Two days in the past 3 weeks, I tried to work in my yard. While I was out, the Mercers sent their children out to scream and shriek on the trampoline and the watch tower slide platform of their playground which towers over the 6' privacy fence.

Their children stand up there, staring at me, at my yard and scream, not even words, just loud, shrill high-pitched, piercing, obnoxious screaming.

Donna Mercer even watched them abuse their neighbor from her upstairs window.

It seems when I go outside to work in my yard, the children come out to scream, and then go back inside when I'm done. Donna once claimed to a County Judge she couldn't tell her children that they couldn't use the play equipment (after 7pm). They can't set rules for their children to not use the play equipment, but they sure can send them out to scream and stare over the 6' privacy fence on command?

Jeff admitted to me at the first mediation (2001) and confirmed it again at the second mediation (2004), that one of his daughters does have a "screaming problem".

Over the years the Mercers have pointed out that my trees along the property line do provide privacy into my yard. Those trees with their leaves help a little, but not much, and all the leaves are gone now. The Mercers will say any expedient thing to try and cover up their totally selfish lifestyle. They don't want the play equipment in their view in their backyard, right next to their living area. So they put it in the side yard, just 8' from my home which causes the loss of my back yard privacy and peace and quiet. They have it "out of their way".

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Last August the County Judge attempted to help us out and mediate a settlement. We all verbally agreed that the Mercers would move the trampoline to the west side of their property. They would put a cover on the slide platform watch tower to inhibit the view into my back yard. There were no time limits on the trampoline use and the swing set with the watch tower would not be used after 8pm on weekdays and all days Sunday. I would remove this website. With our new agreement, the Judge made it a Court Order.

The Mercers defied the verbal Court Order by not moving the trampoline to the west side of their property and by not putting a cover on slide platform watch tower (see the pictures of their defiance). They later had the court order removed and the trampoline was returned to their side yard, 8' from my house and the entire playground can be used 24/7, including on Sunday's, their self-proclaimed "Family Day".

Back in the spring 2000, the Mercers installed the full playground in their side yard, 8' from my house. They knew in advance the noise was going to be a problem, they warned me about it in 1999. They choose to put the watchtower slide platform next to the property line (towers over the 6' privacy fence), giving their children a full unobstructed view into my entire back yard at any time of their choosing. Their entire playground in the "acoustic alley" pollutes my airspace with illegal noise levels at any time of their choosing.

A number of security cameras were installed around my home as part of a comprehensive security system. One of those cameras gets an incidental partial view of their trampoline in their side yard, and no view of their swing set or any of their backyard. They complained bitterly about the camera, and in the original signed mediated agreement, it was agreed that I would put a cover over the camera to block my partial view of their trampoline. I kept the cover in place for many years while the Mercers were pretending to honor the mediated agreement.

I took the camera shield down in the spring of 2004 and then put it back up in the summer of 2004. The camera shield comes down today, until the Mercers give me (peace and quiet and privacy) what they demand from me.
  • They claim I'm intruding on their privacy with my security camera, but their slide platform tower does not intrude on my privacy -- see If I Only Had a Brain.
  • They claim their children can make all the illegal noise they want, at any time of their choosing, but if I shout in my back yard, they call the police -- see Be Quiet and Jeff, Will You Please...

The Mercers had an opportunity to put a cover on their slide tower platform when the County Judge mediated a Court Ordered Settlement and they refused.



They have a FULL view into my back at anytime of their choosing from the swing-set slide platform tower, I will no longer keep a cover installed over my security camera to block my partial view of a small part of their side yard.

Having the shield in place was a compromise on my part, inhibiting my ability to monitor their children in case they choose to stone my house again, in exchange for the Mercers honoring the mediated agreement. They never really did honor (constant cheating) that agreement and have totally abandoned even the pretense of honoring it last May 2004.


Their children and guests have stoned my house twice from the trampoline area. The first time, there was no camera shield in place and I was able to videotape the vandalism. The second time the camera shield was in place and I was unable to record the vandalism -- and the Mercers now pretend they don't believe it happened.

I will no longer give the Mercers something (privacy) they refuse to give me. I will no longer compromise my security system for them for free. I will no longer honor the original mediated agreement by keeping the camera shield in place while they refuse to live by the agreement, or even pretend to honor it.

When the Mercers want to be honest, reasonable, fair, sharing neighbors, I will be a willing participant. I've always been willing to share the neighborhood and airspace, they refuse to share and demand and take 200%.