This podcast is being recorded and produced on gadiicol Land.
We pay our respects to the traditional custodians of this country and elders past present.
We extend our respect to any First Nations Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people joining.
Us today, Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land. Oh pucks. Again, we weren't recording.
And she wasn't even fucking recording. Morning letter to Hannah. Yeah anyway, welcome to close Friends.
Sorry chaos in the studio this morning. Yeah. So I'm Britney Saunders. I'm all right. Hey, you made you way under your close friends. You've got the juicy Estermario on your main Sorry cap close friends. Here we go. You've got a story bus today. I'm very intrigued. All you've given me is that you've got a nightmare neighbor. Oh book story.
Say, Look, I don't want to start drama with my neighbors. Look, I don't think they know but I only think they know me or follow me on social media or anything. Okay, So we live in a house, We've got neighbors on either side.
That's usually how it works.
Yeah, well I could be on a corner.
True, you still have neighbors on either side though, right, pardon, you still have neighbors on either side, they just be around the corner.
So on one side we have our nice neighbors, old couple, gorgeous seventies or eighties, and we're like friends with them. We know them by name. We say hello, they're gonna come look at our house once it's done. Because that nice neighbor he originally built our house. Oh, because they're two houses are side by side, they're almost identical. No,
so he built both. So it's really cute. We're fully ripping his house to shreds that he built like fucking seventy years And is he exactly the same same house, same house? Yeah, yeah, they're really similar. But we're like, but like his is still in that it can be original. Yeah, and we're if you break in his heart, we're having big modern extension on the background.
Imagine having a whole life and you've lived all through all the trauma of your entire life, and then one of your most proudest creations, this bitch comes in and goes, nah, that is exactly I'm going to toure it up.
Hey in might defense, So it's like a nineteen twenties cavity brick home, Like it's an old fashioned home. We're keeping a lot of the character and just adding like this modern extension on the back so they can see into our backyard and they can see all the renaults that are happening in the backyard. Right now, my backyard is like a construction zone. The whole back of the house is ripped off. And so when you like, I'm only learning all this now because it's my first time
renovating a house. But when you are doing any major renolds to your house, you have to put everything through the council. You can't just like fucking renovate, Like you've got to get counsel approval to do things to your house, down to the fucking amount of gardens that you have to have.
In inside or does it include our inside or.
Exactly sure, I think it's any major works and like we're putting a plunge pull in and it's just been mind blowing the amount of shit like admin that you have to do. You have to give the plans to the council. They have to approve it. They have to have someone come out and test the soil to make sure that it can like hold a pool and then you've got to get the concrete tested, like all this shit, right, and they even like we got knocked back at one
point because there wasn't enough greenery on our drawings. So like you've got to, like, if you're renovating in your backyard, it's got to have like this standard of how many shrubs you have and how many trees and plants. I
don't know, it's this whole fucking thing. Anyway, we found out the other day and I didn't know this either, but when you are going to be doing like work in your yard or on a deck or out the back where it's going to be making a significant amount of noise for a certain period of time, over however many weeks, both of your neighbors get a letter to say that you know, this neighbor at this address is going to be doing works, and they can say that they don't want it to happen. So it's like a vote.
And we found these out through our nice neighbor, right, So our nice neighbor spoke to AJ and said, we got a letter, and the other neighbors on the other side got a letter, and the neighbors on the other side went to our nice neighbor and said, how do we stop this from happening? They did not want us to renovate our house. What mind you like? We have never interacted with the other neighbor. They're renting their house on the other side of us. We've never had any interactions.
And so the only interactions that we've had with them is when we first moved in. They've got some trees, like we've got trees in the front yard, and they both kind of overlap into each other's front yards, and apparently the guy that used to live in our house used to trim them for the next door neighbor kind of thing. And so when we very first moved in, a parent like it's like a couple and like an
adult kid living next door. Apparently she said to aj out the front, I hope she's not listening to this.
I can't knock on their door and say let's have a conversation mat this.
The thing is, we've never had a conversation with it. We never see them. But when we first moved in, she said, then he used to trim that tree. You're gonna be the one trimming that tree.
Let me over there, I'm coming out knock on the door. And so I feel like I've been a bit angry lately, so I'm ready to I'm ready on unleashed. So you just let me know what you want me to say, and I'll knock on that door.
