For want of a nail.

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So 90+% of my garden was destroyed today by getting mowed over on order of a slumlord so he can get slightly more money on some slummy house he's scamming people into buying by pretending this neighborhood is a nice neighborhood when it's populated by drug dealers. Technically, it shouldn't have been mowed over. Technically I have 3 feet by the sides of my house where I can do wtfever I want with and OWN. But technically the HOA (which the slumlord as*hole owns) says it can do "any maintenance" they feel necessary. Maybe they technically should ask. I don't know. The rules only apply to how the HOA likes anyway.

The HOA towed my car away and stole one of my cars. I was left with getting like $40 for it from the junkyard. One rulebook said no unregistered cars. One said unregistered cars are OK as long as they're in your driveway and not on common areas. Mine was in my driveway. Well, guess what? HOA wins. Why was my car broken and unregistered? Because I lost my jack handle and didn't have a few tools I needed to fix it. So it just sat. And then got a sticker on it. Then on the sticker there was a number to call regarding disputing it getting towed. Well, the guy wrote the number in a way I couldn't read it. So I couldn't call. And it got towed. And I lost my car.

And so now, with my garden, it's a similar for want of a nail scenario. My friend actually gave me some fence. Not enough for my whole garden either way. I didn't have any wirecutters? Why? I lost them. I moved a bunch of times and they got lost. New wirecutters would have cost me $1 at the dollar store. But I didn't buy any. Was it because I was afraid of the gas/time it'd take to get to the dollar store? I guess. Maybe I just forgot. Maybe I am just plain lazy. Either way, for want of those nails (wirecutters and fencing,) my plants are all gone.

I wonder why I even attempt things. I know I'm missing nails and decide to give things a go anyway. And I fail. I've been brought up to think that not having nails is normal. Every place/person I've worked with would just tell me "well you're a p**** if you need nails to put things together, just figure it out and toughen up."

Everything's my fault.

Also, I made my mom sad because I threw some coffee cans at the wall when I got mad at them mowing down my plants. She then asked if there was any holes in the wall. I told her "No, not that it makes a difference, because the house is worth like 50K anyway (we overpaid like 100K for it thanks to slumlord f*****g real estate agents.)" Then she started crying. Yay for me being emotionally insensitive to other people.

I'm a dick. I can't plan anything for s**t. Everything I do turns out like s**t. I just drank 3 cans of strong Asian coffee so I could feel OK after this. I probably won't go to bed until like 4AM because of that and I got work at 8:30. I'll probably be late for work and f**k everything up there, too.

homeowners associations suck big wind. too bad you have to be living in one.

It's still my fault as I didn't do the actions I had some amount of control over. I cannot control my HOA.

Wow

I can't really think of anything else to say except wow.

The car is something that's gone and can't be changed?
The garden is back to ground zero, but you can rebuild.
Just a suggestion - there may be a gardening club in your area where you can swap or get seeds and cuttings, some may spend a couple of hours helping out if you help them .
If there isn't, maybe you could start one?
It can be so hard to see how to get going again after a miserable time.
Hopefully one small task a day, taking the time you can spare, will make you feel in control.

Homeowner's associations are like government, the people who know how to manipulate them get what they want from them.
Getting angry or retribution generally will bring down their wrath, but, working within the rules, making alliances and partnerships can be, effective.

Maybe get a bunch of people who like gardening together to build a new garden.

Best advice I got

I can't buy wirecutters and fencing and you expect me to have the organizational capacity to organize all my neighbors into a gardening club?

Y'all crazy.

I am sorry about your garden. And about your losing your temper in front of your mom. I hope you made it up to her by doing something kind.

We don't have a HOA where I live but we do have drug dealers. And we have somebody on our block who has a thing about parked cars. She went after us because of our old clunker collection. We kept coming home from work and finding orange stickers on our cars--parked in front of OUR house!! It's not like we parked them in the yard.

And I had some d!ckweed cut down my jasmine vine that was just starting to take off because it was growing on the outside of our ugly, homemade fence instead of the inside. The inside of the fence is a concrete driveway, so we had to plant it there. I had planted it in hopes of covering up the ugly fence.

That sounds truly appalling.
I really am sorry to hear that your slumlord is so insanity-inducing.

I don't know how American law works.... but as far as destroying your garden goes.... is this anything like the topic where the person's neighbour was trying to vandalise their tree ?

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt234917.html

I mean he basically trespassed and destroyed your property [the garden] which is unacceptable.

Too many slumlords believe that they law doesn't apply to them.... but in this case, does it ?

Eh, my mom actually ended up calling the HOA. Apparently the HOA is sorry and wants to right the situation a bit. Who knows what'll happen. They may even compensate for the car. Not sure.

Good news - hope it goes well.