Sorry for the delay..and Fences really suck!

Hi All...sorry for the delay in updating the blog today! But, Mary kept me extremely busy with the ol' "honey do" list...plus I had two assignments due today.

Anyway - here's a word of advice - if you ever get it in you to want to put up your own chain-link fence dog kennel...DON'T!!! What a pain in the ass that thing was today! It took me almost 6 hours today to put that together. It doesn't show anywhere on the outside of the box that you literally have to put that thing together yourself! We bought a 10 x 10 kennel so that our dogs could have some room to run around outside without needing to be on a leash. We don't have a fenced in yard because we have a preserve area behind us. We aren't allowed to put up a fence there.

So..when we saw this thing, it looked like it came in pieces that you just connect. NOPE! I had to build the frame then hang the gate then hang the fencing. That stuff is not very light at all! BUT BUT BUT! Yup..there's a huge BUT! (no..I said BUT, not BUTT!)...As we are sitting down this evening, enjoying our dinner, our neighbor came to the door. She just happens to be the president of the Master Association. We live in Phase IV of a very large sub-division and we have our own Homeowner's Association that reports to the Master Homeowner's Association. Anyway, she tells us we can't keep the kennel. That it has to come down! Talk about blowing a gasket!

Long story short, it doesn't say anywhere in our bylaws that we can't have a kennel. In fact, the only thing it says that would even closely resemble the situation we have going on here is that if we put up any permanent fixtures on our property, we would need to contact and get approval from the association first. We have a HUGE wooden playset in our back yard that makes this kennel look like mail box...and nothing was said about that. So..it's just our neighbor trying to exert her authority over a matter she has no say in just because she doesn't like the way it looks. Like I said, I blew a gasket, mostly because of the amount of time and sheer frustration that went in to putting that thing up.

My wife is calling my older son tomorrow to pay him to take it down..then she's taking it back to the store for a refund. She's non-confrontational like that. Rather than fight for our rights, she's taking the easy road out. Oh well...at least it's not on my "honey-do" list any more!