And so Neil, that's our nice neighborby. Yeah, he told aj the other neighbor didn't want us to be allowed to renovate our house because they didn't want the noise of like hammering and stuff. But it's like, this is what happens sometimes when you have a house that's next to another house. There might be renovations at some stage, and it's not forever. It's just for like a couple
of months and then it's done. Anyway, by the time he went to the neighbor's house to say, let's try and stop this from happening, it was already too late, because like the neighbors have like a certain amount of time to like say no kind of thing, and apparently Neil is just like what the fuck, like no, they're allowed to renovate their house. And so the renovations have started, and he's already been making complaints over the fence to the builders, saying, like can you keep the noise down.
It's like, we're renovating a house. What you want me to get a silent fucking hammer. I'm speechless, Like that's just life, Like sometimes people are gonna make noise. Yeah, go and live on a farm on an acreage, and live on a farm on an acreage if you don't want your neighbor to maybe fucking renovate their house. And like it's just for now, it's not gonna be forever. And apparently he's like said to the trades over the fence, like can you keep it down? Apparently the trades are
like fuck off. Yeah, good because they're just doing their job.
Them back the same energy. This is what I was saying in the main episode. You give them back the same energy.
Yeah, our neighbors don't like us, and we've never had any interactions with them. I'm like, what did we do?
But you see you're better than I am, because I will have an interaction with you, darling. I'm coming over and saying, what's the problem. Can you stop harassing my workmen in the backyard because you harass them every day and I'm going to call the police if you keep harassing. Just step it up. You know what I mean, go on over there. I can't control myself. Like, if that's how you want to act, I'm actually going to double down, you know.
But I don't want to go there because then they'll know that Neil told us about the letter, and then.
You know, but they've taken you. He's now yelling at your people in the backyard, so that's what you're there for.
I've just never had any troubles with neighbors, and now I'm like, oh fuck, I might see them out front, Like look the other way.
We've only ever had nice neighbors or not known our neighbors, and I actually prefer not knowing our neighbors. I have lived in apartments the last few years, so it's a bit different because everyone sort of keeps to themselves.
It's actually got me thinking about neighbors because I think, like you said, you're in an apartment, so it's different. But my memories from childhood and like neighbors is so different to now. And I know it would be different, like depending on your street and where you live. But I'll tell you what my dream is. My dream is to have really nice neighbors that we become friends with and then we have barbecues.
Yeah, like I.
Would love that. And I remember when we were kids growing up, we were friends with neighbors on both of our sides and there was all kids. Like, it's probably different when you have kids and you're living near other kids, and it would just always be like running back and forth between the two backyards. Our parents will get pissed together, have barbecues, and you made genuine friends with your neighbors. And then sometimes we'd live in like a coulder sack,
and then the whole coulder sack was friends. And I feel like that's not a thing anymore. Maybe it is in different areas, but now I feel like everyone really just keeps to themselves and you don't really know your neighbors that much. Whereas I I'm putting it out there, someone moving next door in the house that doesn't like me will get them evictied. Someone apply and live next door, become besties with AJ and I. You can come over and swim in our plunge pool and have a barbecue
on our back deck. Yeah nice, I'm taking application.
See I'm the opposite to you. Don't talk to me, don't look at me, don't do what you want I won't complain about your renovations, but don't. I don't want to know.
Story, don't come home from work and then just you see your neighbor over the fence. You come over for a wine, and they just come over and you just winge about life. That's a dream for me.
Can't imagine anything worse. Actually, no, in a house, because in an apartment, I actually quite like. Yeah, when I move into an apartment, I quite like that. I know no one's coming over with a fucking gift basket with fruits and muffins in it.
Neighborhood for an hourse, it's perfect.
Don't knock on my door, stay away. I don't want to. I don't. I don't think we need to be such good friends because you know each other. But then on the other half, you want them to look out for you, don't you. You want your neighbors to be your friends. So they go, there's a suspicious car bark down at front the other day. You know anything about that? And I'll go, oh, yeah, Dyln.
It's just I love neighbors.
I love neighbors too, but I don't need to be your best friend, and I don't need to be cooking use sausages in me.
I want neighbors, best friends.
Okay, fair enough. I feel like you need to live in a colder sack.
I feel like I need to live in like a a state, like you know, houses that are estates. I feel like that's where neighbors, friendships happen.
Oh you reckon?
Yeah, okay, whereas it's in a random suburb.
