Lets Clean Up Some Graffiti In The North End

When I went for my first walk down the back alleys surrounding my block on Aug 25 I was surprised at the amount of graffiti. My block does not have any graffiti, well not really. The block down from me has three garages and/or fences with large graffiti sprayed across. I took pictures of the graffiti. I remember seeing a place on the winnipeg.ca website where one could report graffiti. It's at the self serve section of the site at http://www.winnipeg.ca/interhom/311SelfService/index.stm. My thought was that I would send 311@winnipeg.ca an email, and include the photos. I could help get rid of graffiti while doing the dumpster checks.

So, home I went. I sent an email to 311@winnipeg.ca containing the three pictures and the approximate locations in the back lane where the graffiti was located. That was on Aug 25.
On Aug 26 I received an email advising me that 311 cannot process the request to have the graffiti cleaned up unless I have an exact address for each piece of graffiti. I replied that I did not have an exact address, and that I noticed the graffiti while in the back lane. I said the graffiti would be easily identified in the back lane, and commented that I was just trying to be a good citizen. That's what I was trying to be.
I received a further email regarding the graffiti today. The addresses in question will all receive waivers that must be completed and returned to the City. Once the waivers are received the graffiti can be cleaned up.

There was no mention of waivers needed when I was at the City of Winnipeg website. I am not sure if the people being sent the waivers will fill them out either. I understand that it is private property and the City does need permission to fix the graffiti. But here's the thing. I was talking to one of the residents who has the graffiti on his garage. This person has already painted over it several times. The graffiti keeps re-appearing. I asked him if I could put a request in to the city to have it removed. He said I could. But will he bother filling out a waiver and send it in to the City? He is already tired of painting over the graffiti that keeps coming back.

If I had graffiti on my garage and submitted a request just to find out a form would be mailed (tax payer money) for me to fill out and send back (at my expense?) I think I would be a little ticked. Why not just offer the waiver form online? Why not tell me up front that a waiver is required for the graffiti to get cleaned up? Wouldn't that save time, tax payer money, and aggravation? I could have had a form with me and gotten it signed while I was talking to the person in his back lane.
The current self serve section of the City of Winnipeg website offers several options, including Graffiti Report. It even says a tracking number is available so the ticket can be tracked online. That all sounds great. The form asks for the address of the graffiti, and a description and location of the graffitti. It also asks for a contact name and address. Then it offers the opportunity to attach a file before sending the ticket off. But it doesn't say anything about a waiver form being mailed out to the address of the graffiti.
Maybe somewhere in the form it could mention that a waiver would be sent out to the residence. Maybe the online form could offer the option to print the waiver now or send it in the mail. Maybe the form should mention that nothing will be done without the waiver being sent back to the City of Winnipeg.
I wonder how many good citizens are reporting graffiti and how many waiver forms are being sent out. I wonder what percentage of waivers are being returned to the city for processing? I wonder how many times each piece of graffiti has a request and subsequent waiver sent out? I wonder how many people tried to report graffiti once and came to the same point I am at right now.
Please, adjust the online form for reporting graffiti. Let the users know that a waiver is required and you will be sending it out in the mail when we submit the form. Change the website to allow the waiver to be printed online so it does not have to be mailed out. Change the website to allow the waiver to be sent back to the City of Winnipeg online, as an attachment, maybe include the ticket number with it, or some form of identification.
Please, help us help ourselves!

Mattresses and Door taken by BFI truck

The BFI truck came down the lane this afternoon. They picked up the mattresses at the dumpster next to mine. They were even nice enough to take the door out of my dumpster so I can have my garbage picked up next garbage day. That was sure nice. Maybe it depends on the specific person working in the garbage truck whether they will take more items than are listed specifically on their "ticket". Anyway, my door has been picked up.

The mattresses were picked up from the neighbours dumpster, but the dumpster is almost full, and now there is garbage on the ground beside the dumpster. Maybe it was under the mattresses.

I went for my walk down the back lanes. More mattresses have been dumped on top of the already existing ones from a few days ago. On Aug 25 there were two couches, a door and two mattresses at this dumpster. Now there are an additional three mattresses.

And I found a few couches in the alley on the other side of me. They are everywhere. I bet there is not a back lane in the North End without a couch or mattress. Do the residents of the North End have that much money? Are they replacing their bedroom furniture monthly? I wonder where these mattresses are actually coming from.

