her sons trying to run through the yard. at first the lady just went nuts and started crying, as if it was all mom's faunt....until mom pointed out that sis & i weren't always dressed properly in the summer (just tshirt and panties). suddenly the lady was all for the idea of keeping her pre-teen sons out of our yard at all times.

[csdrone]

Make friends with a tow truck driver. Have the sledder's cars towed (make sure there is a sign though).

[RentalRacer]

I love both summer and winter..I ski/snowboard/snowshoe/snowmobile/mtn. bike/kayak/hike/camp...you get the picture I'm sure.

My group is always careful to respect public property, and those landowners property who are nice enough to allow us on their private land. Access to such lands is a privilege, not a right. I would say in general those of us who are true outdoor enthusiasts share this belief and act accordingly.

It is the few bad eggs in every group that creates a negative image and bad impression for all of us.

[protege]

When my grandmother still had her farm, nearly *every* night, we'd get some redneck idiot parked in the driveway. What was he doing? Watching the deer in the fields across the highway. Never mind that you could *not* hunt there--too close to another farm, plus there was a road not far away. Most of them were understanding when we'd tell them to leave. The ones that wouldn't...got the cops called on them. Those fools simply couldn't understand that they were sitting in the driveway, blocking any access. How the hell could they not see that it went directly to the garage...

[bainsidhe]

Yipes, some of the stories you love CS folks are telling... I really liked the gun one though. I am continually amazed at the sheer volume of entitlement people express. And the neighbor who couldn't be cited for entering a neighbors house wrongly? Eep, I don't wanna live there if no one will protect you.

Last place I lived was with a friend who owned a house back to back with others. Kids from behind us (pre-teens and teens themselves, old enough to know better thank you) would climb the fence, trudge through our garden to make their way down our driveway. It was a shortcut to their friends' house. They would do this sometimes in the pitch black of night and have been yelled at for doing so. Does the fence stop them? No. The garden? No. My intimidating female friend who towers over me and looks mighty frightening when angered? Heck no. And if anyone were injured from crawling unwanted through her backyard it would be my friend's fault. How irksome. These brats have ridden their bikes through her backyard (you have to go through a small pathway to reach the enclosed backyard, it is not THAT open) and stolen toys because they were in plain sight. Damn right she yells at them when she sees them on her property. Grrr.

[Shards]

I'll take winter people over summer people any day. I understand that this is an unusual problem, but I'm a weightlifter. If I get bored, I drop and start doing push-ups. I have actually done my training regimen outside in the snow for shits and giggles in a muscle shirt and work-out pants.

I'm always moving, so I'm always warm. In the winter, I ski, I snowboard (Or, more accurately, try to.), I have snowball fights with kids half my age and I damn well sled, too. In the summer, I swim, and that's about it, and the reason for that, is that pools can get cool, and when your body is wet, you feel whatever cold there is. During the summer I can literally be naked, and, if there's no computer or gaming device handy, I'm still likely to be sweating and feeling like I'm burning up. To me, it's just much more comfortable to be in weather where snow is on the ground.

My basic philosophy is, in the winter, if you don't like it, you can put clothes on, in the summer, if you don't like it, there's only so much you can take off. I'll take the winter.

But that's enough of me ing.

Both opinions have merit, and you should respect people's property, I was just throwing in my 2cents as far as the winter vs summer thing goes.