My idiot neighbor - Again
 

My idiot neighbor – Bless his Heart. He means well but he is so inept, just total stumbling cluelessness. And he has a gambling problem.

I was renovating our wildflower garden last week, which involved reseeding parts of it. I had to rake out some patches of tilled soil and my back was killing me. I was OK with it, just gritting my teeth and getting things done, when my dear wife brought my neighbor over to “help.” I know what having him “help” leads to, but I said “sure” anyway, “rake out this area so I can seed it.” I handed him the rake, and he lit a cigarette and took the rake back to his car to get his cell phone, where he made a call. I could have raked the whole area out in the time it took him to finish farting around, but he had the rake. I then asked him to rake out another patch while I spread seed on other prepared spots. He raked it, then came along behind me raking out a patch I had just seeded! I caught him in time to stop him from doing any more damage, but damn. Just follow instructions!

So, he took off for Vegas to “play some cards” 4 days ago. He called yesterday, two days into his trip to see if we could pick him up at the airport. He says he was bored, the city is prepping for a car race, he just wants to come home, blah, blah. But I know what happened. He lost all of his money. In two days.

A few years ago he inherited his house from his father, plus enough cash to pay off the mortgage. Within a month he had gambled away $80,000 and still had the mortgage.

I am alternately furious with him and feeling sorry for him.

Here is the story of another time he “helped” that I posted a couple of years ago:

Maybe this is better off in the pet peeve thread, but people who "like to paint" but don't have a frikkin' clue how to do it piss me off.
My neighbor wanted to help with one of my projects (exterior - latex paint) because he "likes to paint."
I assumed that meant he had some idea how to go about it.
Me -I hate it. I hate the prep and I hate the cleanup, though I actually like flowing the paint on. So I said, "Sure, it'd be great not to have to do it."
So - he starts by opening the can. I had to get out the brushes and the sprayer, lay down the drop cloth, and get out a 4x4 slab of old plywood for him to work on so he didn't spill paint all over my driveway. Basically I did the prep.
What he was painting was a structure akin to a jungle gym. So his "plan" was to start on the outside and work his way in to the center.
In the meantime he managed to spill paint on my driveway anyhow, got paint on the side of my barn, on my barn floor, and left paint for me to step in - by the time he finished painting I had paint on my hands, my shirt, my shoes, and my truck. When he finished with the sprayer he put it in the shade and took a two hour cigarette break, then couldn't figure out why it was stopped up.
Took me half an hour to clean out the damn sprayer. I had to throw the brushes away.
I could have done the job myself in less time, I wouldn't have gotten paint on everything in sight, and I'd still have two good brushes.
Next time someone wants to help me paint I'm going to tell them it's too damn much work to have help.
End of rant.

Sounds like a case of "Help me by not helping".

On a different forum somewhere in the interweb....

"So my idiot neighbor's wife came over pleading with me to help the old coot do some raking. I didn't want to come off as a jerk, so I decided, "if I do a really bad job, they'll never ask again...."

Just funnin, Mr. 15 :D

Yeah...I'd be figuring out a way to say "No, thanks" to help such as his...

No way I'd even let him onto your property in the future, Patrick.......

Just tell him you're jonesin' for a {coke, or whatever) and offer him one. Caveat being 'I'll buy you fly'. Get useful work done in the meantime...

Am I rude? When someone offers to help with something I REALLY don't want help with (or if I know the person isn't up to the task), I just say "No, thanks." Is that bad?

Advice I live by.... never get closer than waving distance to your neighbor.


PS: I would explain your position to your lovely missus. In my house explaining my position would be a losing proposition.

She knows. She's just impulsive, talking before thinking. If he hadn't been over here anyway she wouldn't have said anything. As it was it went:

Him, "Hey Pat, need some help?"
Me, "NO!"
Her, "Daniel can do the raking."
Me, "No!!"
Then, "OK, well be right there."
Me, "OK sure, I guess...."

The next thing I know they are there, trying to do things even more destructive than raking dirt.
I can't win with them.

Next time just tell him you got it but your wife could probably use some help with her quilting...




Then go away for a few days while she calms down....

Help me help you by not helping me!!! [emoji23]

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Sounds like my dad. And 90% of the helpers they hire in the construction buisness.

…says the man from the city of brotherly love.😀

On the flip side, Vegas is a mess right now. I think only the locals know how to get around at this point. Casino staff is in an uproar. All of their routines have been upended. No where to park as usual and etc., etc.

If the dude lost his money, well that's why Vegas is there, to take it.