Post HGTV: Our Cranky Nose-Blowing Neighbor

During the course of production we had a run-in with our next door neighbor. He's an older Mexican guy-- probably in his 60s-- with an avocado shaped body and a bulbous nose that's always red; kind of like Santa Clause but without any of the jolly. He's the guy who places his trash cans in the driveway so that no one can make a 3-point turn on our narrow street using his property, and he frequently yells at the neighborhood kids for being too loud. He also blows that rosey nosey so loudly that at any odd hour and we can hear it in our house.

We'd been doing fine in terms of run-ins with him, but on the last day of shooting one of the landscapers parked his car in front of Hornblower's place and he yelled at the guy. Now I didn't understand it at all-- and I do know quite a few Spanish swear words so I figured it was lots of anger without too many slurs-- so I apologized. He just looked at me like I was a side-dish he didn't order and then tromped back into his house, slamming the screen door behind him.

Mind you, our neighbors on the other side were very nice and let both the construction team cut the wood slats in their yard, and the production team to set up lights there as well. Very nice people. The husband is a busboy at The Magic Castle. We love them.

So Steve and I tried bringing gifts to both neighbors--a thank you to one and a peace offering to the nose-blower. Here's how the second one went.

Steve and I walk up to the door holding a beautiful potted plant from Whole Foods Market. I knock as Steve stands a few feet behind me in case our Horny has a gun. We wait for thirty-seconds. Door opens just slightly.
HORN BLOWER: Grrr.
ME: Hi. We wanted to thank you for putting up with all the construction.
HORN BLOWER: Okay.
He starts to shut the door. I hold out plant.
ME: For you? Para ti?
HORN BLOWER: Grrr.

He did open the screen door and took the plant, but he didn't thank us. We quickly left. It was annoying, but I figure we tried. Oh well. Maybe we'll yell at him the next time he blows his nose at three in the morning.