We live in a fourplex; there's a front yard that we share with the person next door to us--I guess we do, our house really has the frontage, but when we had to replace the tree a few years back, we both shared the cost, so who knows. I guess I should try to find out, Bob asked me to last weekend, but I haven't . . .
Anyway, the woman next door is really nice, but she's got about 87 people staying with her right now. Well, four, I think, six on the weekends, maybe. Two daughters home from college and one daughter and husband waiting for a house to be built (their apartment lease ran out). And over the July Fourth weekend, the other two girls' boyfriends were there, and they're there sort of off and on now, too, but the others are there through the summer.
In addition to a parking problem (each of the people in the house has their own car, of course), there's a watering problem.
There's a water faucet on the front of the house that is ours. The water faucet that belongs to the next door neighbors is in their garage. Weird, yes, but that's the way it is. But several times this week they've turned on the water to water the front yard, using our water. It doesn't seem like that big a deal, I guess, and I feel guilty feeling mad about it, so I try not to mention it, but Bob said he doesn't want to get a $300 water bill, and neither do I, of course.
I know I mentioned the water situation to the woman next door right after she moved in a year or so ago, because she was using it, and I happened to be out there, and I pointed out that she had a faucet inside the garage, and it was fine. I assume it's one of the kids who's doing it now, and I guess I should say something, but it seems so awkward, and I don't want to be one of those mean old women . . . "don't use my water, and get off the grass!"
It's 10:00 p.m. It's full dark. I definitely don't want to go over there and ring the doorbell and say anything; Bob said I should just go out and turn the water off, but man, I hate to do that, too. And I don't want to watch for them to come out and turn it off, and pop out of the front door and say something. Maybe if it was light, I would.
But the noise of it is enough to drive me insane. I'd like to sit here and read my book] in the peaceful quiet, but it sounds like I'm on top of a waterfall . . . Augh.
But ah! Someone just (10:09 p.m.) came out and turned it off, thank God. Bob was away for two days on a short fishing trip, and tonight he asked if they'd watered while he was gone. I said no, but it just occurred to me they could easily be watering during the day, although the lawn doesn't really look like it. Maybe tomorrow I can catch one of them outside and say something. I really hate confrontation.
