The Mercers and I attended a court-ordered mediation session today at a local attorney's office in Golden. Like our last mediation attempt this year, nothing was solved or agreed to. They did not even attempt to negotiate in "good faith", their attitude was "we demand it all".

We were in separate rooms. there was no personal interaction between us.

The Mercers continue to promote the mis-belief that our existing mediated agreement requires that their children be kept indoors during the specified quiet times.

Jeff and Donna Mercer > Are you Guilty of Lying? Lying vs. Truth: What does the Bible Teach?

This calculated misinformation helps their cause, making the agreement seem too restrictive to their children. The agreement only prohibits their children from using the "acoustic alley" playground during quiet times. There is NO other restriction on their children, on their location or activity.

Like before, they refuse to grant me ANY guaranteed quiet daylight time. The small amount ( 8.33% ) of quiet time I am asking for only means no playground use in the "acoustic alley" between our homes. It does not prohibit their children from being outside or engaging in any other outdoor activity.

They refuse to share the airspace or the neighborhood. They seem to say that if I let them have every second of time to make noise (at illegal levels), then we can have an agreement? An agreement for what?

We discussed the possibility (again) of them moving the play equipment to the other side of their property. And like the last time it was discussed, they were not really considering it and they will not even get an estimate so we all know the costs involved.

They did offer to never use firecrackers in the playground area (which was never an issue). Okay, I'll offer to never hold drag races in my backyard or develop weapons of mass destruction. Offering meaningless "concessions" only wastes time and prevents meaningful discussion.

I learned the Mercers have called my behavior "outrageous". Let's think about this.