When I was talking to the Mayor this morning, he asked me if I like the dumpsters. He asked if I would like them removed and go back to putting my own garbage out like the rest of the city. He said everyone should have the same service. I told him of course I want to be able to put my garbage out on garbage day and have it taken away. Of course I want to get rid of the dumpsters. Hmmm. I didn't know it would be that simple. Sam Katz asked little ol' me if I want to get rid of the dumpsters. The answer is YES.

A Call From The Mayor Himself

I got a call this morning. It was from Mayor Sam Katz. He likes my blog.
He called to tell me he is working with the Winnipeg Police on a plan to make the North End a safer place. Ya, Ya, like we havent't heard that before. But he seemed sincere. No, wait a minute, isn't there an election coming up?
While I had him on the phone I thought I might ask him a favor. See, I was talking to Kevin Seaford yesterday. He is at the City By-Law Enforcement Office, the city facade that is in place to placate the citizens. I had asked Kevin yesterday about their inability to process my "ticket" to go after the man who was doing the illegal dumping into my dumpster. Apparently Kevin has been after the powers that be for quite a while. He has been trying to gain access to the MPI database so they can process these complaints. He is quite frustrated in his office's inability to take care of these matters.
So here I am, with the Mayor on the phone. Sam said he read my blog. I asked him about the By-Law Departments inability to process my complaint. I asked him why they do not have access to the databases they need to do their jobs. His answer was similar to the City By-Law department. He said since the privacy laws have come in, they are restricted in what they have access to.
So I asked the mayor if I have to call the Police then, to have the issue taken care of. I suggested that the City By-Law department should actually be able to submit the vehicle license number to the Winnipeg Police, get the needed information back, and be able to process the complain. I told him the City By-Law department is currently just a fascade. He agreed that the City By-Law department should be able to get the information they need from the police.
Then he told me he was going to take care of my particular "ticket" personally. He was going to "personally make sure" it was taken care of. The mayor said it was just a shame that a citizen reports an illegal act and nothing is getting done about it.
I feel so much better, not. These are just words. A lot of words from City Hall.
What I want is results. I want to see that my ticket is taken care of. And I want to see the City By-Laws department actually being allowed to submit their requests for information to the Police and be able to get the needed information back.
Then I will believe what the Mayor told me. Then I may have a bit of faith in City Hall.

The Dumpsters Got Emptied - Well Mostly

The dumpster fairies arrived early this afternoon. I could hear them coming down the lane.

One cannot mistake the sound of metal grinding and shaking as the truck grabs hold of the dumpster, lifts it in the air, and pours its contents into the back of the truck. Then there is the sound of the truck mechanism pushing the freshly consumed garbage into the back of the vehicle. The mechanical grinding sound of pushing the garbage as far as it can in the truck, then grinding back to accept another load.
I was so excited. I rushed out to make sure it was truely in my back alley, and not the hopeful echoing sound from someone elses lucky alley. Sure enough, there it was, in all its glory.
I waited patiently. I knew it would come and pick up the smelly, stinking, insect luring garbage from the dumpster just the other side of my fence. Soon I would be able to go in my back yard and not smell the aroma of rotting garbage. I watched from over the fence as the truck grabbed hold of my dumpster. I watched as my dumpster was raised up in the air.

I watched as the door in my dumpster rammed up against the great mechanism that lifts the garbage into the truck.
The truck lowered my dumpster. It lowered the dumpster with the door still in it. It lowered the dumpster with the smelling garbage still in it. The garbage person came out of the truck and tried to manouver the heavy door, but to no avail.
They moved on. The garbage person got back into the truck and moved on.

The dumpster with the mattresses was next. It got emptied. The mattresses remain of course. They must wait for the special truck to arrive and pick them up. They must wait until the special "ticket" gets processed before they get hauled away.
The truck moved slowly down the lane, grinding and churning, turning the stinking, smelling garbage into a compact and controllable substance to be dumped in dumpster fairy land.

The truck removed the garbage from the dumpster stacked high with TV parts and the huge diaper box that balanced above it. Of course the TV parts on the ground are still in place. Again, they are waiting for their special "ticket" to be processed and a specific truck come out and clean that mess up.
The dumpster at the end of the street was emptied. Well, that is the dumpster on the right side of the lane got emptied.

