More things i could get used to

Not being forced to listen to other people's high decibel mobile sound systems forty or fifty times a day. You know it's a problem when you're sitting in front of the computer at 8:30 in the evening, and you can hear the music from over a block away. It was refreshing not to hear a single 85 dB subwoofer for almost a week. Someone, i think it was on a PAC2 listserve post, mentioned something about enforcing Durham's "boombox ordinance." To my knowledge, Durham does not have a specific ordinance dealing with mobile sound systems. Instead, we have a generic noise ordinance (Chapter 11, Section 11-1) which reads wonderfully, and is somewhat useful in dealing with loud parties or neighbors using power tools at 5 am.

It's a lot less useful, to the point of virtual non-existence, in dealing with, say, barking dogs or loud mobile sound systems. In the former case, police officers can't write citations to the dog's owner if they're not around, and most of the time, that's why the dog is barking - because they've been tied out in the yard and ignored for 48 hours at a time. In the latter case, how exactly do you make a complaint? "Hey, some guy is driving up the road two blocks away with his music so loud i can't carry on a conversation in my back yard." "Did you get a description of the vehicle?" "Um, no. He's two blocks away. I can't even tell you what direction he's moving."

By the way, Kevin and Michael both follow up on a post of mine about enforcing speed limits in residential neighborhoods from before my little coastal excursion. They each make excellent points.