I’ve had a few grumbles about the quality of neighbour we possess in our block. But things are looking up. The lady at No 8, she of inconsiderate recycling infamy from a previous ‘Neighbours’ post, had friends around last week for a respectable soirée on the balcony. Making the most of what is left of the warm summer weather.
One of the problems of our apartment block is that there’s no parking spaces set aside for visitors. They must park out on the road. But No 8s friend decided to break the rules, and double park. An act of civic disobedience which would normally have my blood boiling and my fingers typing out letters. But I decided that I would let this transgression go.
It’s rather a nice car, isn’t it? Brand new. And I do mean brand, spanking new. It was registered just this month. But if you’re looking at the car and wondering how much it cost, you’re looking at the wrong thing. I would not be surprised if the number plate cost as much as the car. Maybe more.
How do I know so much about the car? Gosh, hasn’t it already become apparent that I’m something of a nosy neighbour? But I can tell you. Whilst there’s something of an outrage at the moment about the prospect of Covid Marshalls and governmental encouragement for citizens to grass on each other, societal snitching is nothing new.
There are hotlines for informing on criminals, benefit cheats, parking offenders and much more. You can also check up on your neighbours cars, to ensure that they’ve paid the road fund licence. You’ll be pleased to hear that the Porsche is fully paid up for the coming year. I’ll not need to turn them in today.
It would be nice to have the Porsche in the car park permanently. It gives a lift to the area. Increases desirability and house prices I’m sure. But I suspect he’ll have better digs to return to each evening. Shame. We still await new neighbours, both above us at No 6 and next to us at No 2. They are both empty at the moment, but show as sold online. We can but hope for good ‘uns. Porsches are a bonus.
The Mexile 
We downsized in December 2017 to a bigger house! Strange isn’t it, the house we were looking at had two bedrooms and we wanted three but settled for four. Unless you live in a rancher (bungalow) people generally here tend to live upstairs with the basement regulated to recreation rooms, storage and spare bedroom(s) and possibly a toilet.
Having lived in another larger and growing city for nearly thirty odd years moving to a backwoods community was taken with a lump of sugar. However we have now moved into a strata which has opened my eyes to intolerance on a grand scale. Most of our neighbours are pheasant pluckers but there are a few choice human beings that have raised the hackles of several neighbours to the point that several of them have sold and moved on. Having taken the leap we’ve decided to just hang out and watch the havoc unfold from the safety of our balcony! Our next door neighbour has calmed down however our/his neighbour on his other side is a constant source of enjoyment and chain smoker complete with never ending phone calls coughing and cackling from dawn to dusk. Another smokes a curious concoction of pot in many flavours the vapours of which waft it’s way a little too far. Since pot has been approved for safe consumption here it has become more than annoying especially with butts being consumed by lunatic dogs.
Hopefully your new neighbours will be kinder and more considerate than some of ours.
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Mrs P and I would quite happily move to Canada, and I would happily work on the Canadian railways. But it’s not so easy these days. So you’re unlikely to end up with us as neighbours.
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As and American ex-pat now living in Mexico, I tend to make comparisons not just about your neighbors but ours here. But also in the US. It seems your comments with regards to that car and whomsoever be that neighbor is on the jealous side and kind of coated with a bit of envy. I imagine that the US neighborhood would quite similar. Here in Patzcuaro and living in a poorer neighborhood on would not dare to leave any car parked on the street. And if one did they would suspect that the owner is rich and have expensive things in his apartment. Not a good thing, better to no make such a show of such luxuries.
Rich
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It has become more difficult to come to Canada in recent years Gary but you could look into it if you fancy a change. It’s a vast country and with a population of under forty million there’s plenty of space. Of course Canada has been accepting refugees and has been issuing working visas too to possible interested parties. As a bonus the Canadian embassy is in London for all of Europe but I’ve heard it takes two years to process an application these days.
I worked with a lady from London a few years back her husband had been a fire engine driver and she was a homemaker (housewife). He got a job as a bus driver in Vancouver after some retraining.
When we came in 1990 it was a relatively simple process probably because my wife had Canadian citizenship and I being a mechanic with multidisciplines was a shoe in, who knows the vagaries of these things. I have to say though that Canada has been good to me and I’m not sure if I had stayed in Ireland if I would have been so successful either.
You see the funny thing about people here is that there isn’t really a class system and religion doesn’t have a controlling foothold here today. So if you are willing to work hard you will be respected for that and not what foot you kick with and you will find binmen and lawyers playing golf together and hanging out, going to baseball games or hockey. Another thing, the wealthy or well to do are a canny bunch as they will shop for the same deals as everyone else. It’s all about getting the best deal, it’s hilarious.
Maybe when this shambles is over and done with you will be able to move to another country easily or with less hassle if the passion takes you!
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