The two, now overflowing dumpsters on the left side could not be emptied. The truck only works from one side.
When I went out into the back lane to check and make sure all of the dumpsters were taken care of I saw a group of individuals cutting the grass in the empty lot that houses the two dumpsters that reside on the left side of the lane. I am not really sure why they are on the left side of the lane, but they are. I saw one of the workers pick up the garbage that surrounded the dumpster and place it in the dumpster. I saw a few workers cutting the grass in the empty lot. I also saw that the dumpster is now overflowing with grass and weed debris. It seems to be overflowing with garbage, more than it was yesterday. I think it was great that these individuals came out to clean the yard, cut the grass, and pick up the debris. I also think it was great that they placed all of these said items in a dumpster. But they put them in the dumpster to the point that it was overflowing. It was overflowing in a major way. The garbage and debris they so carefully balanced on top of the dumpster is going to be back on the ground soon.
The dumpsters on the left side of the lane are now way past full. I really don't know when or if they actually get emptied. How much of this garbage is going to stay in the dumpster? How much of it will be spread around the dumpster? How much will be sent through the neighbourhood by wind, animals, or other transport methods?
I remember a garbage day when I would put my few bags of garbage out on the curb the night before, and the garbage truck would come early in the morning and pick up the garbage. What happened to those days?

City By-Law Officers Are A Facade

Since moving to the North End a few years ago I have been witness to countless people driving up to my dumpster and depositing their household and commercial waste.
Back in 2008 I took a picture on one person who said very arrogantly that he had every right to put his chain link fence in my dumpster. He even posed for a picture. I did not do anything with the picture at that time, and when I sent it in to the By-Law enforcement people I was told it was too late for them to act on the issue. I was told they could proceed with current issues up to about 6 months old.
So, I started taking pictures again. When I have been home, and when I have heard someone rummaging in the dumpster outside my back yard, I grab my camera and head outside. I ensure that my husband is with me. I don't trust people in the back lane to leave me unharmed if I am there alone. We rush out to the gate, open it, and step into the back lane. Then we ask the person what they are doing, ask them if they are a resident of this street, and advise them that it is illegal to be dumping the garbage in our dumpster. While doing this I try to get a picture of them and hope to include a license plate of the vehicle in the picture.

 Then I get a picture of the garbage that was left behind by the person.
Once I have this proof of illegal activity, I send the information into the 311 people via email (311@winnipeg.ca).
The people at 311 give me a ticket number and let me know that they have forwarded the information on to the By-Law people who will take care of it for me.
That all sounds great. But I just got a call from the By-Law people. I have been informed that although I have a picture of the person, the license number of the truck, and a photograph of the items that were dumped in my dumpster, they cannot proceed with the issue. She said nothing will be done about it.

The reason nothing will be done about the issue is that the By-Law department has no authority to run a vehicle license plate. If there is no record of the vehicle license plate in their system at City By-Laws they cannot go any further. I was told even if they find the information on the vehicle license plate and go to the residence where it was insured, they have no authority to ask for identification of any person at that residence. It was something about privacy acts.
Who, in this city, created these rules? Why can an official in the By-Law enforcement office not have access to resources that can actually assist them in doing their jobs? Or why can they not turn the issue over to someone who does have access to the information needed to take care of these issues.
The By-Law enforcement officer suggested they could proceed if one was to ask for identification from the person committing the offence. I did say that I was already worried that we could be hurt just from going out and taking a picture of these people. I said I was not about to start asking for identification in a back alley. The officer completely understood my concern for my personal safety.
I do not, in any way, want you to think that this person from the By-Law department was rude or uncaring. Quite the contrary. The By-Law Officer shared my frustration in the situation and in the system that office is forced to work with. But here again, we are facing rules and procedures that make no sense at all.
I was told that this is not an isolated incident. I was told that this behaviour of illegal dumping is quite a problem. The By-Law officer didn't need to tell me that. I already knew.
I have heard from friends and neighbours that the issues in my back lane are they same as the issues in their back lanes. I have seen the garbage piled high in the dumpsters all through the North End.
So we have city workers employed in the By-Law department, being paid with our tax dollars. These By-Law officers are paid to enforce the city By-Laws. But they are not given the tools to actually enforce them.
The people who are driving into the North End, dumping their garbage in our yards and allleys, cannot be prosecuted for their illegal activities. The people who live in the North End and are witnessing these acts must put their lives in harms way to ask the criminals for identification.
Am I to report these issues to the police for investigation? Are they the only city workers who are able to do an investigation? Or should I call 911 when the act is occurring? Am I the irresponsible person here, not getting the proper information from the citizens of Winnipeg who are "cleaning up the city" by putting their garbage in my dumpster?
How much tax money does it take to stop the illegal dumping of garbage in the North End? Or is this just a facade, a system of bureaucratic steps designed to make the residents of the North End feel their concerns are being heard and their issues are being dealt with?

