World's Best Neighbor

[danielj618]

I have stated before..I have the worlds best neighbor..the things he has done for my family... it's embarrassing

The topper came this saturday. I was at his garage and we were talking. I had to leave and he said. "Dan..I need to tell you something and I dont want to hear any crap out of you"..I said.."ok"??

"My daughter and her boyfriend borrowed some money from me. I pretty much kissed the money goodbye as it left my hands and now she has car insurance due and he isnt working right now and they are stressing..so here is the bottom line..you will have two cords of wood..(full cords mind you)..dropped on your property tuesday..where do you want it dumped"??..(her boyfriend also sells firewood)

I stood there with a confused look and said.."How does "them" owing "you" money translate to me getting two cords of wood"??

He barked and said.."I told you...I dont want to hear any %%$## out of you"

It is embarrassing and there is no use fighting..he knew we were low on wood..my wife and I threw two cords into our basement through the window last night..and today the Noreaster hit and we are getting dumped on up in the mountains

I dont know where this guy came from..another planet I think

he is amazing and we dont deserve him

 

[slowzuki]

I suppose the boyfriend did up the wood as a repayment? Dunno. I've got a great neighbour too, we were building our house this summer and didn't have time to get wood. He had helped out building so he said to come on up and grab anything he wouldn't put into his basement. Turns out he had about 2 or 3 cords of hardwood that had a spot of punk or mushrooms on it that he wouldn't let come inside, helped me load it up and pile it even at my place.

Between that and the piles softwood slabs from milling the lumber for our house we have stayed quite warm. Would have been a long winter without his help!

 

[BurningIsLove]

One of my neighbors steals wood from my pile, but not enuf that it's worth making a stink about. They only use their fireplace occasionally, the amount they take is insignificant compared to my 24x7 burning. Another neighbor has a fireplace and never uses it, and they have a very steep, wooded hill behind their house which loses a few trees a year to wind/snow. They let me take them out which is a nice local source for wood.

So in my neighborhood, it's give & take.

 

[bruce56bb]

awesome neighbor daniel, he must think pretty highly of his neighbor to do something like that.
congrats!

 

[begreen]

I'm blessed with great neighbors on both sides of our property. They know I'm a wood burner so when they cut down a tree, they ask me first if I want it. Ocassionally I'll come home and find a truckload dumped on our splitting pile. On the other side, our neighbor took down a few huge soft maples. We're burning it this winter and probably will be for the next couple more. He won't take any money so I go over and mow his field for him and help him out with stove stuff. Now he has a Spectrum classic and is a real happy camper and we get to swap stove stories. I'll be helping him rebuild the old Resolute this summer. Life is good when you have good neighbors.

 

[NFreiermuth]

Dan,

Great Neighbor you got there.

Doesn't that warrant him getting a case of whatever it is he drinks????
Maybe it could just show up on his door step like your wood did!!

 

[slofr8]

People usually end up with the neighbors they deserve. I'll bet he's got a pretty good neighbor too.
Dan.

 

[jjbaer]

I have stated before..I have the worlds best neighbor..the things he has done for my family... it's embarrassing

The topper came this saturday. I was at his garage and we were talking. I had to leave and he said. "Dan..I need to tell you something and I dont want to hear any crap out of you"..I said.."ok"??

"My daughter and her boyfriend borrowed some money from me. I pretty much kissed the money goodbye as it left my hands and now she has car insurance due and he isnt working right now and they are stressing..so here is the bottom line..you will have two cords of wood..(full cords mind you)..dropped on your property tuesday..where do you want it dumped"??..(her boyfriend also sells firewood)

I stood there with a confused look and said.."How does "them" owing "you" money translate to me getting two cords of wood"??

