I have made it my duty to observe swiss and germans, have you by any chance ever noticed that they will try and be angry at you, at any given moment? ALSO they mostly wear black and they dont usually look very happy...

No. I've never noticed that. Must be you.

I wear only black & I'm not Swiss... Should I mention that in my naturalization form?

As for the neighbor, I don't think it's as bad as Mrs. Doolittle says. But you do need to nip this in the bud by talking to the man face to face, acknowledge the mix up and say that you want to good neighbors and let bygones be bygones. Hopefully he will agree & you will have to be on your best behavior until spring.

Good luck.

I agree...

The two of you are not compatible, get out of there as soon as you can!

As others said before me, be glad he's not Swiss and got his rifle the other night!

Imagine this:

- You've had a long day and you are looking forward to a good nights sleep.
- Your neighbour left her dog out in the garden and the poor critter has been barking for the past 3 hours.
- Your neighbour snores through it.
- You cant help it but get cranky and lose it with the neighbour. Fair play
- The next day, you get a note berating you for being cranky last night.

WTF?

- Still fuming from the note, the neighbour then decides to take a shower at an ungodly hour compounding your irritation even further.

WTF?!!!

- They then make noise before 7am, which regardless of the type of building you are living in, is really anti-social.

Double WTF.

Seriously, I am taken aback that you expected him to talk to you nicely about the dog. You cant control another person's emotions and level of crankiness when they havent had much sleep. He probably tolerated, till he couldnt any longer. I would get him a bottle of wine, or send over something home made. Apologise for all that has happened sincerely and assure him that it will never happen again. The ball is then in his court whether to continue being petty or move on.

__________________
Remember when someone annoys you, it takes 42 muscles to frown, BUT it only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and b****-slap the mother-f***er upside the head.

And the fact that he looks like this:


Cheers,
Nick

I would:

1. Make sure that his points about clean and tidy stuff are sorted.
2. Invite him over for dinner and/or buy him a bottle of wine to apologise.

Don’t let him or yourself get too hung up about a single incident with your dog. Most reasonable people should not object to one mistake, we all make them every now and again. If he has gone off his rocker, there is most probably something big bugging him. Find out what it is.

If he does not respond well and your relationship with him is ruined beyond repair, take him down to the pub and have a discussion about who is going to move out and on.

I think it is really important to get on with your neighbours so all you really have to do is make sure you make every effort to make sure that you are on the high road. Then if they don't want to join you, smile to yourself and find yourself some better neighbours.

__________________
Living it up in Gersau.

i think you should recognise that you are totally in the wrong, go to him in person and apologise and state the things that you are going to change.

Um... so how does one deal with having to be at work at 6:30am... apart from doing one's best not to make ANY noise? Sometimes and unfortunately, it is unavoidable. It works both ways, he makes noise too, sometimes at unsocial hours, but we accept that, when living in near proximity to others, it's just a fact of life and we don't complain.

Herein lies the crux of the problem. This gentleman is perpetually angry, he complains at the farmer for mowing the grass [huh? we live in Switzerland, they have a lot of grass, it needs mowing regularly and we live on a farm no?]; the farmer's barking dog [which later bit him]; someone from my office calling the 'wrong' number to reach him but he hadn't told them which was the right number and Mr. Angry popped out - there is always something bugging him, ad infinitum.

It's nothing new but, unfortunately, something I only realised after I had moved here and we became neighbours. Up until now, we have been friends...

Communication with him is sometimes challenging, I suspect this is completely kaputt and one of us will be moving on...

I guess communication breakdown started when your son decided to write a note to your friend/neighbour. Should have just talked to the man....

Update: Mr. Nice is here today... we just met while I was cleaning the garage, I apologised, he apologised...we hugged and made up meeting for a bottle of wine and a chat about things later today. Maybe all is not lost. Amazing how a couple of good nights sleep can change things around Let's see how it goes... going back to making the garage a place fit for a king to eat his breakfast ... and immer learning about how to be a better neighbour.

You know, maybe the man is just alone.... It can be depressing. He needs a bit of socialisation. Have a good time with him. And once in a while, if you cook some cookies, make some extras for him!

A full stomach is an happy man!

Invite the man around for dinner. Make him feel like he is part of the family.

Think of it this way, get him onside and he will be a great asset to you, if you go away, ensuring the place is looked after etc.

Yes it is unavoidable. I never said it wasnt - there are people who do shift-work and have to work ungodly hours.

I am not a fly on your wall in your house - so I really dont know how conscious you are, going about your activities before 7am and how much noise you are making. Its all subjective at the end of the day but it was obviously loud enough for him to hear and throw a fit - though that might be an accumulation due to the lack of sleep and the note from your son.

I am glad that things are looking up again for you though, and hope things remain that way.

__________________
Remember when someone annoys you, it takes 42 muscles to frown, BUT it only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and b****-slap the mother-f***er upside the head.

As the actress said to the bishop...

I love this -- you must be doing well with your German -- your mixing the languages. I started doing the same thing awhile back -- and immer is one I always mix in.

sorry -- back to original topic

Well done in getting it solved! I admit I might have been a bit annoyed as well if someone's dog was outside barking for several hours, but if it was someone that I knew, then I would definitely have knocked/texted/called sooner! I probably would have let the poor thing in much earlier! But to hold a grudge after you've apologized and then come up with a list of demands is a bit out of proportion no matter how bad of a week you've had. I'm glad you were able to sit down and mutually apologize, since you were both a little in the wrong. As for the 1am shower and having to be awake at 6:30am, I've never understood the Swiss tyranny over what time you even take a sh*it.

I feel sorry for him.....If I were him when the dog was parking for 3 hours I would properly turns into super Mr. angry!! lol
take it easy, you just need to invite him one day for dinner with you and your kids and you guys will be alright after this.

Do not give up your beautiful place. fight for it

good luck

I never let my dog park. He's a terrible driver.

Cheers,
Nick