What Irked You Today?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sounds like you have a home owners association! I call this situation "Ralph Kramden syndrome" "I yam the president!"

I'm a home-owners-association nightmare. Have several inoperable cars on the property, actually WORK on them frequently, hang my laundry to dry in the sun and wind, and refuse to paint my mailbox the exact same shade of green as the neighbors.

Nah, I'll continue to live in older homes on big lots, built when things were a little different.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Tom Geiger]

A homeowner's association is the reason why I hope NEVER to downsize and have people tell me what to do. If I can't do the maintenance around here, I'll hire someone.

I'm a home-owners-association nightmare. Have several inoperable cars on the property, actually WORK on them frequently, hang my laundry to dry in the sun and wind, and refuse to paint my mailbox the exact same shade of green as the neighbors.

Nah, I'll continue to live in older homes on big lots, built when things were a little different.

I actually live in a big house on an acre. Most of the newer developments here in Eastern PA have HOAs originally set up by the builders. And it depends on who is running yours. When we first got here, the HOA president's wife would drive around and leave 'violations' in everyone's mail box. I got one that said, "Mulch your gardens" The next week I got "Remove the mulch pile". My neighbor told me to ignore them, so I did. They are gone now, actually sold their house and left, and the new board is much better. No issues, they negotiate good rates with service companies, maintain the common grounds and hold a nice Holiday party. So I get my acre mowed by their vendor for $30, and I did buy their approved mail box, materials and installation cheaper than I could have bought it at Home Depot.

[High octane]

I'm glad that my builder didn't even mention and association or I woulda said "see yah." The rules set by the village is enough for me.

[DrGlueblob]

Patti and I stipulated that IN NO WAY WHATSOEVER would we live in a HOA to the Realtor. We stuck to our guns.. We'll grow old and die here.

[Mark]

A few years back, someone who had recently moved into the neighborhood was going door to door with a petition to start a HOA. I seriously doubt that she was going to all that trouble in order to hand the reins over to someone (anyone) else once it was in place. After asking a few questions ("how long have you lived here", things like that) I politely declined to sign the petition, then informed her that I'd sue her or anyone else who tried to implement such a thing. When I was house shopping, number one item that I brought up with the real estate agent was "no HOA". I saw her walk over to a couple more houses, then apparently give up on the idea. I never saw them canvassing houses again, and I don't think they stayed too long after that.

I've always thought that life is too short to spend so much of it sticking your nose into other peoples' business.

[High octane]

Why would people, especially retired people want MORE rules and regulations?

[Pete J.]

Hyperbole! I am so sick and tired of every news caster feeling the need to exaggerate and make everything worse that it is. There are few things in the world that qualify as horrific, horrendous, ghastly or hideous. The mass slaying of 500 people qualifies. A two car accident on the freeway, doesn't. The kidnapping of hundreds of young boys and making them suicide soldiers, does. A father taking his child from an abusive mother, doesn't. An earth quake in Nepal that kills thousands, does. A shaker in SoCal that scares a few people doesn't.

Give me the news without all the editorial hyperbole please! I am capable of being horrified on my own without you telling me how horrific(in my mind the most overused work in the news today) everything is.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Pete J.

[Rob Hall]

Hyperbole! I am so sick and tired of every news caster feeling the need to exaggerate and make everything worse that it is. There are few things in the world that qualify as horrific, horrendous, ghastly or hideous. The mass slaying of 500 people qualifies. A two car accident on the freeway, doesn't. The kidnapping of hundreds of young boys and making them suicide soldiers, does. A father taking his child from an abusive mother, doesn't. An earth quake in Nepal that kills thousands, does. A shaker in SoCal that scares a few people doesn't.

Give me the news without all the editorial hyperbole please! I am capable of being horrified on my own without you telling me how horrific(in my mind the most overused work in the news today) everything is.

A local newscast here on Friday dramatized the rain we had that afternoon, hyping it up as if a hurricane had hit..

[Monty]

Why would people, especially retired people want MORE rules and regulations?

As I understand it, the original idea behind HOAs was to keep "blight" out of good neighborhoods, thus maintaining a great across-the-board appearance and keeping property values up. By "blight" they used to mean the sort of people who let their lawn go, parked their Camaros up on blocks in the front yard and let the house slowly deteriorate around them. OK, I get that.

