Ah, neighbors...

A fair number of years ago, a friend of mine purchased a home on a large tract of land that was well-landscaped, including several mature pine trees near, but not over, neighbor X's property line. Several days after the closing, he notices that six of the pine trees have been chopped down and removed. Making an inquiry, neighbor X claims that he directed a landscaping service to just prune the trees, as the wind was blowing needles into his swimming pool, but there was an "apparent miscommunication". Neighbor X was a well-known local businessman who possessed a rep for being too cute by half. My friend, possessing a volcanic temper, grumbled a bit, but not wanting to start a neighbor war, let it go - for the moment. Several weeks pass, and my friend is walking along the property boundary and notices that the end of a running garden hose has been placed through the neighbor's fence, which is causing water to run on his property. Peering through the gaps in the fence, he sees that the hose is connected to a pump that is draining the neighbor's swimming pool.

The following actions are set in motion:

1. Friend retreats to his garage and emerges with a large pair of bolt cutters;

2. Friend returns to the fence and gives the garden hose one pisser of a yank, relocating the electric pump from the edge of the inground pool to it's center;

3. Friend then ties the end of the garden hose in a knot, preventing its withdrawal through the fence, and clips off the excess hose with the bolt cutters;

4. Friend withdraws to his patio, lights up a cigar, and awaits a response - which never came.

Friend lives happily ever after; neighbor X later moves to a new neighborhood. The irony is that the trees were located on a secluded section of the property and my friend probably would have allowed them to be removed - had he been asked.