Some of you may remember Max’s stories about our longstanding feud with a certain neighbor and how we tried our best to torment him each holiday season with a harmless prank.
For a couple years we sneaked Hedgie the Hedgehog into the lovingly crafted Nativity Scene that he displayed so proudly on his front lawn. To this day we don’t know when, or if, he discovered the misplaced mammal. You can read about that bit of mischief here: The Nativity Caper
One year, we surreptitiously piled a Japanese treat (“karinto”) that looks a lot like dog poo around his mailbox and waited for him to go ballistic, knowing he absolutely hated when dog owners did not clean up after their pooches. That was a hoot.
You can re-visit that story here: The Karinto Gambit
When I told Reiko of these misadventures, she wanted to start her own legacy of misbehavior. I warned her that if she went down that road, there was no coming back. So far, the neighbor does not know of Reiko’s existence – did she really want to start a relationship marked by rascality?
Well, yes she did, so we plotted our 2025 assault.
It seems the neighbor has abandoned Nativity Scenes so we’d have to try a new approach. We noticed that he often left his car parked in his driveway rather than in his garage and decided that would be a good target this year.
There were lots of possibilities. One of our favorites was little battery powered device that made cricket noises at random intervals and could be attached by magnet under his wheel well. The frustrating thing about the faux crickets is that they follow no pattern and so it’s very hard to pinpoint where the sound is coming from.
Another option was to replace his tire valve covers. Amazon offered so many choices, many of which were very “adult” in nature if you know what I mean and I’m sure you do. These spider valve covers had promise – creepy but not obscene like the alternatives. The problem was the time it would take to swap out four valve covers without getting caught.
The exhaust pipe noise makers had a certain appeal, especially the ones that made chicken sounds whenever the car was started.
But we opted for a simpler and more direct approach – a small sign that adheres with double face tape to the back of the car and educates all the world about the driver’s unique physical attributes.
THE WINNER
We crept out last night, slithered up his driveway and applied it near the bottom of his rear bumper where it’s readily visible to drivers behind him but not so easy to spot when standing behind the car – a Nissan Altima if you must know. We think it’s quite sporty.
Reiko and I returned home and celebrated our successful mission with a chicken chew stick and eggnog respectively. I could almost feel the AJF shaking her head in despair.
So far, the neighbor has not noticed his new accessory. We’ll have to wait and see how long it takes before he becomes aware of it.
Even better, that sign came in a 2-pack.
Love to hear from ya