# My neighbor, Mr. Ohseedee **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120 "2015-01-28T17:15:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/1 "2015-01-28T17:15:05Z")
I think I’ve snarked about my neighbor (the one in my front-and-center view) with his rather excessive yard maintenance habits. During the recent Great Blizzard of Ought-Fifteen, he set a new high. In summer, this guy mows his lawn incessantly - at least twice a week, sometimes more. I’ve watched him go (in about four years) from a standard riding mower to a large-ish tractor mower to, now, about a $8-10k Cub Cadet ZTR. His yard is not particularly large, perhaps a half acre in all. It’s very slightly hilly. It’s very well bordered and I think he can “overmow” every edge. During the summer, it’s mildly crazy-making to hear him fire it up yet again. He mows in the morning. He mows in the evening. He mows in the twilight. He mows in light rain. He mows when it’s frosty. (This is Nwingland; we often get bizarre summer weather.) Then comes winter. A dusting of snow; he’s out meticulously clearing his driveway (about 50-60 feet long, with a double-car pullout). There are at least four adults and thus four cars. One (Mom’s, I think) lives in the garage. Nothing much lives in the other garage bay, because (1) it contains a huge number of gas-powered toys and tools and (2) it’s only deep enough for a VW Beetle without the bumpers. So there are frequently three or four cars in the driveway that have to be moved to meticulously clear this snow-dusting away. Then comes a normal winter storm. As the flakes taper off, out comes either the quad with the snow blade, or one of his three snow blowers. (I didn’t know he had three snow blowers. Daughter #3 has an upstairs window that looks right out at him and she’s utterly unshy about watching his shenanigans. She says he has three snow blowers in the Batcave.) Then comes a big winter storm. He is outside clearing during lulls in the storm - which is not necessarily a bad practice, if you’re diligent and don’t want to face two-foot drifts all at once. But he doesn’t just do a quick clearing and go back inside for tea or coffee or beer or whatever. He completely finishes the job - plow, blower, shovel, broom, dusts the cars as he moves them, everything. Now understand, I spent two hours doing just that this morning… \*after \*the Great Storm. I snowblew. I shoveled. I moved the one car that lives outdoors (Daughter #3’s; life is tough). I scraped the surface, trimmed the edges of the ~30 inch snow berms, I tidied up. But the goddamn storm is _over_, and that’s what you do when a storm is _over_. Mr. OCD spent many hours outside, in what failed to live up to media hype but was still a big, pounding snowstorm that went on for well over 24 hours. Every lull… the OCD clan was outside frantically plowing, blowing, dusting, car-moving, sweeping, picking up stray flakes… in snow that then got so heavy we couldn’t see them any more, maybe 200 feet away. Next lull, there they were again. Every time his big driveway lights went on, I had to resist the urge to make popcorn and sit in the window watching the entertainment. I also had to resist both the urge to go dump a lot of snow in his driveway (for which I lacked a convenient method) or tiptoeing across, in the latest 1-2 inch per hour snowfall, to scrape HA HA HA in his again-soiled driveway. AFAIK, this guy is not any kind of public servant or emergency responder or critical personage - I think he’s middle/upper management at a car dealer. Even the other neighbors on the street who are yard-proud and snow-worriers are much closer to my end of doing things (when needed, and not in the face of nature’s undoing) than his. And his yard and house are nice enough, but no showplace - I used to live next to a guy who was tinkering on the house and yard 24/7/365, but it showed. Mr. OCD’s house doesn’t stand out in any way… and he has been unable to sell it in two goes in recent years. (Houses do not tend to stay unsold here very long unless they are overpriced or substandard.) All I can say is that the 3-Stooges entertainment of the last 48 hours goes a long ways towards offsetting the annoyance of endless summer mowing. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/2 "2015-01-28T17:25:49Z")
Just you wait until a Buffalo-level storm hits and dumps six feet of snow in your driveway, and watch while he runs out of gas halfway through. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/3 "2015-01-28T18:09:17Z")
Compliment him a bunch, bake him cookies, and very subtly imply that he’d be your bestest friend if he took care of your driveway too. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/4 "2015-01-28T19:39:38Z")
Maybe he just really can’t stand his wife? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/5 "2015-01-28T20:16:42Z")
Is it snowblew or snowblowed? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/6 "2015-01-28T20:33:12Z")
