Same here, MB. The phone irritates me, as people obviously think it doesn't matter what I'm doing, they have the right to disturb me by calling. That's why, 9 times out of 10, I let the answer phone get it. I also hate unannounced doorstep callers, and even my best friends know to ring me before they visit. It's just politeness, in my book. My home is my home, and nobody has the right to intrude into my personal space, at their own convenience.
When I was starting to have problems with the management committee, the man in charge used to come by first thing in the morning. He'd ring that damn bell like he was wringing the neck of a chicken. At first I used to get out of bed and answer the door, thinking that he was really quite sweet to care about how things were going. That changed after I had told him that I'd ring if there was a problem and that he didn't need to come over. But he just keep ringing that damn bell and I stopped answering the door. I finally took the bell off the door, so he would pound on the door, not knock, POUND, on the door. I felt besieged in my own home.
I would also find him in the backyard.
One morning he was in the backyard painting the stairs, and he was ripping out the tarragon I had growing under the stairs, telling me it was a weed and I had to get rid of it. I finally convinced him that it was a herb and not a weed, he promised to compensate me, yeah, right!
I put a lock on the side gate.
Later at the tribunal, I was accused off being uncooperative and denying them access. F*&#@!!!!!!!
It's enough to make anyone want to go bush!
