Van Woman With A Deathwish...

[BaristaTrav]

When I lived in South Fl, this blaring your horn outside the apartment complex at all hours was very commonplace. It seemed the idea of "I'll pick you up at this time, be outside" or "I'll park and knock on your door" was completely alien. Here in Texas, it's been very rare. Maybe because of the law that was mentioned..

[Pagan]

No kidding! I know someone who will drive the mailbox.....really??? You can't walk over there?

Heh, I've seen some do that here. But they don't actually park in a space. The parking area closest to both mailbox clusters (one right next to the front office) are very small and the spaces are almost always taken. So they just park in the middle of everything and block everyone in for about 5 minutes.

What makes me laugh are the ones that drive from my building to the laundry room....that I can see from my front door. They drive over and back to put the laundry in, drive over and back to move it to the dryer, and then to get it out of the dryer. Yet another case of it being more a chore to drive than walk.

[blas]

I openly admit in the winter time of driving my garbage to the dumpster, even though it's probably only 50 feet or less from my building.

The maintenance folk around here are so careless of the ice (and with the heavy elderly population around here, they ought to be ashamed of themselves for it) that forms and gets worse in the heavy traffic areas of the lot, and the fact that their Redneck Sand Truck didn't even do much as far as helping, that I declared that I didn't care how lazy it made me look, I was not walking to that dumpster until that ice was gone.

[Boozy]

Isn't it arguable what constitutes disturbing the peace? I mean, I thought you had to be in a verbal altercation or violating the decibel level.

It is arguable.

And that should have been your first clue that it might be a better question for Fratching.

Let's leave the police issue alone. I think the real intent was to discuss the sucky behaviour of the driver. Thanks.

[Sapphire Silk]

What would cops have done though...she didn't do anything illegal, did she?

Noise violation Horn exceeds a certain decibel allowance in most jurisdictions.

[Zoom]

Whenever I hear the familiar blare of the Sports Utility Vehicle's built-in noisemaker... I am tempted to ask myself the question, "What form of life could they be attempting to contact?"

Occasionally, I decide they may be trying to contact a human being, but not specifically any particular one, whereupon I prepare to go outside, walk up to the van, knock on the window, and say, "Yesss? May I help you?"

For it wasn't as if there was a name that could be deciphered from the long singular pulse that encoded the honk!

However, it never turns out that way. I usually end up hiding behind a curtain and shining a laser pointer into their eyes. (Don't worry about any damage-- they would NEVER get out of their van to beat me up, especially if they wouldn't get out to ring doorbells!)

[Pagan]

I openly admit in the winter time of driving my garbage to the dumpster, even though it's probably only 50 feet or less from my building.

The maintenance folk around here are so careless of the ice

You should move down here! The last time we had any ice of note was almost 3 1/2 years ago*. And they're actually pretty awesome at my complex with clearing the sidewalks. Well, wait until the schizophrenic spring weather settles. Tuesday, it was 80F, today it's in the mid-40s and we've got 40mph gusts. Sunday it'll be in the 70s again.

*We had like, about 3 ft of snow. That doesn't sound like a lot, but in that broke 50 year records here. And you could tell that we didn't know what the hell to do. The guys came out and shoveled the walks partway. Then they hit on the brilliant idea of packing it down the rest of the way. Then we had a hell of a cold snap. Can you say skating rink?

[Midorikawa]

Midori, why are u quoting Texas law?

Because I didn't know where the poster was from, so I picked the state I know the most about. It was more of an "this isn't technically disturbing the peace, although it could be tacked on depending on the officer. It really falls under improper horn use" example.

Just my 2 cents was all. Regardless, this goes into fratching territory, as mister moderator stated, so I'm leaving it alone.

[wolfie]

I openly admit in the winter time of driving my garbage to the dumpster, even though it's probably only 50 feet or less from my building.

The maintenance folk around here are so careless of the ice (and with the heavy elderly population around here, they ought to be ashamed of themselves for it) that forms and gets worse in the heavy traffic areas of the lot, and the fact that their Redneck Sand Truck didn't even do much as far as helping, that I declared that I didn't care how lazy it made me look, I was not walking to that dumpster until that ice was gone.

Have you considered something like these? Similar products are available through places that sell industrial safety wear (steel-toed shoes, high-visibility jackets, etc.), which is where I got mine. They work great, only problem I've had is that they chew up the aluminum steps on my truck really badly, but they're easy to put on/take off.

[blas]

I appreciate your suggestion and willingness to help, but I'm stubborn and believe it's the property management company's responsibility to keep this place safe, and not the tenants' responsibility to buy all terrain clothing to prevent slips. It's not like I wear stillettos on the ice in the winter

[Ironclad Alibi]

Have you considered something like these? Similar products are available through places that sell industrial safety wear (steel-toed shoes, high-visibility jackets, etc.), which is where I got mine. They work great, only problem I've had is that they chew up the aluminum steps on my truck really badly, but they're easy to put on/take off.

I wore a pair of similar cleats out onto my icy walkway. I stopped at the top of three steps going down to the driveway. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back in the middle of the driveway. I threw the cleats away.