Snow. Blows. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/7 "2015-01-28T20:36:33Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Maybe he just really can’t stand his wife? A friend of mine has a “workshop” for just that reason. Say a chair leg needs some glue. He takes the chair out to his workshop (part of a detached garage) and glues it, then watches the glue dry. He can’t stand her, but can’t afford a divorce. So, workshop! ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/8 "2015-01-28T21:58:26Z")
Meanwhile Mr. OCD is bitching about how lazy you are for not being out there every lull to scoop your 3 snowflakes off the sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/9 "2015-01-28T22:31:11Z")
An ex-neighbor of mine acted similarly. He had a few short trees near our property line. Every year when it was leaf-dropping time, we would be out there 2-3 times per day raking what few leaves had fallen since the last rake. I am not making this up: I once saw him _manually removing leaves_ from these trees and placing them in a bag. mmm ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/10 "2015-01-28T23:21:38Z")
That’s nothing. In college my roommate and I frequently woke up to the sound of the landlord mowing the grass. But there wasn’t any grass in the yard. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/11 "2015-01-29T00:50:36Z")
Maybe he doesn’t like watching t.v. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/12 "2015-01-29T00:56:47Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Maybe he doesn’t like watching t.v. That’s what I was thinking. Maybe his yard is his hobby. And he can afford expensive toys to make his hobby more fun. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/13 "2015-01-29T07:03:01Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > That’s nothing. In college my roommate and I frequently woke up to the sound of the landlord mowing the grass. > > But there wasn’t any grass in the yard. On a long-ago trip through the southwest, I chanced to see a man _vacuuming_ his lawn. The local climate was unremittingly hostile to grass, so he had put down astroturf. (Another gentleman had gone the lower-maintenance route of simply painting the dirt green.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/14 "2015-01-29T07:28:17Z")
The lady across the street and over one house rides round and round cutting the grass every 3 days. First one direction, then the other way. It bugs me because of where my comfy chair is in relation to the open window. Compared to other crazy neighbor stories not a big deal, but what a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/15 "2015-01-29T15:23:34Z")
The man who lived next door to my family when I was growing up mowed his lawn every night. He used a push mower, so it wasnt really annoying. I think it’s the way he unwound after work. My daughter is the same way - in attitude, not frequency or type of mower. When we want to mow her lawn as a favor she tells us not to because she finds it relaxing. ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/16 "2015-01-29T17:12:19Z")
Amateur Barbarian, Please explain to me why you did not get the popcorn & watch the show. I watch these kinds of shows often. Heck, you could not dream this stuff up in one hundred years. They are very entertaining, more so than most TV shows. Do you think that he would be offended if he saw you watching him? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/17 "2015-01-29T17:37:32Z")
I know right. I hate people who take care of their homes and yards. They’re all assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/18 "2015-01-29T17:43:14Z")
Not all of them, but the ones for whom yard maintenance means firing up loud-ass equipment to achieve minor tasks can all go fuck themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/19 "2015-01-29T19:15:02Z")
Who was it who lived across the street from Ladder Man, who would find a way to incorporate a ladder into any random yard or home maintenance project? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120/20 "2015-01-29T20:05:13Z")
Mowers can be annoying but leaf blowers are the worst, I think. They are so much louder! But the operator usually wears ear protection which insulates them from how irritating it is for those around them without ear protection. And worse still, it brings out the damn OCD in everyone, from what I can tell. It’s not the twenty minutes wherein your actually working that is so awful, I can abide that. But damn, the last thirty minutes everyone has to listen to while you chase first one leaf then another, down the damn drive is crazy making, in my opinion. I could get behind a law that required they only work for thirty minutes in a row, then, you have to wait another hour before the damn thing will start up again. People would radically change how they use them, I think. For the better! And it’s always the people with tiny little yards too! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-neighbor-mr-ohseedee/711120.md?page=2)