He barked and said.."I told you...I dont want to hear any %%$## out of you"

It is embarrassing and there is no use fighting..he knew we were low on wood..my wife and I threw two cords into our basement through the window last night..and today the Noreaster hit and we are getting dumped on up in the mountains

I dont know where this guy came from..another planet I think

he is amazing and we dont deserve him

Sounds like this could be a win-win......your neighbor lends $ to his daughter and boyfriend and when they can't repay it, he asks his daughters boyfriend to give him something (2 cords of wood) that really won't cost the boyfriend much of anything to get since he's in the firewood business. Sounds like your neighbor is extracting the wood from the boyfriend to let him know that the $ he gave him wasn't a hand-out and since your neighbor doesn't need it, he's directing the wood your way for free. Even after delivery of the wood, sounds like the daughter and boyfriend are still down on their luck and you could help them out by paying, say, 30% of what the woods worth to them and asking them not to tell your neighbor what you did..........that way you get wood at 30-50% of what it's worth, your neighbor gets the satisfaction of knowing that he made the boyfriend repay some of the money in the form of wood to you, and the daughter and boyfriend get a little extra $ that they sound like they need.....

 

[jjbaer]

I dont know where this guy came from..another planet I think

he is amazing and we dont deserve him

This is the way it use to be...people helping each other....now when it happens we think it's so rare that we think they must be from another planet...

 

[MrGriz]

I dont know where this guy came from..another planet I think

he is amazing and we dont deserve him

This is the way it use to be...people helping each other....now when it happens we think it's so rare that we think they must be from another planet...

It is sad that this seems to be the exception these days, rather than the rule. Don't sell yourself short either Dan. You must be a pretty darn good neighbor yourself or I'm sure that things would be different.

I am also blessed with great neighbors. It seems as though we are always keeping an eye out for each other and are always willing to lend a hand. There's never a feeling of "I owe John something because he did a favor for me".

 

[BrotherBart]

People usually end up with the neighbors they deserve.

Ouch!

 

[Mo Heat]

Wow Dan, that's inspiring. Makes me want to be a better neighbor myself...

Henceforth, I'm gonna stop bitching about dog poop out front and stop wasting my energy gettin pithed about it, too. Small price to pay for the two neighbors I've got on either side (they are not offenders BTW).

I've got a new neighbor, about 6 months now. The old one was okay sense I never saw him, and his 3 kids were well behaved and respectful, almost too much to wish for these days. I figured I was in for a real downgrade when he moved, so I hunkered down and wondered where the first pithing match would come from when the new folks moved in. Two kids, a big dog, no fence, and that monster pooch was running the heck all over the yard the first three weeks they were here. Uhg, I thought, this is going to suck. Mother Mo Heat (over 80) was almost knocked over by that big mutt. Something had to be done, we all thought so I stewed for a couple weeks wondering how I'd breech the topic when I finally met them.

This guy was on the road the first full two weeks after moving in so I never saw him until one day I was attaching the grass bags to the mower and he hails me, "Hi there". Ok Mo, this is your moment, don't get all "nice guy" and let the dog thing slide, I think. The first words out of my mouth after simmering about that big ash dog running wild for three weeks were, "It would be better for us if you could keep your dog in your own yard". Hmmm. I didn't realize I'd had that bad of a day, but for some reason that is what came out, even though somewhat uncharacteristic. The dog thing just was getting to me, along with all the other neighbors that saw my yard as a dog toilet.

He looked shocked. I thought, what the hell, it's better to make a bad first impression and a good one later according to all the folks that talk about that stuff, so I had the future to make it up to him. After the initial verbal regurgitation we settled in and starting talking about all sorts of cool yard stuff. He was a nice guy. I felt bad. Things got better. He has my chipper over there right now and he's brought me a venison loin and 2 pounds of ground on two occasions. Oh, and he had an electronic dog fence installed the next week. Luckily he didn't take a swing at me that first day.

My other neighbor is also a jewel. I gave him a nice bottle of bourbon for christmas. He likes the holz hausen.

 

[SlyFerret]

I don't know our neighbors real well. We haven't lived here that long, and we've had odd schedules so that we haven't really had much chance to get to know them. I'm hoping to change that.

Three times in the last two days, one of my neighbors came over with his tractor and plowed our driveway. I only caught a glimpse of him once as he was leaving. The other two times, he was here and gone before I even knew it.

I like living out in the country.

