Freshly Vexed & Perplexed By Texas Wind Chime Noise Pollution

Of late I have been freshly vexed and perplexed by the noise polluters known as wind chimes.

Vexed because two neighbors, closer to my abode than 300 feet, have installed a total of 8 wind chimes making a racket that penetrates my windows, walls and delicate ears.

Perplexed because having these noise polluters closer than 300 feet from a neighbor is allowed in this part of the planet.

Awhile back I was talking to my sister who lives in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler. My sister mentioned being annoyed by some new neighbor's noisy kids. I mentioned being annoyed by wind chimes.

My sister's reply to me mentioning being annoyed by wind chimes was to ask "They allow wind chimes in Texas?"

Long ago civilized parts of the planet realized that in densely populated areas wind chimes were a noise pollution issue, and thus banned, unless ones wind chimes were chiming from a mandated distance from innocent ears.

I have blogged about the wind chime issue previously, as in way back in October of 2009. That blogging has generated a lot of comments, mostly from people who share my aversion to unwanted noise pollution, and a few from morons unable to understand the issue.

Just a couple days ago someone named Anonymous made an amusing comment on the above referenced blogging....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Texas Wind Chime Noise Pollution": 

My story starts with an innocent set of wind chimes made of seashells hanging from my neighbor's back porch about 20 feet from my house. Then she graduated to a larger set of metal banger clangers hanging from a shepherd's hook on the side of her 2-car garage - 5 feet from my house. And finally cowbells hanging from a higher hook next to my garden. I could no longer enjoy an open window, my patio, or even my garden. I asked her to move them away from my house...she said no. I said they were making a terrible racket. She said too bad. Then one stormy night my hubby took a pillow case and as Reba's song went, "that's one body that'll never be found." Or in this case -- two. 

I usually do not think it a good idea to take the law into ones own hands. But, there are circumstances, when one lives in an uncivilized part of the planet, where one must take the law into ones own hands in order to protect oneself. Or ones eardrums and peace of mind...

Texas Wind Chime Noise Pollution

UPDATE: I've been scrolling through old bloggings, looking at the ones that have accumulated a lot of comments and re-posting if I think the comments are funny or good or both funny and good. The comments about Wind Chime Pollution are funny and good...

I hate wind chimes. I think they are a public nuisance. I think anyone who would hang a wind chime outside their abode is a public nuisance. I am not alone. If you Google "wind chime complaints" you will see that wind chimes annoy people all over the world.

Some towns have ordinances to control how wind chimes can be used, how loud, how many and how close to a neighbor.

Humans have different tolerance levels for annoying noise. Some people are not bothered by noise, others are. I happen to be one who is. I think someone else's right to a noise stops at the point I have to hear it.

One of my siblings has a low tolerance for repetitive noises. And the soothing sound of a waterfall. I have the soothing sound of a waterfall outside my bedroom window. I like it. I've got the window open right now, listening to it. And the wind. I can hear wind chimes in the distance.

When you have low tolerance for annoying noises you can be driven to extreme measures. I've seen my sibling with the low tolerance for repetitive noises come unglued at a dear elderly lady who was trying to locate some photos to show on her digital camera. Each time she pushed the button there was a beep. Sometime after 10 beeps my sibling started to lose her composure.

Little camera and phone beeps don't bug me. But those gas-powered leaf blowers do. They should be banned.

Yesterday as I sat in the Wal-Mart Neighorhood Market parking lot trying to talk to my sister, an idiot pulled up with rap-like type music blaring so loud I had to get out of the vehicle and walk away from the noise so I could continue to talk to my sister.

With the wind chimes I have been driven to extreme measures, as in some time ago one of my neighbors had the wind chimes from hell. Three of them. They actually were more like wind gongs. I called 911 to complain that my hearing was being damaged. In Texas I got no help from the authorities to help with my serious case of being victimized by noise pollution.

So, I had to take matters into my own hands and launch a guerrilla operation. Under cover of darkness, I put on my camo wear, put on a ski mask and slithered my way to the location of the wind gongs. I figured I had about a minute, tops, if I was heard, before the noise polluters could make it outside. So, I moved fast, grabbed the gongs and ran fast. I disposed of them discreetly the next day.

That's my personal solution for dealing with wind chimes that disturb my peace. I don't recommend it for everyone.