Bad Apples in the Alley

I opened the back gate to check on the dumpsters in my back lane tonight and all I saw on the ground was rotten apples. The lane was filled with rotten apples. I looked over toward the house where I knew the apples came from and three kids were standing in the lane. One of them was throwing apples.

I went back into the house and told my husband that the kids were out in the lane throwing the rotten apples down the lane. I said the lane was filled with rotten apples.

We both went out to the back lane and approached the kids. My husband told them to stop throwing the apples. I told the kids to pick up the apples and put them in the dumpster. I said they should have more respect for where they live. I told them that it was not right to be throwing the apples in the lane.

Well, the mom of one of the kids came out of the party duplex. She was screaming mad. She started yelling and swearing at us, asking if we were swearing at her kids. She was swearing at us telling us we better not be swearing at her kids. I said that I told the kids to pick up the apples they threw in the back lane and put them in the dumpsters. Her response was that the kids could do what they want. She said "this is the North End, what do you expect". My husband said he "expects neighbours to treat the neighbourhood with respect". She said "it is not her area anyway".  She yelled for a bit longer before we went our seperate ways.

After that bizarre introduction to my back lane tonight I proceeded to take pictures of the overflowing dumpsters. Here it is, my favorite dumpster of the week. The diaper box is still balancing mysteriously on top. No garbage fairies visited last night. Here's hoping they will come tonight.

Later in the day the kids started attacking one of the houses in the neighbourhood. The house is under construction and currently empty. The kids were banging the side of the house with a metal pole and destroying some of the wiring on the outside of the house. Luckily none of the windows were broken. That is mostly because the lower windows are all boarded up currently. As I was checking the house to see what damage they did, I looked over to the party duplex and saw garbage being thrown out of the upstairs window. I guess that is their garbage disposal system. And that would explain why the back yard looks like a dump site.
Thats it for now.

My morning walk - Aug 25

I went for a morning walk today in my neighbourhood. What the heck, I used to be able to do this sort of thing when I lived outside of the North End, so why not go for a walk here.

I went for a walk down my back lane, then went a block further and came back home down the back lane on the other side of the street. Of course I took my camera with me. And of course I found mattresses and couches in and around the dumpsters in these back lanes.

I wonder how long they have been there? I wonder if the residents of those lanes even put them there.

Where do all of these mattresses and couches come from? And how often are they picked up.

How many more mattresses and couches are there in the back lanes of the North End?

If there are this many just in the two blocks surrounding my house, you would think the city would take a more pro-active approach to cleaning them up. You would think they would want to clean up the streets and alleys of the city.

The people who are paid to pick up the garbage in the city must be aware of how many mattresses and couches are sitting in the back lanes. Wouldn't it bother them to drive by and leave these items week after week?

Now strictly from a financial point of view, we already pay the garbage people to drive their trucks down the back lanes. This is coming out of our city taxes. In order to get these couches and mattresses picked up, someone has to take time out of their day to contact 311 (311@winnipeg.ca or call 311) and report the materials. In the North End we are not charged for the pickup, we can have the large items hauled away for free. But it is not really free, it comes out of our taxes. So each one of these dumpsters requires someone to contact 311, and a city employee has to create a "ticket" to have the items picked up. Then a special dump truck has to come and pick up the items in the ticket. And they only pick up the items in the ticket. I know, because they showed up to pick up a mattress I called in. I had another mattress at a different house and asked if they could pick it up as well. I was told they were only here for what was on their ticket. I would have to create another ticket to have the other mattress picked up. Again, this is our tax dollars. Each item, or group of items is a different ticket. Each item or group of items requires a new truck to drive to the location and pick up the specific items on their ticket. Is this making sense? Is it going to take five garbage trucks and five different trips to pick up the items I just showed you, after we have already paid for the original garbage truck to pick up our garbage? This is not making financial sense to me.

