I am a bad man.

I live across from a school yard, and kids often come there to hang out. And by kids I mean rich high school kids who drive their parents’ cars here and make noise while they’re drinking and smoking and carrying on. What usually happens is if they’re too annoying I call the police non-emergency number, take the 3 minutes to wade through their voice mail system, and report the kids. Noisy kids are a low priority, so they dispatch a squad car if they’re not busy. The squad car shows up and the kids just get in their cars and drive away. I’ve been told not to warn them off on my own, in case the kids aren’t the docile neighbor kids who are usually out there.

Well, last night something went wrong. About 45 minutes after I called, my doorbell rang. I stumbled to the door and two officers asked me for my contact information and date of birth. Turns out that the cops showed up and the kids ran off, dropping beer bottles and abandoning three cars that had booze inside. The cops didn’t want to have a drunk driving situation, so they towed the cars.

I hope the kids realize that it’s not a good idea to drink and make noise in a residential neighborhood.

We had a neighborhood gathering today welcoming our newest neighbor. I wish we’d see the neighbors more often, but everybody hides in winter. Other than that I had the joy of starting my taxes. Looks like I owe some money. At least that means I made some more than the government first thought I’d make.