I'm thinking colder sack vibes. It's nice, very housewives, very neighbors in itself the TV show.
Maybe I need to move if we've finished renovating, just move.
St See I don't understand that either. I mean, are you're planning to flip the house, because I just don't imagine going through all that fucking renovation. You've pissed off your neighbors in the pro I'm not moving.
We're going to enjoy the fuck out of this.
Okay. Good.
We're not flipping it and selling it. We're renovating it for our own enjoyment.
Okay. I can't imagine going through renovating the then going all right, we'll go living in the state.
Now through colder sack experiences with anyone live in a colder sack that has a spare house. Let me know I'm coming to move in so we can.
So if you live in a colder sack, email us and tell us whether you've got yes neighbors if it's a nice community in your colder sack. And al said, if you've got any neighbor horror story, email us as well. The emails in the show notes.
I went to school with this, went to primary school with a girl and I've still got her on Facebook. You know, you just have your primary school friends on Facebook. And where her mum and dad live, the house she grew up in. The mum and dad still live there.
She's moved out and whatever, But they've had beef with their neighbors since childhood and I see her post updates on Facebook all the time, and it's literally gotten to the point where they've gone to court and everything because the neighbors have like tried to sabotage them that badly. So there's some terrible neighbors out there.
I think, following one on TikTok at the moment of a neighbor feud, I don't know where. I think it's in Sydney somewhere, and anyway, one of them, one of them is just shat in the mailbox. Yes, one of the neighbors is just shatting the other one's mailbox, which is gorgeous, lovely, you know, so that when she's gone to get a mail, she's put her hand in the mouth. That's fuss shit human.
Also, can we get rid of mail? I fucking can't stand it. Like, who sends letters anymore? Just make it all in an email?
I quite like it. I'd I don't get many letters. The last letter I got was last week. It's for my car registration nine hundred and something dollars. God, that's jumped up cost of living.
The only let us life fucking get his fines from parking outside here at Nova.
Oh yeah, true, Well I've shown you the six hour part.
Yeah.
Look, in the last year of us doing this, I've only gotten two. So I feel like that's all right because it's two hour parking and then we're always here for like three hours. But I pay for the two and hope that no one comes in the last hour, whereas.
I make us stop recording and go down because some of us don't have money to burn. So I rolled down a year ago, top up the parking.
A year of parking every week getting two fines is not bad. But now Matt's found a little sneaky six hour area and we're parking.
Ahead of in Sydney. How bad.
But I've got a complaint to make about that as well. When you go to pay, you know how you click the p because you're parking, then it automatically goes to six hours and it's thirty seven dollars or something. Then you have to go beep, beep, beep.
And bring it down ten minute incrementals No, it's.
Like four minute bucking increments. It takes like six minutes to get it back down to like three hours. I want to make a complaint to the Council of Sydney, make it so you can just like why does it go to the highest payment? You know.
What I've found really strange is a lot of the councils in the Sydney area now do which I'm so sorry to everyone internationally, but this is very niche. But you've got your parking meters like that one where you've got to do it all manually. But I find or I have found that all of the other surrounding councils now have either this app called easy park where you just top it up, like in a restaurant. You can go, oh,
my parking's run out. I'll just quickly top it up and you pay for more parking on your phone without having to leave like the restaurant or whatever you're doing. And then on top of that, there's other ones where you just put your number plate in and that's how you're paying. There's no it's easier on the phone. City of Sydney, like Sydney Council with it has the oldest, most geriatric parking meters I've ever seen my life that you can never see the bloody screen. I've got an
idea what I'm pressing. I just press for the best, honestly, but six hour parking is unheard of anyway. I think we should wrap this up because we are talking about parking meters. Yeah, I just feel like it's not really riveting content for the scrollers, is it. But anyway, this is close friends. We talked about all the stuff we don't want to put in our main episodes. So oh, my voice is going must be that glass back in
the back of my throat. Anything else you want to say today, Brittany, what are you doing on your phone. Get off your phone.
I've got people fucking messaging me left and right.
Oh my god, is this the commitment that I give to this podcast my phone. I'll just let you know a Strollers on, do not disturbs me.
I have sixty employees.
Okay, hire someone to look after them while I'm podcasting.
All right, there's a job now available at Faith one day a week Mondays for four hours where you respond to everyone while I record.
Hang on second, I might take that job. I need a bit of extra cash. What's see on Tuesday? Strollers? Thanks for listening.