sf wrote:
> On Tue, 18 May 2010 15:31:22 -0400, Dave Smith
> > wrote:
>
>> Sometimes that is a good rule of thumb, but it might depend on who your
>> neighbours are. I have really nice neighbours around me now but when I
>> first moved here we had a farmer on one side of us who was a miserable
>> SOB that he had several lawsuits going with other neighbours, and no one
>> would come if he were here. <snip>
>
> If I lived out in the boonies like you and Cathy, I wouldn't bother
> with the niceties. It works like a charm in closer situations though.

True. It's not as if we were so densely packed that even conversation is
going to disrupt their sleep. The son of our cranky (former) next door
neighbour used to have a big outdoor birthday bash in late January. They
would let us know and tell us in advance and warn us that it might be
noisy, and invited us to come. Other than the cars going in and out, I
could hardly hear it.

We used to have neighbourhood pot luck BBQs for the neighbours at least
once a year. They never went late, and since it was all neighbours, no
one had reason to complain. Our new neighbours have parties every two or
three months and always invite us. Being mostly older folks, they aren't
rowdy and don't run late.