HOA Hell

So, we got dinged by our HOA this week.

1) You can see our trash cans from the street. They’re at the top of our driveway. Right outside the garage. Where they’ve been for about…oh, that’s right. Five Freaking YEARS.

Never mind that yeah, we probably should have been keeping the cans in the garage this whole time. In fact, since we moved here, just about everyone else on the cul-de-sac started keeping their trash cans by their garage too.

Trend setters, that’s us. Though really what it comes down to is I don’t like keeping trash cans inside my house. At all. Not even my garage. Suppose we’ll have to now, though. Funny thing is, we got dinged about the same thing almost four years ago. Just a nasty gram in the mail about it. And then…nothing.

2) We have weeds in our front garden. I’ll admit we sorta let things go this summer. It was hotter than balls out 99% of the time. My back was a friggin mess. And I’m a lazy sod who’d much rather be playing Xbox than yanking the greenery from the remains of the mulch bed. Plus, honestly? The last time I pulled a clump of weeds out of the front, a black widow came tumbling out of them. (3rd one this summer, actually. WTF. We’re a haven for all things dark and ugly, I guess. There was one in the garage *and* one spinning a web on the front porch. The one in the garage had a mini graveyard of bug corpses littered all around, so I guess she was a busy little thing.)

At any rate, I’m kind of two minds about HOAs. On one hand, sure, I can understand wanting to keep people’s properties in check – no one wants to see a rusted out car in the front yard. On the other? It’s my damn house. If I want to paint the door purple, I should be able to. Having random people coming up to my property to inspect how long my grass is really irritates the hell out of me. Don’t we have larger problems in this world?

And yes, I know. I chose to live here, I signed the HOA contract. Yes. Doesn’t mean I can’t bitch about it.

Hand me those gloves. I’m out to weed.