Let’s start with the fact that there is an HOA rule that no heating and cooling equipment can be seen from the street. While seemingly irrelevant, this seems to be the heart of the problem between me and the HOA. I mean, what’s so terrible about seeing residential HVAC equipment next to a person’s house? I mean we all have residential HVAC so it’s not like we are pretending we don’t. And since we all have very similar versions of the same sort of heating and cooling equipment, what’s so offensive about seeing it from the street? But apparently, there is a rule and my HOA is being super picky about enforcing this rule. This all came about because my son got a little overzealous when it came to trimming a hedge. My kid is 13 and he’s still learning his way around lawn and garden equipment. But the only way we learn is to make mistakes and do things we haven’t done before. So my kid ended up trimming the hedge of a little bit too low and now the heating and cooling equipment can be seen from the street. It didn’t take 24 hours before I had a ugly email sitting in my inbox. The HOA was ready to begin fining me daily until I put up a fence. I wrote back that the hedge would certainly grow back in a few months and I wouldn’t be paying any sort of fine. So now, I’ve ruffled those feathers and they’re coming after me with daily threats to the point where I’m about to turn all this over to my lawyer. I’m all for rules and regulations but I draw the line at being bullied.