-SF

 

[Hogwildz]

Got a good neighbor here also. Got some decent snow today, 1-1/2' or so. Driveway is 1000' long and I was going to have to shovel. He came over with his old Intl. Scout and plowed her up. I shovelled the rest, alot of the upper drive drifted back over, oh well. Anyways, offered to pay him, he declined, didn't want nuttin. I said I gotta give ya something, asked what kind of beer he wanted, he said Milwaukee's Best LOL. I said comon, don't ya want a treat? He said nah Milwaukee's Best, $9.00 a case LOL. I think I'll buy him several, maybe stash some cash in one. Thank god for cool neighbors.

 

[mtarbert]

When my Wife and I moved to our new home a year ago two days later we had 9-10 inches of snow. Now we have a 200ft driveway and I really didn't feel like shoveling snow after the move. I get up the next morning ready to start working on the drive. All of the sudden a guy comes down with a snowblower and a cake. He ask if it is allright if he clears the driveway ( a retorical question , I'm sure.) So while I take the cake in the house and give it to my wife. The wife ask where I got it and I tell her "My new Best Friend" If just to have someone look after your home when noone is home is worth a fortune......good neighbors are a Gem

 

[colsmith]

Even after delivery of the wood, sounds like the daughter and boyfriend are still down on their luck and you could help them out by paying, say, 30% of what the woods worth to them and asking them not to tell your neighbor what you did..........that way you get wood at 30-50% of what it’s worth, your neighbor gets the satisfaction of knowing that he made the boyfriend repay some of the money in the form of wood to you, and the daughter and boyfriend get a little extra $ that they sound like they need.....

I think you are interpreting the situation wrong. The daughter and her BF needed more money, so the great neighbor says hey, here's $400, it's for 2 cords of wood for my next door neighbor. That way they wouldn't feel like it was borrowing more $$ from dad, but it was money when they really needed it. A great neighbor indeed!

We have a pretty darn good one, hardly see him, but once in a while (like today!) when it snows a lot he plows our driveway. When we were away for the whole winter (we used to have a sailboat in the Virgin Islands, sigh) he would drive in our driveway with his truck to make it look like somebody was around. I give him fruit sometimes, and baked him banana bread once or twice. And once at one of our parties a girlfriend of mine drove him home. ;-) His house is only 200 feet from ours, although it is heavily wooded between us, so we don't invade each other's privacy. My other neighbors are quite a bit further away.

 

[jjbaer]

I think you are interpreting the situation wrong. The daughter and her BF needed more money, so the great neighbor says hey, here's $400, it's for 2 cords of wood for my next door neighbor. That way they wouldn't feel like it was borrowing more $$ from dad, but it was money when they really needed it. A great neighbor indeed!.

I reread it and you could take it two ways: 1) that the neighbor wasn't asking the boyfriend to repay his loan with wood but rather that the neighbor was buying wood from the boyfriend in order to get them (the boyfriend and daughter) more money without making it a loan that he knew would never be paid back or 2) that the neighbor was asking the boyfriend for the wood as a way to make him pay back the original loan with something (wood) that wouldn't really cost the boyfriend anything. If it's #2 then that's where my suggestion was aimed at. If it's #1, it still applies because either way Dan's getting free wood and my suggestion was to pay the boyfriend 30% on the dollar for it and everybody wins....Dan get really cheap wood, the neighbor gives his daughter and boyfriend $400 and Dan adds a little to the pot because it sounds like those two (daughter and her boyfriend) could really use it.....just a way to help those in need without making it look like a hand-out because, in this case, a useful product (wood) is being traded......

 

[danielj618]

without going into the "woe is me" mode..the last few years have been tough. I went through a divorce and had to move to the country as I have family there..I lived at my sisters while they were in Florida, I rented a house from them and could barely afford it..and had no furniture...I have 3 kids that I love more than life itself and it was tough..I live 25 miles from their mother and I get them every other weekend..and twice a week..more sometimes =)

I could go on and on..church I went to pretty much disowned me..etc etc etc..my new wife moved from California and she has 3 kids too..she packed up her life..and moved here for me..we have 6 kids..money is TIGHT...we get by but Joe has just taken us under his wing

he tried to take us on a carribean cruise for 10 days..all expenses paid...I have never been on one..nor my wife..she couldnt get the time off...
he said we needed a vaca and some time to ourselves

the guy just goes on and on..calls everyday, helps me hang sheetrock, buys this, loans that..he never ever stops

the difference he has made in our lives and that of our kids is immeasurable

he is amazing

 