And this does not include the cost of fire trucks or any fire damage caused by these items remaining in the back lanes for days and weeks and sometimes months before getting picked up. On my block alone I have seen these items set on fire because they have been sitting for so long.
There has got to be a better system than the one we have. There has got to be a better and cheaper way of dealing with the large items that congregate around the dumpsters in the North End.
This is not just a problem for and about the North End. I know for a fact that these large items are not all originating from the North End. People from other parts of the city are using the North End as a free dumping ground for their unwanted items. The next time you dump a fridge, stove, mattress, couch, 60" large screen tv, etc in or around a dumpster in the North End, think about the amount of tax money you just used up in scheduling and bringing out a special truck, or calling a fire truck to put out the fire. Think about the amount of tax money you have spent the next time you pay your taxes.
The more garbage that is dumped in the North End from other parts of the city, the worst our neighbourhood looks. And as I am sure you know, the worse the neighbourhood looks, the less the people of the neighbourhood care about their neighbourhood or take pride in their neighbourhood. It's the "broken window theory". If the garbage remains, more garbage will appear, and it will just keep getting worse and worse.
In the long run, it is cheaper to drive your garbage to the Brady Landfill site, where it is supposed to go, than it is to drive it to the North End and leave it in someones back yard.
Be tax wise.

Dumpster Check Aug 24

You thought the dumpster was full yesterday. I guess it is more full today. This is a dumpster that should have been emptied on the last garbage day. It does not look like a dumpster that was just emptied. Again the garbage men chose to empty only some of the dumpsters in my back lane when they visited.
We have a garbage day. The person I talked to at 311 that day told me that we have a garbage day. She said it was garbage day 4. Initially when she told me, I laughed. I said "you've got to be kidding". I said there is nothing scheduled about the comings and goings of the garbage trucks in this area. They show up when they feel like it, and pick and choose the dumpsters they are going to empty.

But after the call I placed to 311 in June, it seemed that the garbage trucks were coming more regularly. They seemed to be coming weekly, not on garbage day 4, but weekly. So, I have now come to expect the dumpsters to be taken care of, and taken care of on a weekly basis.
Mostly they have been, but not all of the dumpsters are taken care of all of the time. The dumpsters on the west side of the lane are full, and overfull. Each day more garbage gets stacked on top of the dumpsters.
I am sure the garbage people came on Wednesday to empty my dumpster and a few other dumpsters in my lane. I remember Thursday, when the guys were dumping their construction material in my dumpster, that it was close to empty. Monday was garbage day 4, but what can you do. I have requested that these two dumpsters be emptied the next time the garbage trucks are down my lane. One can only hope.
Tomorrow is Wednesday. Maybe the magic garbage fairies will come in the night.

Rotten Apples in the neighbourhood

While doing my daily dumpster check I couldn't help but notice the apples in one of the yards. I guess there is an apple tree at the party duplex. Apples have been falling from the tree and are left on the ground to rot. This is causing odor in the back lane. It is also luring wasps to the area.

The people who own their homes on the block are great. They take care of their houses. They take care of their yards. They are respectful of others when it comes to noise control, parties, and being neighbours. Its the ones that are renting who do not seem to have the respect for their property and the property they rent from others. They have no thought for people around them.
So, this is another thing that must be dealt with by someone other than the habitants of this dwelling.

Dumpster Check Aug 23

I just went out to check the dumpsters in my back lane. This is something I would never have done in any other area of the city that I have lived in. But since living in the north end, I have discovered that it is truely a different world.
Back in the beginning of June of this year I heard the garbage truck drive down the back lane. My thought was "oh good, they are going to empty the dumpsters". But no, that is not what happened. I saw the truck stop, look at the dumpster, then drive on.
I went to the phone and called 311. I had it. Enough was enough. This was not the first time I saw the garbage trucks drive down the back lane, look at the dumpsters, and keep on driving. I talked to the person at 311 for an hour. I appologized several times to that person. I said I knew it was not her fault. But I was also just so sick of what had been going on for years in my back alley. I was sick of the residents of other areas of town dumping their residential and commercial garbage in my dumpster and other dumpsters in my back lane. I was sick of the dumpsters filling, then overfilling and spilling into my back yard, the neighbours back yards and the back lane. I was sick of the stacks of mattresses and couches. I was sick of the smell of the dumpsters. I was sick of the fires being set in the dumpsters that did not get emptied. I was sick of my cable going out every time a dumpster was set on fire down my back lane because the city workers could not be bothered to do their jobs in the north end.

Now I patrol my back lane. I talk to people who feel they have every right to put their garbage my dumpster. I try to explain that it is my residential dumpster, and my neighbours residential dumpster. I try to explain it is illegal for them to deposit their garbage in these dumpsters. I also take their pictures and try to get their license plate in the picture. If they are rude, I send the picture in to the city, because it is actually illegal for them to be dumping their garbage in my dumpster.