The real problem with HOAs is the power those in charge have over the others. By the time an unwitting family moves into an HOA neighborhood, the "covenants" have already been voted on, and it's unlikely you'll ever get them overturned. On some of the car boards I'm on, homeowners who'd moved to a certain neighborhood without checking for HOAs were shocked to find that they were limited to certain shades of a given color if they wanted to repaint their house; service vehicles (plumbing & electric vans etc) must be stored in your garage at night and cannot be parked outside; no "maintenance" or washing & waxing of cars in your driveway or in front of your house, and on and on. And of course there are the self-appointed Gestapo members who spend their days making sure everyone's in "compliance". Some charters state that you can be heavily fined if not.

If you have the money, move outside of town and buy up as much property around you as you can.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Monty

[Pete J.]

By the time an unwitting family moves into an HOA neighborhood, the "covenants" have already been voted on, and it's unlikely you'll ever get them overturned. On some of the car boards I'm on, homeowners who'd moved to a certain neighborhood without checking for HOAs were shocked to find that they were limited to certain shades of a given color if they wanted to repaint their house; service vehicles (plumbing & electric vans etc) must be stored in your garage at night and cannot be parked outside; no "maintenance" or washing & waxing of cars in your driveway or in front of your house, and on and on. And of course there are the self-appointed Gestapo members who spend their days making sure everyone's in "compliance". Some charters state that you can be heavily fined if not.

If you have the money, move outside of town and buy up as much property around you as you can.

This is the same argument that people who move into a neighborhood that is on final for the local airport and then complain about the noise. If you are buying a house in an HOA neighborhood, the buyer is responsible for understanding the rules. Here in SoCal the law states that a realtor is responsible for providing a copy of the bylaws from the HOA before the purchase of a home and making the buyer aware that there are bylaws. It is up to the buyer to read and understand them. It is all about personal responsibility. Too many people want to blame someone else for anything that goes wrong in their life. Sign a contract? Make sure you understand it first.

[blunc]

A local newscast here on Friday dramatized the rain we had that afternoon, hyping it up as if a hurricane had hit..

well, unfortunately in todays media hungry society, if it isn't cute or life threateningly dangerous, no one will watch it.

here's a tag line that hits at least two of those "hot buttons"...

"Stay tuned for the pet owner that gets SLASHED by their furry friend." (well, it's really a fuzzy little kitten being played with...but it could have turned deadly in a heartbeat)

see what I did there...cute feline and deadly situation.

[Monty]

Here in SoCal the law states that a realtor is responsible for providing a copy of the bylaws from the HOA before the purchase of a home and making the buyer aware that there are bylaws. It is up to the buyer to read and understand them. It is all about personal responsibility. Too many people want to blame someone else for anything that goes wrong in their life. Sign a contract? Make sure you understand it first.

No argument there if you've been made aware. In the cases I mentioned, these had been regular neighborhoods until a cabal sprung up and had enough clout & numbers to force this excrement on the others. Seriously, you can't handle seeing my work van outside my house? And you get to dictate the shades of a given color I can use to paint my house?

[High octane]

Yes, even the weather forecaster seem to over exaggerate any kind of precipitation that may or may not be coming your way. I was going to a big drag racing event several years ago, until the forecasters made me change my mind. Not only was I sorry I didn't go, I was LIVID as no bad weather took place. Of course one factor was that the drag strip was a three hour drive away also. I'm almost to a point where I'm going to stop watching the weather forecasts, and just look in my daily newspaper and on Google.

[Toner283]

No argument there if you've been made aware. In the cases I mentioned, these had been regular neighborhoods until a cabal sprung up and had enough clout & numbers to force this excrement on the others. Seriously, you can't handle seeing my work van outside my house? And you get to dictate the shades of a given color I can use to paint my house?

HOA's seem to be a distinctly US thing. Haven't heard of any active ones up in Canada so forgive me if these are dumb questions.

How does it work if it is a regular neighborhood that you already live in and then they start an HOA? Can they force you to join and/or comply to their rules? Or can you tell them that you were there first and within reason you will do what you want on your own property and to your own property? and as far as fines go, if a police officer gives you a fine for speeding you have to pay it. But if a self appointed enforcer of an HOA gives you a fine do you have to pay it or can you tell them where to stick their fine?