[jjbaer]

without going into the "woe is me" mode..the last few years have been tough. I went through a divorce and had to move to the country as I have family there..I lived at my sisters while they were in Florida, I rented a house from them and could barely afford it..and had no furniture...I have 3 kids that I love more than life itself and it was tough..I live 25 miles from their mother and I get them every other weekend..and twice a week..more sometimes =)

I could go on and on..church I went to pretty much disowned me..etc etc etc..my new wife moved from California and she has 3 kids too..she packed up her life..and moved here for me..we have 6 kids..money is TIGHT...we get by but Joe has just taken us under his wing

he tried to take us on a carribean cruise for 10 days..all expenses paid...I have never been on one..nor my wife..she couldnt get the time off...
he said we needed a vaca and some time to ourselves

the guy just goes on and on..calls everyday, helps me hang sheetrock, buys this, loans that..he never ever stops

the difference he has made in our lives and that of our kids is immeasurable

he is amazing

I hear ya...then take the free wood the neighbor's offering and let him (neighbor) deal with getting extra $ to his daughter.........

 

[NFreiermuth]

With the rest of the story added...

You DEFINATELY owe him a case of his favorite poison!

 

[HalJason]

Have a next door neighbor here in suburbia (wood burning in suburbia comes with its own challenges) who has been better than I had expected. He's older, does nothing himself (has someone come to trim hedges etc...) but has been very friendly and always interested in whatever it is I'm working on (spent quite a bit of time chatting with him while doing my siding last summer).

Anyhow, I got the feeling that he wasn't very keen on the wood pile that's been growing. He mentioned a few times "that's a lot of wood" and "my son in law uses pellets, fits a whole winter's worth in the garage".

Last summer, he paid half to have one of my trees taken down (he was concerned that if it fell, it'd fall on his house, so he offered to split the cost). Fair enough, but if he was upset about the wood pile before, he wasn't going to be happy about it growing on his dime!

Well, in light of the ice storm we had Jan 15th, where people were without power (and in general, without heat), I went over and spoke with him and told him that if we ever lose power again, he and his wife are _always_ welcome over. We have heat (wood, kerosene for backup), food (plenty of emergency food stored), ability to cook (wood stove, gas stove), light (LED lights, oil lamps).

He was VERY happy, must have thanked me 5 times in the 2 minute conversation. I figure if he's gotta look at my wood pile, he may as well reap SOME benefit.

-Hal

 

[Czech]

I can't tell you about my neighbor, he reads the forums here. Hi Mark..... ;-)

 

[par38lamp]

I have a next door neighbor that is good. The nice guy across the street (Don) was wanting to cut down two trees, a birch and a pine. Steve, the neighbor, offered to do it for Don so I could have the wood! I of course was planning to help. Low and behold, I came home one day from my 8-5 to find the trees felled, bucked, and carried into my yard!

I helped Steve one day move mulch, and from then on, he has re-payed my ten fold! He has let me borrow his tools (that he makes a living with), brings me beer his in-laws give him (doesn't like to drink), and even cut my grass when I was healing from foot ligament surgery.

I jokingly asked him if he was going to call in the favors and ask me to dispose of a body or something!

 

[Mo Heat]

Have a next door neighbor here in suburbia (wood burning in suburbia comes with its own challenges) ...

... if he was upset about the wood pile before, he wasn't going to be happy about it growing on his dime!

One of the reasons I stack my wood into a holz hausen is to head things off at the pass. I have about 5 cords of wood out back in an upscale, suburban neighborhood. If it was all stretched out in rows, I suspect my neighbors would be conspiring against me. As it is, I get comments like, "We enjoyed watching you and Mrs. Mo Heat build that thing", and "I told several people at the school about your unique wood pile", and "Our visitors asked us about that thing. They thought it was cool". All better than, "You sure have a lot of wood out there...".

The holz hausen is an important part of my complete "suburban stealth wood burning system".

 

[velvetfoot]

Do you think part of it could be that round is more friendly than square?