I also take pictures of mattresses and couches that are in and around the dumpsters in my back lane. I sent that into the city so that a special truck can come out to pick them up. I take pictures of dumpsters that are full of non-residential garbage so a special truck can come out to pick up the garbage. I do this so our dumpsters do not get overfull. I try to reduce the excess spillage of garbage into the back lane. I do this so the dumpsters, couches and mattresses don't get set on fire. I do this to try and educate people to stop dumping in my back lane.

Sometimes when I do the walk, I get a giggle. Sometimes there are feet and legs in the dumpster. When I went into the lane this fellow was rummaging in my dumpster. Then he worked his way down the back lane. Last I saw, he was right in there trying to get something out.

But there were other things to see in the back lane as well. The crack house was cleaning out mattresses again. That seems to be a regular event. They don't get cleaned up though unless someone calls in to the city to have them specifically picked up. So I will make a request to have them picked up. I don't want them lit on fire.

There was also a dumpster full of TVs or TV parts. Thats the sort of thing that looks like it came from somewhere else. So, not only is the dumpster full of TVs but it is overfull of TVs. The back lane now has TV parts, and the dumpster is too full to accept any more garbage. But it will, it will be stacked on top, then fall into the lane.

Then there is the dumpster that has the nasty garbage overflowing onto the ground beside the dumpster. These are city dumpsters. They are not owned by a single resident and are not property of any of the residents. When the dumpster gets its garbage loaded into the garbage truck nobody cleans up the mess that is left behind. When the dumpster is overfilled by residents and non-residents, nobody cleans up the mess that is left behind.

This dumpster isn't too bad. It is just clothing that is overflowing. But it does get nasty. And after the garbage has been sitting on the ground for several weeks it stinks.

What I want to know is why do I have to do this back lane check? Why do I have to let the city know there are mattresses and couches? Why do I have to let them know that there is still garbage on the ground? Shouldn't the garbage men already know this when they are driving down the back lane? This was something I asked the lady at 311 that day I had her ear for an hour. She said it is not their job to report these issues. In fact, if the dumpster has something large in it, they don't have to pick up the garbage at all in that dumpster. They also don't have to tell anyone that they couldn't pick up the garbage. They can just drive right by.

So it is up to us to police our back lanes. It is up to us to let the city know there are large items in need of a pickup. And it is up to us to let the city know that there is garbage on the ground around the dumpsters that needs to be picked up.

Oh, by the way, the city garbage men have shovels with them to pick up the extra garbage. But that does not mean they actually use the shovels.

Well, thats my tax dollars hard at work, in the North End.

A day in the hood in Winnipeg

I looked out my door on August 21 as I was getting ready to go out for the day. To the right of me, at the end of street was a police car. It was blocking traffic from going down the side street. Behind the police car was the swat team truck, and there was an ambulance sitting on the street as well.
Wasn't it just yesterday when there was an ambulance and two police cars on our street? It was to the left yesterday, so it was not the same issue. And it was yesterday when a guy in a half ton truck stopped at our dumpster to deposit his garbage. Apparently he feels it is his right to use our residential dumpster to deposit his door and metal construction scrap. He even told us to clean up our back lane and be happy that he is putting garbage in our dumpster.
Oh ya, and the day before that we had another guy come to the dumpster to drop off his construction material. He said he does have a dump truck, but the Brady Landfil charges him to dump garbage so he prefers to use the dumpsters in the north end.
The night before that our neighbours decided to bring their loud swearing, and screaming into their backyard. They started partying at about 2pm, but took the party inside while it rained. I guess the rain stopped by 4am, because that was when I woke up. I did call the police about the noise after a full half hour of screaming being heard, even after I closed the window. But the police are too busy with more violent activities to respond to a neighbourhood who cannot sleep.
If it was the only night we were without sleep, I would not be so upset. But it seems that every night that it is nice, either the rooming house / crack house or the duplex beside it is partying.
Well, I am mad and I am not going to take it anymore.
What I just mentioned was a small picture of my neighbourhood.
I am going to start writing about the activities in my neighbourhood. I don't know if it will do anything, or promote any kind of change, but it will allow me to get it off my chest.
In my wildest dreams maybe it will assist in some small way to help change the laws that allow the many issues to continue. Maybe we can have the "catch and release" of criminals changed to catch and discipline.