[Monty]

I'll have to let someone with direct experience answer your questions. The situations I mentioned were from an HOA thread on a Corvette forum I'm on. I didn't even know HOAs existed till about 5 years ago, and I've never lived in one of "their" neighborhoods.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I think some HOAs may be getting just a little bit out of control...

DNA samples of dogs?

Fines for playing outside?

IVY??

Edited May 17, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Pete J.]

HOA's have been around for a long time. I have lived in HOA communities for the last 27 years. I can not say for certain, but generally the HOAs are set up by builders when they build a new development and are primarily there to manage common areas such as community pools, recreation centers, green spaces(parks and road landscapes). These areas are jointly owned by all the homeowners' in the development and they all pay a common fee to keep them up. The other rules came along later to control the look of the community to keep it the same and when the developer designed it. Rules get modified from time to time, but generally it is in small ways. I have never heard of a community setting up an HOA long after the area was developed, but then I suppose it is possible. It is unlikely that they could get away with imposing rules on someone if the HOA came alone after the fact without unanimous consent of all home owners. Kind of an ex post facto law type of thing. I would think creating an HOA after the fact would wind up with a lot of lawsuits and bad feelings. It is most unlikely that it would be worth doing. By the way the really bad issues with HOAs and contentious litigation are the HOA's in the wealthier communities where the lawyers live.

[Joe Handley]

Google Earth........

I'm going to top off my 200 before visiting Mom at the nursing facility she is now in for the time being and I was trying to map out a route using I-88 from the 2 stations across the street from each other that sells E85 and when I put one station in, it puts the dot 2-3 miles on the other side of the toll way from where the stations are. So I put in the address of the station across the street from the other one, now the dot is several miles south of those stations in the opposite direction of the toll way.........in the middle of a residential neighborhood?!

This is the only thing that makes me wonder about self driving cars, people can screw stuff up in an epic manner on their own, let alone with with GPS, I seriously hope that they get this mapping thing worked out before they start putting self driving cars on the road for public sale.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Joe Handley

[Pete J.]

There are currently 48 self driving cars on the road in California. To date there have been 4 accidents. Two with the cars in self driving mode and two not is self driving mode. I have no idea what to make of that.

[Joe Handley]

There are currently 48 self driving cars on the road in California. To date there have been 4 accidents. Two with the cars in self driving mode and two not is self driving mode. I have no idea what to make of that.

What's funny about those, from some of what I've read, if a self driving car that is driving it self and is in the wreck, it tends to be the other car's human driver's fault for Driving while Stupid!? I wouldn't be surprised if a self driving car could use these directions safely.......problem is being miles away from the actual address that you want to go to!

[Agent G]

There are currently 48 self driving cars on the road in California. To date there have been 4 accidents. Two with the cars in self driving mode and two not is self driving mode. I have no idea what to make of that.

Stay off California roads......................

On the other hand if those 48 cars were in Nevada, specifically the Clark County area, 45 would have been involved in accidents already. 20 of them with each other, regardless of which "mode" they were in.

G

[Joe Handley]

Couple new ones, got to the gas station to fill up and had to wait at least 10 minutes for the people who parked non flex fuel vehicles at the only pumps that sell gas and E85 to come out of the store portion just to I could go and fill up. While I don't know how busy it was when they got there, there were several gas only pumps open to use. Noticed the same for the diesel and gas pumps too, especially the one next to the E85 pump!

Then once I got on the tollway (cost me $2.60 in tolls, not going to whine about that though), there was a stretch that has car traffic allowed to run 70mph, but still restricts semi traffic to 55mph. The 10mph varience between 65 and 55 mph is bad enough, but why didn't they bump the semi limit to at least 60mph too?!

[Joe Handley]

Stay off California roads......................

On the other hand if those 48 cars were in Nevada, specifically the Clark County area, 45 would have been involved in accidents already. 20 of them with each other, regardless of which "mode" they were in.

G

Are you saying that the GPS is that innaccurate there G?

[Agent G]

Well this area has grown exponentially and has begun to do so again.

I do believe there is a common problem with those cars regardless of make. The nut that holds the steering wheel is loose.................................

G

[cobraman]